SomatoEmotional Release is based on the concept that the whole body and everything within down to the cellular level has both independent and integrated consciousness. Dr. John Upledger developed this therapeutic system of Craniosacral Therapy to support clients to release obstructive emotional energies from the unconscious mind to the conscious through listening and body dialoguing. The true benefit of this work is that is is designed to release your body of the residual effects of previous injuries and difficult experiences, leaving you feeling more healthy, vital and alive.
As a licensed Massage Therapist and Bodyworker for over 17 years, I have observed more than a few clients who have benefited from SomatoEmotional Release. These people often come in with pain, or challenges in everyday life, unable to identify the Source for healing. As the Craniosacral Sessions begins, what often happens with SER is that an old emotional energy begins to arise to be felt and processed. Feelings of sadness, fear or such will move and images or sensations may be awakened. Things that were stuck or internalized reach for the light so to speak to be felt, witnessed and observed for release. SomatoEmotional Release is facilitated by therapists trained in touch to tune into what your Inner Physician would like to do to help you move through into a clearer mind body spirit connection. On a physical level, the therapist will feel the tissues begin to relax and expand. The stress of the memory dissolves and a new outlook perhaps without words can be experienced.
Are you feeling Stuck?
It’s important to know: While we are not licensed psychotherapists, Upledger therapists are trained to support the client’s own process to unfold without interference. In a session, we often witness traumas ranging from pent up angry feelings from a divorce to cases of rape and PTSD in soldiers. As the body begins to release this old energy, clients find more insight into their life dynamics, metabolize their feelings easier and can make healthier choices on how to move forward in their lives. SER work can feel very freeing, integrating and joyful.
For more information, contact Sharon Hartnett LMT, CST for a free 15 minute phone consultation: (614) 372-6598
Lower Back Dysfunction can cause back pain and suffering.
How many things have you tried to find resolution to your pain?
Relieve Pain Symptoms
If you really want to feel better, it’s important to look long-term and holistically. I know that people want to find a quick fix- but that usually is not the best approach to healing. I also know it is easier for most people to go to the doctor and only get prescriptions to relieve pain- but maybe there is a better way that will truly address your real issue.
Engaging in an integrative program will help you to get to the core of the problem to restore better health and function.
Is your life worth feeling well?
Let’s begin with the obvious. Pain is the body’s way of saying, “something is wrong and I am out of balance.”
In particular, when the back is hurting- most likely there is some type of lesion interrupting the flow needed to nourish and support the spine and all the related organs in that area. When the tissues lose their nutrients, the connective tissue tends to dry out and get lumpy or adhered. The spinal cord which is composed of the vertebral bodies and paired sensory and motor nerves that are associated can become hyper-sensitive, hypertrophic, and hyper-irritable. Voila- a triggered nervous system igniting the sympathetic system with constant bombardment.
So what does this mean for you?
If you want to to find not only long term relief from back pain, but want to take it a step further to truly moving easier and feeling more vital and alive, it takes a commitment to make changes in your life. Speak to your doctor and come up with an all encompassing health plan. This means exercise, diet and finding a healing team to support you. Working with the fascia and the nervous system is one of the best things you can do to yourself to reverse misalignment issues. By engaging in a 10 series of Structural Integration with Craniosacral Therapy, you can optimize your posture and dis-impact/decompress bones that are causing dysfunctions. Normalizing and releasing adhesions and lesion patterns will bring back your line and feelings of relaxation. As the connective tissue softens and hydrates, you will find yourself feeling more space and opening throughout your whole body.
We all want to feel our best. The challenge is whether you want to stand behind the choice of wellness. In most cases, unless there has been a recent accident, it takes years for pain to become unbearable. Give yourself some time and the care you need to turn things around. Miracles can happen, but be in the process of healing and the wisdom of your body will show you the way.
For more information on Structural Integration, Craniosacral Therapy, and Reiki Energy Healing, call Sharon Hartnett LMT: (740) 966-5153 for a free 15 minute phone consultation.
Have you taken the time lately to examine your feet?
Did you know that the feet are good indicators of what is going on with your overall health?
For your wellbeing, you might want to consider setting aside a little space in your schedule for some TLC to this part of your body.
As a Massage Therapist for 17 years, I have seen lots of feet. The care that people put there ranges anywhere from between a “0” up to a “10”.
