Introduction
Generally craniosacral is a very gentle “hands on” treatment with light touch and no manipulation. The practitioner listens via the hands to what is going on in the body, identifying and relieving tensions held there. Because it is so subtle and gentle, results are very profound and often resolve issues that other treatments cannot. Sessions are led by the client’s body, not their mind, so it is the body’s natural pace and priorities that are followed so that you stay comfortable and are able to integrate the changes easily.
Craniosacral works with your self as an interconnected whole – physical, mental and emotional – for example it may be that when an emotional symptom is treated a physical one disappears. Similarly, distortion and pain in one part of the body may compensate for imbalance in another – such as migraine headaches which may arise from tension in the sacrum.Cranio works on many different levels and influences many different structures within the body, including the musculo-skeletal system, nervous system, cardio-vascular system, immune system, organs, connective tissues, fluids, and the energy systems of the body. Because cranio treats the whole person it can influence many conditions to reduce or eliminate painful symptoms, disease and dysfunction by working on resolving the underlying cause. Craniosacral sessions therefore have a very wide range of applications.
The science behind Craniosacral Therapy (CST)
The science was developed from the work of an American osteopath, Dr William Sutherland in the early 1900s. He discovered intrinsic movements of the bones in the head and his further research revealed a seperate, subtle rhythm (Craniosacral rhythm) in the body, generated by cerebro-spinal fluid. As a result of detailed clinical observation it has become clear that these movements, which can be measured with delicate scientific instruments, are a direct expression of health and offer a way of working with the physical as well as the more subtle aspects of life. The Craniosacral rhythm is also known as the Breath of Life, and flows in tide-like waves up and down the body. It is very subtle. Before having a session, most people have never noticed it. These findings have been further developed and CST now has several branches…
Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy
A biodynamic (less structural, more energy focused) practitioner might talk about craniosacral as listening to the waves of energy or fluid within the system from a place of stillness. And about training the system to connect with the underlying stillness beneath the ocean (like in Vipasana meditation) and watching the ripples on the surface. The ripples can be likened to our emotions that come and go, and the dramas and repeated patterns that unfold in our lives. Once the river unblocks and flows freely, life may take a different, freer and easier course, bypassing earlier obstacles.
When you do thingsfrom your soul,you feel a rivermoving in you,a joy… from Moving Water by RumiIn a client’s words:
“My experience with Mira was characterised by the feeling of the most enormous ‘space’ in which my system was simply able to find its own state of interconnectedness. Mira’s touch and presence is non-judgemental and never invasive, – that’s unusual in bodywork which was why I had never had any before. Mira created an environment of safety and trust that made it possible for deep realignment and delicate integration to happen. Perhaps most importantly, she embodies an intuitive understanding of the balance between space and boundary which enables creative regeneration to emerge from a still, stable centre. I felt to be in the presence of an ally whose own continued and uncompromising exploration of bodywork and energy dynamics has evolved a consciousness which can facilitate integrative healing at its most profound.” Nick Prideaux-Brune, Psychologist, London
How does it work?
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- Whenever we knock our bodies or feel emotional stress, the body’s tissues contract.
- Sometimes if a shock is severe, or involves an emotional situation, the tissuses stay contracted. The brain seems to hold a pattern that keeps things in place. Over time stored stresses, tension and trauma may give rise to restricted body functioning as the experiences pile up.
- The effects may be both physical (such as back pain, migraine or gut problems) and emotional (such as depression and anxiety).
Craniosacral is like a form of buddhist meditation
or awareness practice that uses stillness and detailed listening to the body’s anatomy (between the cranium and sacrum) to take the client into a state of deep peace and heightened inner body awareness, where the body is naturally stimulated to heal itself. Sinking deep beneath thought and emotion there is a well of natural intelligence that can observe the client’s bones and tissues, nervous system, and track brain functions, allowing the client’s system to work out what is blocked or malfunctioning so that it can self-correct. It is way more effective than the thinking mind.
As the practitioner uses their hands and awareness to reflect the holding pattern back to the body it lets go. The body lets go at a deep unconscious level as soon as it realizes that it is holding, and the core energy begins to flow freely once more.
In a sense craniosacral works back to front – it begins by connecting with the your “health” or reservoir of life force to allow it to sort out any “problems” in the most efficient way, by taking your whole system into account.
Any effective healing is basically about the container, the quality of awareness of the practitioner holding the space. When space feels safe, the body’s self-healing potential is activated. So best to choose a practitioner that the most frightened, vulnerable part of you feels totally comfortable with.
Rather than prescribing a drug or an operation, craniosacral practice connects the client’s awareness with the internal system of bones, muscles and connective tissue that make up the human body. The practitioner listens to the movement of fluid or energy within these physical structures. As described above, the system can release its own constrictions in a highly intelligent manner, based on an underlying blueprint of health, found in each cell.
Most importantly, the client experiences all these sensations directly within their own body, and so inner body awareness increases, as does insight into their own self-healing nature. We all have bodies but most people spend their time thinking; few people actually really feel their body or experience their emotions with awareness and so remain at the mercy of media manipulation and childhood conditioning, and struggle with a sense of emptiness and lack of purpose. Awareness of the body sensations gives us true information – it is a crucial step in finding our authenticity and sorting out those bits of our lives that are less than satisfactory.
It is also the key factor in intuition and the ability to decide for ourselves what is right for us. In this way cranio healing is a powerful practice that combines science with spirit in a way that is gives individuals vital self-knowledge, that can help them live the lives they yearn for. Since Cranio Healing brings individuals into alignment with the natural creative energy that underlies the whole of existence, every person who opens to this experience is contributing to both personal and global peace, and an evolutionary shift for humanity. That is why people are often deeply surprised at what they feel during their first session, and feel grateful that they have finally found this information.