Healing gently gets a head start (From Stroud News and Journal)

Healing gently gets a head start

THIS week is craniosacral therapy awareness week, designed to raise the profile of this alternative therapy, which is based around gentle manipulation of the skull. Reporter Sian Davies spent a morning in the capable hands of local practitioner Sheila Kean.

I MUST admit, I'd never heard of craniosacral therapy before the start of this week.

It's a non-intrusive approach to healing the mind and body that involves the therapist gently placing their hands on the client to ascertain and improve problem areas.

The treatment works on the basis that there are subtle movements in the bones of the cranium that can be felt elsewhere in the body.

But accidents or illnesses can affect the flow of these movements, which in turn causes a lack of vitality, discomfort or disease.

Sheila Kean,48, has been practising the treatment for 17 years and with her partner Martin Taylor, 51, they work at Stroud Natural Health Clinic and Nailsworth Natural Health Centre.

We started the session with a brief discussion of my medical and physical situation.

Sheila said this was important in order to ascertain both the possible cause of any ailments and the areas that could be sensitive.

Next, I lay down on the couch and Sheila placed her hands on my feet - which apparently give a good overview of the entire body.

After a few minutes, I felt a slight tingle in my left leg just below my knee, and was shocked when she told me she could sense my left leg was slightly twisted inwards from my hip down.

Sheila then placed her hands in the areas that she thinks are problematic from the initial reading to discover all the trouble spots.

I went along to the session with no particular problems to resolve, so if I'm honest I didn't feel dramatically different at the end. However, I did feel incredibly relaxed, like I had just woken from a very deep sleep.

Shelia said: "The stillness and the quiet of craniosacral work puts people in a really good place, the treatment is about self reflection.

"Craniosacral treatments work with the parasympathetic system, which slows you down and brings you back to normal."

People will normally visit Sheila with a specific problem they want solving, but that is not always the case and sometimes people will come in complaining of one problem and realise it is actually something else that is causing them trouble.

"I had one lady come and see me because she had bad headaches," said Sheila.

"After the third session I asked how the headaches were, and she had forgotten she had come in for that.

"She said she still had headaches but because her general vitality had improved she was less aware of them so they didn't affect her as much."