Ankle Freedom, Upright Posture: A Craniosacral Perspective on Neck Health — Columbus Insights

by SharonHartnett | Sep 7, 2025 | better posture, change, craniosacral, Craniosacral Therapy, Energy Healing, grounding, healing, Healthy Body, Structural Integration

Craniosacral Approach: Ankle Mobility for Better Posture & Neck Health in Columbus

After 30 years of being a craniosacral therapist and doing integrative types of bodywork, it dawned on me how very important it is to free up the ankles in order for the neck to do the same.

A Bit about the Fascial System

The fascial system forms a continuous integrated architecture that literally connects your feet to your head. Working with this seamless three dimensional connective tissue network beginning at the ankles and feet can make a huge difference in how you feel and move in your body. It also directly affects the neck and it’s ability to sidebend, rotate and move in various directions.

Fascia is a seamless three dimensional connective tissue network that envelopes muscles, bones, organs, nerves and vessels. It allows global integration and force transmission. It is the medium through which all of life dialogues in my opinion.

In any case, recently what I have been noticing is that people who come in with neck issues, usually have a tightness in their lateral line. That begins at the peroneous muscles and goes up through the glutes, transferring possible tension up into the SCM muslces and such. Often this can lead to pain with headaches and migraines. There has to be efficient flow and communication from the head to the body, and the body to the head through the thoracic inlet.

Secondly, the plantar fascia and posterior needs to be considered as it deals with the arch and gait for walking and movement.

We have other lines too from the toes which run up to the pelvis to the head as well. So many relationships with which to work in order to restore better mobility and posture.

Your Goals with Craniosacral Therapy for your Health

The neck may be your weakest link. You may come in with neck pain, and issues like migraines, headaches, and tinnitus. You may believe that you need only local massage to release pain. But this is NOT a local muscle problem.

With Craniosacral Therapy, we approach the whole body. As a Structural integration Therapist I look at the whole body. The reason is- every movemenet we make is about interconnected patterns. What brings about optimal health and motion is addressing all the parts and patterns which add up to the whole.

As a somatic therapist, I know that you want to be feeling your best. I have to say though that most times, working only on the neck won’t bring you long term relief. Everything needs to change to create better order and integration.

Whole body attention is much more comprehensive and effective. You deserve to come in for treatments and to have your goals reached which most often are pain relief and better motibility. It is true that the neck probably needs a lot of attention, but the thoracic inlet, head and everything down to your ankles and toes does need to be included too in most cases.

My Goals for You with Craniosacral Therapy

First of all, my goal is whatever your goal is for yourself. Each Craniosacral Therapy treatment is based on how your body communicates through the craniosacral system. Bodies know how to move into the direction of healing, and I have faith in that dynamic to lead the session. In addition, I visually check your fascial alignment, and feel for twists, turns or any irregularities. I treat based on what you and your body are telling me. Each session is unique, as it should be as each person has their own way of developing and holding posture.

I find that by trusting the body’s communication and presnetation of patterns is the most effective way to treat.

Something I would like to invite you to do at home.

If your neck tightenss is bothering you, lie on the floor and feel how your neck and feet position themselves. Are they even when you look? Flexing your feet and pointing them, are you tight or do you move freely. Can you move your feet from right to left and left to right with ease? When you stand up, can you lift your toes? Do you stand on each side of your heal and the balls of your feet with balance. What do your arches look and feel like? Use your imagination and try to move your feet in many different planes of movement and see what is limited and what is not.

After about 5 minutes of testing. Get back on the floor. Breathe in for 4 and out for 6. Check in with your body and see how it feels after just the test. Do your ankles feel better? Your neck. Make a practice of finding ways to increase your mobility.

With Craniosacral Therapy, the motion tells me everything. On a deeper level, I listen to what the fluids and nervous system show me. I will help the body find alignment, and release tensions. Even more powerful is helping you to center and integrate new changes that give you more freedom in your body.

My message to you is that everything is interconnected in regards to your posture. Your fascia and the Craniosacral System are key to releasing dysfunctional patterns. However long it took you to get into a pain pattern- be patience and take your time to heal, and get well again. You deserve Seslf-Care!