Most common for the best feet- women who like to have pedicures and get their feet massaged monthly often sport around healthy feet. Believe it or not, this extra attention really shows. When your pedicurist or massage therapist work with your feet, the professional ones will let you know if they notice any unusual sores, stiffness, and personally-you will feel if there is pain by touch or certain movements. Also athletes who listen to their feet and find their center and balance also have better posture in how they stand and move through life.
I see more unhealthy feet with the elderly. Sometimes Seniors can’t reach down and touch their feet so they get neglected. In these cases, I have seen open sores, felt the lack of circulation, noticed yellowing and dryness, and ingrown nails. But there are also younger people who have issues. I have seen young women who wear high heel shoes every day and their feet lose their natural shape and then start to resemble shoes. They are no longer able to stand correctly fully on their feet which pulls the whole body out of alignment. Another issues that frequently comes up is the pain associated with Plantar fasciitis. When people don’t wear the proper shoes to support their feet, this very painful condition in which a thick band that connects the heel to the toes becomes inflamed.
So what can you do to take care of your feet?
Taking Care of Your Feet
As you can see from this reflexology chart, the feet, as is the whole body, is interconnected. People who have studied the feet in particular, or who have massaged them for years, can usually begin to correlate certain relationships. This chart can be helpful to you too in identifying any possible problems. Try practicing massage at home or receive massage by your favorite therapist and ask for particular attention to the feet. Allow yourself to become mindful and feel into the sensations… whether pleasure or pain. In the picture above, you can get an idea where you are tense and be curious about the part of the body that is associated there. Knowledge is power and understanding your body is key to your health.
If you have a challenge reaching down or visual problems seeing your feet, ask your caretaker or partner to give you some feedback. For example, if there are yellowing nails- it may be time to see your podiatrist for fungus problems. Keeping your physicians updated on any unusual conditions will help them to decide how to test you for health issues such as diabetes or neuropathy.
Make sure that you change your shoes often. From a Structural Integration perspective, walking in old worn out shoes that are already a reflection of your footstep will worsen your alignment. Different shoes support differently. That makes sense. Engage the whole foot as a whole as much as possible. Keeping your foot balanced is healthy.
Structural Integration and Massage can be great in taking care of your feet. It improves circulation, increases lymphatic flow, engages the nervous system, touches into the reflexology points, enhances flexibility and helps you to feel more grounded and at ease in your whole body. After all, your whole structure comes through your feet as you move through life. So it’s important to bring your attention to this connection of structure.
I know it can be easy to ignore the feet. Everyday they move us around, they do their job so that we forget to feel mindful. However, this is the exact reason why we should change our thinking. For longterm health- pay attention to what is working and make sure that the feet are well taken care of. Let your feet be an indicator of your overall health and wellness. You deserve happy and healthy feet!
Stress Reduction is key if you want to improve your health and wellbeing.
Some of the easiest things you can do to decrease the amount of stress in your life is to exercise, eat well, meditate, and get involved with the arts, yoga, movement and other creative hobbies. Life is meant to be enjoyable so find your sense of joy! In my personal field of expertise, most people come to my office because they also find Massage and Bodywork to be quite helpful in achieving their goals of relaxation. Professional touch and mindful sensory interaction is known to have many benefits that allow the the body to find its optimal state of Being. Who hasn’t walked out of massage therapy session at one time or another feeling calmer and yet more in tune with their energy flow? I would like my clients and others to find a way to maintain that well sense of health.
So how do you daily maintain the same sense of balance and connection that you find after a massage?
Today we are going to talk about how you can make a real change in your life by finding peace Within on a physical level.
To begin, let’s talk and learn about stress…
From a definition point of view, stress is a normal physiological response to events that are considered threatening, engaging the body’s defenses to move into a “fight-or-flight-or-frozen” reaction. In cases where there is a real emergency, stress can spring you into the necessary actions needed to keep you alert, strong and able to protect yourself in order to stay alive. In daily activities, it also helps you to keep on top of things, to concentrate, and be productive when challenges arise. The problem is that that when the body is continually exposed to a state of stress, it begins to recognize life this way as being normal. Yet it is not. In the longterm, stress can negatively affect your mental state, your spirit and health all around.
On an energetic level, when a person’s is stressed, the dynamic of being mobilized to use a lot of energy often takes the person out of their grounding. The brain has issued orders to to initiate nerve cell firing and chemical release to prepare for possible attack. Thereafter, we move into either defense or offense. The end result is that our consciousness is focused on fear and the body automatically moves into contraction in some areas.
