The Breath of Life
The Fundamental Principle of Osteopathy

by Stephen Paulus, DO

Following a moment of illumination, William Garner Sutherland, DO dedicated his life’s work to develop the Cranial Concept, thus applying the teachings of A. T. Still to the cranium. Perhaps more important, Sutherland brought to Osteopathy an understanding of the Breath of Life as the motivator for health and healing. His greatest insights emerged from a deep reverence for his “Maker” who he trusted for guidance and inspiration. Sutherland reconnected us with our lost roots, integrating the spiritual within the science of Osteopathy.

Sutherland derived the term “Breath of Life” from the Bible: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.”1 He was not speaking of the breath of air, which Sutherland considered to be one of the material elements or one of the effects of the Breath of Life. The Breath of Life is non-material, invisible and Intelligent. The Breath of Life drives the function of all natural phenomena and physical forces in a living being. He likens the Breath of Life to a spark, which ignites the motor.

Sutherland’s mentor for the expression of the spiritual within the science of Osteopathy was, of course, Andrew Taylor Still. It was Still who said, “I love my fellow man, because I see God in his face and in his form.” He equated the human body to “a machine run by an unseen force called Life” Dr. Still was not afraid to recognize and include in his teachings what he called God, Nature, The Great Architect, The Master Mechanic, or The Divine Surveyor. To separate the Divine from A. T. Still’s Osteopathy would be to render his teachings lifeless.

Some within the Osteopathic profession greeted Sutherland’s discussions of God, his Maker, or the Breath of Life with “considerable criticism, strange interpretations and assumptions.” He considered references to the Divine to be basic in the teaching of Osteopathy. It was asked of Dr. Sutherland if the Cranial Concept was religious. His reply was, “If the recognition by A. T. Still of God as creator of the human body is religious, why then the science of osteopathy in that sense is religious. If so, the cranial concept in osteopathy is religious.” Sutherland was not deterred by his critics; he was driven by a resolve to teach the knowledge that he was given. He had what his wife Adah called an “inner orientation” and was able to greet his critics with an “integrated detachment.”

Under the auspices of Sutherland, Harold Magoun, DO edited the first textbook of Sutherland’s work. Osteopathy in the Cranial Field ,First Edition was a sentinel achievement and yet was received with controversy. Magoun expressed the essence of Sutherland’s teachings when he wrote, “that motion must be GUIDED BY AND DIRECTED BY A SUPREME BEING. There must be a channeling of the Universal Intelligence down to the individual cell or organism. Otherwise all would be chaos.” He affirmed the recognition that the cerebrospinal fluid “receives and is endowed with the breath of life. As long as life exists this highest known element is the abiding place of that mysterious spark which cannot be explained but is none the less present.”

After Sutherland’s death it was Rollin Becker, DO who understood and carried forth the lineage of teaching the whole of Osteopathy. He said, “If we as students of the science of Osteopathy, are to understand Osteopathy, we will find it necessary to reawaken our knowledge of the Deity that centers us, make it our Spiritual Fulcrum for our guidance, and learn to think, feel, and use the Creator in our daily practices.” Becker, as a student of Sutherland’s, asked us to include within the total Osteopathy Concept, “all explanatory principles” especially embracing the “Great Wisdom from the Divine Mind.” Becker helped us understand, within the framework of the science of Osteopathy, that we can develop a conscious appreciation and sensory experience of forces and phenomena directly ignited by the Breath of Life.

The question that arises is, how can one gain an experience of the Creator or the Divine in our daily practice. It was Sutherland who gave us the answer, again translating his personal spiritual experiences and drawing from the Bible the quote which has became his directive and affirmation: “Be Still and Know.” Pointing us to the need for stillness within the operator before action ensues. And it is Becker that acknowledges the necessity “to be still in order to know through the most direct Channel possible.” Sutherland and Becker realized the need to discover within themselves the existing state of Stillness that allowed for greater vision.

