Origins
Where does it come from?
The therapy was developed from the work of Dr William Sutherland, an American osteopath. After discovering that individual bones of the skull (cranium) can move, he then mapped their movements, membranes, and the nervous tissue inside. These subtle motions are driven by an inherent ordering principle, ‘the breath of life’, which is present in the cerebrospinal fluid that is produced in the brain, and flows around the central nervous system in a measurable regular rhythm.
How is it different?
Craniosacral therapy is the new term for a very old form of touch. Since time immemorial as practised by medicine men and shamans this touch has been understood as a way of accessing the body’s inherent intelligence. By connecting with this inner wisdom a craniosacral therapist facilitates the body’s innate ability to heal itself. Sometimes this is a process that has many levels and sometimes it can happen almost immediately.
The crux of the process is enlisting your body’s permission, because with a touch this light your body will settle and drop its defensive inhibitions and focus on getting better. Since it is the body (rather than your mind) that sets priorities, you may find that the reason you sought treatment is not what changes first. Also, some people find that it can take a few sessions for issues to fully resolve. Jacqui will advise you whether you need a series of treatments to gain the full benefit of craniosacral therapy and its cumulative effect.**Special tarifs**Craniosacral therapy is client-led. Your body will set the pace of the work, so you will remain comfortable, in control and able to integrate the changes that occur.
Why have I never heard of Craniosacral therapy before?
Based on a number of findings about the body’s subtle physiology, initially discovered by osteopaths in the USA over 100 years ago, craniosacral therapy is becoming better known. Studies have shown that every cell in a healthy body expresses a rhythmic movement, which is fundamental to life, and that we refer to as the craniosacral motion.
At the core of the body, the cerebrospinal fluid, which bathes and cushions the brain and spinal cord, expresses this motion as a tide-like ebb and flow; while bones, organs and body structures each follow their own particular pattern of movement. This motion is so subtle that it is barely measurable with instruments, but the hands of a trained therapist are able to perceive it. As the implications of these findings were realised, during the first thirty years or so of the twentieth century, craniosacral therapy gradually developed. Since then the treatment has been extended and refined into the subtle, deep healing process which is available today.
References
Dr V M Frymann, ‘A Study of the Rhythmic Motions of the Living Cranium’,
Journal of American Osteopathy 70, (May 1971).
– the first osteopathic doctor to scientifically measure the rhythmic movement of the cranium in 1963.
Melicien Tettambel DO,Allen Cicora BS and Edna Lay DO ‘Recording of the Cranial Rhythmic Impulse’, Journal of American Osteopathy 78 (October 1978).
John Upledger and Jon Vredegoovd, ‘Examination of the Cranial Rhythm in Long Standing Coma and Chronic Neurological Cases Craniosacral Therapy’ in Cranio-sacral Therapy Upledger and Vredegoovd (eds), (Chicago: Eastland Press, 1983), Appendix B.