After a little course of sessions, many of my clients have achieved what they wanted to. Their back pain has gone, they have more energy, their anxiety and depression is lifting, sleep better and so on. This is amazing, but often people find that as this point, they don’t want to stop coming to see me! They want to make sure they maintain the progress they have made and they also often hope that there is further progress on the horizon. I have a handful of clients that I have been seeing for over twelve years! Craniosacral Therapy is definitely part of their self care.
Here are some words from one of my long standing clients…
“I remember so clearly being recommended Craniosacral Therapy and thinking, ‘Surely this is mumbo jumbo.’. Almost 6 years since my first appointment with Sarah and it has become my go to therapy and a regular part of my self-care. There’s no doubt that cranial is a superb tool for physical situations and Sarah’s skill has helped to relieve migraines and the debilitating pain I would incur from prolapsed discs in my neck. However, it has equally supported me through emotional challenges and is now part of the toolkit I have to help me maintain balance and a sense of calm. I cannot stress enough the impact Sarah and cranial have had on me as an individual and I would be lost without it. Whatever your reason for considering cranial I promise you will not regret going. Cranial has changed my life for the better and I will be eternally grateful for the resource and support that the treatment and Sarah as a person provides to me. You’re simply superb with a skill that’s so hard to understand yet incredibly effective. I feel so lucky to be able to call upon you. Thank you!” HC
Last month I started as a part time tutor for Body Intelligence, London. Although I have done some teaching before, I have never had such a central role on a Craniosacral Therapy training course.
On the first day, I have to admit to feeling a little overwhelmed. Being faced with 25 students, all with very different backgrounds, experience and needs was big! The responsibility seemed even bigger! And yet, I had to remind myself that I was really just a small part of a very strong and experienced organisation and teaching team.
Steve Haines, who was leading the seminar was my main tutor going back 13 years. He has amazing knowledge and is an truly inspirational teacher…. the best in my opinion. Joan Didier who again was a tutor of mine going way back is amazing in a different way. She can assess the room in an instant and see who needs what help. She’s an incredibly grounding influence on me and shows great compassion, even in challenging circumstances. And the other tutors….. all picked for their individual qualities, all with so much enthusiasm and so much to offer the students. I feel honoured to be amongst these people.
And the students! Wow, the students. Most in awe of what they were witnessing and starting to experience. Its exciting stuff! Some realising that putting down their prior knowledge might the most helpful thing they can do. Some realising that therapists need therapy first and foremost! All hopefully gaining insight into their own being and what this work is about.
Hi, I’m Sarah. My first experience of Craniosacral Therapy (CST) was when I took my my newborn baby to get help for her colic and reflux many years ago. It was amazing to watch! I could ‘see’ the tension build up in her body and then disappear, as if like magic and I knew I needed to know more. After doing some research, I decided to change career and I started the three year training at the Craniosacral Therapy Educational Trust (CTET) in London.
At the time, I had no idea of the full potential of the therapy. All I really knew was that it helped newborns, but my eyes were soon opened to the profound and powerful effect it often has on people of all ages.
We all hold unresolved survival energy, or trauma in our bodies. This often has a fundamental effect on our ability to function in a balanced, healthy way and can have far reaching consequences on our physical and mental health. CST was originally developed from osteopathy and therapists are trained to create a listening, neutral, supportive, nurturing, resourced space for their client. Then, using a very gentle hands on approach, they work with the inherent treatment plan of their client’s system in order to facilitate the shifting and ultimately the release of the unresolved trauma / tension held in the body. People often say that having Craniosacral Therapy is like being listened to and held like never before.
My three year training was transformative for me, although it wasn’t always easy. To see such a powerful therapy working all around me was enthralling, but I soon discovered that I was uncomfortable accessing my own needs. This was unfamiliar to me, I had spent most of life nursing other people and I was really scared about how ugly / scary / monstrous releasing my ‘unresolved stuff’ would be! I mean seriously, what if I had a nervous breakdown or I couldn’t stop crying for a month!? I had buried all that stuff away for good reason!
Of course, if I wanted to practice CST authentically (which seemed the only way with a therapy built on such deep trust and safety), I had to be prepared to do the work on myself.
What I then discovered through receiving CST myself was that a qualified and experienced practitioner is practiced at helping the client access their resources and will support them through the process of trauma release, whilst ensuring that it takes place at a pace that feels okay for them. Safety, safety, safety. To allow the system to be overwhelmed would be counter productive. When the client feels safe and held by their therapist, they make great progress. That is to say, I discovered that even my stuff wasn’t scary when released little by little, with support.
