Craniosacral Therapy and the Self-Healing Body
Your body contains within it the information to heal itself. There is an inherent intelligence that guides your body through the healing process. With the appropriate guidance and input, the body’s instinctive reorganizing principles can create new pathways and connections. Besides its innate ability to heal itself, your body has a cellular memory in which resides every experience, thought, or emotion that has ever travelled through it. New patterns form during times of physical or emotional stress, and whether we are aware of them or not, our bodies may shift or alter to compensate for dysfunctional patterns. For many of us, becoming aware of the ways our bodies cope or don’t cope with stress, how our tissues hold on to past traumas, and how on a cellular level, we contain information which may not be readily available to our consciousness, may be crucial to our healing. If we can begin to understand and explore why we experience pain or discomfort and integrate new intelligent information into the system, our bodies will change, new pathways will form, and we can begin to heal from old traumatic injuries or experiences.
Craniosacral therapy (CST) treatments integrate subtle touch and gentle holdings of mainly the head, torso, hips, and feet, with a deep listening to the energetic, fluid, and tissue movements of the body. In CST, the therapist tunes in to what is often called “body breathing,” and you, too, can learn to feel the subtle currents that move within your own body. Craniosacral therapists (CSTs) also listen for movement of the nourishing fluid that surrounds and bathes the brain and spinal chord (the cerebrospinal fluid or CSF), which is believed to be an integral part of a healthily functioning nervous system. Blockages in the movement of CSF can have devastating effects on the health of the system including pain, headaches, emotional disturbances and hormonal dysfunction, among others. Aside from the indirect palpation of cerebrospinal fluid, CSTs can feel for mechanical constrictions in the body, including movement of bones, joints, membranes, and organs. Even the word, “craniosacral,” describes the housing for the central nervous system, from cranium at the top, to the sacrum, the triangular-shaped bone at the base of the spine.
What is CST actually doing? Physical and energetic constrictions in the body create stuck points or fulcrums around which the “breath” will move-- basically blocking off or isolating an area and its held pain. CSTs feel intently for these constrictions in the body, and can then gently suggest or “ask” the areas to open up or become freer. In some cases, there is some force used as when working on a more physical level, (much like massage therapy or myofascial work). But usually the holds are gentle and subtle in nature, allowing for the client’s body to tap into its own healing potential and access the deep resources which allow our bodies and psyches to actually heal. Sometimes the client may feel profound or subtle movements in the physical or energetic body when on the table; sometimes the client may not experience much at all.
Many people liken the feeling of receiving CST to floating in water. It often creates a deep sense of peace and wellbeing, the effects of which can be felt for hours or days after. It is not necessary to fully understand or grasp the underlying principles of the treatment to receive its therapeutic benefits. Over time, clients may begin to see real changes in the healing potential in their lives.
Craniosacral therapy (CST) treatments integrate subtle touch and gentle holdings of mainly the head, torso, hips, and feet, with a deep listening to the energetic, fluid, and tissue movements of the body. In CST, the therapist tunes in to what is often called “body breathing,” and you, too, can learn to feel the subtle currents that move within your own body. Craniosacral therapists (CSTs) also listen for movement of the nourishing fluid that surrounds and bathes the brain and spinal chord (the cerebrospinal fluid or CSF), which is believed to be an integral part of a healthily functioning nervous system. Blockages in the movement of CSF can have devastating effects on the health of the system including pain, headaches, emotional disturbances and hormonal dysfunction, among others. Aside from the indirect palpation of cerebrospinal fluid, CSTs can feel for mechanical constrictions in the body, including movement of bones, joints, membranes, and organs. Even the word, “craniosacral,” describes the housing for the central nervous system, from cranium at the top, to the sacrum, the triangular-shaped bone at the base of the spine.
What is CST actually doing? Physical and energetic constrictions in the body create stuck points or fulcrums around which the “breath” will move-- basically blocking off or isolating an area and its held pain. CSTs feel intently for these constrictions in the body, and can then gently suggest or “ask” the areas to open up or become freer. In some cases, there is some force used as when working on a more physical level, (much like massage therapy or myofascial work). But usually the holds are gentle and subtle in nature, allowing for the client’s body to tap into its own healing potential and access the deep resources which allow our bodies and psyches to actually heal. Sometimes the client may feel profound or subtle movements in the physical or energetic body when on the table; sometimes the client may not experience much at all.
Many people liken the feeling of receiving CST to floating in water. It often creates a deep sense of peace and wellbeing, the effects of which can be felt for hours or days after. It is not necessary to fully understand or grasp the underlying principles of the treatment to receive its therapeutic benefits. Over time, clients may begin to see real changes in the healing potential in their lives.
