CranioSacral Therapy is light touch manual therapy, a gentle way of facilitating profound transformation. SomatoEmotional Release is a therapeutic process used in CranioSacral Therapy that promotes release of the residual effects of past physical and emotional injuries.

We have retained tensions from every stressful or traumatic event we have ever experienced. Your fascia (connective tissue) is a web that covers every cell and organ in your body in a continual matrix. The fascia can react to assaults on the system (physical or emotional stressors or injuries) like a sea anemone shrinking back from touch. Over time this creates patterns of diverted circulation, restriction, and immobility, like leaves or rocks interfering with a river’s flow.

I can identify and help release protective patterns that the fascia creates in response to alarm — such as internal rotation of the ribs which leads to shallow breathing, which creates mental tension and exacerbates physical tension in a downward spiral. I can also feel energy cysts — pockets of stuck energy that form when the impact of physical/emotional energy is too much for the body to allow it to pass through, or when the body can no longer compensate, and assaults start building up, creating areas of dysfunction (pain, immobility, digestive issues, etc.).

Stasis is death, and movement is life. Bodywork can help the areas of restriction in your body move from a freeze state into mobility. Movement and integration elicit your body’s innate tendency toward healing. See this video simulating fascia and how a perturbation (from injury or treatment!) can alter the patterns in the whole body.

Your body shows me what it needs in order to heal. With hands on your feet, knees, hips, ribs, shoulders, and head, as well as the energy field off your body, I can feel where there is movement in the cranial rhythm and where there is not, indicating areas of restriction.

Fascia is a tissue that can hold and release energy. I facilitate this process by following the tension patterns in your body. My hands get pulled in magnetically, and I follow with gentle pressure until I sense signs of release. See this video with fascia magnified 25x for an astounding view of this incredible matrix within us and how it releases.

When your fascia releases stuck energy, I feel heat and an energetic letting go. You can feel lighter and able to breathe more easily. Bodywork can bring up sensations, emotions, and memories, and there can also be more noticeable release signs such as trembling, shaking, and crying. Emotional release is cathartic. If things come up, they are coming out. Your body will let go what it is ready to let go of.

Dialoguing can be used in assistance, but nonverbal processing is also important. Sleep is common as it elicits the parasympathetic nervous system response (the “rest, digest, and heal” phase).

This form of bodywork is implicitly relaxing and healing. It is incredibly gentle and subtle but can result in profound change. It assists in personal growth and is “an ingenious tool for sorting out our lives and redesigning our futures,” said John Upledger, the founder.

Click here for more information about CranioSacral Therapy and SomatoEmotional Release.