"Do not imagine that she who seeks to comfort you now lives untroubled
among her simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good.
Her life has much more difficulties and sadness and remains far behind yours.
Were it otherwise she would never have been able to find these words."

Cranio-sacral therapy, was discovered by U.S. Osteopath Dr. John Upledger, in the 1970’s. While working with the cranial rhythm, one is working with the core pulse of the body. All physical, mental and emotional activity, is generated by the brain. This self-contained hydralic system contracts and expands in waves every 6-12 seconds. 

These waves are generated by the rise and fall of the fluid pressure inside the skull. The skull is not solid, but is actually an interlocking system of moveable plates, to allow for pressure changes inside the skull. The slightest misalignment can interfere with the normal function of the underlying brain tissue and the bodily functions it is responsible for.

Misalignments can be caused from light to severe compressions to the head or hip, sacral area. Essentially a blow to the base of the spine, may be considered a head injury.

The positive effect of a cranial session is to remove the obstacles that the body's self-correcting forces have been unable to overcome. There can be no serious side effects as the cranio-sacral system itself decides how the correction should be made.

Cranio-Sacral therapy is gentle and non-invasive and seldom is a pressure greater than 5 grams – the weight of a nickel, is used.

The cranial system is the realm of the fascia, it emerges from the enclosed system and extends everywhere in the body, taking the wavelike motion of the cranial heartbeat, with it.

During cranial therapy, the practitioner reads the distortions in the fascia and locates restrictions, tension, twisting and scar tissue, throughout the body. The fascia tells the practitioner what injuries the body has suffered, because it records events just like a cassette tape. Erasing this memory releases pressure/anxiety and restores free movement through the mind/body system.

A Cranio-sacral session will strengthen your body’s core rhythm, raise your energy level, release buried stress, decrease anxiety and strengthen your immune system.

Cranial work is deep, subtle and I think, rather magical. The results can be dramatic and can create profound shifts in your consciousness.

headaches, migraines, insomnia, stress, ADD, learning disabilities, autism, ADHD, chronic fatigue, traumatic injuries to head and spine, (including forceps delivery), chronic neck and back pain, scoliosis, emotional difficulties, TMJ, stress and tension-related problems, post traumatic stress disorder, orthopedic problems and more.

  The Emotional /Energetic Meanings of the Cranial Bones

The Sacrum:

•      the root soul – accumulator of earth energy
•      this is where I stand, and this is what I stand for
•      security, stability, safety, finding a good home
•      the sacred bone, the immortal bone, the launching pad of the spiritual energy
•      no one is backing me up
•      represents deep sensitivity and reacts to being judged by contracting

The Occiput:

•      the head is “in charge, head of the department, navigate by setting a heading”
•      brainstorming, losing our heads, blow our tops, odd behaviour = numbskull
•      authority and too much responsibility = rigidity in this area
•      its release can bring joy and life to flow back in the being
•      somatically connected to feelings of betrayal, stabbed from behind
•      birth, umbilical cord wrapped around the neck
•      allowing yourself to be supported in life
•      the meeting place of “I don’t know who I am --- “I am”
•      reacts a stored past images, impedance of present time memory
•      difficulty in creating one’s future

The Sphenoid:

•       normal sphenoid flexion milk the pituitary and optimizes normal hormone function
•      trauma produces from mild headache to severe personality disorder
•      the inner vision bone of seeing who we are and seeing our potential, seeing our world
•      poor motility results in cases of SAD
•      the definition of “interconnectedness”, when misaligned we feel disconnected
•      downward (flexion) lesion people get dull &frontal headaches, sinusitis and low-back pain
•      and also they tend to be plump and extrovert and downcast or depressed when alone
•      upward (extension) lesion people suffer more severe headaches, migraines and tend to live alone or be introverted and thinner, love to jog, looking upward or to God for support
•      dyslexia, occurs when one side is higher than the other, also scoliosis,
•      feelings of being all twisted up or torn apart by a situation, (children with fighting parents)
•      someone who cannot bear to “see” a traumatic situation will distort or fault their own inner visual field by twisting the sphenoid to one side

The Temporals:

