Craniosacral Massage:Fact or Fiction?Your friend mentions craniosacral massage again as you tell them about the migraine that is starting up again. Wanting some relief, you book a session for the next day. As you relax on the massage table, the practitioner goes to work. You feel the tension start to melt away. Some emotions come up. You let the emotions be there and come out however they need to come out as you relax on the massage table. The emotions disappear, and you feel a profound peace that you haven’t felt in a long time. This type of session would be one in which the craniosacral massage therapist knows how to do somato emotional release. Somato emotional release with craniosacral massage can be very effective. You can share your own experience below. Did you find it effective or ineffective? Some conditions that craniosacral massage & somato emotional release can alleviate are:
What is Craniosacral Massage?Craniosacral massage is a gentle technique where the practitioner applies about 5 grams of pressure (the weight of a nickel) to various points of the skull. Why would he or she do that?Proponents of this therapy believe that the skull is made of bones where the joints (cranial sutures) have a very small degree of movement. This runs contrary to conventional medicine. Small cranial pulsations can be felt through the hands. If the pulsations are not operating at a normal rate, then the practitioner applies a small amount of pressure to various points in the skull. It is further believed that the motions of the bones, in the skull, are closely related to the function of cerebrospinal fluid, the central nervous system and their surrounding tissues, and the sacrum. It is said that when pressure is applied, restriction among the joints is removed which has a positive impact on your health. The practitioner can determine if a bone in the skull or the sacrum is out of place by sensing rhythmic pulses.
What is Somato Emotional Release?By now, you may already be wondering what somato emotional release is or does. Somato means muscle.There is a belief that trauma, emotions, and physical injury can become locked or stuck in the body. In other words, the body retains memory of the trauma, emotions, or physical injury. A good example of emotions getting locked into the body (or tissue memory) is the following: Let’s say you have a traumatic accident like a broken ankle. The breaking of the ankle stays in the tissue memory. After the ankle heals, you subconsciously contract the muscles in the ankle as a protective measure. A small strain in that area may result. The body compensates for this strain. If this is not treated over time, then the muscles in the ankle may impact other surrounding areas that lead to a chronic problem. If the underlying cause is not treated (i.e. the subconscious contracting of muscles), then the effectiveness of therapy will be limited or non-existent. The practitioner senses where there are stuck emotions, memory of a physical injury stuck in the body, or memory of a trauma stuck in the body. The practitioner can use somato emotional release techniques to facilitate the alleviation of your symptoms. He or she would work with the contractions in the ankle. Once the contraction is worked with, the memory of the injury is released. The muscle strain disappears, the body begins to readjust, and any chronic problems disappear.
What the Skeptics SayThe skeptics believe that the basis for craniosacral massage is invalid. Conventional medicine says that the bones of the skull fuse by the end of adolescence or early childhood.It is believed that the brain does exhibit a rhythmic pulsation, but that the pulsation is not independent to that of the heart. Also, there was a study done where different cranial sacral therapy practitioners each treated the same clients. Each practitioner sensed a different pulsation rate. The results, among the practitioners, were very inconsistent. There have not been sufficient scientific studies to indicate if this therapy does what it says it does. The skeptics believe that any results people have seen so far are the result of the placebo effect.
The science behind craniosacral therapy seems to be faulty. However, I think there is merit with somato emotional release. I tried this therapy out after a friend of mine told me about it. He also knew how to use somato emotional release. We spent a lot of time working with my right shoulder that I had injured awhile back. In one session, he noticed that I had an energy blockage on the left side of my body (see the human energy field page for further explanation of energy flowing through a person’s body). What I remember most about the session is that I released a lot of sadness. I ended the sessions with a profound sense of peacefulness. Would I try this again? Yes. In the future, I am considering going to a therapist to work on my ankle. I broke it in 2008. I think some of the work they do may help me get more comfortable in making high impact kicks when practicing Tae Kwon Do. If you are looking for a craniosacral massage therapist, I recommend finding one that knows somato emotional release and deep tissue massage. I would also highly recommend that you find a practitioner who is a licensed craniosacral massage therapist and a licensed massage therapist. There is a lot of quackery out there. There are some who received real benefits from this type of therapy. There are still others who received no benefit. You have to decide for yourself if this is a therapy you want to try.
My ThoughtsMy thoughts on this are that this type of therapy can be useful. The somato emotional release technique is something that I think will become more widely accepted as mind body techniques become more widely recognized.With regards to whether or not practitioners feel cranial pulsations: I believe the practitioners sense something through their hands whether it be energy from the human energy field or actual cranial pulsations. This is a very subtle alternative health therapy. If you are to try this out for yourself, make sure that you work with someone who is a licensed craniosacral massage therapist and a licensed massage therapist. There are some people who have received a real benefit from this type of therapy. Others have receieved no benefit. Ultimately, you get to decide whether this therapy is for you. You will only know when you try it.
Your Experience of Craniosacral MassageHas craniosacral massage made a difference for you? Let us know if you found it to be effective or ineffective by sharing your story. Return from Craniosacral Massage to Complementary Alternative Medicine
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