This past weekend, I enrolled in Dr. Faith Christensen’s Craniosacral 1 Therapy Weekend-Intensive Class. Dr. Faith is a Bastyr University grad, who has opened practice in Colorado, but is currently moving to Utah to open a new practice. She works mainly with Craniosacral therapies, and sees great results with her patients. She comes to Seattle for Craniosacral (I, II, and further) workshops to teach students about this great healing modality.
At the Bastyr physical medicine department, many of the students were getting training, outside of school, to be proficient in craniosacral therapies. And what is even better, is that patients were coming in specifically for that modality. I had never heard of this treatment before coming to Naturopathic Medical school, so I was very interested and extremely curious.
The craniosacral system deals with the bones of the head, the spine, the dura mater, the spinal fluid, the sacrum (connected to the hips, being the base of the spine), and the fascia and connective tissue of the body. Craniosacral is a fairly old and established technique that is aimed at having gentle pressure (no more than 5 grams, about the weight of a quarter on your skin), is guided by intention, relaxation, grounding, and physically laying hands on the patient to treat an area of the body most needing work.
It can work on current issues or past injuries, and can help release restrictions of connective tissue to allow movements of the bones in joints or between the bones of the head to move more freely, without stagnation or pain. It is not an energetic form of medicine, although is a nice middle ground from my Reiki Training (in both Connecticut and Washington) and physical medicine (massage, muscle energy stretching, and manipulations).
My own experience with craniosacral was very interesting, especially the effects of a sacral release. The sacrum is the base of the spine and lies between the two hip bones, right above the gluteal cleft. When releasing this bone, you can feel it swing back and forth, and unwind, into a more neutral and healthy position. For years I have struggled with painful menses and dysmenorrhea, and surgical scars from a laparoscopic surgery performed in 2006. Sometimes the pain is so crippling, it comes to a point where I have to lay on the ground. After getting this work done, cramps are minimal to the start of my menses, and they last maybe a half a day, where before it lasted 3-4 days. This information is only a testament to my experience, and is in no way given as medical advice if you have a similar situation to my own. Please go see a licensed medical practitioner to help manage your own case.
There are various books dedicated to this type of therapy
Craniosacral Therapy, by Upledger
Intro to Craniosacral Therapy, By Upledger and Cohen
Heart of Listening, by Milne
Here is Dr. Faith’s Website if you’d like to contact her or take the class for yourself!
http://www.springsnaturalmedicine.com/meet-the-doctors/faith-christensen-n-d/
This past weekend, I enrolled in Dr. Faith Christensen’s Craniosacral 1 Therapy Weekend-Intensive Class. Dr. Faith is a Bastyr University grad, who has opened practice in Colorado, but is currently moving to Utah to open a new practice. She works mainly with Craniosacral therapies, and sees great results with her patients. She comes to Seattle for Craniosacral (I, II, and further) workshops to teach students about this great healing modality.
At the Bastyr physical medicine department, many of the students were getting training, outside of school, to be proficient in craniosacral therapies. And what is even better, is that patients were coming in specifically for that modality. I had never heard of this treatment before coming to Naturopathic Medical school, so I was very interested and extremely curious.
The craniosacral system deals with the bones of the head, the spine, the dura mater, the spinal fluid, the sacrum (connected to the hips, being the base of the spine), and the fascia and connective tissue of the body. Craniosacral is a fairly old and established technique that is aimed at having gentle pressure (no more than 5 grams, about the weight of a quarter on your skin), is guided by intention, relaxation, grounding, and physically laying hands on the patient to treat an area of the body most needing work.
It can work on current issues or past injuries, and can help release restrictions of connective tissue to allow movements of the bones in joints or between the bones of the head to move more freely, without stagnation or pain. It is not an energetic form of medicine, although is a nice middle ground from my Reiki Training (in both Connecticut and Washington) and physical medicine (massage, muscle energy stretching, and manipulations).
My own experience with craniosacral was very interesting, especially the effects of a sacral release. The sacrum is the base of the spine and lies between the two hip bones, right above the gluteal cleft. When releasing this bone, you can feel it swing back and forth, and unwind, into a more neutral and healthy position. For years I have struggled with painful menses and dysmenorrhea, and surgical scars from a laparoscopic surgery performed in 2006. Sometimes the pain is so crippling, it comes to a point where I have to lay on the ground. After getting this work done, cramps are minimal to the start of my menses, and they last maybe a half a day, where before it lasted 3-4 days. This information is only a testament to my experience, and is in no way given as medical advice if you have a similar situation to my own. Please go see a licensed medical practitioner to help manage your own case.
There are various books dedicated to this type of therapy Craniosacral Therapy, by Upledger
Intro to Craniosacral Therapy, By Upledger and Cohen
Heart of Listening, by Milne
Here is Dr. Faith’s Website if you’d like to contact her or take the class for yourself!
http://www.springsnaturalmedicine.com/meet-the-doctors/faith-christensen-n-d/