Craniosacral Therapy for Stress Relief

Too much stress affects our mental, emotional and physical health. It can make us feel tired and unmotivated, or irritable and unsocial, or down and depressed.

Despite the different symptoms our body responds to stress using the same underlying mechanisms and it is helpful to understand these.

The body responds automatically to stress using our nervous system and hormones. The nervous system has an automatic mode which controls our blood pressure, digestion, heart rate, and all of our organs and glands without us having to consciously do anything. It's amazing and allows us to stay alive and keep breathing even when we are asleep. This automatic (or autonomic) nervous system has 2 parts, that are actually opposites of each other, but work together. One part is our rest and digest mode, which prioritizes our body to digest our food, and repair our cells. The other part is our fight and flight mode, which prioritises our body to protect us from danger. E.g. it will direct blood away from the stomach to the legs, thus trading digesting food to allow us to run away. And remember it does this automatically without us even being conscious of it happening.

The body views stress as danger and so invokes the fight and flight mode. No matter what the stress, it could be work, home, mental, emotional, or physical stress, our nervous system shifts from rest and digest mode to fight or flight mode. The nervous system is helped by hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol to maintain the body in fight or flight mode too.

Stress affects us all to some extent, and long term or chronic stress is harmful to our health.

Health issues can include migraines, neck and back pain, tight jaws, stomach problems, heart palpitations, feeling anxious or restlessness, bad sleep, overwhelm, fatigues, extreme fatigue, feeling awful for no reasons, low immune system, powerlessness, pain, strain and unfortunately the list goes on.

The good news is that craniosacral therapy is excellent at alleviating stress. Craniosacral therapy allows the body to slow down and connect with a deep stillness – inviting space, peace, tranquillity, harmony, lightness, release of tension and balance. This then promotes a sense of relief, relaxation, acceptance, clarity, as well as a deep connection to ourselves and the world around us. After a craniosacral session almost everyone says how relaxed they feel.

These described benefits of craniosacral therapy have potent effects on stress relief. It allows us to feel healthier, become more resilient and it increases our capacity to deal with the challenges of life. Clients start to know how to listen to and trust their bodies, their boundaries and feel safe. As a result, their nervous system will no longer succumb to daily stress or go into instant overwhelm or fight or flight mode. Fight or flight responses will only occur when they are truly needed in a life threatening situation, verses missing your train or being stuck in a traffic jam.

As well as craniosacral therapy, stress can be managed by including the following elements into your life; Exercise, Healthy eating habits, Adequate sleep, Meditation, and Limiting stress in your life.