by SharonHartnett | Dec 9, 2015 | craniosacral, Craniosacral Therapy, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, mind body & spirit, stillpoint
Many clients who come in for Craniosacral Therapy ask about SomatoEmotional Release (SER).
They have usually heard from their friends or associates how much better they feel after a few sessions. Yet they are not quite certain what SER is. So in order to educate potential clients, I’d like to take the Upledger’s description to share,
“ SomatoeEmotional Release may be defined as a release from the body tissues of energy that has been stored in the tissues for some time subsequent to an incident resulting in the placement of this energy in those tissues. The energy, which is foreign to the tissues in which it resides, almost invariably has within it an emotional component. When the SomatoEmotional Release technique is effectively carried out, the emotion is re-experienced by the patient/client and, most often, a rather vivid memory of the incident during which the energetic placement occurred comes into conscious awareness.”
The most important intention that comes to my mind as a Craniosacral Therapist who works with SER, is to create a sacred environment that focuses on working with unity of the mind, body and spirit. By holding space for the whole person, whatever shows up during a session can move forward, all taken care of by the client’s own “Inner Physician (IP)”. That inner intelligence that lies within regulates the session and helps the client to release energy that is caught up. The Therapist is connected to the IP and follows its guidance without judgment. This helps to complete unfinished cycles so that the client can feel finished with whatever unconscious material shows up.
SomatoEmotional Release
Clients who have experienced trauma, anxiety and other emotional extremes often feel much better balanced after an SER session. Not only from a feeling perspective, but also physically as well. When the client is able to move through fear along with letting go of dysfunctional tissue patterns, they are often able to move more freely into their future.
SomatoEmotional Release can be an excellent addition to psychotherapy. While students are trained in this type of work at the Upledger Institute , the foundation of the training is on working with the Craniosacral system. I like to think that this training helps manual therapist to be prepared for whatever shows up in the session without trying to control it or working towards fixing things. This is a journey of discovery and self-awareness.
If you are interested in finding out more about SER, please call Sharon Hartnett CST, at (740) 966-5153 for a free 15 minute phone consultation.
www.massageincolumbusohio.com
by SharonHartnett | Nov 29, 2015 | Craniosacral Therapy, Massage, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, Structural Integration
Should you come in for a massage when you are experiencing a flu or cold this season?
I love working with my clients. Truly I do. My work and the people I touch bring so much light into my world. But I am always astonished that some of them come into the intimate setting of the massage room with either a full blown cold or flu. I know they need some TLC. But the massage table is not the best place to get it. Especially with COVID still present. It’s important to remember that your massage therapist LMT can get sick. But not only that, everyone she/he touches or who breaths in or comes into contact with a live virus is prone to catch the same thing with enough exposure.
Stay at home if you have the flu. Get some rest and heal if possible.
Some of the symptoms to look for are:
Cold:
- stuff or runny nose
- sneezing
- cough
- eyes watering
- fatigue
- headache
- light fever
- congestion
Flu:
- stuffy and/or runny nose
- headache
- weakness
- fatigue
- dry cough
- fever
- congestion
- body aches and pains
Colds tend to be milder. They also seem to be much short lived.
For more information on colds and flu check out: Colds and the Flu
The best thing you can do is to rest, and take good care of yourself and others with plenty of sleep, and/or speaking with your physician. Also- just so you know, sometimes massage can aggravate your illness if too much activation is going on in your body systems. Not to mention, I think I have read that some Chicken noodle soup can really help to!
Don’t be afraid to cancel if you are sick:). Since I wrote this post, I have switched away from massage to Craniosacral Therapy. COVID has had a big impact on many so please be mindful of resting and taking care of yourself, as well as keeping others healthy!
Sharon Hartnett CST-D
703 509-1792
www.craniosacraltherapistcolumbus.com
by SharonHartnett | Nov 19, 2015 | craniosacral, Craniosacral Therapy, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, stillpoint
The Benefits of a Stillpoint
As taught by the Upledger Institute, the Craniosacral System is a semi-closed hydraulic system that is held within the membrane of the Dura, which contains the brain and the spinal cord. The functioning aspect of this system that contributes to human life is the circulation and reabsorption of the Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF).