So, I graduated in 2011 and set up Cranio Kent. I really love every day of my work and I’m proud to say that my practice is now one of the busiest and most well respected in Kent. The core of my practice is my hands on work (clinics are in East Malling village and Kings Hill), but in 2019, I was registered as a supervisor which means that I mentor and support other therapists now also. I have always been a registered member of the Craniosacral Therapy Association (CSTA) and work within their code of ethics and I also spent a number of years working as a tutor at the CTET’s teaching clinic in London.
Whilst of course I work with physical pain a lot and I love working with babies, I find that I am drawn most to work with anxiety.
It is my firm belief that as human beings, we all have the natural capacity to recover from overwhelming experiences. CST encourages the system to do just that. As your therapist, we are not the wounded and the healed, we are equals. I continue on my journey too, I may just be a little further down the road than you are.
If you’d like to understand more or have chat about whether CST is likely to help you, then please give me a call (07956 390419) / or email me sarah@craniokent.co.uk
Feeling STRESSED OR ANXIOUS about COVID-19? Is all this talk of COVID-19 GETTING TO YOU? Or are you more worried about self-isolating and all its implications?
It is normal to feel some ANXIETY over recent developments (and very common, look at all the panic buying). After all, we know that being vigilant about hygiene etc will slow down the spread of what to a small proportion of the population will be life threatening.
But be clear that STRESS is known to be linked to a diverse range of DISEASES. Higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is secreted by the adrenal glands inhibits the activity of the immune system, making us prone to ILLNESS.
So, if you find that your WORRIES are getting out of control and its hard to KEEP PERSPECTIVE, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH, as Craniosacral Therapy is known to be often highly effective at DOWN-REGULATING THE NERVOUS SYSTEM (I see it all the time) and bringing stress levels down. And that in turn will help your IMMUNE SYSTEM.
And rest assured, HYGIENE is of tip top importance here at Cranio Kent.
What does it mean it to you? A spa weekend and some retail therapy or is it the simpler (but not easier) things like monitoring your self talk or looking at why you find it so hard to take care of yourself?
What forms does self care take? And why is it hard for some people?
The more I understand about self care, the more I have come to appreciate that people are very different.
Probably due to early conditioning, at one extreme there are people who only know how to be self critical. Possibly they grew up with a lot of critisism, or parents with low self esteem. They don’t feel worthy of anything better and this continual harsh self talk only serves to do more harm. “What would you tell yourself if you were your own best friend?”, I often say. Sometimes we need to be the nurturing mother that we never had.
Others who find it easier to love themselves and show themselves kindness and compassion tend to be better not only at identifying what they need, but prioritising those things. They consider their physical, emotional and mental well-being, to be of paramount importance, and they take the time and invest the money in that. They feel worthy of self love.
The role of Craniosacral Therapy in self care
When people first come to see me, they can be at various stages of connection, grounding, resource and ability to process trauma. Craniosacral Therapy is the best way I know to meet your system where it is at and to gain a better understanding of what it is that you need. You are likely to become more and more aware of what your needs are as your treatment program progresses (i.e. your self awareness will improve).
My role is to support you in this process. I will listen to your system (with my hands). Your system knows what it needs and I will follow your body’s own inherent treatment plan, in order for you to move closer to health.
What are your reasons for seeking help….?
How self-care got me to my first ever 5k at 46 years old!
Anyone who knows me well, would tell you that I’ve never been a runner. I’ve been a wanna-be runner.
My dad ran marathons into his late 70s (he used to get automatic entry into the London marathon, his time was so good).I’ve tried to get into running several times over the last 4 or 5 years and never got very far. I even had a personal trainer at one point. Seriously, every time I tried, I’d either get injured or ill and had to stop. It was crazy. I came to the realisation that, for some reason that I didn’t understand, I would never be able to do it.
However, in recent months, I had been paying more attention to the fact that generally in life, I have always been pretty hard on myself and getting a better understanding of that. How, being driven, determined, and focused had served me well in life and got me through situations that otherwise I certainly would not have. However, where was that nurturing mother part of me? I was super comfortable looking after others, in fact its probably my favourite thing to do(!), but looking after myself, hmm, I still find myself squirming slightly at the idea.
And in amongst this self reflection came a thought… what if all the struggle with running was down to my lack of self-care? That idea that I HAD to push myself, that I could succeed against any odds and didn’t need to go slowly (I must be fairly fit surely?!). What if that was the problem? How would it be to approach things as if I was being my own nurturing mother? The answer was, I realised, that I would follow a gentle program like ‘Couch to 5k’. To the letter. No skipping out the first three or four weeks, or skipping anything out in fact. Just….. going…. slowly. Then I’d really know if it was possible for me to run a 5k.
