What happens in a Craniosacral Therapy session?
12 January 2022
Well, everybody experiences craniosacral therapy from the unique perspective of their own body. No two sessions are ever the same.
Through very light touch, I can sense the rhythms that exist within the Craniosacral system; the flow of cerebrospinal fluid through the brain, the spine and into the sacrum.
This tells me how much health is accessible and also where there are areas of tension or holding.
These “fulcrums” are felt or expressed in my hands as pulsing, swirling, pulling, bubbling…they feel unique to each body and express in their own time, as the system feels safe enough to start to process these. They’re usually undigested experiences – emotional holding or sites of trauma from external impacts sustained in falls or accidents.
The body holds on to all of these areas until it can’t; we often then start to experience symptoms like pain. It’s the body telling us we need to pay attention.
Keep ignoring these shout-outs and they develop into pathology. Disease manifests and the body, forever trying to protect the organism, will draw down on reserves in order to keep us functioning.
Craniosacral therapists are trained to palpate these holdings in the system and they may be felt in the fluids, viscera and bones. It’s why we also need to develop a deep understanding of human anatomy.
From my perspective, it’s a bit like using my hands to “read” your life stories. I will sometimes feel these in my own body too, especially when there’s dissipation of deeply held experiences.
My tutor says that watching a craniosacral therapy session appears to the onlooker as if nothing is happening. But for the practitioner, it’s likened to the experience of being engrossed in a good book! We are seeing and feeling a whole world of stories, yet it looks as if we are sitting in silence, doing nothing.
Clients often describe sessions as going to a place that’s not quite asleep or awake; a dreamy half-state. Or they may be aware of sensations of sinking, deepening and settling. Of going to a place of deep stillness.
Complex and mysterious, BCST let’s your body talk, without you needing to tell me the back story.