Sharon Hartnett CST-D

(614) 653-8111

Text: To learn about my Craniosacral Therapy services, visit my my Main Page Here. Link

Click Here for More About Craniosacral Therapy

Learn More About Ankle Exercises

Craniosacral Therapy for ADHD:Gentle Treatment that enhances Focus

by SharonHartnett | Jul 12, 2025 | craniosacral, Craniosacral Therapy, upledger institute

Focus with Craniosacral Therapy Columbus

Finding Calm and Focus: How Craniosacral Therapy Supports People with ADHD

Living with ADHD can feel like your mind and body are always on the go. Thoughts race ahead, focus slips away, and it’s hard to find a moment of true calm. Medication and behavioral tools help many people, but some are also looking for a more natural way to settle the nervous system and feel grounded in daily life. That’s what I offer in my Worthington office, serving the Columbus area.

What Is Craniosacral Therapy?

Craniosacral therapy is a gentle, hands-on approach that works with the body’s deepest rhythms. Using a very light touch, I listen to subtle motions in the tissues and fluids around the brain and spinal cord, helping release tension and restore balance to the central nervous system. If you’d like the fuller picture, I explain it in How Does Craniosacral Therapy Work?

Why This Matters for ADHD

ADHD isn’t only about attention; it’s about how the nervous system regulates itself. Many people with ADHD feel restless inside, as if the body can’t fully settle. Craniosacral therapy helps by:

Calming the nervous system. Gentle touch signals safety, helping the body shift from constant alertness into deeper relaxation.
Releasing hidden tension. The body often holds tightness in the head, neck, and spine that adds to mental overwhelm.
Creating grounded presence. Sessions bring a sense of stillness and connection, making it easier to focus and feel centered.
Supporting self-regulation. Over time, people find it easier to reach this calm state on their own.

This is the same nervous-system work I describe in Craniosacral Therapy for Brain Health — ADHD simply calls for a particularly patient, steady touch.

What People Experience

Clients often leave a session feeling deeply relaxed and clear-headed. Some describe it as if the mental “static” has quieted, so thoughts come through one at a time instead of all at once. Parents tell me their children seem calmer and more settled afterward, which can make daily routines, homework, and transitions easier. Children and teens do well with this work because the touch is so light, and parents are always welcome in the room.

Is It a Standalone Treatment?

No. Craniosacral therapy isn’t a replacement for medical care or other therapies. It’s a supportive practice that works alongside what you’re already doing, giving body and mind an extra layer of ease and integration. For many families it pairs well with body-centered somatic work.

A Final Thought

ADHD can make life feel scattered and overwhelming. Craniosacral therapy offers a gentle pathway back to stillness. It’s not about changing who you are. It’s about helping your system find its natural rhythm, so you can move through the world with more clarity and peace.

Ready to feel better? I’m Sharon Hartnett, a Diplomate-Certified Craniosacral Therapist (CST-D) through the Upledger Institute, with about 30 years of experience listening to the body and helping it heal. My office is in Worthington, Ohio, and I serve the greater Columbus area.

If you’re curious whether this gentle work is right for you or your child, I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation. Call or text me at (614) 653-8111.

Learn more about craniosacral therapy in Columbus, read answers to common questions about craniosacral therapy, or find out how to choose the best craniosacral therapist for you.

Imagine a Better World

by SharonHartnett | Jul 9, 2025 | change, craniosacral, Craniosacral Therapy, mind body & spirit, move effortlessly, upledger institute

Creating a Better World Starts Within

It’s easy to look at the world and wish it were different. Kinder. More peaceful. More connected.

But what if creating that world doesn’t start out there?

What if it starts right here – within you?

Every time you choose to listen with compassion instead of reacting in anger, you create a small shift. When you speak with honesty and kindness, you create trust. When you soften your judgments and open your heart, you create space for healing.

These choices may seem small. But together, they become a ripple.

Your relationships change. Your community feels it. The world feels it.

We often forget how much power we hold to create change. Not by controlling others, but by becoming the person we wish everyone else would be.

Imagine the world you long for. Feel it in your body. Live it in your daily choices.

Because creating a better world starts within you… and then expands outward, touching everything you’re connected to.

You are that powerful.

As a Craniosacral Therapist and Healer for close to 30 years, I see the need that is here right now. Especially for women. To find this sense of power. To feel it in the bones, To move with the body. Let this mindful work help you to discover your deepest truth.

Sharon Hartnett CST-D through the Upledger Institute and Barbara Brennan Energy Healer/Reiki

(614) 653-8111

Text: To learn about my Craniosacral Therapy services, visit my my Main Page Here. Link

Serving the Greater Columbus Area.

