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The term “Cranio-Sacral” is a portmanteau: “cranial” + “sacral”, referring to the top (cranium/skull) and bottom (sacrum/tailbone) of the central nervous system.
From the work of Dr Andrew Still - father of Osteopathy - then his student William G. Sutherland - father of Cranial Osteopathy - at the end of the 19th century, Cranio-Sacral Therapy is a form of Natural Medicine.
Though it’s not a massage Cranio-Sacral Therapy is a pain and drug-free way of hands-on light touch healing method, exceptionally gentle yet extremely powerful and profound.
On subtle levels of physiology William Sutherland identified a rhythmic motion of the cranio-sacral system which he described as the Breath of Life, also referred to as the Primary Respiratory System.This motion significantly involves your craniosacral system which is a physiological system of the body that consists of the central nervous system, the cerebrospinal fluid and surrounding membranes and bones and, manifests in all parts of the body and can be palpated by sensitive hands.
The presence of this rhythmic motion is as essential, measurable, and tangible as our breath and heart rate and, has been clearly demonstrated scientifically - especially in the osteopathic and dental medical journals - and on film (Seifriz 1954).
This Breath of Life which we feel in the body and in all living things is an indication of our aliveness and a reflection of our vitality, health, balance and progression of our entire human life. Any injury, illness, tension, stress, trauma, emotional block influences this underlying rhythmic motion, creating disturbances to its fluent expression.
When a practitioner places their hands lightly on the patient during the session which is generally no greater than 5 grams (the weight of a butterfly), they are tuning in and engaging with these tide-like rhythms enabling the body’s natural potential for healing to address, resolve and release any disturbances and resistances to the natural flow of health and supports the body’s innate ability to balance, restore and heal itself and come into alignment with this flow.
It is very gentle and non-invasive and therefore ideal for people dealing with all sorts of physical issues, trauma, difficult life experiences and illnesses, emotional pain and, spiritual misalignment.
Cranio-Sacral Therapy works with the whole person and changes may occur in body, mind and spirit during and after sessions.
Many people have found that Cranio-Sacral Therapy was able to help them when nothing else could.
As well as helping with specific physical, neurological, emotional or spiritual problems Cranio-Sacral Therapy is effective for the results of accidents, falls and strains, diseases, psychological conditions and may also assist to reduce stress and improve the functioning of the immune system.
Even if you have no symptom regular treatments may help prevent more complicated health conditions from developing in the future as CST is increasingly used as a preventive health measure.
CST helps treat from simple aches & pains to severe, complex and persistent health issues:
“Cranio-Sacral Therapy is a profoundly transformative process which has the potential to change your life.” Thomas Attlee, D.O, RCST®
People tend to love Cranio-Sacral Therapy as it helps them feel better, have more energy, and deal better with everyday stress.
Physical restrictions and dysfunctions, emotional blocks and pain can release rapidly with Cranio-Sacral therapy.
The non-intrusive nature of Cranio-Sacral Therapy can facilitate softening anywhere in the body and improve one’s general health and quality of life.
After a CST treatment session people have reported:
· Deep relaxation
· Better sleep
· Ease of physical movement
· Alleviation of symptoms
· More embodied and settled
· Increased mobility, flexibility, balance
· Profound relaxation and greater sense of well-being
· Increased body awareness and clarity of mind
· Muscular/Skeletal alignment and improved posture
· Decreased frequency and occurrence of pain and headaches
· Deeply relaxing experience beyond the release of holding patterns
· Increased body awareness and clarity of mind
· Improved digestion and sleep
· Feeling lighter, happier and calmer
· An overall sense of better well-being
· Feeling more energized and grounded
· Feeling relaxed and peaceful
· Relief of pain and stress
· A capacity for loving relations
· Letting go of old emotional pain
· Stress reduction
· Feeling of being more at peace with oneself
· Groundedness
· Balanced musculature
· Enhanced fluid exchange
· self-acceptance
· Inspired a change in their attitude to their health and wellbeing
· Improved immune response & much more
· Improved digestion and sleep
· Stress reduction
· Balanced musculature
· Improved immune response
· Decreased frequency and occurrence of pain and headaches
The essential role of a Cranio-Sacral Therapist is to be the safe container where you can let go, enabling the restoration of underlying mobility, integrity, health and vitality. The Cranio-Sacral Therapist is trained to hold a place of self-witness in order to engage with her sensitivity and allow your healing.
By placing her hands very gently on your body, the practitioner allows the Breath of Life to flow through her hands. Through her therapeutic presence the practitioner seeks to restore balance to the cranio-sacral system enabling your being to re-align to the core levels of health.
As the practitioner settles in stillness and spaciousness, helping your system to settle down in a state of slowing, she identifies areas of restriction or tension. And as the practitioner engages with and follows the internal pulls and twists until still points of rest and release, deeper therapeutic forces arise allowing the structure to spontaneously respond and the tissues to return to proper health function.
