What is CranioSacral Therapy?
CST is a light touch type of bodywork. The light touch allows me to blend and meld with your connective tissue and unwind restrictions that may be hiding in there and causing dysfunction that may show up as pain and or discomfort. Working together and freeing up these restrictions in the body the central nervous system and the rest of the body can function at its best.
Who needs CST?
Everyone! From day 1 to 110 years and up!
Why do I need CST?
Our body is amazing and incredibly resilient to the stress we put on it throughout our lifetime. We could fall off our bike at 10 years old and our body will grow and function around those restrictions we created from that fall. With the growing, compensation starts to happen. Our body is made up of a big web of connective tissue and that tissue that is surrounding our baby toe is connected to the tissue that is in our shoulder! Imagine the shirt you are wearing right now. If you pull down or start twisting on the bottom of your shirt you feel it pulling on other parts of your body. Maybe you are starting to feel it get tighter on your back, or as you pull tighter on the shirt maybe you are starting to feel the fabric surrounding your shoulder get tighter on your body. Your connective tissue acts similar. Imagine your were to fall on your hip and the tissue around your hip becomes “sticky” and “restricted” Your body will begin to compensate to be able to function with those restrictions and those same pulls that happened in your shirt may start to happen in your body. It may show up as hip or shoulder pain. Or even a headache! You may get massage after massage or stretch the shoulder, but the pain keeps coming back. Maybe what really needs to happen is you need to unwind that restriction that happened in your hip many years ago!
Why does my baby need CST?
The same reasons as you and more!!! Your new babe can go on a crazy road while entering the world or learning to walk and they have the same connective tissue as you! The amazing things about babies getting CST is they don’t have years of compensation to unwind so they usually have releases much quicker. Freeing up some of these restrictions can bring relief to discomfort your baby may have. CST has been shown to help our young ones who struggle with torticollis, lactation issues, colic/reflux and digestive disorders, tongue and lip ties just to name a few.
Does CST hurt?
CST is very gentle and does not typically hurt. While your baby is being treated you may notice he or she gets upset or even cries. This could mean a few things. It could be a familiar cry to you letting you know that they are hungry or need changing. This could also be them experiencing change in their body from the CST. That change might be confusing or even a little bit uncomfortable while it is happening. When this happens, I like to check in with baby and caregiver with us to decide if it is time for us to take a break with the session.
What can I expect from a CST session?
CST is typically done is a quiet and peaceful place. If you are an adult or older child you may lay on a massage table or feel more comfortable sitting on a chair. If you are bringing your baby we may lay them on the massage table or we may work on him/her while they are feeding or just being held by caregiver or myself. After the session you may notice you or your baby are more relaxed. You may start to notice small changes in your body after a few sessions. If it was your baby who had the work observe him or her the next couple of days and take note of any changes you may see. Remember even something small observed may be something big that they feel in their little body.
How long do sessions last?
Most adult CST sessions I do range from 30-90 minutes. CST can easily be paired with a massage. If you wish to get CST and massage in the same session, I recommend booking a 90-minute massage. This will allow us the best option to get the best of both worlds.
If booking CST for your child, we will usually book our first session for 60 minutes unless we chat about something different. These 60 minutes will give us time to chat, get comfortable and work on your little one. Younger children and babies don’t usually need or want the full 60 minutes. It is usually pretty clear to both me and the caregiver when a child or baby is done with the session. If baby finishes before our 60 minutes is complete this will give me time to teach you how to work on your child at home or maybe allow us to get you on the table to get a few releases yourself!
Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to Megan with questions or to set up your appointment. If you are not in the area Upledger.com is a great place to find a qualified practitioner.