Healing through “whole body listening”: how Cranio-Sacral Therapy can resolve tension, injury or trauma:
Healing through “whole body listening”: how Cranio-Sacral Therapy can resolve tension, injury or trauma:
Psychotherapists listen to their clients’ tell their stories with words, emotional expression, body language and their empathic presence. Biodynamic Cranio-Sacral Therapists use deep presence and mindful touch to “listen with their hands” (either in-person or from a distance using visualisation). Every body tells a story. Each person’s life story is unique, complex and multi-faceted – beginning from pre-birth right up until the present moment.
Woven into the cells and tissues of the body are tales of love or sadness, connection or separation, a safe or a trauma-filled childhood – or something in between. The body holds stories of the person’s birth, their home and school life, notable accidents or shocks that haven’t been fully resolved, experiences of falling in love and of heartbreak, memories of significant kindness or of insensitivity shown by others. The body reflects general feelings of confidence or of low self-esteem, of motivation or confusion, of joy or sadness, enthusiasm or hopelessness. Our body reflects our experiences, both positive and negative, and our daily life patterns. If you look at a person’s posture and body language, you can literally learn to ‘read’ their history.
A main focus of Cranio-Sacral Therapy is a series of subtle rhythmic motions of expansion and contraction, expressed by all the bones, membranes, fluids, organs, fascia and every cell of the body. This motion is referred to as ‘primary respiration’ and is an expression of our ‘life force’ energy – the powerful force that is responsible for creating and sustaining our life. Cranio-Sacral Therapists ‘listen’ with their hands to the areas of the body where the rhythms are free-flowing and the tissues healthy, and to those places which are restricted, stagnant or depleted – to the stories that they hold. Listening with open interest and compassion, without judgment or agenda, triggers an experience of deepening relaxation, trust, self-healing, releasing, rebalancing and reorganisation within the person’s system. Tissues may begin to soften, bony restrictions release or realign, fluids and energy start to flow more dynamically. Often the client will become aware of specific memories held in different parts of their body as they are contacted, and may temporarily experience accompanying sensations or emotions as they surface and release.
The client will often notice positive effects within themselves immediately or within a couple of days, such as increased feelings of relaxation and wellbeing, which persist in their daily life, a reduction or alleviation of physical pain, better quality of sleep and the improvement of specific symptoms. As part of the process, they may first experience a temporary ‘healing crisis’ when their stories and the related symptoms come up to the surface to be acknowledged and released or integrated.
Biodynamic Cranio-Sacral Therapy can be a valuable tool for healing, transformation and personal growth, helping you to gently release past experiences from your body and mind, and to reconnect with your true nature, the present moment and your full potential.
One of the silver linings of 2020 was the discovery that it is possible to offer Biodynamic Cranio-Sacral Therapy sessions also from a distance through visualisation. (I was lucky enough to be able to reconnect with my old teacher Thomas Atlee at the College of Cranio-Sacral Therapy via Zoom to experience some training in this incredible modality.) Whilst the client doesn’t receive the actual experience of touch, I have been amazed to discover how many people can actually sense where I am working on their body. Many also find that they can relax even more deeply when they are in their own familiar surroundings. Here you can find more information about my hands-on sessions or distance healing options. Please do get in touch for more information or if you would like to book a session.
