About Craniosacral Therapy
What is Craniosacral Therapy?
Craniosacral Therapy is a gentle yet powerful hand´s on therapy that helps the body´s natural tendency to find health and optimum balance. A Craniosacral Therapist does not focus on specific conditions, but on the underlying health that is always present in the body.
However, life experiences such as birth, accidents, injuries, toxicity, emotional problems, stress and prolonged strain may affect the body and cause dis-ease. During these events the tissues in the body contract and if there is an emotion linked to the event, the tissue may find it hard to balance. This might manifest in back pain, migraine, digestive problems or maybe emotional disorders such as anxiety, depression or more sever illnesses. The "memory" of these events or traumas can stay in the body for a long time.
The therapist listens, via the hands, to what is going on in the body, identifies and helps to relieve pain, tension or strain. You may feel a deep sense of relaxation and become aware of heat, tingling, pulsations or other sensations.
Craniosacral Therapy is client-led. Your body will set the pace of work, so you will remain comfortable, in control and able to integrate the changes that occur.
Since it is your body rather than your mind that sets the priorities, you may find that the reason you came for treatment is not what changes first. Some people find that it can take a few sessions to get used to what they are feeling. For these reasons you may need to consider having a series of treatments to gain the full benefit of Craniosacral Therapy and its cumulative effects.
Where does Craniosacral Therapy Originate?
Dr William Garner Sutherland and Dr Andrew Still were osteopaths in the USA in the beginning of the 1900. Craniosacral therapy developed from their discoveries about the body´s subtle physiology.
At the core of the body a fluid (cerebrospinal fluid) bathes and cushions the brain and spinal cord. This fluid expresses a rhythmic motion like the tides of the ocean. Bones, organs and other structures in the body follow their own particular patterns of movement. This motion is very subtle but a trained therapist is able to perceive this motion. Development of these discoveries has evolved and refined the therapy into the unique style of deep listening it is today.
How does Craniosacral Therapy Work?
Life experiences such as birth, accidents, injuries, toxicity, emotional problems, stress and prolonged strain may affect the body and cause dis-ease. During these events the tissues in the body contracts and if there is an emotion linked to the event it might change the rhythmic flow of the fluids around the spinal cord. The tissues and fluid in the body may then find it hard to balance. The "memory" of these events or traumas can stay in the body for a long time. Craniosacral therapy helps the body to re-establish the original rhythmic motion of the fluid around the brain and spinal cord. Please refer to the Craniosacral Therapy Association for more information.
Can Craniosacral Therapy help me?
Craniosacral Therapy is suitable for people of all ages, from babies to elderly. Craniosacral Therapy is often beneficial for fragile or acutely painful conditions, as well as during pregnancy, after an operation, accident fall or injury.
You do not have to be ill or have any particular symptoms to benefit from Craniosacral Therapy. The easing of life´s stresses and the increased sense of vitality and well being that Craniosacral Therapy can bring, are welcome at any time.
Conditions that respond well to Craniosacral Therapy
Allergies, Asthma, Back pain, Bone/joint disorders, Breathing disorders, Chronic fatigue, Depression, Dental trauma, Digestive issues, Emotional issues, Exhaustion, Eczema, Eye strain, Glue ear, Headaches, Hormonal disorders, Insomnia, ME, Migraine, PMT, Menstrual pain, Stress, Tension, Tinnitus.
Can Craniosacral Therapy help babies and children?
Restrictions arising during birth may result in colic, suckling problems, breathing difficulties, restlessness and irritability. Babies and small children appreciate the way Craniosacral Therapy speaks to them. It is a nonverbal language which they respond to particularly well.
Conditions that respond well for children
Attention deficit disorder, Asthma, Autism, Behavioural issues, Cerebral palsy, Colic, Dyslexia, Ear infections, Epilepsy, Disturbed sleep, Hyperactivity, Irritability, Learning disorders, Restlessness, Suckling and feeding difficulties.
What is Trauma?
“Trauma is an integral straight jacket, created because something is so horrific that human beings became immobilized and that particular moment gets frozen in time. Trauma suppresses expression of life and suffocates our attempts to move on in our lives. It breaks our connection to ourselves, to others, to nature and to our spiritual source” - Peter Levine 1997 (re-translated from German Chm 2004).
“…[trauma] therapy needs to consists of helping people to be in their bodies and to understand their bodily sensations.” Bessel van der Kolk, MD
Nature gave all animals, including man, a system capable of regulating internal balance. This self-regulation is also known as the ability to maintain an inner balance called homeostasis and is the main function of the autonomic nervous system. A nervous system in trauma can be compared with a car in which the brakes and the accelerator are being applied at the same time. Trauma is therefore in the nervous system not in the story. Babette Rothchild explains this in her book, The Body Remembers.
Trauma is therefore a very wide topic and is unique to every person. Nobody knows which event in our lives will take our nervous system into overwhelm and trauma. Sometimes the person experiencing the trauma do not realise their body is holding trauma. They just experience the symptoms and do not understand what is wrong with them.
It is the role of the body to protect us from dangerous situations (physical and emotional) but most of the time we are not aware of the warnings our bodies are giving us or we do not trust our own instincts.
Craniosacral Therapy can assist people to familiarise themselves with the sensations in their body, recognise it and if there are restrictions release it in a very gentle way.
What is Health?
Osho says in his book “From Medication to Meditation” - "there is only one kind of health and it accompanies us at birth. Illness is a superficial phenomenon and comes occasionally. Health is our nature. Man is part of nature; his health is nothing but being at ease with nature.”
Osho quotes Paracelsus: “until we know the state of your inner harmony, we can at the most release you from your illness – because your inner harmony is the source of your health. But when we release you from one illness, you will immediately catch another, because nothing has been done with regard to your inner harmony. The fact of the matter is that it is your inner harmony which must be supported.”
Dr. Sutherland referred to this inner harmony as the “breath of life” and it was Dr Still who said “I love my fellow man, because I see God in his face and in his form.”
Harold Magoun DO, edited the first textbook of Dr Sutherland’s work and in this book he wrote “All life is manifested in energy or motion. Without motion, in some degree, there can only be death. But the motion must be intelligent and directed by a Supreme Being. There must be a channelling of the Universal Intelligence down to the individual cell or organism. Otherwise all would be chaos.”
In philosophizing as to how this channelling of the Universal Intelligence might reach the fundamentals of human physiology Dr Still referred to the cerebrospinal fluid as “the highest known element in the human body.” His constant reference to this attribute leaves little doubt but that he considered the cerebrospinal fluid to be the recipient.
Dr Sutherland confirmed this view: “that the cerebrospinal fluid receives and is endowed with the breath of life”. As long as life exists the highest known element is the abiding place of that mysterious spark which cannot be explained but is non the less present.
To access the health in our bodies Dr Sutherland said “Be still and Know” and Roland Becker acknowledges the necessity to “be still in order to know through the most direct Channel possible.”
In Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy the therapist listens to the rhythmic motion of the cerebrospinal fluid and invites stillness to connect the body’s inherent health. It is the body that knows what is required to bring balance (homeostasis) back in the body.
Where to find Agnesia?
Agnesia trained at The Craniosacral Therapy Educational Trust in London and is an accredited Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist and works from The Sangha, 14a Broughton Street Lane, Edinburgh, EH1 3LY.
Please refer to the map here for directions (opens in a new window).
For an appointment contact her on
+44 774 336 2221 or email agnesia@biodynamic3.com
How much does a session cost?
1 session is £40,00.5 sessions is £180,00.
Concessions (Proof of Status required)
1 session is £20,00.
5 sessions is £90,00.
