Craniosacral therapy is subtle, but powerful bodywork that uses light touch to locate and release restrictions, tension, and pain in our physical and emotional bodies.
This gentle, hands-on bodywork technique supports the nervous system by working with the body's natural rhythms. This approach is based on osteopathic principles and rooted in the healing wisdom of Shawnee and other Indigenous touch practices.
What is craniosacral therapy?
Using light touch, practitioners assess and release restrictions in the craniosacral system—the membranes, fluid, fascia, and bones surrounding the brain and spinal cord—to encourage deep relaxation and self-healing.
Your body has several natural rhythms: your heart beat, your breath, how you digest food, the way your lymphatic system moves.
Your craniosacral system has the craniosacral rhythm, and craniosacral practitioners can use this "pulse" to communicate with the body, assess tension patterns, and invite a release of restrictions in the tissues of the head, neck, and spine. Using the cranial bones as hand holds, the practitioner listens and follows what the body is communicating through this rhythm.
Because "tension anywhere creates tension everywhere", releasing restrictions in these areas of the body can help shift tension patterns in other areas of the body over time.
How craniosacral therapy can help pain, tension, nervous system regulation, and more:
Through gentle and intentional touch in specific areas of the body, craniosacral therapy helps shift tension patterns, promotes nervous system regulation, and encourages coherence between body, mind, and spirit.
Craniosacral therapy can help reduce pain and tension in the head, neck, and torso (areas that are tense for a lot of folks!) by working with the connective tissue to release restrictions and shifting tension patterns.
Additionally, because craniosacral therapy has a profound impact on the nervous system, it can address a wide range of physical and psychoemotional concerns, such as anxiety and mood, traumatic stress, sleep issues, digestive irregularity, pain perception, immune health, and more.
Because craniosacral therapy is incredibly gentle and non-invasive, it is a modality that is appropriate for patients of all ages and health statuses. It can be especially useful for folks who gravitate to gentle forms of bodywork, those living with fibromyalgia and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome or hypermobility spectrum disorders, or who describe themselves as highly sensitive persons.
Craniosacral therapy can be used on its own, or combines beautifully in a comprehensive treatment plan with acupuncture, massage therapy, or other holistic or biomedical modalities.
What can craniosacral therapy treat?
These extremely gentle, full-body sessions are useful for a range of health and wellness concerns, including (but not limited to!):
Anxiety and depression
PTSD and CPTSD
Insomnia
ADHD
Chronic fatigue
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorders
ME/CFS
Fibromyalgia
Jaw pain and TMJ Disorder
Dental work
Long COVID
Lyme Disease and tickborne illness
Migraines and headaches
Chronic neck and back pain
Stress and tension-related disorders
Concussions and traumatic brain injuries
Emotional support for grief and trauma processing
Self-care and well-being
What to expect in a craniosacral therapy appointment:
Unless paired with another modality that needs access to the skin of the upper or lower body, a craniosacral therapy appointment is typically performed fully clothed. After a check-in with your practitioner, you’ll hop on a cozy massage table typically face up, with any additional bolstering that you need to make your body comfortable.
Then the practitioner will use gentle touch in the area of head, neck, shoulders, diaphragm, sacrum, and the connective tissues of the back, legs, and feet.
Some common experiences during a craniosacral therapy session are feeling various physical sensations, deep exhales, digestive gurgles, body twitches, softening of tension, emotional releases. Many people fall asleep or into a deep meditative state during a session and report feeling less pain and more grounded for days and weeks after a treatment.
We offer a variety of craniosacral therapy options:
Private one-on-one craniosacral therapy sessions
Private one-on-one cupping + cranio sessions
Private one-on-one acu-cranio sessions
Small group acupuncture + craniosacral therapy events at the Constellation Classroom
Ready to use craniosacral therapy to support your health and wellbeing?
Book a private craniosacral therapy appointment with our team at the clinic, or explore the events at our Constellation Classroom.
