What's The Simple Science and How Can Craniosacral Therapy Help You?

THE SIMPLIFIED SCIENCE

Your amazing body creates a perceived “rhythm,” slightly different from your heart and breath rate, that cycles roughly six times a minute, from the joints (sutures) of your skull (cranium), down through your spinal cord, into your tailbone (sacrum), and back up.  This pulse, called the Craniosacral rhythm, relates to the cycle of the cerebrospinal fluid, in relation to other rhythms.  It can be felt anywhere on the body through your fascia, or connective tissue, and is used by the therapist to assess your overall health and wellbeing.

The Craniosacral System focuses on the Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems.  It consists of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves that branch off, thus controlling voluntary (walking, speech, etc) and involuntary (breathing, digestion, etc) movements.  The brain also houses our thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and processing.

When our peripheral nervous system, via the autonomic nervous system, is functioning at an optimal level, we find ourselves in a “rest and digest,” or calm state, called the Parasympathetic.  However, when the body is out of balance, often due to pain, tension, stress, and anxiety, it compromises the function of the autonomic nervous system and engages the “fight, flight, or freeze” state called the Sympathetic. 

HOW CAN CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY HELP YOU

The Craniosacral Therapist is trained to gently assess your nervous system and their related structures via the connective tissue, or fascia, of your skin, muscles, cranium, spinal cord, and sacrum.  Your brain powerfully influences these nerves, connective tissues, muscles, and vital organs. The therapist is able to follow your fascia with techniques to allow it to realign for optimal functioning.

The fascia is the "saran wrap" of the body... or the "fabric tape" that holds everything together!

When the fascia, wherever it is in the body (brain, muscles, organs, etc), become tight, stuck, or bound up due to inflammation, injury, or chronic stress, it causes "adverse fascial restrictions." Since your body is interconnected structurally and functionally, if one area is restricted, it can cause dysfunction in other areas.

A great example of this is scar tissue from a surgery.

In my clinical setting, you may come in for an Integrative Medical Massage saying your neck hurts. Upon placing my hands on your feet, I may feel a fascial pull from your left foot that pulls all the way up to the right side of your neck. I often start at your feet listening and feeling your tissue, as I work my way up to your skull. Your body can tell a story and by listening/feeling, I am then able to therapeutically address, with your assistance, any underlining structural or emotional attributes that are limiting your optimal functioning.

Interested in learning what to expect during and after a session?

Contact me for more information and to schedule... or stay tuned to the next blog!

*Images sourced from Google search. I do not own the rights to these images and give full credit to those who took the time to create such brilliant illustrated images for these educational purposes. Thank you.