CST Foundations by Don
Craniosacral Therapy is a very light touch form of bodywork that encourages the body to heal itself. It was founded on Osteopathic principles of Andrew Taylor Still who said , in 1874, that the body is a whole unit, structure follows function, and the body can heal itself. With CST, the therapist views each patient as a whole unit. For example, someone may have neck pain. Viewing a person completely and not just a neck problem patient may allow the practitioner to find that the person had a foot problem, which threw weight bearing to one side, which caused the spine to be out of alignment, which caused the neck pain.
Structure follows function means the way the body is designed indicates how each body part works. The lungs are made of large sections of tiny air sacks and surrounded by a fascial bag and then a flexible bone, muscle and cartilage ribcage. By looking at the structure, one can easily see that the lungs were designed to expand and contract and the ribcage was designed to move with the lungs and protect the vital organs.
Around 1900, William Sutherland was studying the skull while attending the Osteopathic school founded by A.T. Still, when he noticed the temporal bones of the skull, (the bones that make up the sides of the head and ear canals,) looked like they were designed to move. He said they looked like the gills of a fish. He put straps and other simple devices around his head and had his wife observe what happened. She noticed he had balance problems, memory loss, difficulty in space and distance perception, leg, back,and head pain. He was irritable, quick tempered and displayed other uncharacteristic traits. So right away, you can see, one of the true pioneers and brave researchers in these adventurous exploits into the fluid world of biodynamic function of the brain was; Mrs. Sutherland!!
As he learned osteopathic manipulation, he applied the techniques to the bony structures of the cranium. He designed gentle treatment approaches that encouraged motion of the skull. He introduced us to the notion that because of the structure,(the way all the 26 bones fit together with many multi-faceted interconnecting joints called sutures,) the cranium was designed to move, expand and contract. It was like a round beach ball or balloon that is rhythmically "breathing" or partially expanding and then partially contracting. He theorized this was the way cerebrospinal fluid was produced and circulated in order to provide nutrition to the brain and spinal cord. He felt it was the "Breath of Life", because it was the mechanism that exchanged fluid to operate the brain. It was the brain which then sent signals to the lungs and heart to exchange oxygen in the blood to operate the body. So the original breath of life (to Sutherland) was not in the lungs, but in the brain.
Sutherland's treatment approaches gently encouraged each bone to move freely thereby allowing this system of cerebrospinal fluid exchange to operate more efficiently with the least resistance and energy expense. He also introduced us to the notion that the original energy that sparked the start of this breath of life was devine and having its own consciousness.
If we, the "mechanics" as Still and Sutherland called practitioners, just gently allowed our hands to contact the cranial bones, allow our hands to gently move with the existing rhythm of the system, we could then gently encourage bones, not moving, to begin to return to the expanding and contracting dynamic movement of the beautiful "breathing" orb of the cranium.
John Upledger came along in the late 1960's wanting to be a modern day Osteopath and Surgeon. Then as an assistant in a neurological procedure, as bone was removed in the patient's neck exposing the spinal canal and dural tube, he saw the gentle rhythmic expansion and contraction as the craniosacral rhythm moved through the membrane system of the spinal cord. This witness changed his life forever. He returned to school, studied Sutherland's concepts and by the mid 1970's became one of the leading Cranial Osteopaths in the country.
Upledger's contributions expanded the work on several fronts. Not the least of which was his conviction that the work could be done by anyone with gentle hands, a knowledge of anatomy,and good intention. Recognizing the human need for this gentle approach and the lack of numbers of osteopathic physicians that were offering cranial work, he began to teach. At Michigan State University, he lead research to prove the validity of Sutherland's concepts . He taught grad students, PTs, OTs, Massage Therapists and parents of special needs children.
He also worked with Autistic children and found that as the cranial bones and sacrum(tailbone) began to have more movement, common characteristics became apparent in the body. As the cranial sutures returned to full motion releasing the restrictions of immobility of the cranial bones, other releases occurred in other parts of the body. As cranial bones freed themselves, (with gentle encouragement from the therapist) the organs of the brain just beneath the previously restricted bones of the skull, became more functional. The areas of the body that the organs of the brain controlled began to change in characteristic ways.
The head expands and contracts and the spine lengths and shortens at a rhythmic rate of 6 to 12 cycles per minute. That's why the work is called "Craniosacral" because it involves the beautiful fluid mechanism governed at each end of the spine by the bones of the cranium (head) and sacrum (sacred tail bone).
I can't tell you the times a person comes to me with headaches and part way through the session they ask, "excuse me Don, but my doctor sent me here for you to help me with my headaches; so why are you holding my rear end??"
I explain again that this system is a biodynamic system of complimentary movement of the cranium and the sacrum. What we find in CST is someone falls on the ice and lands hard on their back. The sacrum has so much force driven into it that it becomes jammed into the pelvis and is unable to move. The beautiful craniosacral rhythm is thereby impeded and in order for the system to work at all, an exaggerated movement must occur in the joints of the bones of the head, and thus, pressure ensues, and headaches follow.
What happens in our terms is that an energy cyst was produced in the sacrum by the fall and the rhythm was thrown out of balance. By gentle light touch (usually the weight of a nickel, 5 grams), the restriction is released and the sacrum and cranium, and the entire craniosacral system returns to symmetry and balance. This insures the circulation of nutrition to the brain and spinal cord which creates substantial and global health benefit for the patient.
Sometimes during Craniosacral Therapy the tissue or body part between the therapist's hands would emit heat, pulse, or begin to soften and spread. Sometimes with the therapist's hands on the patient's head, the patient's eyes would flutter, their breath pattern would change, gurgling would erupt in the stomach or intestines, or even a muscle in the hand or foot would twitch. These are all common examples of physical releases that occur as a result of therapy.
