What is Craniosacral Therapy?
Craniosacral therapy is one of the alternative healing methods that complement conventional medicine. Craniosacral therapy focuses on the area of application between the skull (“cranium”) and the sacrum (“os sacrum”) which also gives the therapy its name. Craniosacral therapy is part of osteopathy. The basic idea of craniosacral therapy goes back to the American William Garner Sutherland – a student of Andrew Taylor Stills, the founder of osteopathy. Sutherland assumed that even firmly connected bones are mobile to a certain extent. Inspired by this idea, the American surgeon and osteopath John Upledger explored the interaction between the meninges and spinal cord membranes on the one hand and the skull bones and spine on the other. Upledger was convinced that a so-called CSF pulse – a rhythmic pulsation of the brain fluid – can be felt and influenced by manual techniques. The liquor (liquor cerebrospinalis) nourishes and protects the nervous system by enclosing the brain and spinal cord as a liquid medium. Breathing, heartbeat, lymph, and other movements in the body give the liquor its own oscillation behavior. The liquor pulse spreads through the connective tissue and can therefore be felt throughout the body. This basic assumption is also the basis of craniosacral therapy today. And craniosacral therapists assume that the rhythm of the liquor allows conclusions to be drawn about the patient’s state of health.
The craniosacral rhythm represents the fine, pulsating movements of the cerebrospinal fluid (Liquor cerebrospinalis). It can be felt and regulated in a wide variety of parts of the body. Through gentle, manual treatment, an effective compensation of physical and mental imbalances is achieved. The resulting deep relaxation and regeneration support the natural self-healing mechanisms of the human body.
If muscles, organs, or tissues are restricted in their function, craniosacral techniques can be used. The method is suitable for all age groups. Craniosacral therapy is used:
• to relieve pain associated with dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint
• for pain relief in episodic tension headaches and migraines
• to reduce pain associated with joint, muscle, and back pain
• for stabilization after physical and emotional trauma
• to improve pregnancy and menstrual problems
• to promote regeneration in the event of exhaustion, stress, and difficult life situations
• to improve psychosomatic complaints
• to support parents and infants with breastfeeding problems and three-month colic
• to improve poor concentration and hyperactivity
• to improve sleep disorders
The therapy session begins with a detailed discussion in which you describe your symptoms, previous illnesses, and living conditions. You then lie fully clothed on the treatment table while I sit behind you at the head end. Now I carefully place my hands on your head and feel the rhythm of your brain and spinal cord at the seams of your skull bones. I then use special hand movements to feel your head and spine to identify tension and blockages. Depending on these, I use my fingers and palms to apply slight pressure and to the skull, vertebrae and pelvic bones in the affected areas. Diagnostics and therapy thus merge directly into one another. A therapy session usually lasts 30 to 60 minutes.
Many patients already experience deep relaxation during the treatment, which is carried over into everyday life after several sessions. If your muscles have been tense for a long time, muscle soreness-like pain may appear after the treatment. The realignment of the body associated with the therapy can also lead to pain. This pain after craniosacral therapy usually subsides after one or two days.
In my therapy sessions, I often combine craniosacral therapy and Reiki. In my experience, these two forms of therapy work really well together and deepen the patient’s ability to relax and allow realignment and healing.
To book a virtual session, contact me at info@melanieleamy.de