Pain along the spine can arise from many different reasons. Some of these triggers can be serious and some can be helped tremendously with manual therapy. If you are experiencing, for example, problems with your bladder, infection, inflammation, or severe acute pain, go see your physician of course.
Quite often pain can come from misalignment, muscle tension, torsion in the fascial patterning, or overdoing a certain activity which creates tension. If the problem is structural, Craniosacral Therapy can be super helpful.
Craniosacral Therapy is much more of a listening therapy than a deeply aggressive type of bodywork. Have you ever gone for a massage and the pressure hurt and the tissues did not soften? Did you find yourself sore afterwards?
What’s great about Craniosacral Therapy is that, we as therapists. listen to the body tissues and allow them to show us the way into the dysfunctional patterns. There is no forcing, so the body doesn’t have to fight back. It’s much easier to access the tissues in the neck and spine this way for relief.
If you are struggling with neck and/or back pain, check out www.upledger.com. Usually, there is a way to free up the neck and back for more mobility and health. Give yourself an opportunity to move into health with gentle support.
The Inner Wisdom of my body brought me into Presence…
God Bless Our Inner Wisdom. The intelligence Within is powerful. When I was younger, I found myself fascinated by the human body and how it works. At a later ripened aged Craniosacral Therapist, I now find myself even more intrigued. Never is there a dull moment when I get bored with what I do. This is because I continue to study, explore and keep my mind open to new things arising in relationships: The people with whom I work, The world of Science, Touch and Healing, and of course with the magic of bringing peace and balance into any given equation. This is important to me so I can be the best version of facilitator I can be to support my clients. My best teachers, of course, are the moments when I meld and grow with each person who is willing to take a chance to heal and to deepen into Self-Discovery. Quite the adventure.
During every session, presence grows as I listen and support the inner wisdom relationship between me and my clients.. My mind, body & spirit feel much more aligned and deeply connected due to the quality of work to which I aim. Why? Because I understand that each client is a gift to me, where we dance together in mutuality for the highest good, and where the intention is focused on waking up into knowing health and wholeness. My clients come back, because I stay in a neutral place of non-judgment, open to the possibilities of getting better. Whatever it takes… My commitment is strong and based in care and understanding. Not to mention, an array of tools learned throughout the years.
The human body
The human body
As a Licensed Manual Therapist, the emphasis of my work has been on Listening, Connection, & Using the Tools that I have learned. One of the places I learned my unique approach to healing was in my Hakomi training. Ron Kurtz, who founded the Hakomi work taught that Loving presence is an incredible supportive way to create a therapeutic relationship that is safe, accepting and gracious. For me, this means being very aware of Who I am in the moment, and listening to the information that is presented by the inner wisdom of my client. This can be expressed in the wave of a breathe, a sound, a facial expression or sometimes through talk. Dialogue happens on many different levels. Through my Upledger Training, I have also learned to trust the Inner Wisdom inside of each person. It guides me, shows me the way to release and uncover old traumas, defense patterns, and dysfunctional patterns. Much of the time, I use the Craniosacral Rhythm and its Significance Detector to lead me where the body wants to go. Believe it or not, your body knows what it needs and that information is available.
The people who benefit the most from organic and natural healing are those who open up to all possibilities. People who take a chance to step outside what they know into the Unknown. This means feeling deeply into the sensing body, feeling emotions, and exploring belief systems. Coming out of the shadow and entering into the Presence of NOW. For example, I had a client who had lost her baby. During our SomatoEmotional work, she continued felt her deep grief, and expressed the pain that she felt inside her body. The pain at her loss. I listened to what her body offered to show me. After a series of sessions, she moved much more freely and felt so much better. It is such a difficult thing to have to go through, but she found that going in and through her broken heart, that she could live easier on the other side.
What I have discovered is that the best healing work is not about analyzing or figuring out the problem. But rather, I have seen through my manual therapy approach that focusing on supporting this concept of the “Evolving Presence” takes us into more expansion and a felt presence of health and wellbeing. The more we are mindful, curious and neutral, the more clarity and truthful we become. And the Truth does set us free. All the Craniosaccral tools in the world don’t mean a thing without have a solid foundation in Presence. Trusting the Inner Wisdom matters most in every session.
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.
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.
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!
As we get older, often we lose the natural curvature of our spine. Gravity pulls us downward and often we end up out of alignment anteriorly and posteriorly as well. Our doctors often recommend exercise which is a great beginning. Massage, Craniosacral Therapy, and other forms of Bodywork can be very helpful too. But there is something you can do to feel young that is easy to do right at home in just about 5-10 minutes a day that will help you quite a bit.
How about spending a little time with the Cobra Pose to self-correct your posture and open up your energy flow!
Begin Cobra by lying down on your stomach with the legs extended. Place your hands fairly close to your body parallel and slowly lift your body off the ground. Continue to lift higher, but only in comfort with a light stretch.Hold the stretch as long as you feel release for up to 30 seconds. If anything feels like it is too much, move back to the ground and relax and try again when you feel rested.
Stretching
Many of my clients come in with painful necks and lower backs.Those two areas especially seem to shorten in many people and end up being the weakest link in posture. Part of that can due to a shortened psoas muscle but usually include anterior fascia being too short from the feet to the top of the head.
