Patricia Falvey

Craniosacral therapy is a form of bodywork which uses gentle hands-on skills to palpate the subtle rhythms in the tissues and fluids of the body, identifying any restrictions that compromise our physical and emotional health and working with the body at a very deep level to release them.

Craniosacral therapy is a subtle and profound healing form.

In a typical craniosacral session, you will usually lie (or sometimes sit) fully-clothed on a treatment couch. The therapist will make contact by placing their hands lightly on your body and tuning in.

The first thing you will probably notice is a sense of deep relaxation, which will generally last throughout the session. This release of tension often extends into everyday life.

Sometimes the benefits are not immediately noticeable but become obvious on returning to a familiar environment. The work is often deeply moving and exhilarating.

Craniosacral therapy developed from the work of an American osteopath, Dr William Sutherland, in the early 1900s. He discovered intrinsic movements of the bones in the head and his further research revealed different rhythms in the body. He demonstrated that these movements are linked with mental and emotional health and that restriction of these movements corresponds to a reduction of the natural capacity to self-heal.

Craniosacral therapy developed from clinical experience, which shows that health is something active and not just an absence of disease. Health is the expression of life, responsible for the organisation of things constantly happening in the body.