PMT / Menopausal Symptom
Craniosacral Therapy
It is a “hand on” therapy. For treatment, you will usually
lie on a treatment table and experience the very light touch of
the Therapist’s hands. You may feel a deep sense of relaxation,
and possibly become aware of heat, tingling, pulsations or other
sensation.
This extremely gentle therapy uses no manipulation. The Therapist
listens, via the hands, to what is going on in your body, and in
this way both identifies and relieves pains or tensions held in
the body.
Craniosacral Therapy is client-led. Your body will set the pace
of work, so you will remain comfortable, in control and able to
integrate the changes that occur.
Since it is your body (rather than your mind) that sets the priorities,
you may find that the reason you came for treatment is not what
changes first. Also, some people find that it can take a few sessions
to get used to what they are feeling. For these reasons, you may
need to consider having a series of treatments to gain the full
benefit of Craniosacral Therapy and its cumulative effects.
Craniosacral Therapy is becoming much better known these days.
It is based on a number of findings about the body’s subtle
physiology, which were made by osteopaths in the USA nearly 100
years ago.
These findings show that every cell in a healthy body expresses
a rhythmic movement, which is fundamental to life – and which
has been called Craniosacral motion.
At the core of the body the cerebrospinal fluid, which bathes and
cushions the brain and spinal cord, expresses this motion in a tide-like
ebb and flow; while bones, organs and other structures in the body
each follow their own particular pattern of movement. This motion
is so subtle that it is barely measurable with instruments, but
the hands of a trained therapist are able to perceive it.
As the implications of these findings were realised, during the
first thirty years or so of this century, Craniosacral Therapy gradually
developed. Since then the therapy has been refined and further developed
into the subtle, deep healing process, which is available today.
In response to physical knocks or emotional stress, the body’
s tissues contract. Sometimes particularly when then shock is severe
or occurs within an emotional situation, the tissues, stay contracted.
Any stresses, strains, tension or trauma, which have been “stored”
in the body in this way will restrict the body’s functioning
and may give rise to problems over the years. The effects may be
both physical (such as back pain, migraine or digestive disorders)
and emotional (such as anxiety or depression).
Restrictions in the body’s functioning show up in the way
that craniosacral motion is expressed. Craniosacral Therapists are
trained to feel this subtle motion in the body, and can use it to
identify areas where there is congestion or restriction. In this
way they can identify the possible origin of a problem. Then, using
the hands to reflect back to the body the pattern it is holding,
the therapist provides an opportunity for the body to let go of
its restrictive pattern and return to an easier mode of functioning.
This happens at a deep, unconscious level within the body, but
it occurs in the same way as we might take other, more conscious
decisions. For example, if someone holds a mirror in from of you
when you are frowning, you suddenly become aware of your expression
and may well choose to relax your eyebrows.
As well as releasing the body’s tensions, this frees the
energy which the body was previously suing to hold itself in contraction.
So one of the benefits of the therapy is an increase in the level
of energy available.
Craniosacral Therapy is so gentle that it is safe and suitable for
people of all ages, from babies to the elderly, and also in fragile
or acutely painful conditions.
Indeed, it is often appropriate when other therapies may be unsafe,
such as during pregnancy, after an operation accident, fall or injury,
and for young babies. As a whole body therapy, Craniosacral Therapy
may aid people with almost any condition, by raising the vitality
and enabling the body’s own self-healing processes to be utilised.
But you don’t have to be ill or have any particularly symptoms
to benefit from Craniosacral Therapy. The alleviation of life’s
stresses, and the increased sense of vitality and well-being that
Craniosacral Therapy can bring are welcome to most of us at any
time.
One of the joys of treating babies is that they tend to respond
so well to treatment, and more quickly than adults. Many infant
problems, like colic, suckling problems, breathing difficulties,
restlessness and irritability, may result from craniosacral imbalances
caused during the birth process.
Treatment of young infants may help to relieve such problems.
The following is a list of some of the wide range of conditions
which may resong favourably to treatment:
Allergies
Arthritis
Asthma Autism
Back Pain
Birth trauma
Bone / joint disorders
Breathing disorders
Bronchitis
Cerebal Plasy
Chronic Fatigue
Colic
Depression
Digestive problems
Drug withdrawl
Dyslexia
Emotional problems
Exhaustion
Frozen shoulder
Headaches and migraines
Hormonal imbalances
Hyperactivity
Impotence
Infertility
Insomnia
Learning difficulties
ME
Menstrual pain
Muscular aches and sprains
Nervous disorders
Post dental trauma
Rheumatism
Sciatica
Sinusitis
Spinal curvatures
Stress-related conditions
Stroke
TMJ / jaw disorders
Trigeminal neuralgia
Visual disturbances
Stephanie
Harrington practices Shiatsu,
Craniosacral Therapy and Indian
Head Massage at the Haelan Clinic.
For Clinic times, contact details and information about the
Haelan Clinic practitioners see The
Practitioners page .
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