Finding your rhythm with craniosacral therapy

by Chris O'Brien

We’ve all felt the rhythmic cycles of our heartbeat and breathing, but did you know that your spinal fluid has a similar cycle? It circulates throughout your body in its own rhythmic motion, independent of your heartbeat and breath, moving in and out of the brain cavity, and up and down the spinal column to the sacrum and back. The skull— which is not one solid bone, but several bones joined together by hinged fissures—expands and contracts while the fluid flows in and out of the brain cavity. The whole works is called the craniosacral system.

So what do these odd spinal hydraulics have to do with health? Just like any other bodily system, the craniosacral system can get out of whack and lead to other complications in the body. Traumas from injuries, operations or illnesses can stifle the natural flow of fluid in the craniosacral system, resulting in loss of vision or hearing, headaches and other symptoms. The practice of craniosacral therapy seeks to bring the system back into balance, which very often eliminates the other symptoms immediately.

“Craniosacral therapy is a gentle, hands-on method of whole-body evaluation and care that can have a positive impact on nearly every system of the body,” says John E. Upledger, D.O., O.M.M., president and founder of the Upledger Institute in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. “Craniosacral therapy helps normalize the environment of the craniosacral system, which consists of the membranes and spinal fluid that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. Restrictions or imbalances in the craniosacral system may directly affect any or all aspects of the central nervous system, which in turn can negatively affect the entire body.”

Here’s how it works. Cerebral spinal fluid is constantly being produced in a region of the brain called the choroid plexus; at the same time, the fluid that’s circulating in the body is being reabsorbed. This creates an ebb and flow of fluid through the brain and spinal column. This action protects and maintains the core elements of the central nervous system— the brain and spinal column, which can be considered the motherboard of the human-body system.

All activities, from involuntary movements like breathing and blood pressure to conscious acts such as thinking and walking, are processed in the central nervous system. So, when the central nervous system is off, things can go wrong elsewhere in the body. Likewise, when there is trauma in the body, it can affect the central nervous system.

Upledger says that craniosacral therapy is effective for a wide range of medical problems associated with pain and dysfunction, including migraines, neck and back pain, motor-coordination impairments, fibromyalgia and other connective-tissue disorders, temporomandibular joint syndrome (lock jaw), post traumatic stress disorder, chronic fatigue, emotional difficulties and stress, colic in infants, autism and learning disorders including ADHD. Craniosacral therapy is also increasingly used as a preventive health measure to bolster resistance against disease.

Additionally, craniosacral therapy can be very helpful to newborns and infants, who have recently undergone the trauma of childbirth, and may be continually exposed to head, neck and back stress as a result of sleeping on a bed outside the womb.

The craniosacral therapist is trained to evaluate the whole body, looking for clues to problem-causing tension. When giving a craniosacral treatment, the therapist is attempting to “reboot” the motherboard in order to give the body the best possible chance at its own healing and recovery.

“As a simple example, if you come with a headache and I examine you, I may find that the source of your pain is not in your head, but in your pelvis and sacrum,” says Roy Dejarlais, L.M.T., CST-D, program director and staff clinician at the Upledger Institute. “In this case I will work to free up the tension in that area, which will probably relieve the headache.”

The roots of craniosacral therapy date back to the late 1870s when Andrew Taylor Still, M.D., founded the American School of Osteopathy (now the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville Missouri) and brought to medicine the osteopathic philosophy of treating the whole person, with an emphasis on the inter-relationship between the body's nerves, muscles, bones and organs.

In the early 1900s, one of Still’s students, William Sutherland, D.O., took the practice a step further and coined cranial osteopathy, which specifically included the movement of the head bones and the flow of cerebral spinal fluid. More recently, Upledger developed what is now known as craniosacral therapy. His major contribution to the practice was working with the fascia—tough connective tissue throughout the body—not just the bones. “Dr. Upledger realized that the membrane system in the brain and spinal chord is made up of fascia, which has the ability to get restricted,” says Desjarlais.“If you just release the bones, you might not get at what is really causing the problem.” Gentle touch with light pressure is the chosen fascia-releasing technique of craniosacral therapists, who believe that a more forceful manipulation will likely cause a tensing-alarm reaction and possible lockdown in the body tissues. Generally using about five grams of pressure, roughly the weight of a nickel, the practitioner evaluates the system by testing for ease of motion and the rhythm of cerebrospinal fluid pulsing within the membranes. Specific treatment techniques are then used to release restrictions in fascia, membranes and any other tissues that may influence the craniosacral system. The result is an improved internal environment that frees the central nervous system to return to its optimal levels of health and performance.

Beyond the physical, modern cranial sacral therapy includes the awareness of energetics and emotions in the diagnosis process.

“If you ignore the human conditions of energy and emotion when dealing with illness or impairment, then you are ignoring a huge clue to how and why the body holds tension,” says Desjarlais. “It is possible, even from a non-psychological point of view, for the body to be in a physically compensated state from habitual emotional patterns.”

Today, craniosacral therapy is practiced around the world. The Upledger Institute alone has trained more than 60,000 therapists. But the Institute is not the only source of training, and other sister practices, such as sacral occipital technique (SOT), use similar techniques and aim for like results.

When seeking out a therapist, the letters “C.S.T.-D.” (craniosacral therapist, diplomate) indicate that the practitioner has completed the highest level of training offered by the Upledger Institute—but that doesn’t mean that the only qualified practitioners are Upledger-certified. Like many alternative health practices, craniosacral therapy is not government regulated and certification is not a requirement. Often, word of mouth can be the best resource for quality practitioners in your area. Of course, a comfortable relationship with the practitioner and real results are important qualifiers too.

Typically, sessions last about an hour and cost from $70 to $100. Anewcomer should commit to three to five sessions, usually getting results by session three, if not earlier.

 

Resources, local and beyond

To find a practitioner or learn more about craniosacral therapy, check out the following resources:

• www.iahp.com/pages/search/index.php: search engine to help you find a craniosacral practitioner
• www.upledger.com: home page of the Upledger Institute. Lots of info and resources
• CranioSacral Therapy: Touchstone for Natural Healing, by John Upledger, D.O., O.M.M. (North Atlantic Books, 2001)
• Your Inner Physician and You: Craniosacral Therapy and Somatoemotional Release, by John Upledger, D.O., O.M.M. (North Atlantic Books, 1997)
  

The following practitioners are Nexus advertisers who offer craniosacral therapy. Look for their ads on the pages listed next to their names to learn more about them:

• Tara Skye Goldin, ND; 303-443-2206, www.DrTaraSkyeGoldin.com;
• Joy Om; 303-449-8664;
• Pam Severance; 303-544-0093;
• Alison Watt, RN, Dip C., PhD (ABD); 303-245-0408 Training in craniosacral therapy is offered by:
• The Colorado School of Energy Studies; 303-443-9847, www.energyschool.com

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