What is Craniosacral Therapy? (CST)
Fundamentally craniosacral therapy (CST) helps remove stress and trauma from the body. This could be physical trauma, like a car accident, a fall, repetitive strain, or a difficult birth. Trauma can also be chemical, viral and emotional, like deep shock, depression, lifetime emotional issues or witnessing violence (see somatoemotional release). Trauma leaves an imprint on the body, which over time, be that short or long, can cause dysfunction and or pain.
Life presents us with many traumas. As a strategy for us to survive or cope with trauma it’s almost as if we ‘tuck’ some of the story or ‘energy’ away in our body enabling us to get through. It is this holding on to that story that over time begins to place stress on our body creating pain, illness or builds beliefs and reactions that impact our behaviours or emotional health. Craniosacral therapy supports your body by gently encouraging the tissue in releasing its own restrictions, unwinding the impact of trauma on the body so the ‘story’ that is held so tightly can just gently let go and the body, behaviour or emotion can come back to a better state of balance, easing the pain, easing life.
More and more people are searching for ways in which they can support themselves and or their children in discovering and changing the source of the issues that make their lives so much more challenging. Physical pain, illness, emotional issues, unhealthy beliefs and behaviours stop us from being all we can be and experience all we truly deserve. Craniosacral Therapy (CST) offers people a tool which can support that change in a safe gentle and nonthreatening way. Where CST is different to other forms of physical, emotional or spiritual support is that it doesn’t just support just one of these needs but all three. This difference explains why there are times where you can talk, dissect and analyse your issue over and over but things just don’t change. Alternatively you receive physical treatment after treatment on a physical problem and it just never completely gets better. The energy or story will not shift and life change until the physical body is supported to open up and the physical body will not heal until the energy or story is supported to release.
Unlike the name suggests CST is not just about working on the head, in fact it is an entire body therapy.
There is an extremely diverse range of problems CST can support and treat. Some examples of these but definitely not limited to are:
- Head injuries
- Issues resulting from birth
- All forms of muscular skeletal pain
- Chronic Fatigue
- Migraines
- Whiplash injuries
- Depression & Anxiety
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Menstruation issues
- Respiratory and digestive issues
- High blood pressure
- Acute and chronic injuries and more
The Treatment Process
There are two aspects to the process of the treatment. The first is to locate the restriction or imbalance, which may be causing a problem. The second is to encourage the restriction to release. This is achieved through highly developed palpation skills and an intuitive ability to support the body.
The treatment is conducted whilst the client is fully clothed and the therapist works on the different areas of the body in a non-invasive way, very gently feeling the rhythm of the body that is created by the craniosacral system.
Rather than pushing or manipulating the body into a set or ‘correct’ position, the therapist uses techniques to assist the body to release its own restrictions.
About the Craniosacral System
The craniosacral system envelops the central nervous system, which controls every function of the body. This system consists of the membranes and fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, the bones of the face and cranium down to the sacrum and tailbone.
Externally from this system is the connective tissue of the body which ultimately connects all tissue, bone and viscera (organs) together and to the craniosacral system. The reciprocal nature of the system means that restriction in one part of the system can cause pain and or dysfunction anywhere in the body, not just at the restriction.
There can be many underlying issues occurring in the body that may be silent, but can be resulting in that problem which is screaming at you for attention. What this means is that an ankle injury 10 yrs ago could be pulling the tissue through to your hip which in turn puts tension onto the sacrum and bowel encouraging constipation and headaches, by working only on the ‘pain’ the results are only often temporary.
There is no physical pain, ailment or medical problem that cannot be assisted through CST. It addresses the entire body therefore is able to detect otherwise unknown or unconnected aggravators and causes enabling the body to resolve the issues that are influencing or creating your condition. Giving more permanent results.
