I was first introduced to Craniosacral therapy many years ago as a recommendation by a friend who suggested I try it for some chronic anxiety attacks that I was experiencing. I had never heard of it but went along to a session without much faith. The experience I had was one of real safety in the practitioner, and the shifts in the anxiety that was stored within my body were immense. Within three sessions I felt free of the heavy weight that I had been carrying for years, and free of the fear of attacks. I felt grounded again, and resourced, able to connect with happiness once more, and able to live a life in which I could cope more easily with the stresses it can bring.
My experience led me to feel so inspired by my practitioner and his work that I felt strongly compelled to train in this beautiful field myself. I trained at the College of Craniosacral Therapy (CCST), under the esteemed Thomas Atlee D.O. My studies here were life changing. I felt such a powerful connection to the work and also felt a profound realisation that I had a natural gift in engaging with the Craniosacral system at its deepest level and thus found myself as a healer. The scientific and anatomical backbone of Craniosacral therapy also strongly resonated with me as I have a personal love of human anatomy, physiology, and pathology dating back to my Physiology BSc(Honours) degree 20 years ago. Training at CCST taught me the fundamentals of Craniosacral therapy and also the art of deep listening which is a quality I bring into my work with patients today. Holding a safe space for them to release pain, trauma, or illness under my nurturing hands, be it in the physical field or an energetic one, is my main purpose.
This therapy from the osteopathic field, is a profoundly deep form of healing. It is a non-invasive, gentle technique but with powerful results.
The Craniosacral system is a vital physiological system which is directly linked to the body’s naturally inherent healing potential. This can only be accessed by Craniosacral therapy which works on a skeletal, membranous, and energetic level to bring about subtle changes in the Craniosacral system to create more space inside the body to allow the healing process to occur. The practitioner is in tune with restrictions or asymmetries in the patient’s system and acts as a guide for the patient’s system to settle into a place of better health and wellbeing, often with the patient experiencing subtle or strong releases followed by a blissful state.
Attention is also given to a membraneous tissue called fascia which envelops every bone, muscle, organ, tissue, and cell in the body. It is profoundly connected to the autonomic nervous system so provides an excellent tool for working with nervous system dysfunctions. It also holds memories within its tissues from accidents and injuries whereby the fascia tightens and becomes restricted. Often when a practitioner releases the fascia, the memory of the related trauma or accident can surface with it. Thus further enhancing the healing process. The state of our fascia is vitally important to our physical and emotional health and wellbeing. During a treatment, a wonderful process called fascial unwinding can be carried out whereby limbs gently unwind to release muscle tension or emotional tightness held deep within the fascia.
