What Is CranioSacral Therapy?
Written By Tara Ferris, LMT, AHC
What Is CranioSacral Therapy?
CranioSacral Therapy (CST) is a gentle, hands-on therapy intended to improve the health and function of the body; a modality that lies between body and mind; incorporating anatomy, physiology, and energy. The human body is an integrated totality, the structure cannot be separated from the function, and CranioSacral Therapy holds this view as a requisite.
What Does A CranioSacral Massage Entail?
A CranioSacral Therapist uses their hands to assess the body's musculature, then uses their hands to assess the craniosacral system and fascia of the body. The craniosacral system includes the anatomy of the brain and spinal cord, bones of the skull, and other structures. It is intimately related to the nervous, musculoskeletal, vascular, lymphatic, endocrine, and respiratory systems. These systems are all connected, influencing and being influenced by the others.
What is Fascia?
Fascia is a slightly mobile, continuous sheath of connective tissue interwoven from our head to toes and houses every structure within the human body, from the tiniest nerve to the largest bone. Any loss of mobility can create abnormal tension patterns which transmit from one area of the body to another. Tension forms from stress placed upon the body and changes in response to misuse, overuse, disuse, disease, or trauma, creating symptoms locally and/or elsewhere, perhaps seemingly “unrelated.”
CranioSacral Therapy uses these cues from the body to understand where tension is being held, facilitates a release, and activates the body’s natural healing process.
The nervous system is extremely important in the restoration and maintenance of health. It has two modes: stress response or resting and healing response. If we are stressed, especially when experiencing long-term stress, this impacts our immunity, digestion, and ability to manage inflammation. CranioSacral Therapy essentially shuts off the stress response. It turns on the healing response, giving you a sense of deep relaxation and giving the body space, time, and resources to heal.
Benefits of CranioSacral Therapy
This therapy can relieve people with long-standing issues unresponsive to conventional medicine and is also particularly helpful for headaches and migraines, anxiety and insomnia, TMJ dysfunction, tinnitus, whiplash or concussions, inflammation, and depression.
CranioSacral Therapy is a deeply relaxing experience that allows you to release tension and what no longer serves you, helps you feel energized by removing stagnation and allowing energy to flow more freely, and establishes a visceral connection.
