Insight
Craniosacral Therapy and Massage
What is Craniosacral Therapy?
Craniosacral is a gentle, non-invasive and effective hands-on therapy. The amount of pressure used is generally less than 5 grams (the weight of a nickel.) CST works primarily with the soft tissues, membranes and fluid that protect your brain and spinal cord. The fluid within the membranes is continuously draining and refilling. This creates gentle, rhythmic, expanding and contracting movements that can be felt anywhere in the body by a trained therapist. These movements are the craniosacral rhythm. They occur at a rate of about six to twelve complete cycles per minute. I gain valuable information about where the body would most benefit from change by monitoring the craniosacral rhythm. The source of pain or loss of function isn't always obvious. CST helps release restrictions within the body's three dimensional web of fluid and connective tissue, which extends out into every party of the body. It is essentially a whole body approach.
CST is helpful for people of all ages. I currently specialize in working with adults, particularly women during pregnancy, labor and postpartum as well as babies. It has successfully been used to treat such diverse conditions as headaches, TMJ dysfunction, depression, back pain, joint immobility, neck pain, sinus congestion, migraines, learning disabilities and the effects of childhood trauma and negative touch.
Why recieve craniosacral therapy?
A typical session
You rest fully-clothed on a massage table while I monitor your craniosacral rhythm with my hands. I conduct other gentle assessments and correct the sources of pain and dysfunction using gentle manipulative techniques. This sets the stage for your body to most efficiently use its own power to heal. Because the body exerts considerable energy to adapt to its restrictions, most people find the sessions to be deeply relaxing. Each session is tailored directly to the needs of the client. With my strong background in massage therapy, massage techniques are occasionally integrated into sessions.
Emotional release
We store our life experiences in our bodies. CST techniques are gentle but powerful, and the effects go deep without stimulating the body's defenses. They can easily unlock the residue of trauma stored in the tissues, whether it is physical or emotional trauma. This unlocking and facilitated resolution process is supported by my extensive background in energetic medicine, which shares many techniques and approaches with traditional craniosacral therapy. You are in control of how deeply you would like to engage this aspect of healing in our sessions.
I utilize dialogue, therapeutic imagery and other verbal, energetic and physical support techniques to increase awareness and initiate change. This work promotes the discovery and gentle release of the restrictions that contribute to pain and dysfunction.
Emotional release is not necessarily a painful event. It can be a friendly negotiation between you and your various parts. When we cling to our once-helpful coping mechanisms after they cease to be useful, they reemerge as sources of pain and loss of function. I am the facilitator as I help guide you toward finding your own resolution. Clients report greater clarity, peacefulness and insight along with positive change in their physical symptoms. The body needs to tell its story, and for the story to be fully heard. This work often helps turn the key to a felt sense of connection and understanding of the active role that we play in the healing process. It helps connect us to our hearts; the source of healing. Many clients I see for this work also work in collaboration with a licensed counselor that also recognizes the inseparability of mind and body. This work is in no way a substitute for working with a mental health professional.
