CranioSacral Massage

Some Information About Craniosacral Therapy

There is a core rhythm (motion) in the body that is created by the system surrounding the brain and spinal cord.  This motion is translated throughout the entire body.  Where restrictions exist, they will show up as a lack of this motion.  By evaluating this motion, a therapist is better able to determine the causes of problems rather than chasing symptoms.

Craniosacral therapy is a gentle, non-invasive, manipulative technique that enables a practitioner to perceive and enhance natural fluid tides within your body.  It encourages your own natural healing mechanisms to dissipate the negative effects of stress on your central nervous system.  The core intent of craniosacral therapy is to open up the system around the brain and spinal cord; this process takes pressure off the central nervous system so it can operate more affectively.

Craniosacral therapy takes a whole-person approach to healing and the inter-connections of mind, body and spirit are deeply acknowledged.  It is an effective form of treatment for a wide range of illnesses.  It helps to create the optimal conditions for health, encouraging vitality and facilitating a sense of well-being.  Life expresses itself as motion.  At a deep level of our physiological functioning all healthy, living tissues subtly "breathe" with the motion of life.

The practitioner begins by placing his or her hands on your body and feeling or listening to the rhythms.  The practitioner uses gentle touch to remove restrictions, imbalances and lesions, which inhibit the natural flow of the craniosacral rhythm.  This therapeutic method relies upon very gently applied hands-on pressure to various parts of the body with major focus on the head and the lower end of the spine (sacroccygeal complex).  The manual techniques release those problem areas and relieve undue pressure on the brain and spinal cord, which affect not only your "core" but also your entire body.

Craniosacral therapy is performed on a person fully clothed.  A session may last from about 30 minutes to more than an hour.  Sensations within a session can vary.  You may have a sense of deepening into the area where the therapist is working, or you may have a sense of increased body awareness.  You may feel pulsing or a spreading warmth.  For many people, craniosacral treatments are experienced as deeply relaxing and restorative. 

Afterwards, you may feel energetic, or spacey or sleepy.  Even if you fall asleep during sessions, be aware that profound shifts may be occurring on a subtle level.  It is quite normal for some aches to be more acute for a day or two after a session.  In natural healing, the body takes some time to readjust and realign in a healthier pattern.  Healing which comes from a deep level requires some time to process.  It is not a quick fix, like some medicines, anti-inflammatories or sedatives, which mask the problem and allow the source of the ache to still exist.  Natural healing goes to the source and works from the inside out, so the process will be longer, but definitely more beneficial and long lasting for your overall health.

What is the craniosacral system?

The craniosacral system is a physiological system that exists in humans, as well as those animals possessing a brain and spinal cord.  Its formation begins in the womb and continues to function until death.  When there is an imbalance in your craniosacral system, your brain, your spinal cord and your whole body suffers.  These organs are the core of your being from which every part operates.  Without them, senses, emotions, and motor functions would not be capable of working effectively.

The craniosacral system is composed of the meningeal membranes.  The cerebrospinal fluid is enclosed with the waterproof outermost layer (Dura Mater) of thes meningeal membranes, and a system of regulated input and outflow of this cerebrospinal fluid moves into the enclosure formed by the Dura Mater.

This system is a semi-closed hydraulic system within which fluid pressure and volume is rhythmically rising and falling throughout life.The craniosacral system provides a significant part of the physiological environment in which the brain and spinal cord develop and function.  When this system becomes dysfunctional, for any reason, the function of the brain and/or spinal cord is frequently compromised. 

Thus any body part of system, which is influenced by the brain and/or spinal cord may be affected.  An ache in your toe may stem from a challenge in the craniosacral system.  Our entire body is interrelated and a whole.  All parts affect each other.  When the craniosacral system function is normalized, there can be far reaching and seemingly unrelated beneficial effects everywhere in the human body.

What are the benefits?

Nervous system

Release of tension patterns that block the craniosacral rhythm can relax the nervous system, which releases stress and may improve anxiety, insomnia and depression, chronic fatigue, motor-coordination impairments, infantile disorder, central nervous systems disorders, learning disabilities, PTSD, digestive, menstrual and other problems like breathing difficulties and headaches.  This therapy restores autonomic nervous system flexibility and adaptability.  It reduces accumulated physiological stress levels.  It enhances the movement of blood and other fluids through the body tissues, increasing resistance to disease invasions.  It also improves the internal environment for the brain and spinal cord and is very helpful for brain dysfunction, chronic pain problems and a variety of headache and facial pain problems (including TMJ symptoms).

Circulation

As relaxation and fluid flow increases with craniosacral therapy, circulation improves.  This enhances your energy, reduces pain and improves the functioning of your immune system.  Common causes of inertia are physical injuries, emotional and psychological stresses, birth trauma and toxicity.

Musculoskeletal conditions

Craniosacral therapy has been beneficial with whiplash, TMJD, sciatica, chronic neck and back pain, fibromyalgia, scoliosis, arthritis, orthopedic problems, low back tension and chronic pain and many other conditions.  It may also speed recovery from injuries and surgery.

The emotional component

Sometimes emotions surface during a craniosacral therapy session.  This is because bodily tension may be connected to strong feelings.  A hunched posture, for example, can be a result of fear from the past.  As muscles and nerves relax, it is possible to remember or even re-experience the original emotion associated with the tension.  Getting in touch with your emotions can be a very effective way to aid your body's release of tension and pain.  Also, many times, when an area of restriction is released, negative emotions may naturally release with it and the client does not need to remember the initial cause of the infraction.

Health

During the course of our lives our bodies become patterned, shaped and conditioned according to how we're able to deal with any stresses or traumas.  If stresses or traumas are overwhelming, they become locked in the body as sites of inertia-until such a time as we are able to access resources that allow them to be processed and released.  These sites of inertia, of course, effect our natural rhythmical movements and hinder the ability of our health to manifest at a cellular level.  Due to an accumulation of these stresses, tissues can become imprinted with the memory of unresolved experiences.

The emphasis of craniosacral therapy is to help resolve the trapped forces that underlie and govern patterns of disease and fragmentation in both body and mind, which could have been caused by physical injuries, birth, trauma, toxicity, or emotional or psychological challenges.  A cst practitioner can read the story of the body, identify places where issues are held and then follow the natural  priorites for healing as directed by the patient's own physiology.  The intention of treatment is to enhance the body's own self-healing and self-regulating capabilities.  Craniosacral therapy is of benefit to the very young, the very old, and all in between.

Mary Frank Slaughter is our Certified Craniosacral Therapist and also a Licensed Message Therapist here at Westside Family Chiropractic.  She specializes in Lymph Drainage Therapy, Visceral Manipulation, Visionary Craniosacral Therapy, and is a Reiki Master.  If you would like to schedule an appointment with her, please call 502-223-2001.  She has appointments on Wednesdays at 4:30 and 5:30 p.m.  Fridays she is available for 10:00 a.m., 11:15 a.m., and 12:30 p.m.