Understanding why people experience Chronic Headaches may be difficult.
So let’s rather concentrate our energy on finding a way to help relieve the pain. What actually works?
Generally speaking, when a person experiences headaches approximately 15 days a month or more, it is considered a chronic situation. The two kinds of headaches that shout out the loudest are: tension and migraine.
Chronic Headache relief
Tension headaches are usually diffused around and encompass the whole head. This includes the scalp, neck and are thought to be activated by stress.
Migraine headaches can be identified by a pounding pain in the head, along with feelings of nausea, light sensitivity and dizziness. Often they are felt on one side of the head. Genetics and the living environment are thought to be linked to the start of the throbbing. Diet, chemicals, hormones and such can all contribute to the onset of pain.
Massage Therapy can be helpful in reducing headache pain, simply because it is relaxing, balances the nervous and circulatory systems, and reduces stress. The best thing you can do it to create a healthy lifestyle that nourishes you and brings you into equilibrium. Therapeutic touch can be part of that positive decision making process!
How can Craniosacral Therapy Help?
Craniosacral Therapy in particular is a great modality of light touch massage that helps clients reconnect to better internal dialogue. Thereby, its’ benefits are found by allowing better circulation, nervous system communication, lymphatic flow, and energy transmission. CST is great for young babies, and all other ages.
Release Tension
When an experience Craniosacral Therapists works for you, he/she listens to what want to happen in your body to complete cycles of health and wellness. Especially in regards to headaches, one pays attention to the thoracic inlet to make sure that area is open and flowing superior of the heart, but below the neck. When the cranial motion is optimized by working with sutures and balancing the cerebrospinal flow, the fluids and nerves have a clearer path to move back down into the body for increased functionality.
If you haven’t heard about Craniosacral Therapy, please go to the Upledger site to find out more.
If you would like a free 15 minute phone consult, call Sharon Hartnett at 740 966-5153 if you are in the Ohio area.
One of the most difficult symptoms of fibromyalgia is lack of sleep. Clients I see often share complaints of insomnia and not feeling rested in the morning.
Are you one of these people disturbed by pain during the night?
insomnia with fibromyalgia
Often frequent brain arousal interrupts the restorative properties of sleep with Fibromyalgia. So the best thing you can do is make yourself comfortable and as stress free as possible before going to sleep.
Some of the things you can do to set up an easier night are:
Meditation
Take a Warm Bath
Stop Using Electronics a few hours before bedtime.
Keep the Room Dark
Make Sure Your Room is Quiet
Keep the room on the cooler side, but the temperature should be comfortable.
One of the things that I like to introduce is Craniosacral Therapy (CST) to people who experience the challenges of Fibromyalgia symptoms. Often when I have clients on the table, they find themselves so relaxed that I often hear a bit of snoring. The Central Nervous System is able to come into better balanced as the tissues surrounding the brain and the spinal cord relax. Clients who experience CST have also told me that they tend to sleep better at night. Their bodies recuperate and they feel fresher for the next day. If you are suffering from fibromyalgia and hoping to find a deeper night’s rest, why not try a few sessions of Craniosacral Therapy to see if it can help you?
In Daily life, most people stay busy, and it’s easy to become distracted.
One of the best things that I like best about Craniosacral Therapy, is that it creates a sacred space for silence. During a session, clients lay on a table fully clothed, close their eyes, and relax. Stress is let go. In the quiet of the moment, many layers of consciousness have the time and ability to arise and be expressed. For many people, this means that they have a unique opportunity to be mindful, introspective and have an experiential of unfolding. Wonderful healing can take place, along with integration and growth.
I believe that this state of Grace in awakening is always available to us, however; it’s easy to miss due all the things we schedule or how we decide to live. It is in our best interest to balance action with receiving, thereby giving us the chance to live in “Being”.
As a Certified Craniosacral Therapist, my priority is to align with “listening” and help my clients to find their Inner Physician through resonance. What this means is that I focus on the CST rhythm primarily as it allows me to emphasize around the brain and spinal cord and how they relate to the rest of the body. By supporting balance, strength, rate and symmetry, the client optimizes through inner dialogue in the moment. In many instances, one can feel this as the therapeutic pulse picks up and sounds its healing potential. In other cases, tissues release and energy is flows or an electrical buzz travels under the fingers. In addition to the CSR (Craniosacral Rhythm), there are so many other things going on that intuition can lead me towards-the beating of the heart, the way the body moves with each inhale and exhale, the sound that loudens or softens as the body changes, all of these have a voice that the wisdom of the body is ready to reveal. By using the fascia and the bones as my prime manual tools, change is encouraged and a sense of wellbeing is the end result.
Another reason why I recommend Craniosacral Therapy to many people is that it is very gentle. This type of hands on therapy can be used during pregnancy, right after birth to seniors with sensitive skin and/or health issues. We use about a nickels worth of pressure until the tissue takes us deeper. No forcing or tough manipulating. Yet believe it or not- profound change can occur through this quiet listening and supporting through the craniosacral system.
If you are needing some help with energizing, or quieting CST is quite helpful. If you are in pain- helping restrictions or adhesions to dissolve opens the pathways to healthier dialogue. The body is a whole being and awakening it to its possibilities is exciting as it brings one back to center and wellness.
Today was the first day of the four day class for Upledger Craniosacral Therapy 2 in Columbus, Ohio 2014.
I really enjoy these opportunities to get involved in bringing this great work to my community.
Every chance I get to Teacher Assist, I jump on it. I always learn something new by hearing the material in a new way, or through interactive experience. Students ask great questions, and their enthusiasm to fine-tune their skills is exciting and inviting. By the end of these courses, many restrictions are removed from the dural tube and the rest of the Craniosacral System which always causes a stir of exciting from the huge shifts in function and sensation. The participants light up and renew their enthusiasm for the work.
The Institute also seems to be revamping it curriculum in my opinion based on feedbacks from students. The techniques seem easier to comprehend, and I already know how beneficial this work is. Now it’s even easier to learn and put into action. Students are anxious to join new study groups and to work towards Certification to increase their skill and ability to help their clients.
My favorite thing about Craniosacral Therapy (CST) is that the touch is so light, yet it is able to help the whole body communicate more efficiently to improve functionality as a whole. CST balances the entire body and revitalizes, restores the resting ability of the parasympathetic system, and encourages flow along the spine and related fascial segments.
Craniosacral Therapy
One example is that although one would think that the Cranium is the main place of dysfunction for TMJ , indeed it can’t be corrected unless the sacrum and pelvis are balanced. One thing we talked about today was that if a person appears to have one leg longer than the other, the ilea is probably jetted forward which affects the pelvic area and can cause a twist over to the other parietal bone. The point being in layman terms- is that this can lead to rotations in the cranium which cause TMJ. In this instance, the fascial planes, spine, and cranium must all be treated to bring about effective positive change.
I’ll keep you updated on the rest of the class… Loving Craniosacral! Upledger
-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
