It takes years to find yourself in chronic back pain.
Many people think back pain comes from pulling a certain muscle or moving wrong. Most likely your structural alignment has been out for a while and your muscle groups are not balanced. Back pain is born through the way that we habitually move our bodies and the consequences of our physical action then take on certain rotations, contractions and dysfunctional patterns. When the back begins to spasm, that is usually the tip of the iceberg that lets you know that you need help in healing prolonged unhealthy postural patterns.
Build a Holistic Plan to relieve back pain for overall health and wellbeing.
I know…I know… that most people want to find a “fix” and feel better immediately when their backs hurt. Who wants to live with back pain?
It is possible to go in for a massage session, a few physical therapy appointments, see a chiropractor or to get a prescription from your medical doctor to ease the pain. These can all be helpful. However, is this what is going to help you live pain free in the future?
When any illness or pain calls you to bed, it is helpful to take the time to inquire into your self-care. Ask yourself, “How am I eating?”, “Am I sleeping well?l”, “Do I get enough exercise?”, and “Am I dong whatever I need to do to feel healthy and vital?” Do you realize the importance of putting your health first?
With our busy lifestyles, there are not many people who can answer yes to all of these. So if you want to feel better, it is important to begin to prioritize your health. And realize- that it took you some time to get into illness and/or pain and it may take a commitment to long-term exploration to re-connect to your wellness.
As a Craniosacral Therapy bodywork and healer, I do get a lot of people who come in for one or two sessions and they do get relief for sure. It’s easy to move into the back fascial tissues and relieve the tension there. The clients are happy for a while. But whatever relief you get there is most likely temporary, even with fascial work when it is only applied locally. From my perspective after 15 years in the business of relieving pain, in order to feel health success, the people who dedicate themselves to a comprehensive health plan are the ones who walk away pain free longterm and able to do the things that excite them. Clients who are proactive and even those who come in after an injury benefit best when they value their own health enough to do whatever it takes to find alignment on all the levels of their wellness. When we change our thoughts and bodies,we change the way we experience life.
So if you are facing chronic back pain, allow that be a signal to you that it would be a smart idea to holistically set your intention to creating a “health plan” to get better overall. Clean up your diet, decrease your stress, find an experience bodywork and commit to some long term goals to improve your sense of wellbeing. If you don’t care about your health, who will?
Life styles are based on the choices we make day in and day out. We are creatures of habit, so start slow and make small decisions that are easy to change. This is not an all or nothing situation unless you are very ill. You’ll be surprised if you pace yourself and find the right support team how much better you will feel!
For a local Upledger Certified Craniosacral Therapist and Structural Integration Practitioner in Columbus, Ohio, contact Sharon Hartnett
Call: (614) 372-6598
Locations in Victorian Village and Johnstown, Ohio
Wellness through Craniosacral Therapy is our goal.
Often clients are faced with challenges that take them off track for some reason. It could be unrelenting chronic or acute physical pain, feelings of anxiety, anger and rage that have no place to be expressed, or a sense of disconnect from the rest of life. Whatever your problem is, if you are having a hard time resolving it alone, you have come to the right place to start your journey to Wellness. We work holistically within our practice, and with other therapists and doctors as a team. We are here to help you move toward your goals of health.
How does Craniosacral Therapy Work for You?
Craniosacral Therapy is a system that requires an experienced practitioner to listen to the healing intelligence of your body, and energy field to support your health. By bringing our technical and palpation skills to your session, your body can begin to self-correct and release old dysfunctional patterns. This is accomplished by gently following your body tissues and moving along with your natural CS rhythms to enliven and hydrate the tissues and nervous system. As new information is introduced, a dialoguing process activates more efficient body functionality overall. When the mind of the body gets re-educated, the brain changes too.
At the end of a session, clients often get up off the table feeling relaxing changes working throughout their bodies and thinking. When people talk about the mind, body & spirit connection, it means that by sensing change on any of the physical, emotional, or other aspects of life, one spectrum can support healing onto the other. As bodyworkers, often our intention is to awaken your sense of Source through skilled touch. As indicated by the title of this blog, “Wellness is a connection of paths: knowledge and action.” One system connecting with another opens the possibilities to shift into a more whole way of living.
