14/02/2023
🧠 What is CranioSacral Therapy?
CranioSacral Therapy (CST) is a hands-on therapy, where the touch is gentle, non-invasive and usually subtle. But do not be fooled! It is also a powerful treatment approach that affects the central nervous system to assist in improving function in the whole body.
We are aiming to treat the craniosacral system. This is the term Dr Upledger originally coined to describe the structures that produce and enable a rhythm he observed while assisting in a spinal surgery. (He was trying to hold a structure called the dural tube still while a colleague operated, but he couldn’t as it was moving all by itself!
He eventually called this rhythm the craniosacral rhythm and saw it as being created within the craniosacral system: structures that enable this are the meningeal membranes that surround and support the brain and spinal cord, the bones of the head to which they attach and the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds and protects the brain – beautifully illustrated in the image here.
Ideally, this fascia and structures are all well aligned, the fluid can flow round the brain and spinal cord easily and the rest of the body is not having any less-than-optimal impact on this system (the fascia and nerves affect this system as much as they influence the rest of the body) but, life happens, from in utero onwards, and this system may not be as well aligned and flowing as it could be.
Find out more how we use our ‘listening hands’: https://www.upledger.co.uk/what-is-craniosacral-therapy/
Caroline
