Adventures in Cranial Sacral

cranio-sacral-therapy

Posted by Jennifer Harrison

Receiving regular and varied forms of massage is a deeply felt need often ignored.

It is quite easy to fall into a habit of receiving one style of work or technique because we know what to expect as a result. Our bodies crave diversity of action, nutrients and quality of touch. Each modality or style of massage and bodywork has its own approach to addressing pain, stagnation, and range of motion. Imagine sensations that can be as wildly different as Classical Ballet and Samba can be from each other.

Rachel Langdon recently joined us here at Judy Moon and Associates and I knew early on I had to reconnect with her specialty Cranial Sacral work. Cranial Sacral is a light touch form of bodywork where the focus is placed on the free flow and tidal movement of our cerebral spinal fluid. Cerebral spinal fluid cycles to bathe our brain and spinal cord. This cycling causes palpable ripples throughout the skeletal body that adept hands register and respond to.

As I settled in on the warmed table I was acutely aware of the pain in my sacrum and low back. Rachel began at my feet and within a few minutes I could feel my mind turn off and I entered a deeper state of near sleep. Consciousness ebbed and flowed, along with it tension dropped in stages. Working from my feet to my head Rachel, removed subtle obstructions that had been the heart of profound discomfort. As my mind and body came in and out of consciousness I could feel my sacrum and tailbone lowering and realigning long after Rachel had moved onto another body part. Gentle touch, spreading warmth, a pervasive sense of safety and poof! Another misaligned joint would shift back into harmony.

As I rose from the massage table it was clear feelings of lightness and ease had replaced pain and tension. An hour of soft focus touch and intention had melted away so much that years of intense deep tissue had barely begun to influence.

Language may fall short to adequately describe the nuance and more subtle differences between techniques, don’t let that deter you from trying something new.

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