Wellness
At Lighten Up Therapies we offer an array of different modalities to help you on your journey to Wholeness. Our hope is to help you awaken to your Source. It is in the richness of the inner experience that healing can be activated.
For more questions on Craniosacral Therapy in Columbus, Ohio, please call Sharon Hartnett LMT at:
-When I tell people I specialize in Craniosacral Therapy, they often ask me to describe what it is. While Craniosacral Therapy has been around for a while, it is just now coming more into the forefront as being known as an effective integrative health approach. So in order to bring even more clarity to this field of healing, I want to present this short blog entry. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me, Sharon Hartnett, LMT, for a free 15 minute phone consultation
703 509-1792
Craniosacral Therapy is a light touch type of bodywork that enhances the functioning of the whole body by working primarily with the Cerebrospinal fluid around the nervous system. This is done with palpation from the feet all the way to the head. The name “Craniosacral Therapy” can be misleading because while the main focus is on listening at the cranium and the sacral area, this gentle manual therapy may be approached from anywhere on the body. During a session, a client remains fully clothed and lies down on the table for about an hour. The therapist will follow listening stations and help the body find its own healing course. Craniosacral Therapy’s relaxing and balancing effects may be felt physically, emotionally and spiritually throughout the session and afterwards.
Craniosacral Flow
A Craniosacral Therapist is a listener of the craniosacral rhythm much like a Counselor may listen to the words of a client. As the session progresses, the client often calms down and lets go of stresses and pain. The therapist is guided by the body’s own intelligence to follow any dysfunctional patterns and to help the system to self-correct. The quality, symmetry and strength of the craniosacral movements are strong indicators if there are restrictions or weakness in a certain area. As certain patterns are tenderly touched, unwinding and lengthening may occur allowing healthier interaction between the nervous system and the tissues. Often people who come to a Craniosacral Therapist for a series of sessions after finding no relief elsewhere end up feeling more vitality and release of deep pain patterns.
For a quick Youtube layout of the work, check out one of my earlier teacher’s explanation of the work:
Craniosacral Therapy has been helpful with relieving traumas from the body on many different levels. Once these traumatic experiences are processed in a healthy environment, the person usually feels freed up to live more fully from a clear more positive intentional place.
Sharon Hartnett CST-Diplomate specializes in helping people with anxiety & related issues, concussions, and chronic pain.
Craniosacral Therapy can help you to find center. With any questions, call Sharon Hartnett LMT at 703 509-1792
Feel Young by Stretching Those Shortened Soft Tissues-
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 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 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 range of motion. Want to feel young? Then live young!
How about entering the world of horses with a totally new outlook?
New Beginnings in the Presence of Horses
I am not sure how this whole new divergent thread in my life began, but something inside me said, “wouldn’t it be lovely to find a beautiful farm for my husband and I to retire.” I had a vague notion of reconnecting with horses, but was a bit reluctant to fully tell my husband because of the great responsibility of taking care of these noble friends. But as life has a will of it own, my longing and life in its own wild ways has opened up a whole new doorway for me to discover how to be more human as well as be in reverent service to life. With gratitude to the presence of our horse friends, the old constructs of life are falling away, and my eyes experience Spirit freshlythrough the Nature of Horse.
Many of us have at some point or another experienced other animals as being inferior to us. As with the way of things, Human Beings during the last few centuries have learned to dominate and shape the earth for the most part according to what supports our lifestyles and decisions. At this point in the spectrum of time however, many educators, therapists, and coaches are delving into the expanding field of “animal” communication. It is very exciting at this point of our evolution to re-examine how we can live more closely in mutuality with other creatures for not only their growth, but for ours as well. It is by re-inserting ourselves back into the web of inter-connection that we can have hope to improve our futures and that of the planet earth. When we find deeper contact with ourselves, our relationships begin to shift as well.
