EVERY part is an expression of the whole, and therefore the whole has to be treated, never just the part. Cranio-sacral therapy penetrates deep into the central nervous system, releasing long-standing patterns of tension and trauma. Using sensitive and perceptive touch, the therapist is trained to listen to specific movements that are a reflection of the life forces within the body. Through touch alone, the therapist both diagnoses and treats the patient.

What Is It?

Cranio-sacral therapy is an exceptionally gentle yet extremely powerful form of treatment, which can be helpful in most conditions - from minor aches and pains to severe and persistent chronic health problems.

It is a profound healing process which can influence the deeply held patterns of disease - both physical and psychological - which accumulate throughout life as a result of injury and illness and reside in the body tissues, leading to ill-health and dysfunction.

The therapy has the potential to transform these patterns of restriction in our lives at a very fundamental level, thereby eliminating disease and restoring health.

How Does It Work?

Cranio-sacral therapy involves a very gentle touch of the practitioner's hands. This light contact may be taken up on the cranium, the sacrum or any other part of the body as appropriate. Through this light touch, the practitioner is able to pick up subtle patterns of motion within the body - rhythms, pulls, pulsations - emanating from deep within the core structures of the body. These movements are a reflection of cranio-sacral motion, which is expressed in all tissues throughout the body.

Every condition affecting a person influences this movement, creating asymmetries or restrictions to cranio-sacral motion. The cranio-sacral therapist can therefore diagnose every condition through the corresponding patterns of resistance within the system.

By responding appropriately to these patterns - the therapist can enable and facilitate the release of cranio-sacral restrictions. Release at these profound regulatory levels in turn enables the release of disease symptoms throughout the body.

What Does It Involve?

Most often carried out with the client lying down, fully clothed in a quiet and peaceful environment, the treatment is usually experienced as a very profound relaxation which may pervade the whole person, physically, mentally and emotionally, often accompanied by a feeling of lightness and ease.

The gentle approach is entirely non-invasive. The subtle interaction of two systems - brought together by this light contact - stimulates and enhances self-healing mechanisms within the body to respond, release and open up to a more balanced healthy state.

What Can It Treat?

Cranio-sacral therapy is primarily concerned with creating and maintaining a healthy, balanced state on all levels. This underlying state of well-being enables the body's own healing mechanisms to operate at optimum level, and therefore enables the body to eliminate disease and restore health.

It works on many different levels and influences many different structures within the body: the musculo-skeletal, the nervous, the cardiovascular-vascular and the immune systems are all impacted. As are the organs, the connective tissues, the fluids and the energy systems.

It is suitable for all ages from newborn babies to the elderly. It is particularly valuable in babies and children since the establishment of healthy patterns at an early age sets patterns for the future of that individual, both in their health and in their abilities. It is also particularly renowned for its profound influence on the effects of

Birth Trauma - the effects of which may range from learning difficulties, hyperactivity and ear infections to epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

Cranio-sacral therapy is also particularly valuable in solving and resolving difficult and persistent conditions like the following:

• Headache, migraine, period pains

• Asthma, sinusitis, bronchitis, cystitis

• Frozen shoulder, arthritis, sciatica, sprained ankle, joint disorders, repetitive strain injury (RSI)

• Digestive problems, whiplash injuries, spinal curvatures

• Back pain, neck pain, persistent pain anywhere in the body

• Tension, anxiety, insomnia, visual disturbances

• Lack of energy

• Problems during and after pregnancy, depression, post-operative effects

• Baby care, colic, pyloric stenosis, feeding difficulties

• Ear infections, glue ear, ENT problems

• Compression of the skull due to a difficult birth

• Learning difficulties, dyslexia, squint, lazy eye

• Hyperactivity, autism, epilepsy, cerebral palsy

• Behavioural disorders, tantrums, obsessive behaviour

• Dental problems

• Meningitis, post viral syndrome, glandular fever, fatigue

• The after-effects of any chronic illness or debilitating disease