If you take the time to do the Cobra Pose routinely, you will begin to see great change in how you stand and feel each day. This is accomplished by lengthening the front of your body with the stretch and relaxing all the above back muscles. This pose is counter to many of the activities we do each day which jet us forward. The Cobra Pose allows us to move into a backward curved space which restores better balance.
In Yoga, often the class leads us into pushing the stretch. I’d like to invite people who are in discomfort not to go all the way, but to simply go into the stretch gently, listen to your body to what feels good and stay there. I have found that when the body is not overtaxed, the defense mechanisms relax and more tissue will relax and spread throughout the whole body.
As with all physical activity, it is helpful to check with your physician what is good for you to do, especially while dealing with spinal issues.
As we age, we don’t have to limit our movements. We have a choice to move freely but we need to take advantage of our Cobra range of motion. Want to feel young? Then live young!
Over the last few decades, Dr. Barbara Brennan has seen her healing techniques and teachings spread across the globe, touching the lives of many students, clients, and people who have attended her school and/or studied her books, “Hands of Light” and Light Emerging”.
Her four year program at the Barbara Brennan School of Healing” has continued to provide a sanctuary for people from all aspects of life in which to learn about healing and how their personal healership can support positive change in the world.There is no other setting quite like this school that can offer such a profound sense of community, bent in service to the Higher Purpose of Life. BBSH is a unique container of intentional movement toward the evolution of the human Spirit.
As a graduate of the school, I’d like to share some of my insights into the many benefits of attending this school:
A little bit about the school from a graduate’s perspective: The school is based on a four year curriculum, planned out to promote self awareness and energy transformation. In the most simple terms, the first year is very gentle and explorative in a nurturing sense. It is an opportunity to gain better understanding of Self, and how our Human Energy Field operates. As one approaches the second a year, a different template of energy is held to deepen into our whole sense of Self by further exploring our dualistic beliefs, wounding, defense systems and how we create conflict and resolve issues in our relationships. In my opinion, this year often opens us up to aspects of self where we dared not look in a long time. However, as we learn to listen to our Higher Selves, we gain insights from our darkness, and the light begins to shine brighter and brighter revealing our true natures. The third year takes us on another turn. This year challenges us to examine our relationship with God. Often authority issues are revealed and our limited thinking is dropped to open us to be more closely aligned with the Divine Mind. One learns to restructure chakras, to hold the 5th level of the energy field and so much more. Finally, when one enters the fourth and last year, the students take the time to write a research project and present a Case Study. This last year pulls the work together through working with the intention of Hara and rediscovering the Core Star connection we each have to the Divine.
To enter this portal of deep transformation and change, one has to be very committed. One has to learn to trust that by letting go of our old paradigms, that new wisdom and light will lead the way through our darkest trials. Students learn to recognize their strategies and defenses that no longer serve. With all pretenses dropping away, we have learned to become transparent and reconnected to the Whole. Even after graduation, we continue to question and explore in the dance of the Light , opening our hearts and our minds.
Most people who graduate, take the work they have learned from Barbara Brennan, her teachers and community out into their regular daily lives. But something integral to our way of Being has shifted. As we continue to use the skills, we weave our insights and essence into everything around us. We wake up to Source in everything we see with fresh eyes. Blocks that once held us frozen still dissolve easily, and the passage of life is easier to transverse.
I am not going to say that going the Barbara Brennan School of Healing is an easy journey. But it is a journey worth taking. The curriculum and support that show up at the school will help to heal your deepest wound. It will help you to navigate through life with more ease and grace. It will loosen your ties to the past and free you up to live more fully with Presence in the Moment.
Dr. Barbara Brennan dedicated her life to teaching and sharing her work. The Template of study and experience will dramatically change how you view life no matter how you look at it. If you are wanting to discover your True Essence, this is the place to start. If you want to look toward doing healing work with others out in the world, this school will give you the tools and Presence. Open up to your deepest longing and allow this community to support you in rediscovering your potential and True Self. Your beliefs are not you. You are so much more than you ever imagined yourself to be.
When stressed and feeling in pain, it is not easy to experience life as a miracle.
However, when we acknowledge our present and touch into our hearts, we melt into that glimmer of the Divine Spark. Sometimes we feel it inside, touching our tissues with awareness, Other times we are reminded by observing others or nature or something that shimmers with light. We may feel it when we are touched with listening and compassion.
The body is a physical vehicle that reminds us of the creation of the human spirit and the physical manifestation of life. The more we move toward integration and in free motion, our lives feel healthier.
When we feel healthy and good in our bodies, we tend to feel more in touch with joy and peace. It is easier to feel deeply into the miracle in which we live.
Taking care of oneself through touch, good nutrition, healthy expression of the creative force – allows us to gather insight into the light within.
Touch helps us to remember~
When you are feeling disconnected, imbalanced, stressed or just off your mark, consider offering yourself the gift of transformative Craniosacral Therapy Touch. Let Go and allow your inner wisdom to heal and to reconnect to the wonder of life. The human body is a sacred miracle given to us and blessed.
Learn more about Upledger Craniosacral Therapy, at: www.upledger.com
