What is
CranioSacral Therapy?
|Upledger CranioSacral Therapy is a gentle, hands on approach that can have profound effects on the body. It helps to release tensions held deeply within, to relieve pain and dysfunction, and improve health and performance.
It was developed in 1970 by Dr. John Upledger, (left) an Osteopathic Physician who witnessed a rhythmic movement in the spinal cord during surgery on a patient's cervical vertebrae (neck). He explored the influence of therapy on the CranioSacral System (CSS) and realised that the Central Nervous System (CNS) has a major influence over your health and well being, and the CSS (bones, fluids and soft tissue surrounding your Brain and Spinal Cord) impacts this directly.
Everyday stresses and strains cause tension in our tissues which, along with emotional trauma and physical injuries, can cause restrictions. These radiate out to the CSS and can compromise the function of the CNS which can then affect other systems in your body.
The light touch approach to CST can release these tensions to allow the whole body to relax and self-correct. By freeing the CNS, CST may reduce pain and stress, and enhance your health and well being. Because it is so gentle, CST is suitable for all ages, from newborns to elders.
Since CST is not prescriptive in its approach, we always work by listening to, and following what it feels that your body needs to do, whatever condition you are experiencing.
My Upledger CranioSacral Therapy (CST) Journey so far….
|I first discovered CST in 2004 when I met a new instructor, Maggie Gill, on a Yoga Teacher Training course with Gary Carter in Brighton. I was fascinated by this gentle, yet profoundly deep healing and found that it fitted well with the ‘Scaravelli’ approach to Yoga I was studying at the time.
CST focuses on using a light 5 grams of touch to connect with the body’s own ability to self-heal. This is known as the ‘Inner Physician’ or ‘Inner Wisdom’. and by following the Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) flow and rhythm (CSR) throughout the body, which allows the practitioner to pick up any areas of tension or dis-ease, affecting structural, energetic, emotional, and hormonal ‘issues in the tissues.’
Once an area or ‘energy cyst’ is discovered, the body is supported until ‘recruited’ by the body’s ‘Inner Wisdom’, and from a Grounded, Blended and Neutral place, the practitioner follows the tissues and waits for signs of a release. This process is sometimes supported by asking the client about any emotions or memories that may arise during the session. Any dialogue can be checked for its significance by following the CSR.
|Over the past 18 years I have taken many Upledger modules, deepening my knowledge and understanding of this powerful approach. This involves ‘walking the talk’ and doing my own work to ensure I’m able to maintain a safe space for my clients to work through their own healing process.
Among some of the courses I have studied are, Paediatrics, Unwinding Meridians, the Brain Speaks, Somato-Emotional Release and the Inner Physician, and Advanced 1 and 2, which I have just returned from. I gained my CST-Techniques qualification in 2019, and am currently studying Transactional Analysis, adding ‘Trainee Counsellor’ to my toolbox.
Photographs of Heather Robertson by Howaboutdave Photography.
Photograph of leaves courtesy of Dmytro Tolokonov (Unsplash).
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Contents © Heather Robertson 2022.