CranioSacral Therapy for Adults

Have you shied away from CranioSacral Therapy because it sounds too … cranial?

Fear not!

CranioSacral Therapy is a powerful yet gentle energy rebalancing technique, done by trained professionals whose backgrounds come from a variety of medical fields.

CranioSacral Therapy involves such a light touch (the “weight of a nickel”) that while it’s happening you feel a little silly because it seems like nothing is going on.  However, at the conclusion of a treatment by a really good practitioner, you find yourself reduced to such a deeply relaxed pile of jelly, you can barely push yourself off the massage table before you float out the door.

The CranioSacral System carries the deepest rhythmic current in the body.  This energy current is the ordering principle that does the healing on the core level of the body, mind, spirit and soul.

The therapist’s skilled hands palpate this rhythm.  The strength, range and symmetry are key factors in assessing a client’s CranioSacral System.  Injuries, stress, tension, strain or trauma cause the body to contract.  When these contractions are severe, whether they are of an emotional origin or repetitive, the body’s tissues stay contracted and this may result in chronic conditions.  Contractions have a restrictive influence also on the rhythm of the CranioSacral System.  The therapist gently supports the client’s system to release the restriction.  With the trained ability to tune into the CranioSacral System along with gentle supportive techniques, the body’s inherent potential to heal and rejuvenate itself is awakened.

By increasing the body’s own vitality and potency of its life energy, this non-invasive form of therapy is helpful with nearly any condition.

By palpating the CranioSacral rhythm, the therapist enables your body to make its own adjustments to energy imbalances in your brain and spinal cord, which then correct physiological and emotional conditions ranging from chronic back pain to migraines and insomnia.

It all sounds kind of wacko, but the therapy’s cathartic benefits are becoming increasingly popular.  According to W magazine, CranioSacral Therapy is so hot in England, that Princes William and Harry, as well as many actors, line up to receive treatments.

For clients, the hour rushes by, feeling like nothing has happened, except maybe a nap. Yet they emerge strangely renewed.

The bones of the skull and spine provide us structure and protection of precious nerves, intelligence and hormonal centers of our bodies.  Everything in our body (muscles, muscle fibers, organs and bones) is covered with a very thin layer of cobweb-like connective tissue called fascia (pronounced FASH-a).  A stress anywhere in the body is transmitted throughout the entire body by the fascia.  Therefore, any stress or tension in the body can and does affect the CranioSacral System and vice-versa.

The CranioSacral Therapist balances that system and may work anywhere on the body to do so.  The therapist will adjust and release the cranial rhythm, bones, fascia and muscles.  The session is usually done with the client’s clothing on.  The idea is to work with the CranioSacral rhythm to bring it to a still point around a restriction, so that the surrounding muscles will release and “unwind”.  Since the CranioSacral System and the fascia respond best to very light touch and deep “listening” to the tissues, the touch of the therapist is very light and subtle.

The CranioSacral System and the fascia seem to be involved in linking memory and emotion with the body.  Emotional memory in particular seems to be stored in the fascia and membranes. When fascial restrictions are released, a memory will often come to light and/or “old” emotions will be experienced.  Releasing the tissue can be a critical step in healing trauma.

A CranioSacral Therapy session sets the stage for the body to most efficiently use its own power to heal.  Most find the sessions to be deeply relaxing.  The effects, however, can be dramatic.

While verbally processing during the actual treatment sessions can be helpful, it is not necessary.  A sensitive and skilled therapist will “listen” to the tissues to feel where they need to move in order to release.

On a spiritual level, the CranioSacral System and the fascia are tangibly linked with the soul and spirit.  During and after sessions, people tend to feel more harmonized with those aspects of themselves.  At the time of death, the cranial rhythm is the last body pulse to cease. It continues for several minutes longer than the final pulsing of the breath and the blood.

CranioSacral Therapy can invigorate a deep constitutional rebalancing that goes to the core of who are as we carry on our human journeys.

For a healthier you …

ãGreg Gurniak 2005 — This article is the property of Greg Gurniak and its content may not be copied, in any form, or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. All rights reserved.