Welcome to Mellie's mind...

Where thoughts can be funny, can race at all hours of the day and night and can sometimes not make any sense!

Enjoy the ride!

Monday, August 26, 2013

Craniosacral Therapy

Craniosacral therapy (CST), or cranial-sacral therapy, is a form of bodywork or alternative therapy focused primarily on the concept of "primary respiration" and regulating the flow of cerebrospinal fluid by using therapeutic touch to manipulate the synarthrodial joints of the cranium. Craniosacral therapy was developed by Dr. John Upledger in the 1970s, and is loosely based on osteopathy in the cranial field (OCF), which was developed in the 1930s by William Garner Sutherland.[1][2] In the United States, OCF, or cranial osteopathy, as it is more commonly known, can only be practiced by fully licensed physicians (DOs, MDs and, in some states licensed naturopathic physicians, NDs, or licensed massage therapists)- Wikipedia


A typical Craniosacral therapy session, as described by my massage therapist Andrea Thompspn, LMT http://www.ajafamilyhealth.com/,  takes place in a quiet, private setting.  You remain fully clothed as you relax on a comfortable, padded table.
Your therapist begins by gently touching various parts of your body to monitor the rhythm of  the fluid that is flowing around your central nervous system.  By carefully listening with the hands to locate areas of weak fluid flow or tissue motion, your practitioner can trace those areas of weakness through the body to the original source of dysfunction.  Delicate manual techniques are then used to release those problem areas and improve the form and function of your central nervous system.  What you experience from your own session is highly individual.  The sessions are generally deeply relaxing, creating feelings of warmth or gentle pulsing in the areas the therapist is working on.  Craniosacral therapy improves the body's ability to take better care of you.  It helps relive a full spectrum of pain, illness and dysfunction.

I have had this feeling for sometime now that I have a black mass in my body that hangs around the left side.  It is something that I am pretty mindful about and get little reminders every other day or so that it's there.  I have always felt a connection with my body and soul and feel like when something is not right my body or soul will give me warning signs.  Some call this being in touch with yourself, some people call this a spiritual guide, some refer to it as intuition others refer it as the Holy Spirit.  Regardless of what it is called I know that something speaks to me.  

Earlier this year my hubby and I had gone to a medium up in Seattle.  At the end of each sessions she will do a "check in" with your body before the reading is over.  Several times she has talked about me caring for my body and soul and that if I didn't take more care of myself she sees me having issues in the future with my head.  She described it as possible to severe migraines and damage to my brain.   But this last time she described something new.  She told me she saw a mass forming on the left side of my body.  She told me that I needed to spend time working through some issues I was having thus preventing the mass from growing.  She seemed very concerned with this area and told me that she really wanted me to focus on it and working through some emotional issues I was having.

Last week I took a step in the direction she suggested and had my first real Craniosacral therapy done.  I have to admit I was a little skeptical at first and really didn't understand how the whole process was going to work for me.

Andrea move around to different parts of my body just placing her hands on me and not saying anything.  The first half hour was in silence.  I thought about work, I thought about my hubby and our kids.  I thought about everything EXCEPT what was happening in that session.

Finally Andrea sat next to me and quietly started asking me about my body. As she laid her hands on my chest she began asking me to describe what my body was feeling like.  What were the images in my head at that moment.  She suggested I ask my body what it was trying to tell me and ask it what it needed from me.

I won't take you through the whole process of events however I do want to share that close to the end the heavy feeling I had in my chest started to feel lighter.  I felt as if I was able to face some emotional feelings I was hiding and blocking from thinking about by owning them and facing them head on.  One thing Andrea did tell me at the end was that after knowing me for nine years she has come to learn that I am good at compartmentalizing

Compartmentalization (psychology)

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Compartmentalization is an unconscious psychological defense mechanism used to avoid cognitive dissonance, or the mental discomfort and anxiety caused by a person's having conflicting values, cognitions, emotions, beliefs, etc. within themselves.
Compartmentalization allows these conflicting ideas to co-exist by inhibiting direct or explicit acknowledgement and interaction between separate compartmentalized self states
my feelings.  I have became a master at putting certain feelings and emotions away in little boxes so that I can continue moving forward in my life but yet never really owning the feeling or giving myself permission to accept that my feelings are validated.  She stated that I am so use to making sure everyone is happy, everything gets done, everyone gets their needs met and I overachieve in areas of my life that I do not allow the time to process pain or discomfort. 

This was a pretty ah-ha moment for me.  Having someone who knows me so well be able to see this about myself and share it with me in a non criticizing way really helped me. 

Do I know what this "feeling of dread and heaviness" in my chest is?  No.  Am I concerned about what it may be?  Yes.  But after this session I really did feel as if though a little bit of weight was lifted and I was able to take a deeper breath.

I am going to continue to explore Craniosacral Therapy and continue to explore the feelings that I have locked away inside me.

Stay tuned........

If you want to learn more about this therapy or you need a great massage therapist check out Andrea's website and make an appointment. 
http://www.ajafamilyhealth.com/



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