While I have experienced great joy working with dolphins, lions, tigers, and bears with my work, the spark of my heart is now to bring the great teaching that come from living with the horse to people who are interested in a whole new way of “Self-Discovery”. I have created a template of belief and movement on the farm to view horses as our “equal partners” on this planet we call our home. Our retreat here is being planned to open this summer to introduce daily and weekend workshops opening the pathway for learning through “Communicating with the horses.” Entering the Equine world with a certain naiveté will change the life of those who have little experience to those who have been riding all their lives. The more empty the mind of preconceptions, the more possibilities can enter. Yet, even if you are the sort that longs to confront and challenge thought, the horses guidance always finds a way to melt your heart and bring a greater depth of understanding to your life.
Learning about power, intimacy, confidence and independence by playing with horses.
Here on the farm, life shows us a simpler way to live within the balance of life. The horses, when given freedom to experience themselves, offer us new perspectives of life on how to resolve conflicts, to play without inhibition, and to find our own inner authority and leadership skills. In the lack of words, a look… a movement will express exactly what we need to know in the moment.
If you are feeling drawn to a more “nature” based method of self-discovery…consider befriending the world of horses with us here in Johnstown, Ohio. We will be offering 1:1 facilitation and also group and herd experiences. Our retreats will be offered with walking meditation, interface with the horses, touch experiences, and also through developing intuitive understanding of energy dynamics. If you are interested, as part of the equine therapy process, we will offer touch and bodywork upon request and with certain curriculums. This is an evolutionary concept where seeds have been planted, and the fruits of the creative process have taken root. The horses are the teachers and we are the eager students receiving the learning. We are excited to take the journey with you into the world of Horses!
Hakomi is a holistic approach to massage and bodywork:
Typically, a person comes into a Massage Establishment looking for a nice soothing and relaxing massage.The muscles are tight… they feel tense and are looking for some type of relief.
A Swedish massage may feel great and may be exactly what you need to relief your daily stresses, but when you find yourself feeling tight again in a day or two, why not decide to try a different method of bodywork: A Deeper and longer lasting Hakomi massage healing may be more helpful with its gentle intention of mindful touch and self-awareness.Hakomi methods may be helpful in helping you to find self-understanding and in letting go of past traumas.
Hakomi Massage
People who receive massage regularly realize that they feel much better after being touched and contacted on a physical level by a professional with caring and experienced hands.More than 34 million people have discussed massage therapy with their doctors according to the AMTA as a means to relief pain and feel healthier.Often Massage and bodywork helps people feel more balanced, relaxed and closer to their health and wellness goals.A good professional partnership between therapist and client can do wonders.
However, consider that massage can also benefit you on much deeper level if you are willing to try some self-reflective techniques to the arisings of your consciousness. It’s interesting to realize that the mind body & spirit connection acts as a whole.Have you ever noticed when you lie on the table that all your thoughts of the day keep your mind active and and how your feelings are attached to the beliefs? Have you wondered about why your thoughts go outward rather than nourishing the “Self”? These different flows of energy are creatively looking for expressing and integration. When a connection through bodywork touch happens, cells begin to respond in a whole new way. Cellular memory sends this new information to the brain and not only is the body processing, but the whole way in which we relate internally and externally begins to shift into a more open way of living. Hidden memories and beliefs may begin to surface. With Hakomi, this is done in a safe and confidential environment. Our intention is to help the client to build a strong foundation and then to observe and feel as all these things move through “the self” in a soft and meaningful session. Hakomi brings the client into a more unitive state of being with its mirroring and compassionate support.
As a Massage Therapist for 15 years, Sharon has mindfully worked with clients to help restore alignment, balance and structural integrity back to her clients. With respect, she meets her clients where they are and with whatever goals they agree upon. If you are looking for a basic massage, that is welcomed. However, if trauma has existed in your life and has not been released. It may be in your interest during your healing journey to receive mindful sensory input to help you move along on your path to wholeness.
*Hakomi in this setting is not replacing psychotherapy, but it is helpful in conjunction with talk therapy and will support you in your healing in any case.
If you have any questions please contact Sharon Hartnett LMT:
Hakomi Therapy is a a system of body centered therapy developed by Ron Kurtz in the 1970s an which has evolved through the years through the work of the Hakomi Institute. It uses mindfulness, unity, and organicity to explore awareness and the core material that organizes our belief systems. Hakomi can be very helpful for massage and bodywork clients who have experienced past traumas and have not been able to process through the sensations and feelings with typical therapy alone.
