About craniosacral therapy

How does Craniosacral Therapy (CST) work?

CST removes restrictions and blockages from the body.

Restrictions happen in the body after a physical or emotional shock.

craniosacral_therapy_3When we experience a shock, physical or emotional, a shock wave enters the body. The bigger the shock, the bigger the shock wave. If the shock wave is very intense, it will stop the body from functioning properly. In order to regain its functions, the body takes this shock wave, condenses it into a “ball” (also called an energy cyst) and lodges it in the body where it will do the least damage. This is the beginning of a restriction or blockage. With time the restriction will grow and the pain will worsen.

It can be likened to a river flowing smoothly in its bed. A boulder is dropped into the river. The debris carried by the river begin to accumulate behind the boulder, branches, leaves, mud and so on, forming slowly a little dam in the river and creating turbulences in the river flow.

The same process occurs with the restriction. Other shock waves accumulate there and a little “dam” is formed in the body, a dam that gets bigger and bigger in time, putting a lot of pressure to the surrounding nerves, blood vessels, muscles, bones, organs, etc, creating  turbulences in the energy flow and giving pain that becomes chronic with time.

Of course a restriction is not made of solid materials like rocks and branches. But if there was a air balloon growing inside the body, even though air is not solid, it would put pressure to all that surrounds it.

So that’s what CST does. Layer after layer it removes all what has accumulated in the body and eventually it removes the original energy cyst. When all is gone, the pain disappears, never to come back as long as no restriction is formed again.

CST looks at the person‘s system as a whole on the physical, emotional, mental  and spiritual levels, working with the root of the problem and therefore providing long lasting results.

CST is extremely gentle and therefore can be used with people of all ages from newborn babies to older persons and people with a lot of pain.

CST has a rhythm that can be felt throughout the body. The craniocacral therapist tunes into the body and uses the CST rhythm to locate the areas of restrictions. Once located, the therapist will assist the body to release its own restrictions by contacting and stimulating the body’s own healing forces.

What does the therapist actually do?

craniosacral_therapy_2The Cranio sacral therapist uses their hands to listen closely to the body. This allows them to discern restriction patterns and mostly the primary restriction. The therapist will then place their hands gently on different areas of the body and by enhancing the body’s ability to heal itself will help release the restrictions. Being able to find where the restrictions are located in the body and to help the body release them is the essence of CST.

What’s happening during a treatment ?

In a CST session you will lie fully clothed on the treatment table (or sit up if lying down is not comfortable for you). The therapist will place their hands lightly on your body starting with your feet to tune in to what is happening in your body. The contact is light all the time so it will feel comfortable for you throughout the treatment.

CST is very relaxing and patients often doze during treatments. It is very gentle and therefore suitable for all ages, from new-born to elderly.

How many sessions will I need?

This depends on age and conditions.

Baby’s and very young children will release in a couple of sessions most of the time. Children will need from 1 to 10 sessions on average.

An average series of treatments for adults will be between 10 and 20 times.

How long is a session?

Craniosacral sessions are 1 hour long.

What is the usual interval between sessions?

CST works at its best with one session a week.

After the session the body will continue the healing process for a few days and then will tend to go back to its old pattern. So by having a treatment once a week, the body does not have time to go back to old patterns.

How safe is CST?

As CST does not push or manipulate but uses the ability of the body to heal itself, it is one of the safest therapies. It is very gentle. The therapist encourages the body to release and never forces anything.