~by Jessica LaGarde, LMT
I think its hard to come up with an “elevator speech” about craniosacral therapy (CST). Historically, I find myself giving long descriptions that often don’t even make any sense to someone who isn’t a bodyworker. My explanation has gone through several incarnations, and my new favorite is the way my most recent teacher, Fred Stahlman, described it. It goes something like this:
Craniosacral therapy is an inside-out treatment approach that balances the nervous system and connective tissue to allow the body to tap into its innate ability to heal itself.
So…what does that mean? For me, there are two important points made in that sentence.
First: The treatment is inside-out. In massage, I start on the surface, literally and figuratively. I’m touching skin and effecting muscles, addressing what I find from general to specific, superficial to deep. In CST, I’m going directly to the core. Instead of making an evaluation by palpating things on the surface, like muscles and ligaments, I’m palpating a rhythm that is tied directly to the central nervous system.
I picture massage as being a little like a phone call made through a relay operator. The message will reach its destination, but its filtered through an extra layer or two. CST is like having a direct conversation, cutting through the third-party messenger.
Second: We’re tapping into the body’s self-healing ability. In CST lingo, this is known as the “inner physician,” and I’m very fond of that image. Whatever our medical philosophy, I think we can all get on board with the idea that our bodies want to be healthy and balanced. In massage, I make a lot of really educated guesses about what’s going on in your body and how I can best affect a change. Based on what I know about your medical history, lifestyle, and the way the human body works, I address certain muscles, joints and movement patterns to communicate the message to your body that its okay to let go. While your body is really the one doing the work, there’s a little bit of ego involved on my part. In CST, the ego takes a back seat. Way, way in the back. When I put my hands on a body in a craniosacral mindset, I’m not making any assumptions. I may not even want to know about your medical history, or how you’re feeling when you walk in the room. My hands are feeling whatever they feel, following the body where it wants to go, and letting it decide for itself how best to correct an imbalance.
There is a litany of things that CST is said to be helpful for, ranging from ADHD and depression to chronic migraines to strabismus. If I was going to make my own personal list of who might be best suited for CST (which I am), I would say, for sure, anyone who struggles with headaches or back pain. You might be a good fit if you have trouble sleeping, or if you sleep fine but don’t wake up feeling rested. Because it is so settling for the nervous system, it works beautifully to induce a state of deep relaxation. So, anyone who feels overstimulated, anxious, run down or super stressed out will probably benefit from the work.
There’s almost no one who isn’t a candidate for CST, but that doesn’t mean that its for everyone. The touch is still and very light–in most cases, about the weight of a nickel. Some folks are attached to the feeling of pressure, and laying still for an hour and receiving work that feels very subtle isn’t a fun time for them.
Different people experience the work in different ways. For me, it feels deeply settling and has a quality of warmth and expansiveness. I spend much of a session in a sort of twilight state, somewhere between sleep and waking, but definitely not fully cognizant. I’m often unsure exactly where the practitioner is, even while being fully aware that they are near the table and touching me. Other people have reported similar experiences. Some clients of mine feel nothing much at all during the session, besides that its nice to lay down for an hour, but notice that they feel much better the next day, or sleep very soundly that night, or that instead of having a headache once a week, they now come three weeks apart. Because the treatment works inside-out, as a client you’ll take what you need and your body will process the work in the way that’s most useful at that time.
For a better idea of what a session looks like, you can see a time-lapsed sample session here. If you’re still curious, The Spa Room is offering $50 weekday sessions through the month of October, or 80 minute integrated massage/CST sessions for $110.