Regulating your Autonomic Nervous System with Craniosacral Therapy
- Clare Luiten
- Mar 23
- 3 min read
As a Craniosacral Practioner, I make it a priority to have regular treatment sessions. I'm always super curious, using the time not just to support my health, but also as research, clarifying each time what it feels like to receive. Taking note of what actions or inaction I appreciate from my practitioner. People call this work subtle, but now that I'm familiar with the sensations of ’change’ in my system, the changes are clear and radiant. The transition from being in a body that felt held or stuck when I arrived - life had been busy, to say the least, to being that of liquid wholeness, was immense. There was a very specific moment when this happened. My practitioner had her hands at the time under my sacrum and my lower back. Everything felt good, but not deeply connected, She just waited and listened, and in the quiet, my spine over a matter of a few seconds suddenly felt like it turned to liquid gold and I felt very safe. Everything agreed to become part of everything else, a state of oneness in my body, and I went into a deep dream state.
I’d booked the session as I was having menstrual headaches, which I had a fair guess had been triggered by stress, and I knew that Craniosacral Therapy would resolve it. On a biomechanical level I knew that there is most likely tension in my spinal dura, and imbalance in the whole membrane system and that blood supply could be better, however, it is the stillness and safety of a CST session that I knew would allow my body to reorganise itself back to health. Stephen Porges, PhD frames it beautifully in his forward to Stanley Rosenbergs’ book, Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve, ‘when the nervous system is manifest in a state of safety there is a welcoming to touch, which can be used to align bodily structures and optimise autonomic function.
Stress can often be a key player in dysregulation of the nervous system, which manifests in many of the symptoms people come to my clinic for treatment with. They can range from tight neck and shoulders, migraines, back pain, grinding teeth, irritability, a sense of heaviness or depression, difficulty sleeping, high blood pressure, digestion issues, excessive menstrual pain, the list going on, and includes Muscular Skeletal conditions, Emotional issues, Heart and Lung problems, Organ dysfunction, behavioural problems, mental health, and as you can imagine, all of the above play havoc with interpersonal relationships, which then leads to more stress. It can be a vicious cycle if not worked with sensitively and compassionately.