We are also told by Sutherland to simplify our work and to “get away from the use of any external force.” He then spoke of sourcing our attention “as far away from the physical senses . . . to a point where one begins to experience, to realize, Be Still and Know.” He asks for our apperception to be “away from the sensation of physical touch, wherein you have the knowing touch.” By knowing touch he did not mean information gained by palpation through the physical senses but a knowledge that comes from using physical touch only as a point of contact thus achieving a sensory experience and conscious awareness that is only realized in a receptive, afferent, humble, state of stillness.

To best understand what Sutherland intended for us to know and experience regarding the Breath of Life we shall turn to a listing of his thoughts and observations, as direct quotes, leaving the reader to expand upon the interpretation.

1. “That is the picture I want you to see as the “highest known element” in the cerebrospinal fluid. AN INVISIBLE ELEMENT.”
2. “Within that cerebrospinal fluid there is an invisible element that I refer to as the “Breath of Life.”
3. “The ‘Breath of Life’ is the spark, primarily, and not the breath of air.”
4. “It was the recognition of the supreme potency of the “Breath of Life” as the “initiative spark” to involuntary activity that interpreted my hypothesis relative to the primary respiratory mechanism.”
5. “The human brain is a motor; the Breath of Life is a spark of ignition to the motor.”
6. “The breath of air is one of the material elements utilized by the Breath of Life.”
7. “A body of fluid that has the Breath of Life. That has “something” invisible, not only of potency but an Intelligence spelled with a capital ‘I’.”
8. “Sometimes I call it a “fluid within a fluid,” or the “liquid light”; something that you turn on in this dark room and darkness disappears”
9. “I want you to see this invisible “liquid light,” or the Breath of Life as sheet lightening and a transmutation.”
10. “In another symbolic illustration this was likened to a “liquid-within-a-liquid.” the element has also been symbolized in its function as like that “sheet-lightening” which lights up the cloud in a brilliant array . . .”
11. “I want you to visualize this Breath of Life as a fluid within this fluid, something that does not mix, something that has potency as the thing that makes it move. Visualize a potency, an intelligent potency, that is more intelligent that your own human mentality.”
12. “Like a beam that goes out from the Lighthouse: It lights up the ocean but does not touch it.” 13. “We can utilize it when we get into trouble, not knowing what to do.”
13. “Something within the Tide, the Intelligence of the Tide.”
14. “It is something that you can depend upon to do the work for you.”
15. “The Highest known element”
16. “Something that is governed by the same Intelligence that governs the tide of the ocean, governs the rotation of the earth, the sun, the moon and all the planets.”
17. “The fundamental principle in the cranial concept; the Breath of Life, not the breath of air.”
18. “ It is the something that starts the movement.”

Discussions of the Breath of Life did not end with Sutherland or Becker. Currently, one source in the tradition of expressed spirituality within the science of Osteopathy comes from the explorations of J. S. Jealous, DO. Through his Osteopathic Biodynamics curriculum, Jealous continues the work of Still, Sutherland, and Becker expanding upon essential teachings. He says that, “Decisions are made by the Breath of Life, decisions that dictate the priority, proportion, and endpoint of healing; decisions that the physician can perceive and sense using instinct and intuition . . .” Jealous describes the Breath of Life as non-linear and non-vectorial. It cannot be directed or controlled by the operator and is not effected by disease. The Breath of Life permeates through all form and ignites all function without diminishing its force. Fundamentally the Breath of Life is, “The vehicle for primary respiration and related involuntary activity.” Jealous believes, “that to acknowledge a Higher Wisdom at work and to sense rather than palpate is at the Soul of Osteopathy.”

The phrase “Breath of Life” is not truly a defined term (which has an inherent sense of boundary or limit) but has become more of a unique Osteopathic expression. At once, this vital element within Osteopathy creates for us wonder, awe, question, and disagreement. We struggle with words to describe an eternal, non-linear experience. Should metaphysical issues be included in Osteopathic thought and discussions? Still, Sutherland, Becker, and Jealous refuse to exclude open consideration of the numinous. Each individual Osteopath must remember that it is our mission to push the known limits of the science of Osteopathy. By including a conscious awareness of the Breath of Life in our daily practice, we not only expand the wisdom of our profession but, more importantly, we manifest the Whole of Osteopathy.