He also noticed sometimes that patients would have an emotional release, apparently from the body. You know when someone says," I was so nervous, I had butterflies in my stomach," or "I was so scared, my heart was in my throat!"
Upledger's greattest contribution, (in my mind,) is the development of Somato-Emotional Release. He has expanded Sutherland's notion that the craniosacral rhythm has a consciousness. Sometimes when the therapist puts his/her hands on the patient,(with the intention of listening to the rhythm), the rhythm spontaneously and abruptly stops. Upledger's great teaching to us all is the significance of that stop in rhythm. His contention, (that has been repeated in therapeutic CST sessions thousands of times by hundreds of therapists around the world,) is that this spontaneous stoppage of rhythm is the Inner Wisdom of the body's attempt to communicate. This sudden stop in the rhythm is the body's way of raising to the conscious awareness of the patient, (and the therapist), that what the patient is thinking or the position the body is in at that moment, is SIGNIFICANT to the healing process.
An example of a Somato-Emotional Release occurred to a 27 year old mother of 2, who had a one year history of chronic neck pain and headaches as a result of a head-on single car accident, of which she had no memory. She had been to several physicians, had X-rays, tried medications, and had been through standard PT without significant benefical effect.
We began CST and within a few minutes she curled into a fetal position, and began to cry. Her rhythm stopped suddenly. Then between sobbing, she began to experience pain in her ankles, wrists, shoulders and neck. She said she saw the color red. I told her to keep her eyes closed and to continue to experience what she was experiencing, breathe slowly and fully, and remember that this was her body's attempt to help her. We went on for several minutes and then she became calm, straightened out on the table and sat up.
She said she remembered the accident. She slid on the ice and couldn't keep her car from going off the road. She saw the telephone pole coming. She jammed her ankles and feet under the pedals. She braced herself by straightening her arms on the steering wheel and felt the strain on her wrists and shoulders. She recalled her neck whipping forward and back, and the last thing she recalled before going unconscious was seeing the hood of her red car crashing through the windshield. As she sat there she realized her head and neck pain were much less and she could turn more. We followed this session with a couple of sessions of massage and home exercises and she recovered.
By far, the most exciting contribution of Upledger is the dialogue process presented through the training curriculium at the Upledger Institute. He has created a method in which a dialogue can be established between the therapist, (or the therapist and patient) and the Craniosacral Rhythm of the body. By asking the body's permission and by establishing, by request, that the rhythm will stop to communicate "yes", or continue in normal rhythmic pattern for "no", a series of yes/no questions can be asked by the therapist during a session. When the CS rhythm stops in response to a question, this "yes" answer is only momentary. For example, if the CS rhythm is 10 cycles per minute, each expansion is 3 seconds and each contraction is 3 seconds for a single cycle rhythm completion of 6 seconds. When the Inner Wisdom indicates a "yes" the rhythm may stop abruptly for 15 seconds. It only takes a couple of questions before the therapist and the rhythm are quite comfortable with this method of communication.
Lines of questioning can include things like, "is the pain due to something the patient did at work?" Rhythm might stop and the patient might say," you know now that I think about it a box fell on my head at work the other day, and that's when my pain started. The patient may come to the awareness that changes need to be made in his/her life, or at least shed light on the cause of the injury.
One may say this is improbable, impossible, or rediculous, and some form of projection on the part of the therapist. Others might say what is a PT and an Osteopath doing in this milieu of psychodrama anyway?
Well, I stand with Upledger when he says this is optimal physical medicine. This is a vital connecting link between mind and body. This may be the missing element in medicine that can impact, in a positive way: depression, organ rejection, chemotherapy metabolism, tissue or organ healing following surgery or trauma, unrelenting pain, sadness, grief, idiopathic headaches etc. Upledger is currently working on dialogue models in which we can converse with organs of the brain in an effort to understand dementia, Alzheimers ,Parkinsons, and promote recovery from brain surgery and traumatic brain injury. He has taught us to dialogue with the immune system in order to combat auto-immune disease, organ donor rejection, chronic infections, and emotional suppression in the mind and the body.
Upldedger's work is based on intention. If we can encourage the patient, by way of intention, to resolve the emotional holding of an injury, they may be able to let go of their belief system of that injury. "I was wrong. I was a victim. It was my fault. I will never forget how mad I was. I will never stop hating him/her." If we can help the patient link a held emotion, tension or pain to an old trauma, a new awareness can come for the patient. If we can encourage the patient to evaluate a held-in belief and assess if that belief is working for them in their lives, we can help them create a new healing space. This space allows them to access whether they should continue to hold onto a belief or not. Frequently, if they let go of the belief, feeling, or opinion then pain, tension and restriction can release or subside. Physical and emotional health can return, and the patient can move to a place of forgiveness, or at least acceptance so they can move on with their lives.
Furthermore, Upledger says,"what do we have to lose?" If it doesn't work there are no side effects. There is no risk, as in surgery, anesthesia, prescriptive drug interactions, allergic reactions, or infection. The cost is as minimal as a table, and a therapist is the only equipment and staff needed.
CST may improve the effects of current allopathic medicine. These sessions can promote healing after surgery and enhance circulation to help metabolize medications. The CST method is also a stand-alone integrative therapeutic avenue of holistic healing. These simple gentle techniques can quickly and gently remove traumatic effects of chronic pain, injury, disease states, or a difficult birth. When gentle compassionate touch may foster central nervous system healing, circulation and development in special needs children, (for example) what's wrong with trying it?
This, to me, is Craniosacral Therapy. I am dedicating the remainder of my life to try to make this gentle manual medical practice commonplace in the world.