•      temporals hold the organs of hearing and balance
•      misalignment can trigger the vagus nerve which relates to the sensation of hunger
•      often can be the “lie detector” bone, people tend to scratch it when not telling the truth
•      part of the throat soul center, verbal expression, flexibility in life, absorption of love, digestion of new experiences, balance in life, and a holy place to be approached reverently
•      three levels of hearing – mundane conversations, interpret higher learning, soul guidance
•      giving clues to attenuated words can help the client to stop his emotions from changing his nervous system and allow him to feel them instead of walling them off
•      feel out of sorts when they are faulted, vertigo, short-term memory lapse, personality changes and short-term emotional problems
•      feelings of malaise and repentance
•      the ear pull can correct personality changes after a whiplash is a major euphoric and thus very useful when working with depression

The Parietals:

•      The vault of our cathedral roof and the opening through which divine energy pours in through the crown chakra
•      home to the crown soul, transcendence of all material fixations, needs, longings and discontent.
•      the kundalini chakra, the 1000 petaled lotus.
•      nothing is good or bad except thinking makes it so
•      there is no blame and no judgement
•      everything is exactly as it needs to be
•      there is timelessness
•      we are one another
•      we know, without thinking what troubles everybody
•      reflection of anger. (he made me so angry I wanted to blow my top!)
•      a parietal lift brings the capability to open the crown soul

The Frontal Bone:

•      at glabella is the exit point of the channel of the “inner eye”
•      The frontal and ethmoid area becomes cloudy when the individual can’t see his way ahead
•      stubbornness when stressed, bull-headed, the negative shadow of perseverance
•      energy of Aires the Ram, push and shove, butting our heads against a brick wall
•      often represents stupid determination, obsessive thinking, stuck in our heads
•      high dome represents intelligence, wisdom, ethics and conscience
•      helps to make long-term plans, working memory
•      unwinding the faux may clear confusion headaches

The Ethmoid

•      like a child holding onto a large kite (the faux cerebri membrane)
•      part of the inner eye and specifically related to seeing the way ahead, if you see that the way ahead as being clear, (aligned ethmoid) then the way ahead will be clear.
•      if the individual is not acknowledging his ability to see the way ahead the area becomes cloudy, as if we are lost in a mist.
•      a tumbling motion in the ethmoid can produce deeply disturbed psychological states
•      misalignment can cause darkness, distraction, despair, disturbance

The Vomer

•      the vomer connects the throat soul to the inner eye soul where we connect what we see with what we say.
•      represents “present time” and the lead-up to perception
•      properly harnessed energy in the body creates a mind like a sword, the vomer is part of it
•      sinusitis is a kind of crying for love, symptomatic of one who lacks tenderness coming in from the outside

The Zygomae 

•       they are the eagle’s beak,  pride in appearance
•      the upper realm of the throat soul, provide feelings of strength and protection
•      a rigid person may have tight cheekbones

The Maxillae

•      upper limit of the throat soul
•      communication, tenacity, affection, threat display, attack and defense
•      “you want the truth, I’ll tell you the truth”
•      creativity in song, poetry and speech as well as silence.
•      those who know do not talk - those who talk do not know
•      primal imprint of receiving nurturing and unconditional love with mother’s milk
•      upward looking posture of devotion and ecstatic experience
•      holds anger, resentment and loyalty
•      represents gracefulness and poise in physical beauty
•      resentful if we want to speak but need to bite our tongues
•      fear of speaking personal truth for fear of the consequences

The Palatines  

•      “had it up to here” gag reflex, hard to swallow
•      treating them evokes sensitive and sad emotions, makes people cry
•      gateway to the soul

The Mandible

•      most open to psychological input than any other bone in the head
•      unexpressed aggression, determination, fear of speaking out
•      major bone of the throat soul represents expression and absorption
•      energies held there are identity, aggression, determination, tenacity, sexuality
•      the thousand wounds of love, shapes our bodies and how we hold our lower jaw and lips
•      sensuality, suppression of tender emotions, (grow up!) retraction of lower lip to keep it in
•      anxiety, stress and tension alter the physiology of the jaw muscles and upper neck
•      most energetically loaded bone of the skull and principle player in most headaches

     Entire spine: A need to develop greater flexibility within one’s self and one’s life.

    Cervical Vertebrae 1-7: Concerned with and affected by ideas, thoughts or will. A need for original ideals, thought creation and desires, and taking responsibility for them.

    Thoracic 1-12: Connected with and influenced by purpose. One must direct thoughts and desires that fulfill the ideals of self.

    Lumbar 1-5: Activation of thought that is being brought into manifestation or mobility. One must cause action to fulfill those desires that create an understanding of power and forward motion.

    Sacrum: Similar to above, but one must initiate action within the self and not wait for external factors to move you.

    Coccyx: extreme forcing or extreme passiveness.

Responsibility = response  ability.