Cradle Of Stillness

12/09/2024

15/11/2023

EMOTIONAL TOUCH 2

In conditions of danger and life-treat it is self-evident that we don’t feel safe. The body comes out of homeostasis and runs adaptive physiology designed to avoid injury and preserve life. These adaptive, survival strategies (fight, flight and freeze) are metabolically costly and not intended for long-term function. With trauma the neuroendocrine system gets stuck in survival physiology. This is called a maladaptive state because in the long run it is damaging to the organism, resulting in the breakdown of both physical and mental health.

It has been noted by leaders in the trauma field that people with PTSD, or anxiety disorder, judge the outside world by how they feel inside. The maladaptive sate they are stuck in might mean that their heart is racing, they are hyperventilating, and their stomach is tied in a knot. From these inner feelings, (interoception), they conclude that there is something scary happening around them, when this is evidently not the case. To put it another way, an essential feature of trauma is that it prevents people from feeling safe in their bodies. That is an exhausting way to live, and the object of any therapy needs to be to restore the body to a safe state.

In our practice we use touch to achieve this. Biodynamic relational touch is soft, tender, intimate, and connects us to the slower, foundational rhythms of life, particularly the long tide. The way we hold our clients with unconditional acceptance leads to a shift in the client’s physiology, a shift to a parasympathetic state of the ANS. Our hands communicate messages like “I’ve got you, I’m here with you, I’ll be your rock”. Touch speaks to the body brain, and the body responds by generating a sense of safety.

Image source: https://magazine.scripps.edu/features/2021/fall/interoception-a-sense-of-self/

10/10/2023

Healing
TRAUMA

Traumatized people chronically feel unsafe inside their bodies: The past is alive in the form of gnawing interior discomfort. Their bodies are constantly bombarded by visceral warning signs, and, in an attempt to control these processes, they often become expert at ignoring their gut feelings and in numbing awareness of what is played out inside. They learn to hide from their selves.

Bessel Van Der Kolk

20/05/2022

"The need for attachment never lessens. Most human beings simply cannot tolerate being disengaged from others for any length of time. People who cannot connect through work, friendship, or family usually find other ways of bonding, as through illness, lawsuits, or family feuds. Anything is preferable to that godforsaken sense of irrelevance and alienation."

- The Body Keeps The Score
by Bessel Van Der Kolk

27/01/2022

This is the sense of our body's internal state. It helps us feel and interpret internal signals that regulate vital functions in our body, like hunger, thirst, body temperature, and heart rate.

Although we don't take much notice of it, it's an extremely important sense as it ensures that every system in the body is working optimally.

It does this by alerting us to when our body may be out of balance – such as making us reach for a drink when we feel thirsty or telling us to take our jumper off when we're feeling too hot.

Interoception is also important for our mental health. This is because it contributes to many psychological processes - including decision making, social ability, and emotional wellbeing.

Disrupted interoception is even reported in many mental health conditions – including depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. It may also explain why many mental health conditions share similar symptoms – such as disturbed sleep or fatigue...

Most people are familiar with the five senses (touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste), but not everyone knows that we have an additional sense called interoception.

23/10/2021

"One of the ways the memory of helplessness is stored is as muscle tension or feelings of disintegration in the affected body areas” - extract from The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk.

Shock and trauma have profound and fundamental effects, with far reaching consequences. Cranio-Sacral Therapy is probably the most effective means of treating shock and trauma and releasing them from the system, cst has the potential to transform lives!

08/04/2021

https://youtu.be/uH5JQDAqA8E

The Autonomic Nervous System plays a very significant part in the vast majority of health conditions. If we are out of balance, the ANS is out of balance. If we bring the ANS back into balance we help to bring our health and well-being back into balance.

Understanding the ANS is vital to a deeper, more integrated understanding of human health and function..
-College of Craniosacral therapy

01/04/2021

Craniosacral therapy is very good for bringing you out of the adrenal state of fight or flight as a whole, which causes the overall pattern of tinnitus to steadily calm down.
-Julian Cowan Hill

Tinnitus therapy helps you develop a positive mindset that helps you let go of the ringing in your ears. Shift attention away from tinnitus to silence. .

23/03/2021

"Craniosacral touch is a light contact modality that invites the body to self-correct through skilled touch, conscious presence, deep stillness, and a working knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and embryological development. This modality is known by a variety of names, such as craniosacral therapy, Visionary Craniosacral Work, biodynamic craniosacral therapy, craniosacral biodynamics, and dynamic stillness. The spectrum of approaches to craniosacral touch extends from direct manipulation, as in inducing a stillpoint, to a non-action presence that holds neutral. Whatever the name or the approach, the client, practitioner, and the field around them seems to sink into deep stillness where the body can self-correct. A universal client experience of craniosacral touch seems to be one of renewal, well-being, and deep contentment"

Craniosacral touch is a light contact modality that invites the body to self-correct through skilled touch, conscious presence, deep stillness, and a working knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and embryological development. This modality is known by a variety of names, such as craniosacral therapy, V...

17/03/2021

The craniosacral system of the body consists of fluid and membranes that surround and protect the spinal cord, bones of the skull including the face, mouth, all the way to the sacrum and tailbone. This treatment modality removes restrictions in the flow of cerebral spinal fluid which helps balance the nervous system and improve eyesight.

11/03/2021

The unseen link between childhood trauma and later mental health problems is called Latent Vulnerability. The word latent refers to something that exists but is not yet obvious, while the word vulnerability means more likely to be harmed. So Latent Vulnerability means that a child is at greater risk of harm than may be immediately obvious to carers or professionals.