Cranial Sacral Therapy

Cranial Sacral Therapy is a gentle, hands-on form of body therapy that evaluates and enhances a physiological system called the cranial sacral system.

The system is comprised of membranes and cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds and protects the brain and spinal cord. Using a soft touch, usually no heavier than the weight of a nickel, practitioners can release restrictions in the cranial sacral system to improve the functioning of the central nervous system. Cranial Sacral Therapy has origins that can be traced all the way back to the 1800s with Andrew Still M.D. Then in the early 1900s, Dr. William Sutherland continued the development with the fascination that the cranial bones breathe, or move. In the 1970s, Dr. John Upledger, an osteopath, continued the work and research at Michigan State and then developed the system most widely used today by a variety of practitioners. He began the Upledger Institute and started training practitioners worldwide. Currently, there are thousands and thousands who have been trained in Cranial Sacral Therapy. He has been featured in Time magazine as well as on CNN. He has authored many books on the subject and continues to teach Cranial Sacral Therapy to this day.

The cranial sacral system has it’s own unique rhythm.

Just like the heartbeat (beating at 70-80 beats per minute) or the respiratory system (breathing at 14-18 breathes per minute), the cranial sacral system has a rhythm of 6-12 cycles per minute. Much slower than the breath or heartbeat, but no less powerful. In fact, the cranial sacral system influences most all the other systems in the body. Most people are familiar with the heartbeat and the breathing but because the cranial sacral system is so subtle it’s harder to feel. So it went undetected for a long time. It’s always been there helping us out, but just recently we became aware of this body system.