Craniosacral
Therapy
So just what is
craniosacral therapy?
Cranio refers to the cranium or
brain. Sacral refers to your sacrum, at the bottom of your spine.
So how can these two be
related?
There are two sides to our nervous system. The "sympathetic" side is the "fight or flight"
side. Adrenaline (mainly epinephrine and norepinephrine) is released by the sympathetic nervous
system via the nerves the come out between each vertibra in our spine. However, only the thoracic
and lumbar vertebra nerves release sympathetic neurotransmitters like adrenaline. Those are the
nerves that control your arms and legs. That's what you need to either fight or run, so it all
makes sense.
The other side of our nervous system is the "parasympathetic" side. This is what makes us
relax. It's the opposite of the sympathetic nervous system. It just so happens that only
cranial and sacral nerves release parasympathetic neurotransmitters, so only 4 cranial nerves and three
sacral nerves do everything that makes you relax. Tightness around these nerves can impair their
abilty to work effectively. This is why I always start a massage by working on a client's neck and
head. Loosening everything around these nerves first allows my client to relax a lot more during
the massage. I return to the neck just before finishing, too.
Everyone seems to try to teach us to do things, but no one ever teaches us how to do nothing and
just relax. Craniosacral therapy definitely helps. In fact, it should be part
of any massage.
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