When a Craniosacral Therapist is working with clients, we are listening to the continuous rise and fall of this fluid rhythm by its subtly felt expansion and contraction throughout the whole body. We pay attention to the ways the bones and membrane dance with the CSF through symmetry, quality, amplitude and rate. The intention is to use our listening and help the body to self-balance through gentle melding by touch.
Craniosacral Therapy
When Craniosacral Therapists use the term, “Stillpoint” what we are expressing is the gradual stopping of the system through a gentle manual technique. In particular, one way that is often used is the CV4 by using cupped hands to bring the occiput and surrounding tissues into a therapeutic stop. The Craniosacral Therapist induces the Stillpoint by creating a barrier at the end of either the flexion or extension movement. As the fluid quiets down, pressure is built back up, and when the tissues are released, a gentle cleansing flow can move through the body, releasing restrictions and adhesions. This is very healthy for the Central Nervous System. Stillpoint can be applied anywhere on the body for positive therapeutic results.
For clients who have experienced Stillpoint, many have stated that they felt much less stressed, and some have had the experience of feeling a re-organizing type of sensation in their bodies. Headaches can disappear, aches and pain go away . Stillpoint is a wonderful technique that can have profound life effects. The Upledger Institute sells Stillpoint Inducers that can be used everyday from about 30 seconds to 10 minutes to create more freedom and flexibility in the body. Yet the experienced hands of a Craniosacral Therapist can take you to la la land.
If you would like to learn more about Craniosacral Therapy in the Columbus, Ohio area, call Sharon Hartnett CST-D
703 509-1792
www.craniosacralatherapistcolumbus.com
by SharonHartnett | Nov 15, 2015 | Craniosacral Therapy, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K
In order to best help my clients to recharge, I ask them to get involved in their Craniosacral sessions by bringing self-awareness to their bodies with mindfulness.
Most people are so busy with their days, they forget to pay attention to their body signals that tell them something is off. These accumulate until one day pain cries out “OUCH”. Something hurts.
By bringing clients into the process each session and giving them stretches and exercises, people can be empowered to shift body patterns and habits to reduce pain. Craniosacral Therapy, Structural Integration and different types of massage can be wonderful when experienced occasionally, but giving yourself the gift of learning to listen to your mind, body and spirit connection can bring long lasting change verses an hour of feeling good.
Working with the body in an intuitive gentle manner, Craniosacral Therapy helps clients to balance and find deeper grounding. Often I find clients falling asleep because of the need for rest, only to wake up feeling refreshed and more keenly aware of their center and relationships. For clients who stay awake, often feelings and sensations are processed in a way that leaves them feeling more free and clear in their thinking and feeling. I like to think of Craniosacral Therapy with my clients as a supportive method of facilitating self-correction with the wisdom of the body. Systems that are overly reved up quiet down. Clients who feel stuck mostly let go of their burdens and restrictions.
Craniosacral Therapist Sharon Hartnett
If you are looking to recharge and feel more alive in your life, Craniosacral Therapy may be the tool to help open you up! The first thing you can do is make a commitment to waking up to your health and wellness.
Loving Craniosacral Therapy. Clients love the positive results they experience with this work.
Sharon Hartnett CST, LMT, SI 740 966-5153
www.massageincolumbusohio.com
www.upledger.com
by SharonHartnett | Oct 22, 2015 | Craniosacral Therapy, Massage, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K
Nonfatal injuries that occur in the workplace keep many employees away from the job.
Traditional medical approaches such as medication, surgery and physical therapy may not totally support the recovery of a workplace injury. Most Massage Therapists that I have spoken with agree that there can be residual effects for their clients that make it difficult to go back to work if not addressed holistically. Healing touch and presence is where massage can enhance the return process to health.
Massage help for Work Injuries
Massage Therapy is much more than a simple rub. For starters, clients often like to talk during sessions when they feel stressed. Everything in a session is confidential and the client is able to get things off their chest. Anxiety for one is a common side-effect of workplace injury and by feeling safe to feel deeply in the body with care and trust can really help. After work related incidences, clients can feel off kilter. Being gone from work or believing that your job may not be there when you are ready to go back can be frightening. Just having a person to listen in an intimate zone is healthy. While massage therapists do not replace psychotherapy, many learn basic techniques to hold space and to allow for the avenue of expression to open while applying massage techniques. The wisdom of the mind, body and spirit is able to align more easily with this type of approach. Craniosacral Therapy, in particular through the Upledger, is supportive to this process for those who are experienced with SomatoEmotional Release Therapy. Most types of trauma can be helped with mindful massage and bodywork.
