Earlier this year, we had the pleasure of welcoming Mairead Lavan, Chairperson of CSI CranioSacral Ireland, back to Body College Galway during the final seminar of our 10-module training.
Mairead had already joined us earlier in the training, introducing students to Craniosacral Ireland — offering a clear sense of the supports available to them as emerging practitioners. From student membership and professional guidance, to ongoing learning through lectures, specialist topics, and community events, she opened a doorway into a wider field that exists beyond the training room.
When she returned in February, there was a palpable sense of development and momentum within CSI Ireland. Students were introduced to a newly evolved organisation — a refreshed website, an expanded member platform, and a growing rhythm of monthly online gatherings. These regular Zoom meetings are becoming a central meeting point for practitioners across Ireland, offering shared learning spaces on topics such as tongue tie, clinical themes, and broader professional development.
What stood out most was the sense of cohesion.
Craniosacral work in Ireland is held across a number of different lineages and approaches, yet there is an emerging sense of a unified field — a connective tissue that runs through the profession. CSI Ireland is playing a vital role in weaving this together, creating a space where diversity of training can exist alongside shared values of integrity, presence, and care.
In the training environment, students are held within a strong educational container — guided, supported, and mentored. But as they begin to step out into practice, that sense of holding becomes even more essential.
What Mairead brought so clearly was the reassurance that this holding continues.
That there is a wider professional body — a kind of collective fascia — that receives practitioners as they emerge. A place where connection, mentorship, and peer support remain available. A place where standards are upheld, where continuity of care is valued, and where practitioners are not working in isolation, but as part of a living, breathing field.
Here in Galway, we are now witnessing the growth of that field in a very tangible way. This is our eighth BCST training, with another group already underway and a new training beginning in March 2027. With previous trainings in Dublin and Waterford, and the expanding Galway cohort, there is a steady and grounded expansion of biodynamic craniosacral practice across the country.
And what makes this field so rich is the diversity of those who come to it.
Each training brings together practitioners from many different backgrounds — midwives, physiotherapists, psychotherapists, massage therapists, occupational therapists, yoga teachers, acupuncturists, nurses, and more. Each arrives with their own story, their own experience of the body, and their own moment of recognising:
There is more.
More to how I want to experience the world.
More to how I want to be in my body.
More to how I want to meet another person.
Biodynamic craniosacral therapy offers a space where that inquiry can deepen — where presence, perception, and relational awareness become the ground of practice.
And CSI Ireland offers a place where that practice can continue to grow.
For me, this connection feels essential. CSI Ireland is not just an organisation — it is an entry point into the wider professional field. A place that supports practitioners to stay connected, to keep learning, and to be part of something larger than themselves.
There is something profoundly reassuring in that.
To know that as practitioners step out from the structure of training, they are stepping into a field that can hold them — one that values integrity, supports development, and continues to evolve.
It is a privilege to be part of this unfolding.
To teach within it.
To learn within it.
And to witness the next generation of practitioners finding their place within a growing, connected community.
To find out more about becoming a member of Craniosacral Ireland and to explore the supports, learning opportunities, and community available, visit their website.
https://craniosacralireland.ie/
If you’re curious about training, attending an introductory event, or beginning your own journey into biodynamic craniosacral therapy, the next Body College Galway training begins in March 2027.
https://bodycollege.net/galway/
You can learn more via the Body College Galway website, or reach out directly to Ciara@naduir.com for further information.