The Ripple Effect of Kindness…..

Brain Healing Through Craniosacral Therapy: Manual Biomechanics for Individual Recovery

by SharonHartnett | Jun 21, 2025 | concussion, craniosacral, Craniosacral Therapy, healing, Healthy Body

Craniosacral Therapy for Brain Health: Gentle Healing Through Mindful Touch

How I use Upledger craniosacral therapy and hands-on listening to support brain healing and a calmer nervous system — Worthington, Ohio, serving Columbus

So many of the people who come to see me are tired of being pushed, adjusted, and medicated. They’re looking for something gentler that still works. Craniosacral therapy (CST) is that. It works with the craniosacral system — the delicate membranes and cerebrospinal fluid that surround and protect your brain and spinal cord — using touch so light you may wonder whether anything is happening. Something is.

What the Craniosacral System Is

Your craniosacral system has its own slow rhythm, separate from your heartbeat and breath. It runs from the bones of the skull, face, and mouth all the way down to the sacrum at the base of your spine. Cerebrospinal fluid moves through it, nourishing the brain and spinal cord and carrying away waste. When that system is restricted — after a fall, a concussion, long stress, or old injury — the brain is living in a cramped, congested environment, and it shows up as headaches, fog, poor sleep, anxiety, and exhaustion.

How I Listen With My Hands

I use about the weight of a nickel. With that light a touch, after more than 30 years of practice, I can feel the gentle expansion and contraction of the cranial bones, the flow of the fluid, and the pull of the fascia throughout the body. I’m not correcting anything. I’m following what your body is already trying to do and giving it a quiet place to do it. I can pick up the rhythm anywhere on the body, and the Upledger 10-step protocol gives me a whole-body map to work from, but most of what I do is listen for where you’re held and wait for the tissue to let go.

A lot of the work happens in stillness. Some of the most powerful moments in a session are the quiet ones, when the body finds a stillpoint and reorganizes itself. This isn’t energy work — CST is grounded in anatomy and physiology — but the presence I bring to it matters as much as the technique.

What Craniosacral Therapy Does for the Brain

Better fluid flow and circulation. Releasing restrictions lets cerebrospinal fluid and blood move more freely around the brain, which is how the brain feeds itself and cleans house.
A calmer nervous system. The work switches on the parasympathetic “rest and repair” side of the nervous system, so the harmful effects of chronic stress on the brain start to ease.
Deeper sleep. Sleep is often the first thing clients notice improving, and sleep is when the brain clears and consolidates memory.
Emotional release. Stored tension — physical and emotional — has room to surface and settle.
Resilience. Working directly with the central nervous system helps it function better and bounce back faster.

Why the Relationship Matters

Your nervous system can’t heal while it’s on guard. The quality of attention I bring — gentle touch, no agenda, no force — gives your system permission to come down from high alert and into the state where repair happens. That’s why this work is so well suited to people recovering from trauma, chronic stress, or neurological injury, and why it’s safe for everyone from newborns to the elderly.

Every Brain Heals Differently

Some people feel a big shift in the first session. Others notice gradual changes over weeks. Some feel warmth or tingling on the table; others feel almost nothing until they realize a few days later that the headache didn’t come back. All of that is normal — it’s your body’s own intelligence leading the way, at its own pace.

In my practice I’ve seen craniosacral work support people with chronic headaches and migraines, fibromyalgia, and persistent musculoskeletal pain; people managing anxiety, stress, and trauma responses; and people recovering from concussions and mild traumatic brain injury who were still struggling with headaches, dizziness, fog, and emotional ups and downs long after the scans came back “normal.” Progress with brain work tends to be cumulative rather than dramatic, which is why I always start with an honest conversation about what to expect.

Why Certification Matters

Many practitioners take a weekend course and add “craniosacral” to their menu. There’s a real difference between that and a therapist who has spent years in advanced training, mentorship, and clinical practice. I’m Diplomate-certified (CST-D) through the Upledger Institute — the highest level available — because this work deserves that depth. When you’re choosing someone to work with your brain, ask about certification and ask how long they’ve been doing it.

Ready to feel better? I’m Sharon Hartnett, a Diplomate-Certified Craniosacral Therapist (CST-D) through the Upledger Institute, with about 30 years of experience listening to the body and helping it heal. My office is in Worthington, Ohio, and I serve the greater Columbus area.

