Turing off the Noise in Your Body with CranioSacral Therapy
“Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops, fell
And echoed in the wells of silence”
—-Paul Simon, The Sound of Silence
A couple weeks ago, the electricity went off in my basement studio apartment in NE Portland. When the lights flickered and then quickly ceased, the first thing I noticed wasn’t how dark it was. . . but how quiet it was. I mean, have you ever noticed how freaking loud electricity is?
Electricity is a constant in our modern world, so most of us don’t realize just how loud it us until it stops. The silence feels strange and sometimes uncomfortable bcause this thing we’re used to having around all the time is suddenly gone and our house is quieter than a dark forest at midnight.
CranioSacral Therapy turns off the noise in your body so you can listen to the quiet. It’s hard to hear what your body is saying when everything around and inside you is so loud, it’s like sitting in a crowded bar, trying to hear the person across from you.
Somato-Emotional Release
I remember once I was in a practice session for SomatoEmotional Release. a technique that uses dialogue to explore and process sensations in the body. I was on the table and the practitioner asked me: “What are you noticing?”
In the past, I would have had an answer right away. My body can be very loud and there was almost always some vivid image or somatic obstruction. But this time, I was silent.
I searched and searched, and admit I felt some pressure to come up with something interesting to say. But nothing came. It was like that silence that happens when the electricity goes off.
Minutes passed before I finally said something.
“Nothing,” I said. “I notice nothing. And that is something to notice.”
My body felt quiet for the first time since I could remember. At one point, I started to feel subtle ripples spread through my torso, but they were more like peaceful waves than the riptides I was used to. In CranioSacral Therapy, there’s something we call a “stillpoint.” A stillpoint is pretty much what it sounds like- it’s when the nervous system become very still. Everything stops. The electricity goes out. It only lasts a few seconds and when things come back online, the craniosacral rhythm feels smoother, calmer, and more even. This is when change happens.
It reminded me of something a client had said earlier that week. She had experienced chronic pain her whole life due to a birth injury. 50 years later, she longed to feel at home in a body that doctors hadn’t been able to help. We had been doing bodywork together for a few months, along with massage with my partner, Eric Fair-Layman. With every session, she experienced a little less pain and little more mobility in her affected arm. Not more than a few minutes into a recent session, she said “This is the first time I’ve felt peace in my body.”
CranioSacral Therapy is kind of like hitting the “reset” button on your nervous system. We treat the whole body and multiple systems within the body to work toward overall balance and wellness.
Some conditions CranioSacral Therapy treats include:
Sleep disorders
Stress, depression, and anxiety
Chronic pain
Autoimmune diseases
Speeds up recovery from acute injuries
Back pain
Arthritis
Digestive issues
Most business coaches would advise me not to list all those things, because it’s like “trying to be everything for everyone.” But I’m going to rogue and listing it anyway. Because when we improve the function of the whole system, anything can change.
Do you have questions about whether CranioSacral Therapy is right for you? Reach out me at erin@erinboyt.com. I read and respond to every single email.