Stillness attracts stillness and as you lie still and relax in this therapeutic space your system can express and release its accumulated traumas. The Cranio-Sacral Therapist gets to humbly watch and surrender to the process of an unfolding that she could have never worked out, while you are settling out of your suffering.
As the Cranio-Sacral Therapist holds a sacred respect tuning deeper and deeper into your body, she trusts the tide and gets out of the way of an Intelligence far beyond our human mentality.
As the practionner explores the realm of stillness in a neutral presence you get to heal wrapped in compassion as you touch the Cranio-Sacral Therapist’s heart.
The CST session takes place in a quiet and private setting in a sensitive and caring environment.
All treatments are strictly confidential.
I will honor your trust and respect your privacy the same way a doctor is bound by confidentiality.
On your initial treatment session your practitioner will take a comprehensive written case history and assessment, listening with care to the reasons for your visit.
This part of the session is important, both for gathering information and to establish a good understanding with your practitioner.
You will then be invited to take your shoes off and lie fully clothed on a comfortable padded table. You may be asked to remove your glasses, belt or jewelry if they will be in the way or affect your comfort.
The practitioner will then make light contact with your head, feet, the base of your spine, arms, neck and other areas, encouraging your body to relax and begin to make the changes it needs.
Because the body functions as a whole, and the area where the symptoms are located is not always the area that causes the symptoms, your practitioner may focus on body parts other than where your symptoms occur. Because of the complexity of the connective tissue, symptoms that you experience in one part of your body may be caused by restrictions in a seemingly unrelated part of your body.
Your practionner may stay at the same spot the whole session or may move several times to different locations on your body.
During a session there may be a lot of silence as you deeply relax, or there may be a dynamic peacefulness as you engage with your practionner as to what is being felt.
As you settle, you may feel different sensations as the nervous system and body tissues release tensions. Or you may not feel anything at all and find yourself deeply relaxed, in a meditative state or asleep as the body settles deeper allowing profound and long-lasting effects.
On occasion there can also be physical unwinding of physical and emotional tensions in the body. You can suddenly feel a freeing movement come into an area and this change may also be marked by a spontaneous deep breath.
At the end of the session you are encouraged to spend a few minutes getting up. Your practionner then sits and chats a few minutes with you about the session and wraps up.
As you will generally tend to make progress you will experience change one session to the next.
And so, on your subsequent session your Cranio-Sacral Therapist will take a few minutes to chat and re-assess the changes and adapt the session accordingly.
A Cranio-Sacral Therapist doesn’t force anything.
You’re in it together, working with each other.
Response to Cranio-Sacral Therapy varies from individual to individual and condition to condition and your experience of the work will be uniquely yours so, the frequency of treatments is up to you and the therapist.
Sometimes people report relief after only one or two sessions. For long-standing problems, you may need more than one or two sessions to fully benefit from CST and so 10 or more sessions may be needed.
Some people use sessions to resource and find they benefit from regular treatment over an extended period and say that, as well as noticing improvement in their physical or emotional symptoms, they feel they have increased self-awareness and improved quality of life.
It is not uncommon for some people to choose to receive Cranio-Sacral Therapy regularly because it can be so pleasant to experience.
Cranio-Sacral Therapy addresses the cause of the symptoms and the root of your health concern and, the results can be diverse. As we often say the treatment starts at the end of the session.
You may leave in such a deeply relaxed state that you feel like sleeping for hours. Or you may feel full of boundless energy.
There tends to be a sense of a reboot at the end of the session as you are coming out of a realm of stillness with a lovely feeling of re-ignition and completion.
There is occasionally a short period of adjustment as part of the healing process. You may become more aware of symptoms or areas of discomfort. This may be brief, and often subsides within 24 hours, clearing to leave a sense of ease.
In the hours after a treatment you may feel inclined to keep things slow and introspective.
You may continue to notice shifts and changes in feelings and sensations on all levels, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual over the next few days/weeks as your body/mind complex releases previously held patterns and integrates the results of a new state of wellness.
And even if you may not feel those changes, your body will nonetheless quietly make those adjustments to bring itself back into its own natural pattern of balance.
Yes! Since April, 2019 ICBC has a new benefit of $1,000 for necessary naturopathic treatments (ie. natural medicine which helps the body heal itself, eg. Cranio-Sacral Therapy).
If you have an ICBC claim you can request your adjuster's authorisation for $1,000 for Cranio-Sacral Therapy treatments for what is considered reasonable and necessary towards your care and recovery.
Therefore, you must refer to your ICBC claim representative in order to obtain pre-approval for funding.
Please note that I do not have the authority to make such a decision.
Since Cranio-Sacral Therapy is considered a "may pay" therapy there isn't a direct billing relationship with ICBC so pre-authorised Cranio-Sacral Therapy treatments are billed privately so you can submit your receipts to your adjuster within 60 days of the treatment date for reimbursement.
More info here.
Cranio-Sacral Therapy is not a substitute for any medical diagnosis.
If you have a particular concern about your health, it is always recommended that you consult your health physician since your CST practitioner does not diagnose or prescribe medication.
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