Craniosacral Therapy
““The Bioenergy of wellness is the most powerful force in the world. It is dynamic. It is rhythmic. It is a force field that begins with the moment of conception and continues to the last moment of death.” ”
Craniosacral Therapy
Craniosacral Therapy is a profound healing modality performed on a massage table while the client is fully clothed. This gentle, non-invasive hands-on treatment addresses the whole body with particular focus on the nervous system. Few structures have as much influence over the body's ability to function properly as the brain and spinal cord that make up the central nervous system. And, the central nervous system is heavily influenced by the craniosacral system - the membranes and fluid that surround, protect and nourish the brain and spinal cord. The nervous system dictates all of the body’s functioning, constantly messaging and interpreting information.
Every day your body endures stresses and strains that it must work to compensate for. Unfortunately, these changes often cause body tissues to tighten and distort the craniosacral system. These distortions can then cause tension to form around the brain and spinal cord resulting in restrictions. This can create a barrier to the healthy performance of the central nervous system, and potentially every other system it interacts with.
Fortunately, such restrictions can be detected and corrected using simple methods of touch. With a light touch, the CST practitioner uses his or her hands to evaluate the craniosacral system by gently feeling various locations of the body to test for the ease of motion and rhythm of the cerebrospinal fluid pulsing around the brain and spinal cord. Soft-touch techniques are then used to release restrictions in any tissues influencing the craniosacral system.
By normalizing the environment around the brain and spinal cord and enhancing the body's ability to self-correct, Craniosacral Therapy is able to alleviate a wide variety of dysfunctions, from chronic pain and sports injuries to stroke and neurological impairment.
I have trained in multiple approaches to craniosacral therapy: functional, biomechanical and biodynamic. All approaches are valid and have their place. Currently I emphasize a biodynamic approach. Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapists orient primarily to the health of the client’s system and allow healing shifts to arise from within. While techniques are still used, an emphasis is placed on limiting the amount of additional influence placed into the system.
In this approach, the practitioner:
Settles into a still and receptive state of being
Clearly negotiates a relationship with the client and their system
Orients to the presence of primary respiration - the pulses and movements of cerebral spinal fluid, among others
Waits for a shift within the client’s system to this formative ordering force
Creates a container within which decisions are made by the client’s own system and the primary respiration it generates.
Over a period of years, it is the practitioner’s task to deepen perceptual clarity, grow in relational skills, and increase appreciation of the presence of both primary respiration and the conditional forces and patterns held within the system.
This work is built upon the practitioner’s ability to remain neutral in their own body while engaging with patterns of disorder in their clients. In doing so co-regulation is facilitated and the client’s body is able to create new pathways upon which they can regenerate.
I use my ability to identify the parts of the nervous system that are not functioning optimally and my awareness of the “always available health” in the body to assist the system in bringing itself back into balance. This supports greater ease and helps the body decrease symptoms.
Language borrowed and adapted from craniosacraltherapy.org and upledger.com