Physically, massage relieves tension and creates healthier dialogue within the body. Massage Therapy helps decrease pain transmitters. When clients are in less physical pain, it’s easier to find your way out of depression and lack of sleep. Most adults need between 7-9 hours of rest to function optimally. Without it, employees may feel fatigued, unable to cope with stress, have difficulties making decisions and feel less creative. Quality sleep will help you to get back to work and perform more easily. Feeling better mobility and range of motion from therapeutic touch will brighten your day too!
As a Massage Therapist for about 17 years, I have spoken to many people who have received massage and other types of bodywork. For them, almost every person said they would like to receive more massage therapy, but it isn’t covered by insurance in a lot of instances. This most likely means that people who have gotten hurt, run into the same challenge. The cost is prohibitive to them in their thinking. But I’d like to remind people that massage is not just a luxury. Massage Therapy is one of the greatest ways to relax and unwind. Letting go of your stress patterns is essential to good health. When you find a good parter for you to help you to relax with therapeutic means, life just feels better. So whether you have been injured at work or are experiencing stresses from everyday life, imagine a world where you chose to feel better.
Sharon Hartnett LMT
Serving the Columbus, Ohio area.
740 966-5153
www.massageincolumbusohio.com
For more info on massage:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/massage/art-20045743
by SharonHartnett | Oct 20, 2015 | craniosacral, Craniosacral Therapy, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, mind body & spirit, Structural Integration, thought for the day
I am not going to get into the physiology of Craniosacral, but rather focus on the experience.
When one thinks about life, there are absolutes and there are relative positions.
Absolutes are either all or nothing. It’s not easy for us to live in absolutes. From childhood, we are taught to identify different things with language. Each thing we name has shades of interpretation. It gives us a way to communicate verbally. It helps our cognitive thinking to grow and expand. Yet our spoken language can be so limiting. Have you ever wanted to write something about an eloquent moment or something that felt rich and sensory, but there just was no way to explain it to another?
When we become aware of our observation while it is watching, we can start to unravel everything that we have learned. Forms and shapes lose the meaning we have placed upon them, and we get to see with fresh eyes. Even deeper than that, we can uncover our true essence as we let go of our stories or attachment to what the outer physical world means to us. Our relative thinking disappears and we unearth a truer joy that it the best word I can find to describe out true selves. Where everything is One, that is the only Absolute. And even this explanation is encased in words.
I have found that as a Craniosacral Therapist that I dance with my clients in the quiet experiences of contact between the nervous systems and all the interconnection dialogue that takes place in a moment, and then in another. The endless thinking patterns can come to a stop and there is a feeling of being present and more fully alive. This doesn’t mean that our histories stop showing up, but we are aware of the “now” and can let those pass by without abuse, suffering or pain more and more as we become attuned to this type of living. The energy that has been trapped and kept in chaos comes into order. SomatoEmotional Release , in particular, is a process that allows our stories to pass through the moment as it clears to completion. More advanced practitioners are well versed in holding space and techniques for this to occur as the mind, body and spirit come together for integration.
Often with Craniosacral, I find that sensitive people are drawn to it. This is because they are experts at tracking their sensations and expression of self. Most of my clients who initially respond to Craniosacral Therapy will feel a lot on the table and walk away feeling great with new understanding. However, I also have clients who prefer deeper myofascial therapy work. I love the fascia, so I am happy to oblige with some Structural Integration or whatever they need. However, as they begin to feel more deeply into their body’s, they too begin to bring awareness to the subtle and find the benefits to such work. In most cases, it is helpful to work deeply at times, and range to the gentle sweet touch of Craniosacral too.
Life is about learning about our relative perspectives, but ultimately to be free, we must let go of the mind to feel and sense deeply as well. So whichever type of touch brings you to a greater awareness, jump into the dance. Feel it all. Wake up to your: touch, sounds, waves, melodies, sights and tastes. Find your fullness and feel the emptiness. Life is for the living and it’s all here.
Craniosacral Columbus
I have found that Craniosacral is a very enlivening type of therapy that revitalizes and evokes the deeper happenings of the soul.
Sharon Hartnett LMT, CST, SI, Brennan Healer
703 509-1792
www.massageincolumbusohio.com
