Oh, not that old chestnut again?!

How many times do we find ourselves going head first into an old pattern?

It could be a familiar tension in the neck as the deadlines mount at work, tossing and turning in bed after a petty argument, or even that excessive and prolonged stress that brings a constant feeling of being burnt out.

We consciously know that there has to be a way to successfully manage our daily routine, but it can be frustrating when these patterns just keep showing up.

I have studied patterns of behaviour for a long time now and I have an understanding of why this happens. As a Craniosacral Therapist, I work with an array of clients from different backgrounds, ages and symptoms. What I see is that the body will always try to do it’s best to help and protect us, by comparing and using information from past experiences to choose how to react.

Our body’s system can go into alert/danger and protection mode when in reality this is not always necessary; it can tend to over react.

Lets look at an example: Giving a presentation in a board meeting in front of co-workers at a new job, can make the Central Nervous System (CNS) go into red alert, if it has no experience of how to deal with this kind of situation. The person can present anxiety, tension and a foggy state of mind with no clear train of thought.

A reaction such as this, will not only affect the presentation, it could also peak stress levels and ripple to disturb the whole of the week. It may even dwell within the body for a long time with a high chance to trigger every time the system feels at risk and in need to use this “resource” of high alert again. The person may then build the association that Presentation = Panic. It is like being stuck in a loop and sometimes if not addressed, these patterns can grow to become a state of constant anxiety.

Sound familiar?

Many of us live this way, as we are so used to this constant feeling of anxiety, that we forget how it used to feel to live with a sense of being calm and still.

Using Craniosacral Therapy, under the safe hold of the practitioner, clients have the opportunity to bring their awareness to the present moment. Once the client experiences this kind of connection, the body can start to relax and unwind, letting go of what is no longer needed. Muscles and connective tissue can re-orient, softening their tone and quality, becoming supple once more. The Central Nervous System and Peripheral Nerves can then glide freely through the bones and fascia. This generates balance and support which can help the body to achieve a much needed level of homeostasis, where patterns of thought, body tensions and stress hormone levels can be brought to a more peaceful, natural state.

This freedom of movement from within can help the CNS to finally let go of old patterns (physical, emotional and mental) that are hard wired within the brain allowing clients to re-connect with their bodies as a whole while gently re-aligning to a more relaxed and spacious quality of being.