Upledger CranioSacral Therapy is a whole body therapy that generally uses about 5 grams of pressure to facilitate change in the body. Most people that receive a treatment for the first time are amazed at how different, open and pain free they feel with so little pressure and movement on the skin. An article put out by Lisa Nico at kval.com talks about combining CranioSacral Therapy and Acupressure. She interviewed Dr. Zachary Corbett who explained that “craniosacral acupressure is a very gentle hands on techniques desined to move the body through pain and dysfunction…and creates change that is stable and sustainable”. It is truly an integrative therapy- combining eastern medical techniques with modern medical science.
Dr. Corbett used a metaphor of CranioSacral acupressure being like untying a knot in a shoelace. When we are trying to get a knot loose and we are tugging, muscling and forcing, it gets tighter. When we take the approach of slowly feeding the ends back through the knot, “the knot fluffs up, relaxes and unravels on its own”. This treatment is much different then some traditional invasive and forceful treatments that we are used to. “The light pressure allows us to begin to adjust the connective tissue in the direction the body’s already tying to adjust”, Dr. Corbett says. We are then facilitating the body’s natural healing processes which leaves the patient feeling open, balanced and relaxed with a reduction or elimination of pain.
Working the entire body as a whole and not just an isolated part is the focus of CranioSacral Therapy. Our body has a head-to-toe fascial network that literally connects the entire body together. “You may have neck pain, but actually there’s a problem someplace down by the hip. You can work the neck all you’d like but the body’s just going to pull it out of shape again”. In CST, we listen to the body’s rhythm and follow the fascia to the next “weakest link” in the network. The body knows the order of release that is needed to relieve the pain. It is our job, as facilitators, to stay neutral, present and to let the patient’s body lead.
Why not give CranioSacral a try?! The only thing you have to lose is PAIN.
Trisha Schmalhofer, LMT and CranioSacral Therapist
Pain Relief Therapy | Massage | CranioSacral | Reiki 