The Art of CranioSacral Therapy
by Lisa Gillispie
The world of craniosacral therapy is a vast and wonderful world, one in which I have been exploring since 1995. I am delighted to have this opportunity to share my world with you. This article began with a reply I made to a post on an email list regarding the loss of the sense of smell. I now have the luxury in this format, to expand on that post.
It is common for people attempt to solve the question �What is CranioSacral therapy?� by analyzing the word craniosacral. They hear the word �cranial� and conclude that this is a form of therapy that works on the head, perhaps exclusively. Others know that sacrum refers to the tailbone area and include that in their expectations. Most are surprised to find out that craniosacral therapy works with not only the cranium and the sacrum but all of the tissues of the body. This therapy beautifully supports the belief that our body structures are all interconnected and interrelated. The body is approached as an intricate web, each strand influencing the overall picture of health and well-being. As a result, when we work with the body all tissues are considered.
The anatomical components of the craniosacral system include the brain and spinal cord which are permeated and surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid. The dural membranes, a balloon-like, three-layer membrane system, contain these structures. The membranes offer protection and help to maintain an environment distinct from the rest of the body. Offering further protection is the bony outer container formed by the skull, the vertebrae, the sacrum and coccyx (our tailbone).
The influences on these structures are far and wide. Feet and ankles translate movement into the hips which connect to the sacrum, a direct component of our craniosacral system. Arteries, veins and lymph vessels communicate directly with the fluids flowing around and through the brain and spinal cord. Nerves weave their way from the brain and spinal cord and act as great communication highways sending information to and receiving information from the body that is then integrated in the brain. Muscles and organs connect through the sheets of saran-wrap like fascia and influence bone and fluids. These physical structures act as a giant riverbed for a network of rivers. The main fluids of the rivers are blood, cerebrospinal fluid and lymph. These fluids, in one form or another, surround and bathe all tissues and all cells in the body. They carry nutrients, cleanse away waste products and are the environment through which all tissues are connected. Anything that restricts or impedes the flow of the rivers will detrimentally affect the environment of the tissues.
Craniosacral therapy operates from the position that contained within our tissues is an original blueprint for health. At times this blueprint becomes overwhelmed with illness, stress, disease, trauma, etc. The craniosacral therapist helps facilitate the reemergence of original health using a light touch and an in depth knowledge of the landscape of the body. Keenly honed palpation skills allow the therapist to feel areas of restriction. Using gentle holds and a light touch, the therapist supports these areas as the tissues reorganize and release unnecessary restrictions. This enhances the flow of fluids and communication among the tissues, allowing the health in the system to strengthen and reassert itself.
Where did this therapy get its early beginnings? Ancient cultures, including those of India and Egypt, have long practiced manipulations of the cranium. Here in the United States, this work formally began in osteopathic medicine. Once upon a time in the 1800�s a man by the name of Andrew Taylor Still questioned the validity and wisdom of �modern� medicine. As a country doctor during the Civil War, his medical skills had been handed down to him from his father, also a doctor. Unfortunately, at the time he needed it most the medicine he knew failed him and as a result his first wife died during childbirth, two children died of meningitis and a third died of pneumonia. These tragedies sent him on a quest to seek out a better way to support the health of the body. He felt that too much of the focus was on eliminating disease rather than supporting the inherent health of the body that had the intelligence to overcome disease if it was able to function unimpeded. �Anyone can find disease, it is our job to find health.� A.T. Still