Hands on heads

Craniosacral therapy claims to free your body and mind of imbalances through the application of gentle pressure on your head, explains Anne Woodham

Craniosacral therapists use their hands to apply gentle touch and almost imperceptible pressure to your cranium (the part of the skull that holds the brain), the base of your spine (the sacrum) and occasionally to other soft tissues to encourage mind and body to rebalance and heal themselves.

Craniosacral therapy is derived from cranial osteopathy, which was developed in the 1930s by an American osteopath, Dr William Garner Sutherland. He claimed to have identified a rhythmic pulsation in the cerebrospinal fluid that nourishes and protects the membranes of the craniosacral system (the cranium, spinal cord and sacrum) and the connective tissue that surrounds the organs, nerves and blood vessels.

The breath of life
This 'cranial rhythmic impulse' (CRI) is said to pulse at the rate of about 6-15 times a minute and operates independently of blood pressure or breathing rates. Therapists refer to CRI as 'the breath of life' and compare it to the 'vital force' or chi of traditional Chinese medicine. Because it influences all the body systems, disruptions or imbalances in its ebb and flow are said to lead to health problems.

Dr Sutherland's approach was continued by another American osteopath, Dr John Upledger, in the 1970s. Although Upledger considered the CRI to be a simple biomechanical process rather than a 'vital force', he believed that past emotional and physical traumas left imprints on the connective tissue that could disrupt the cranial rhythmic impulse. Using delicate manipulation to restore the flow of the CRI could release memories of these traumas and free the way to complete healing of body and mind.

In the 1980s another American, Franklyn Sills, introduced ideas from polarity therapy, a treatment developed by osteopath and naturopath Dr Randolph Stone, who believed that well-being depended on the free flow of energy in the body. The combination of these approaches is the basis of craniosacral therapy.