Being able to be in my body in a comfortable way has been a deep desire of mine for years. I am not interested in feeling anxious in my own skin. I want to be grounded, settled, no matter what life brings. This is the power of embodiment.
Read moreThe Healing Power of Touch
One of the most important healing aspects of craniosacral therapy comes through relational touch. Sure, there are many ways to explain CST on a physical level, but the magic happens in the space created by healing touch. This is where the body and mind begin to meld, the work deepens and whole person begins to take shape. The body and the mind are intricately connected, although when it comes to integrating trauma or difficult emotions, the body often has a different memory or perspective than the mind does.
Read moreNavigating Your Emotional Awakening
Over the past few years, I have found myself in the process of learning to feel and observe my emotions. Something that was so natural when I was young, had become obscured as I got older and learned push uncomfortable emotions away. Years of stuffing emotions into the nooks and crannies of my being created a lot of discomfort that eventually called for my attention. I could no longer ignore that all emotions are a normal part of the human experience. And so began my process of awakening to these emotions that had been stored, some of them for years and years.
A common question that comes up with clients when we get to working with emotions in general and particularly with difficult emotions is this:
"Why is it important to feel my emotions?
Read moreBreathe into Being
Have you ever taken a moment to stop on a busy day only to realize that you weren't breathing? Or maybe you were breathing so shallow that there was no rise and fall in your chest or abdomen.
When I was a nursing student we had to observe the breathing of our patients as part of an assessment. A fellow nursing student was observing my breathing and found that she had a very hard time counting my breaths because there was no noticeable movement in my chest. That was the first time my conscious awareness was ever drawn to my breath. At the time, I didn't think much of it, other than to notice this phenomenon. I thought, well breathing is automatic so it doesn't matter much what is going on as long as it is still happening!
Over the past ten years, I have become much more conscious of my breath and the connection that I have with it. Through mindfulness and learning meditation, it has become an anchor into each present moment for me.
I have come to understand that the breath is one of the most central parts of our being. It can be one of the fastest ways to drop out of racing thoughts into the belly and Being.Read more
Craniosacral Therapy Part II: The Process**-From Chaos to Wonderment
I had the opportunity to attend an intensive craniosacral therapy program last week in Truth or Consequences, NM. This intensive is one of many week-long programs hosted by Integrative Intentions, a unique organization that offers therapy programs that combines craniosacral therapy with group dynamics, water therapy, and equine therapy.
One morning, in our daily group meeting, the concept of transitioning from chaos to wonderment came up. This concept became a theme for the group over the course of the next few days. As these things often happen, I began to come across this concept in books and conversations.
Read morePain and Power: an unexpected relationship
Where there is pain, there is also power.
Sometimes it takes extreme pain for us to begin to pay attention to our bodies and their messages. However, when the decision is made to engage with pain and the process that unfolds, power emerges. And it is there, that place where the most pain lies, that the most power also resides.
Read moreWhere does your inner compass point? Creating orientation around health
This blog post is inspired by much of my own process into creating new beliefs and orientation around health and healing. It has been further inspired by the stories of my clients and those of my teachers. I have spent the past decade of my life studying and experiencing health and disease through a variety of lenses and circumstances. This has been a process that has not been linear or bathed in clarity. It really has been a process of sitting with many viewpoints that seem opposing and finding my own self within the sea of facts, opinions, and theories. A few weeks ago, there was a pivotal moment in this process for me. It all seems so simple when I look back at it now.
Read moreCraniosacral Therapy Part IV: Trauma, Resolution, and Resources
I briefly mentioned trauma in the last post about the Mind Body Continuum and I would like to expand on it in this post. Craniosacral therapy is an excellent therapy for all types of trauma, whether emotional, spiritual, or physical. Due to the inherent respect of craniosacral therapy, a safe space is intentionally created by the therapist which will allow the body to follow its inherent wisdom in finding resolution for unprocessed trauma.
Read moreCraniosacral Therapy Part III: BodyMind Continuum
In this third part of the series on foundational aspects of Craniosacral Therapy, I am going to elaborate on the bodymind continuum. While craniosacral therapy deeply affects the physical body (read more about the basic anatomy of CST here), it is also one of the best therapies that I have found to work with the bodymind continuum. True healing is expressed when there is harmony between all aspects of oneself – Mind, Body, Soul.
Read moreCraniosacral Therapy Part II: The Process
In this second part of the series on Craniosacral Therapy (CST), I want to discuss some elements of the process**. If you haven’t read the first post on some basic anatomy and function behind CST, you can check it out here.
Craniosacral Therapy is a process oriented therapy. What does this mean? Well, it speaks largely to how both the practitioner and the client engage in the therapy. As the practitioner, I honor the deep, innate intelligence of each body and follow the process that it sees fit. In my experience, this orientation around process rather than formula is a more gentle and effective way to treat the body because force is not involved. This concept will be expanded upon in a bit when I talk about the light touch used in craniosacral therapy. So, back to what it means to engage in process oriented work.
Read moreCraniosacral Therapy Part I: Fundamental Anatomy and Physiology
Craniosacral Therapy (CST) is a relatively new experience for many people. It is very common that first-time clients have never experienced craniosacral therapy or worked with a craniosacral therapist. I love this! It is a wonderful therapy and is often much easier to explain once one has had a personal experience with this work. However, I am going to create a 3 part series of posts to further explore various aspects of craniosacral therapy**. My intention with these posts is to set a foundation for the cognitive understanding of CST. Although these posts will likely only scratch the surface, my hope is to answer some commonly asked questions for those who are current or potential clients looking for more information. In this first post, I am going to dive into some of the basic the anatomy and physiology behind craniosacral therapy. This really is the foundation for the practice.
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