If you’re curious whether this gentle work is right for you, I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation. Call or text me at (614) 653-8111.

Learn more about craniosacral therapy in Columbus, read answers to common questions about craniosacral therapy, or find out how to choose the best craniosacral therapist for you.

Still Hurting After an Accident? Craniosacral Therapy May Help You Recover

by SharonHartnett | Jun 19, 2025 | better posture, concussion, Craniosacral Therapy, migraine, mind body & spirit, trauma

Craniosacral therapist using light touch to help a woman recover from injury-related headaches and tension"

Still Hurting After an Accident? Craniosacral Therapy May Help You Recover

If you’ve been in a car accident, taken a hard fall, or suffered a head injury, you might still be feeling the effects — long after the moment has passed.

Every year, thousands of people experience accidents that leave invisible marks. Car crashes. Ladder falls. Horseback riding injuries — I’ve had my own. Some walk away feeling lucky, until the symptoms start creeping in.

Lingering headaches. Jaw tension. Brain fog. Dizziness. Chronic neck and back pain. For many people these symptoms don’t show up right away, and when they do, conventional medicine may not offer full relief.

That’s where craniosacral therapy comes in.

Accidents Are More Common Than You Think

Over 6 million car accidents happen in the U.S. every year. Even minor fender benders can cause whiplash or head injuries.
500,000+ people are injured annually in ladder falls.
Horseback riding leads to 100,000+ injuries a year — many involving the head, neck, or spine.

Emergency care handles broken bones and life-threatening trauma. But many people are left with unresolved tension or dysfunction that lingers long after the body appears “healed.”

Traditional Medicine Offers Essential — But Sometimes Incomplete — Relief

After an accident, most people turn to:

Pain relievers (NSAIDs, muscle relaxants)
Physical therapy
Rest or immobilization
Imaging and diagnostics (MRIs, CT scans)

These treatments matter, and I always want you to follow your doctor’s guidance. But for people living with post-concussion symptoms, chronic headaches, or nervous system overload, the path to recovery can feel frustratingly slow — or stalled. Migraines, tension headaches, jaw pain (like TMJ), and hypersensitivity can persist long after the scans say “nothing wrong.”

Craniosacral Therapy: Gentle Support for Deeper Healing

Craniosacral therapy works with your body’s own rhythm to release tension stored in the central nervous system. Using a light, therapeutic touch — no more than the weight of a nickel — I listen to the subtle patterns in your body and help unwind the areas of restriction or shock that an impact leaves behind.

Craniosacral therapy may help:

Reduce headaches and migraines
Ease neck and jaw tension after whiplash
Support post-concussion recovery
Calm the fight-or-flight response
Improve sleep, mood, and focus

Unlike forceful manipulation or invasive treatment, this work creates a safe space where your nervous system can reset and self-correct — which matters most when the trauma is still “held” in the tissues.

What the Research Says

A growing body of studies supports craniosacral therapy’s role in pain and trauma recovery:

One clinical trial showed reduced pain and frequency of migraines after CST compared to traditional massage.
Case studies report improvements in post-concussion symptoms, including dizziness, fogginess, and neck pain.
CST has been shown to help with cervicogenic headaches, which often trace back to trauma in the neck.

Larger studies are still needed, but the evidence points to craniosacral therapy as an effective complementary therapy alongside medical care — especially when symptoms persist past the acute phase.

You Don’t Have to Do It Alone

Healing takes time, especially after trauma. It’s normal to feel frustrated when you’re not getting answers, or when people tell you “you should be fine by now.”

Craniosacral therapy offers another way: a craniosacral therapist who meets your body where it is, listens deeply, and supports you gently back into balance.

Ready to Explore a Different Path?

If you’re still hurting after an accident, you’re not alone — and you’re not broken. Your body may simply need the right kind of support to let go of what it’s been holding.

Ready to feel better? I’m Sharon Hartnett, a Diplomate-Certified Craniosacral Therapist (CST-D) through the Upledger Institute, with about 30 years of experience listening to the body and helping it heal. My office is in Worthington, Ohio, and I serve the greater Columbus area.

If you’re curious whether this gentle work is right for you, I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation. Call or text me at (614) 653-8111.

Learn more about craniosacral therapy for post-concussion recovery, read answers to common questions about craniosacral therapy, or find out how to choose the best craniosacral therapist for you.