A fundamental premise of craniosacral therapy is that the body knows how to heal itself. However, while this knowledge is held within each of us, it doesn’t mean that accessing this information is always easy. We often need support to reach our inner wisdom, to allow us to move beyond our logical or rational minds.
As Albert Einstein is thought to have said, “Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.” We’ve all had the experience of running a scenario over and over in our heads, thinking up different possible courses of action, with none seeming to do the trick. Can you recall what this feels like in your body? I know that going through this process leaves me feeling like a hamster on a wheel, overwhelmed and exhausted.
When you access your inner wisdom, particularly in a CST session, you can find solutions that hadn’t seemed possible before. Your active participation and the back-and-forth dialogue with your therapist can open up new experiences for you. Don’t get stuck in the mind-set of: “I pay you, then I lie down and you fix me.” The greatest healing and most illuminating discoveries happen when clients explore their body’s wisdom in partnership with their therapist.
Some people are overly self-reliant and have a hard time turning to a therapist for support, thinking they need to go it alone. Many are raised with the belief that they need to solve their problems themselves, that it is a sign of weakness to ask for help. Others feel that they are being disloyal if they talk to anyone about their relationship difficulties. In Britain, there is the cultural imperative to “keep a stiff upper lip.” In America, the pioneer spirit runs deep, and Americans tend to think that nearly everything should be done on their own.
Although a good self-help practice is essential to a healthy life (and I will elaborate on some examples in a later chapter), we must recognize when it is essential to seek aid. We are all interconnected, and support is a critical part of our healing process; when we are open to help, our issues can be resolved much more quickly. CST is an excellent way for us to give and receive assistance. In addition to the support given by a therapist, inviting your body’s knowledge into a session will add that extra care you need.
Accessing Your Inner Wisdom
When introducing the concept of inner wisdom to clients, I ask whether it makes sense to them that we each have a part of us that is aware of all that goes on in our bodies and lives. For many people, it is not a big stretch to accept that they do have this inner knowing, although some doubt their ability to reach it. Once they’ve acknowledged the existence of their inner wisdom, I ask whether they would like to use it to help guide us in our session. People often feel a sense of deep relaxation while undergoing CST, which makes it much easier to access their intuitive knowledge. If they do not naturally drop into a state of ease, I can facilitate it by inducing a still point.
My clients have described their inner wisdom as taking various shapes, including angels, animals, spirit guides, the Holy Spirit, and other people (living or deceased). It seems to me that there is no limit to the forms that the body can use in order to communicate its knowledge. Once people are able to envision their inner wisdom, they can use this same approach to connect to a specific part of their body, such as their heart, and find out what it knows about a specific issue or how it’s being affected.
Excerpt from Kate Mackinnon’s From my Hands and Heart: Achieving Health and Balance with Craniosacral Therapy (Hayhouse 2013). This material may be protected by copyright.
Kate Mackinnon supports people in creating comfort and ease in their bodies. A Physical Therapist for more than twenty years, Kate has found craniosacral therapy to be the key to her patients’ speedy, complete and long- lasting recoveries. She lives, works and swims in Livermore, California. Find out more at www.kmackinnon.com.