I have to be honest and say, that most people who come in for massage and bodywork have no clue how they habitually hold their body against life itself. From a working perspective, a massage therapist can support the body and help clients to self-correct through their tissues and find better alignment. But when the work is done, what can you do to make the change sustainable?
Grounding and Breathing
I can’t say enough about how important it is to find your grounding.
Now you may say- what do you mean about grounding? This term is often thrown about and it is not necessarily an easy concept to understand. That makes sense because if you are trying to figure out grounding in your thinking, you will go in circles. Grounding is a real connection between the body and the earth. It is more of a sensory experience that feeds your brain.
When you think about it, we are walking, sitting and lying down during out days. Most of the time our minds are occupied on how we need to interact from these position to make things happen in our environment. Even when we are asleep, habitual stress will ended up showing up in clenched teeth and TMJ and such. If you want to get in contact with your authentic centered self, awareness to our bodies is key to making that happen.
So what is the key that helps us make the connection which will enable us to let go of that stress?
Explore your relationship to Earth with mindfulness.
Lay down on the ground and bring your attention inward. I know this takes patience and a different mindset for some to actually give themselves this gift of time. I know most people have a lot on their plate. But restoration and kindness to one’s sense of grounding is really important to keep your body in health. The physicality of your whole self has important data that needs to be sent to the brain in order to relieve stress. So take the time to scan, feel and be curious about yourself. This is your time for you.
Next Feel how your body rests on the ground. Are you comfortable? Are you tight somewhere? Do you feel numb at all? How about noticing the texture and strength of the floor beneath you? What happens when you begin to explore where you end and the ground begins? Getting into body awareness is important if you want to understand how to release tension. When you are ready, find a place in your body that feels at ease. Move that area very slowly , -imagine in micro movements. Before you approach any tension, stop and allow new information to come in. In this exercise, less is more and you don’t want to be living in pain, but in the easy mobility that is available. Then bring the movement back to it’s original place. Sit in the quiet for a moment and allow this to integrate.
The last step is to try a specific exercise. Situate yourself in a place that is very comfortable either inside or possibly outside in a beautiful field connected to nature. I will outline an exercise here for people who have tight backs and shoulders. As you have completed the first two steps, while lying on the ground, interlock both hands above the head, and allow them to rest on the ground superiorly. Observe and experience your breath, and notice how that is either in movement, or stillness. Taking your time, bring the hands ever so slowly to the right on the ground, while keeping the motion effortless and very small. Play with this going one way and then the other. If you run into any discomfort make sure to stop. Less is more! After the right side is explored come to center above your head and relax. Try the left side as well. This exercise might take about 10 minutes at most. When the whole thing is complete, allow your arms to come down to your side with palms up and allow this quiet but spacious work to integrate in the body. If there is any residual holding, breath and let it go.
Now bring your awareness to how the back and shoulders feel on the ground. Do you feel more relaxed? Has the tension began to dissolve? Can you feel how pleasant it is to relax on the ground beneath you? As you can see, by keeping your whole body in contact with the ground and experimenting with micro movements, while staying in intimate relationship- the human body starts to feel supported and can send messages to the brain that everything in the world in good. It alters our thinking and our feelings as a natural integration occurs.
Wellness
It is because we are always moving through gravity in reactive relationships outside of ourselves that we loose our ability to stay centered. That’s not a bad thing because it is part of our human experience. However, if we truly want to find a way to interact with less stress, we must re-orient ourselves with grounding and support.
One of the links I recommend for this type of work is:
With practices like these, you will feel more whole and complete.
You can do these exercises at home, find a practitioner for 1:1 work or you can take classes.
In order to find relaxation in your life- it is absolutely essential that you find ways to feel open and spacious inside of your body. Grounding in a sensory experiential always helps to calm and nurture. Take the time to be generous with yourself and wellbeing.
For more information, contact, Sharon Hartnett LMT in Columbus, Ohio:
(614) 372-6598
For more information on movement awareness check out this youtube sample of Feldenkrais:
It’s sometimes difficult to distinguish whether your child is suffering from actual ADHD or experiencing life with a typically high activity level with a short attention span. But what a parent does know is that it can be challenging trying to fit their kids into a mainstream educational system without some extra support.
Regulating life through New Sensory Input.
