Craniosacral work is the art of gentle hands on guidance of your body towards its most optimal and natural alignment. Craniosacral therapy can effect an improvement in sleep quality, energy level, digestion, focus, and comfort. It is a modality born from the Osteopathic tradition of medicine, by Dr. Sutherland, and it relies on profoundly effective and subtle techniques that have a direct effect on the autonomic nervous system.


Why is a balanced autonomic nervous system so important?

The autonomic nervous system ensures that all of the non-voluntary activities of the body take place in a dynamic balance, automatically. For example, sweating and dilation of the pupils, activities which we don't consciously control. There are two branches of the autonomic nervous system that balance each other out: the parasympathetic mode which is activated during rest and digestion and the sympathetic mode which activates a fight or flight response.

City life can put us in a constant sympathetic state, where we're always watching for signs of impending doom but unable to focus and remember simple things. This creates substantial negative effects like indigestion, diarrhea, panic attacks, insomnia, fatigue, blood sugar dysregulation, early aging and memory loss, to name a few.

In contrast, the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system is active when we are meditating, falling to sleep, relaxing, digesting and rejuvenating. It shunts blood to our organs of assimilation and the mechanisms of repair.


Why is good sleep such a potent anti-oxidant?

In a deep state of relaxation, like the restorative phases of sleep, the body is in a parasympathetic mode. In this sense, good sleep is a potent natural anti-oxidant and anti-aging act . By activating this mode, Craniosacral therapy allows our body to move into the rest and repair mode. This is especially important for conditions like anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress where sleep disruption is chronic.

In the field of post traumatic stress, where chronic physical symptoms arise from a traumatic event and are part of the psychoemotional scars, Craniosacral therapy is an excellent way to rebalance the interface of mind and body .

In my research experience with patients who've experienced extreme trauma (torture survivors) it took a minimum of 6 sessions to get to a better level of overall health, but only 2 sessions to eliminate chronic regional symptoms.

This is an exciting area of study, as the current pharmaceutical therapies for anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress can have limited efficacy and create the additional problems of side effects. For more information on Craniosacral therapy, visit the Upledger Institute website at www.iahe.com.