Craniosacral Therapy Helps Heal Body/Mind/Spirit

People who have experienced Craniosacral Therapy say that it can provide them with a deep connection to their emotional and spiritual side. Some clients say that a craniosacral session can awaken and heal old memories, refresh their spirit and even boost their energy levels.

The emphasis of Craniosacral Therapy is to help the body resolve the trapped compensatory patterns that underlie and govern the symptoms manifested in the client's body, mind and spirit. This involves the practitioner 'listening with their hands' to the body's subtle rhythms to find restrictive patterns. Through the use of subtle palpation the practitioner identifies places where issues are held and then works with the body's own natural healing processes to resolve them.

Traditionally, a manual therapist may focus on specific symptoms and follow procedures and techniques to align the body, taking the lead in restoring it to balance. This can cause the client's body/mind to resist the therapist's attempts to interfere with it's long-held patterns of compensation. Rather than merely applying a standard set of techniques, Craniosacral Therapy uses the therapist's ability to be profoundly present with no agenda, respectful of the body's inherent wisdom and healing ability.

During a typical Craniosacral Therapy session the client may sink into a deep place of peace and tranquility or inward focus. Some may notice sensations of warmth, prickling, pulsation or changes in their breathing patterns. As relief is experienced in one part of the body, other places respond by softening, lengthening or releasing heat.

Symptom relief occurs in regions of the body that have no obvious connection to each other or to the area where the practitioner's hands are located. The symptom being treated may only be an aspect of the body's entire pattern of adaptive compensation.

When stresses or traumas are overwhelming, the experience can become locked in body tissues as areas of restriction. When we are severely stressed or overwhelmed our bodies may hold onto the energy of the trauma until we have the resources and ability to process and release it. So at times a session may provide the client with an opportunity to get in touch with those past traumas or old injuries that are causing symptoms in the present. Therapeutic imagery and dialogue can be one way to help support the client to finally see their own way towards resolution of their symptoms.

The release of symptoms is an inner process, stimulated and supported by the therapy session and the supportive presence of the practitioner. As physical restrictions release and tissues soften, the client may feel his old fears and doubts diminish. Integration and re-organization is able to occur in the entire person - body, mind and spirit.

The spiritual quality of Craniosacral Therapy operates within a framework in which the practitioner can provide non-invasive touch, unconditional presence, and the ability to respond to their client without judgement. Therefore, changes that occur during a session are long-lasting and many times permanent since they come from the client's own system.

For a directory of Craniosacral Therapists in your area please see www.iahp.com