Osteopathy: Research and Practice

So much of what is termed natural healing in America had its start with Dr. Still. He is a figure of such eminence to the development of the idea of the body healing itself, that is hard to over-state it. The genesis of many other therapies, Chiropractic, Rolfing Structural Integration and other structural therapies is in Osteopathy. Though there are certainly precedents for some Osteopathic insights (Swedenborg's notion of the movement of cranial bones), the fact is that Dr. Still was a great innovator. Goodman's introduction is quite informative and well organized.( Some of the curiously offbeat machinations of early Osteopaths are described in other texts and make, occasionally, for amusing reading.) A familiarity with this seminal text is important for a notion about how much we have lost in contemporary culture in the innate regenerative power of human beings. So while with this book alone you don't get a full picture, it is an inspirational place to start.