As I re-emerge, this first post needs to be about Franklyn.
Honouring Franklyn Sills
January 27, 1947 – August 11, 2025
Franklyn Sills was born two months prematurely, as he frequently recounted, in the Bronx in New York City. He described growing up in a rough neighborhood where he and his teenaged friends protected themselves by claiming to be a gang. He studied pre-med to satisfy his doctor father but was saved by what he later called a breakdown. This led him to a compassionate psychoanalyst, his first introduction to therapy.
Franklyn eventually escaped the challenges of the Bronx and his family to study Architecture in Berkely. There he realized he could now be anyone he wanted. He instantly became “Free Wheelin’ Franklyn.” In the Bay area, he met his first wife, Lisa, who kindled his entrancement with Chinese culture, initiating his lifelong practices of Chi Kung and Buddhism. His second wife, Maura, later connected him prenatal and birth therapy, and brought him to the UK. He studied all these practices intensively with masters in the field, including Polarity Therapy and Osteopathy when he encountered them.
Many have referred to Franklyn as a polymath. He delved deeply into the many fields he was fascinated by and linked them to create new fields. This included co-creating with Maura Sills the Buddhist psychotherapy, Core Process Psychotherapy. He also became a globally revered pioneer in the field of Craniosacral Therapy by creating a curriculum to teach biodynamic cranial therapy outside the field of Osteopathy. This birthed the field of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy or Craniosacral Biodynamics, which has spread around the world. He published several books, was an amazing visual artist, and intuitively played jazz on his harmonica.
As a demonstration of his diverse passions, Franklyn’s favorite books were Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, and Cultivating the Empty Field, by the 12th century Chan (Zen) Master Hongzhi, both of which he frequently quoted. He was brilliant, creative, funny, kind, and loving. Those who knew him remember him as an animated storyteller, both describing his childhood and teaching through tales of his work with clients.
Franklyn is survived by his beloved wife, Cherionna Menzam-Sills, treasured daughters, Laurel and Ella, and cherished grandchildren, George and Petra. His loss is also mourned by his previous wife and eternal friend, Maura, and numerous students, clients, colleagues, and friends around the world.
We can acknowledge his passing with words from Hongzhi he often spoke,
“Letting go, letting be. Highest practice.”
If you would like more about Franklyn, you are invited to visit his tribute site.
Thank you, Shruti, for sharing in the gratitude and for your love.
Dear Lillian, Thank you so much for your kind words and appreciation of Franklyn ( and me). I am deeply touched by how many people are commenting and posting and messaging about how Franklyn and his work profoundly affected/affects them and their work. And, yes, we are connected in love in eternity.