Craniosacral Therapy
A method to relax deeply
I have been interested in relaxation therapies since I was diagnosed with depression. My first symptom came out not as feeling sadness, but as feeling stiffness in the face muscles. It was like wearing a mask that I could not remove.
The stiffness immediately disappeared after I took psychiatric medications. I got relaxed and became able to smile. I thought I was all right, but there were side effects. Medications made me so sleepy and somewhat emotionally unstable.
Then, I have tried various therapies so far in order to relax myself without medications: massage, aromatherapy, yoga, reflexology, mindfulness, and most recently craniosacral therapy (CST).
I have not received CST from a professional therapist. I just read a couple of books about CST and conducted it by myself. Yesterday, I did it following “Harmonizing Your Craniosacral System” by Daniel Agustoni. Basically, I gently touched various parts of my body, breathed, and concentrated my focus on the sensation. It is similar to the “body scan” in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The difference is that you do touch your body in CST, but you do not in the body scan.
It was like a meditation to look into my body. I got deeply relaxed. My muscles got relaxed. Today my eyes move more freely and smoothly than usual. My neck and back do not hurt like usual. I think CST is promising, but it took me four hours for a whole course yesterday. I hope that I will be able to do it quicker as I practice it.
One thing I worry about CST is that it could release strong emotions. This morning, I felt sad for no reason and then flashed back to sad memories. Through instinct, I sensed that the feeling and memories came from the solar plexus, but wondered if this was true.
