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The Essentials of Myofascial Release and Craniosacral Therapies

When the body sustains trauma, be it physical, structural, energetic, emotional or even spiritual, the result can be that the soft tissue/fascia develops restrictions all the way down to the cellular level.

Fascia is a tough connective tissue which spreads throughout the body in a three-dimensional web from head to toe without interruption, surrounding and permeating every structure of our body all the way down to the cytoskeleton of the cell. Trauma, poor posture and inflammation can cause a binding down of fascia, resulting in excessive pressure (up to 2000 lbs/square inch) on nerves, muscles, blood vessels, lymphatic pathways and/or organs.

The Inflammatory process can cause the substance that the cells reside in (the polysaccharide gel substance) to become dehydrated. The dehydrated tissue/fascia remains in a dehydrated state indefinitely until the tissue is released by the technique of light touch/long wait (as in Myofascial release and Craniosacral therapies) which then causes the tissue/fascia to become rehydrated again allowing normal and optimal functioning.

The dehydrated tissue/fascia does not respond to other therapeutic methods such as heat, cold, electrical stimulation, stretching or exercise.

When soft tissue/fascia remains in a state of dehydration, the tightness of the soft tissue/fascia/muscle causes the bones to which it is attached to move in the direction of pull which consequently causes the bones to move out of alignment. This, in turn, can cause occurrences of nerve impingement, which in turn, can cause further incidences of restricted soft tissue. This creates a domino of postural misalignment which can cause organs to malfunction and other physical disabilities.

The beauty of Myofascial Release and Craniosacral Therapies is that the release techniques release more than just the restricted soft tissue; the releases also release trapped energy, trapped emotion and the memory of the position of the body part, at the moment of trauma. The combination of all of these trapped energies/memories are responsible for the body’s response to the trauma i.e. postural misalignment, and organ malfunctioning. The releases enable the tissue/body to regain normal hydration, postural alignment and function.

The difference between Myofascial Release and Craniosacral Therapies, is that with Myofascial Release, the soft tissue is released so that the bones go back into their natural alignment in space. The touch is generally light but there are times that to get to the deeper layers of tissue, the therapist must release deeply down through several layers of tissue and that can require a heavier pressure. Although the essence of Myofascial release is light touch/ long wait, sometimes pain may be experienced during the process and it is the patient’s responsibility to the therapist and to the process, to honor their body so that the pain level is never allowed to become so intense that the body contracts to defend itself.

With regards to the release techniques of Craniosacral Therapy, the bones of the central nervous system (cranial bones, vertebra, sacrum and coccyx) are used to release the soft tissue of the central nervous system. Typically the pressure used during the release is considered to be the weight of a nickel. The wait time is also long -the longer the wait, the more profound and efficient is the release.

The GOAL of BOTH techniques is the SAME!
To release restrictions of any kind from the body to obtain maximum function!

The patient can expect to experience emotional responses as the memory of the emotional component of the trauma leaves during the release. This is very beneficial to the process since the trapped emotion itself causes the body to be unable to heal. All forms of emotion may be emitted: Moaning groaning, screaming, crying, laughing, talking, sneezing, hiccupping, coughing, even vomiting! The therapist encourages all emotion to leave in whatever form and in whatever intensity! The more intense the release, the better!!!


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