The Mind-Body connection: How Craniosacral Therapy can help release stored trauma and stress

The body-centred-hands-on therapy known as Craniosacral therapy is a mouthful, I know. It basically means, from the cranium (head) to the sacrum (tail bone) or the “head to tail” of the body. I.e “the whole person”, which is for me where it begins: Looking at the whole person, how experiences and stresses in people’s lives are held in the body, both physically and emotionally. 

The body is designed to protect itself from physical knocks or emotional stress by contracting. If the shock is particularly severe, prolonged or accompanied by strong emotions, everything stays contracted, even after the moment that caused the shock is over. 

“Being trapped in a prolonged state of emotional reactivity might change the way our body functions.
When we are chronically angry or scared, constant muscle tension might lead to spasms, back pain, migraine headaches, fibromyalgia (widespread musculoskeletal pain), and other forms of chronic pain.”

The above quote is from The New York Times bestselling book “The body keeps the score” by Bessel van der Kolk who is a Dutch psychiatrist, author, researcher and educator.

The book outlines how stress not only shows up mentally and emotionally, but how it can also show up physically through the body. He explores the intricate way trauma impacts both the mind and body, illustrating how deeply our physiology and psychological stares are intertwined. He emphasises that trauma isn’t just a mental phenomenon; it leaves an imprint on the body, affecting our overall health and wellbeing. 

When our brains perceive something as life threatening or traumatic, we are given three choices: fight, flight or freeze. In order to prepare ourselves for any of these options our bodies flood with energy such as adrenaline. Once the threat has passed, we need time to discharge this energy. Humans, like animals would naturally do this by shaking it off. However very often, trauma is not given the time it needs to leave the body physically. Therefore, enabling this stored energy, over time, to start to dysregulate the nervous system. 

When our nervous system becomes dysregulated, we can become less able to cope with the normal ups and downs of life. The energy can remain long after the traumatic event has passed and can have far reaching effects in our lives and relationships. 

Sometimes this stored energy or emotion is unable to be accessed easily in talking therapies. We may have created survival techniques so we cannot cognitively reach it, such as memory loss or the fact these traumas may have happened to us at ages when we were pre-verbal or very young so although we remember these in our bodies we cannot recount them verbally. 

Craniosacral therapy can, from a physical perspective help address this type of long held trauma, stress and childhood coping mechanisms that we have layered around us to keep us safe. However, many people find now these no longer help but instead hinder our connections and ultimately our lives. 

Craniosacral therapy helps to promote deep body awareness, helping individuals to reconnect with their physical sensations. We often disregard how linked the mind body connection is. Pushing through the physical pain or taking medications to lesson it. 

Craniosacral therapy can help in a very gentle way to create a space for the body to slowly and gently let go of some of the trauma we hold inside ourselves, even at a minute level. Doing this can give us a “lighter’ feeling, a feeling of letting go. It helps reduce the contractions and tensions that we keep stored in our bodies.  

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Jo Foot is a trauma informed Craniosacral Therapist and is excited to now be holding monthly clinics at Bramham Therapy.  Her next dates are 18/19th October. £65 ph.

If you would like to try Cranio, or for more information, please get in touch with Jo through her website (www.joscraniospace.com), through the Bramham Therapy website or follow her on social media @jos_cranio_space.