So I did. I started ‘Couch to 5k’ and I can honestly say that the hardest part for me was the going slow. Sticking rigidly to the program, arrggghh, so hard to do!! I had to getting back in touch with that nurturing mother part of me
But here I am, week 9 and running 5k, three times a week. I honestly cannot believe it! And what’s more I’m really enjoying it and whilst there’s that urge to push on and do more (surely 10k isn’t that much!?), I’m going easy on myself and sticking with this for now.
So, self care for me isn’t just about booking a spa weekend or treating yourself to something new, it starts with the way you talk yourself. And I challenge you to look at that very seriously. Just observe and then ask yourself what you would be saying if you were own nurturing mother? For me its an ongoing process, but one which I know will be good for me and it is likely to be good for you too.
Many of us will have experienced insomnia at some point in our lives.
Acute insomnia is when you experience temporary sleep problems, the night before an exam for example or when you have suffered a bereavement.
Chronic insomnia is when sleep is disturbed at least three nights a week for at least three months. The result of this is obviously fatigue, low energy, difficulty concentrating, mood disturbances, and decreased performance in work or at school.
Ultimately lack of sleep can have a drastic impact on our physical and mental health. It’s a big subject so I will be including just the most important facts in this article.
We need to sleep to sustain life, its as simple as that. Its important to remember thatyour system is programmed for effective sleep; its the most natural thing in the world! However, feeling pushed for time (have you ever cut short your sleep because there was too much to do? I know I have) and the habits of modern day life often impact on our ability to achieve good quality sleep.
If you think your sleep quality could be better, have a look through these two checklistsand what you can do to make things easier for yourself….
DO:
Keep a regular routine in terms of timings and go to bed when you feel tired.
Manage those stress levels (more on that later)!
Relax for at least an hour before bed
Your bedroom should be dark, quiet and cooler than daytime temperature (but not cold)
Exercise regularly during the day
Ensure your mattress, pillows and covers are comfortable
Try to get 30 mins exposure to natural sunlight per day – this helps to remind your body which is day and which is night! Artificial light is not the same!
Have a hot bath before bed to relax, plus the drop in your body temperature will aid sleep.
Remove distractions from your bedroom: screens, phones, clocks
DO NOT:
Do not smoke, or drink alcohol, tea or coffee at least 6 hours before going to bed
Do not eat for about 3 hours before bed, especially sugars / carbs
Do not exercise late in the day (that is, less than 4 hours before bed)
Do not watch screens in the 2 hours before bed – they block the release of melatonin by 23%, interrupting your normal sleep rhythms
Do not nap during the day
Do not sleep in after a bad night’s sleep – stick to your regular sleeping hours instead
Do not drink too many fluids before bed as you will need the loo in the night!
Drugs – clearly recreational drugs will impact sleep, but often prescription ones can too, so speak to your pharmacist about this, it may be that taking your tablets at a different time of day may help
Don’t lie in bed awake. This breeds anxiety and makes it even harder to get to sleep. Get up and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy.
Try to avoid sleeping tablets if you can, even those you can buy over the counter. They can help in the short term, but they do not induce natural sleep and can make the insomnia worse.
Back to the big issue of STRESS. Stress clearly impacts on our ability to sleep and then insomnia tends to increase our stress levels further – argghhhh!! I quite often see people suffering with insomnia and Craniosacral Therapy often helps them. In fact, people often report that their sleep has improved since they started Craniosacral Therapy, even when that was not the main reason they started coming to see me!
The point is, that when our systems are hyper-vigilant, or in fight, flight or freeze, of course it is often hard for us to ‘switch off’ at night. A good example of this would be a man I worked with a long time ago who had been in the forces for many years who had big sleep issues. He said, ‘When you’ve slept with a gun in your hand every night for so long, its kinda hard to get any kind of deep sleep’. And many of us (albeit for other reasons) have systems which are equally on ‘high alert’.
The best way to address the stressed / hypervigilant system is to show it how to down-regulate from ‘fight, flight or freeze’ to ‘rest and digest’. This is of the main things we do in Craniosacral Therapy. The system is being shown the ‘off switch’ and little by little, it gets easier and easier to access the ‘off switch’, until the system is generally much calmer and sleep becomes much easier. Plus of course, the person feels less stressed / anxious generally!
If you have taken board all the suggestions above and are still struggling with your sleep, please do seek the advice of your GP.
...the pain in my neck is a lot better, I haven't had nearly as many waves of anxiety and I feel a lot happier!"
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
...the pain in my neck is a lot better, I haven't had nearly as many waves of anxiety and I feel a lot happier!"