At Lighten Up Therapies, we are not so concerned where your child falls in the spectrum of ADHD, but instead we choose to focus on giving your child a new integrative mind, body & spirit experience. We have been intrigued with the success that Craniosacral Therapy has had with young people in helping them to self-regulate and be more comfortable in their daily lives. A quote that describes our outlook to healing is well spoken by Moshe Feldenkrais, “What I’m after isn’t flexible bodies, but flexible minds and to restore each person to their human dignity.” So how do we help children to find more joy and emotional balance through massage and bodywork?
It’s very helpful to imagine the mind as being inclusive of the whole body, and if you can even go outside the box a little further, into the complete human energy field. When we can allow kids to become mindful of their physical self and subtle energies if only for a few minutes here and there during a session, the brain becomes better informed. Sensory information attained through the fascial and nervous system can enliven the DNA to express itself in a new way and change our thinking and expression. By touching into the continuous web of dialogue, children can become better educated to find quiet and self-correction
One of the first things that is helpful for children during a session is to induce a still point. A still point is a period of time in which the cerebral spinal flow comes to a rest, allows improved circulation to the brain, and helps relieve adhesions around the brain’s membranes and spine. Still points can be very calming and nourishing to the nervous system. It may take time with children who don’t want to sit still, but with patience, still point is a practice that can be taught to parents and felt deeply relaxing by their children. One of the best things a practitioner can do is give their clients tools to take home to carry the work forward.
While children with ADHD might initially avoid this type of experience, eventually- the new felt sense of the subtle work of Craniosacral regulation will begin to take root. The calm will open the doorway to a more relaxed sense of wellbeing. At this point, we can then proceed with checking the diaphragms for release, listening to the flow around the spine and brain, and to encourage symmetry, strength and coherence within all the systems. With this work, as the structure changes, so does the way the energy moves The internal environment can integrate with the mind body & spirit sense of reconnection!
One of the best things you can do it interview. Sharon Hartnett LMT CST offers 15 minute free phone sessions to answer your questions at:
(614) 372-6598
Helping your children to become more focused and centered is an experiential commitment. It often takes time to see improvements, but in most cases, dramatic change does show up.
If you would like to try a session to gain your own first hand experience of Craniosacral Therapy, ask for $10.00 of your first session.
At some point in our lives, most of us have faced some type of medical challenges.
Who hasn’t at one point or another faced an illness or an injury of some sort?
In my practice, I have had clients walk in with a variety of ailments, diseases and physical pain.
I am not a doctor who diagnoses or prescribes, but with the art and science of touch, I have seen some wonderful results for my clients with massage and bodywork that have addressed their issues so that they can relax and breath easier. It’s clear to see that people facing medical challenges are looking for healing and pain relief and my job is to listen and use the many years of experience I have behind me as a licensed massage therapist to help them feel better in their body. My intention is support re-education of the body to help it remember its own healing abilities to self-correct. This can have wondrous benefits! When pain dissolves and the body is functioning with more ease and vitality, in most cases… mental and emotional health also reappears again. It’s difficult to live in joy when one is focused on physical pain. When the body feels better, it’s amazing how different life feels.
Some of the best areas of health that massage therapists can treat are neurological, muscular and respiratory. Especially with Craniosacral Therapy, clients see great improvement with neck and back pain, migraines, headaches, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, frozen shoulder, and pain associated with arthritis. What’s so great about Craniosacral Therapy (CST) is that it is so gentle that even clients who are facing cancer and treatments can enjoy this relaxing touch, as long as their doctors approve. On a deep level of contact, being held and connected with others is very healing in itself. CST as it worked wight the fluid around the brain and spine can promote profound change and balance. With massage and bodywork, you also get restored motion by release of restrictions that have been stopping the flow of your optimal functioning.
Massage may feel like a luxury, but really it is much more than that.
A note about insurance:
In most states, massage therapy is not covered by medical insurance like a doctor’s visit. However, some insurances that are more flexible, may offer certain allowances. Make sure you call your insurance company to see what type of benefits they provide. Massage Therapists can give you a receipt and any information that is required regarding your sessions.
If you live in Central Ohio, and have been looking to develop a healing relationship with a Licensed Massage Therapist and/or Certified Craniosacral Therapist,call:
Sharon Hartnett LMT
(614) 372-6598
*15 minute free phone consultation with any questions you may have.
