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Healing does not necessarily mean to become physically well or to be able to get up and walk around again. Rather, it means achieving a balance between the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions.
-Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
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Definition from "CranioSacral," by Kenneth I. Frey, p. 40 in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Body-Mind Discipline, Edited by Nancy Allison, CMA:
What is CranioSacral therapy?
CranioSacral therapy is a gentle form of bodywork based on releasing restrictions in the craniosacral system to help people achieve their highest levels of physical, mental, and emotional well-being. It was developed over a twenty-year period by Dr. William Sutherland, an osteopathic physician intrigued by the movement of different bones in the skull. He discovered that by exerting gentle pressure on selected areas of the skull or the rest of the body, a craniosacral therapist can effectively treat chronic pain, lowered vitality, recurring infections, and dysfunctions affecting the head, spine, and whole body.
One unique feature of CranioSacral therapy is its emphasis on very delicate palpatation. Therapists are taught to use, appreciate, and develop profound insights through applying a very light, gentle touch-generally the pressure is equal to the weight of a nickel. It is believed that this light touch allows the therapist to receive as much information as possible from the patient's body, and to interact in a respectful, highly therapeutic manner.
Another distinction of CranioSacral therapy relates to its facilitation of the body's self-corrective ability. CranioSacral therapists believe engaging body restrictions with a gentle touch can break down tissue, emotional, and energetic blocks to self-release. CranioSacral therapy is not a manipulative therapeutic modality in which therapists impose what they think should happen on their patients. Rather, therapists are trained to follow their patients' bodies to facilitate their own healing process.
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