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Craniosacral Therapy
By Douglas Adams
Craniosacral Therapy -
Description and Benefits By Michael
Russell
Information About Craniosacral
Therapy By Anon
Craniosacral Therapy By Douglas Adams
Light touch coupled with intent and direction of energy is used
to bring the cranial, spinal, and pelvic structured back into balance
and to remove blockages that the body’s own physiologic forces
have been unable to overcome. One of the hallmarks of craniosacral
therapy is the use of a very light touch. The amount of pressure
used is seldom more than 1 ounce, and is often more on the order
of 5 grams the weight of a nickel. By using such gentle pressure,
the therapist assists the client’s body to self-correct and
avoids encountering resistance.
An experiential example can facilitate understanding of how light
touch decreases resistance. For example, imagine a hard pull on
one of your arms. Your immediate reaction is to resist by holding
back against the pull. Thus protecting yourself. The use of light
touch is a way of not engaging the body’s natural tendency
to resist change.
Reliance on the inherent self-correcting mechanism of the body
is another of the hallmarks of craniosacral therapy. This approach
relies on the body’s own wisdom and desire to move toward
homeostasis to guide the treatment session. Treatment is a cooperative
effort between the therapist who is trying to help the system work
more effectively and the person receiving treatment. For this reason,
treating the craniosacral system is not only useful for correcting
disease, but also for promoting a high level of wellness.
Douglas Adams is the owner of http://www.allwellbeing.com/
all wellbeing.com a website dedicated to increasing knowledge of
health related issues.
Craniosacral Therapy - Description and Benefits
By Michael Russell
Craniosacral therapy (CST) was developed about 30 years ago by
John Upledger, DO. Dr. Upledger originally studied the practice
of cranial osteopathy, which was devised by William Sutherland,
DO in the early twentieth century, but adapted it based on his own
research and personal observation during his career as an osteopathic
physician.
Craniosacral therapy is based on several theories. The first of
these is that the bones of the skull do not fuse completely in early
childhood as is usually believed. Also, in his early career Dr.
Upledger observed, while assisting during a surgical procedure,
that the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord - the meninges
- actually move rhythmically. At first it was thought that this
rhythm was due to the heartbeat, but Dr. Upledger discovered that
the rhythm of the meninges is a different pattern from that of the
heartbeat.
Craniosacral therapists are taught to detect and evaluate the movement
of the meninges by just holding the head and the base of the spine
- the sacrum - very still and focusing on what they feel with their
fingers and hand. After the evaluation, it is possible to very slowly
and gently "adjust" the bones of the skull, so that the
cerebrospinal fluid - the fluid lining the brain and spinal cord
- can flow more naturally.
Craniosacral therapy is used for a wide range of symptoms, including
neck and low back pain, chronic fatigue, temporomandibular joint
syndrome, fibromyalgia and even emotional issues like depression
and anxiety. It is especially good for chronic conditions that may
have a neurological component, like coordination problems, hyperactivity
and learning disorders. It has even been used to treat autism; Dr.
Upledger has found that the meninges of most autistic children are
unusually tight and that it is possible to loosen them during a
CST treatment.
Craniosacral therapy is performed with the client lying on a treatment
table while the therapist holds the head and/or the sacrum. The
therapist's hands then move slightly as they do the needed adjusting.
It may not feel like much is happening during the treatment; the
therapist needs to maintain their concentration, so they don't talk
much and the client, because they are not moving much themselves,
may fall asleep. The effects are subtle and it can take a lot of
sensitivity to notice them at first.
And what are the effects? To begin with, the client may notice
that they are calmer and can concentrate more easily. Their posture
or coordination may improve and they may have less pain; perhaps
that nagging headache they've had is now gone. Or maybe they feel
more optimistic about life in general. The issues in their life
that have been a source of anxiety no longer seem so challenging
- or hard to get over. (Because it has such a wide range of benefits,
CST can be used in conjunction with other therapies, including emotional
treatment.)
Craniosacral therapy can help people of all ages, from infants
to elders. About the only time it is definitely not recommended
is when there is a high-risk condition located in or affecting the
brain or spinal cord, like an aneurysm or intracranial hemorrhage.
The craniosacral therapist will obtain a medical history and may
consult with a physician or other practitioner before doing a treatment.
Craniosacral therapy can be practiced by massage therapists, but
it is not massage. It can be done by osteopathic physicians, but
it's not an osteopathic adjustment. It takes special training to
do this sort of work. But many people - practitioners and clients
alike - swear by it and would never try anything else.
Information About Craniosacral Therapy By Anon
Craniosacral Therapy was developed from the work pioneered by Dr
William Sutherland an American osteopath working in the early part
of the last century. Dr Sutherland found, after much painstaking
research and clinical observation that small movements of some of
the bones making up the skull shared a direct relationship with
other natural body rhythms.
Impaired bone movement within the head, Dr Sutherland deduced,
could result in an interruption to a subjects natural healthy state.
The state of 'good health' is held by practitioners of this therapy
to be more than an absence of illness or disease, rather it is an
intrinsic condition which can be nurtured and encouraged.
The aim of Craniosacral Therapy is to gently encourage and facilitate
the necessary subtleness and fluidity of the bones throughout the
head area.
What happens during a Craniosacral Therapy treatment session ?
You will normally be lying down although sometimes the procedure
is performed with the subject in a sitting position. The therapist
will start the treatment by running his or her hands over the skull
with a very gentle feather like touch. Using skill and experience
the therapist will encourage and facilitate the possibility of change
within the bones of the skull. The treatment produces a profound
sense of well being as the body, at last able to release tension,
truly relaxes.
You will remain fully clothed throughout the procedure.
After a course of treatment the reduction of tension will spread
throughout your body enhancing every aspect of everyday life resulting
in a much healthier and happier you.
The therapy is a very gentle pleasant experience making it suitable
for every time of life from very young children to the more elderly
patient.
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