CranioSacral Therapy + Ayurveda: Modern Science and Ancient Wisdom

TWO MODALITIES WEAVED FOR OPTIMAL HEALING. Although completely from seemingly different backgrounds and concepts, they have so much in common in intention both scientific and spirit.

First let’s look at what Ayurveda is according to Dr. Vasant Lad, a leading Ayurvedic practitioner and founder of the Ayurvedic Institute:

Ayurveda is a system of healing that has its roots in ancient India. Ayur means life and veda means knowledge. The knowledge contained in Ayurveda deals with nature, scope and purpose of life, and includes its metaphysical and physical aspects - health and disease, happiness and sorrow, pain and pleasure. Ayurveda defines life as the conjunction of body, mind and spirit found in Cosmic Consciousness and embracing all creation. According to Ayurveda, every individual is a microcosm of the Cosmos. 

Ayurveda is a medical science and its purpose is to heal and to maintain the quality and longevity of life. It is an art of daily living that has evolved from practical, philosophical and spiritual illumination. It offers understanding of our unique qualities, which is the foundation of health and happiness. 

The description that he offers above is one of the simplest yet thorough offerings of looking into Ayurveda. It can feel like a lot to dig into at any one moment due to its breadth but truly over time, as a student of healing, you’ll begin to feel your intuition pull you to one area and then another. We just start somewhere.

For me, that was in Ayurvedic Body Therapy - which has many techniques within it - so for the purposes of this conversation, lets look mostly at Abhyanga or Ayurvedic oil massage. A body therapy that has incredible benefits with detoxification by way of lymphatic system activation and movement along with deep nourishment from the oil applied to the body during the session.

There are long full body strokes that come after shorter strokes and techniques that move the energy is various directions to disrupt the current energetics. This is done with the intention to basically confuse how the nervous system is firing and enliven the lymphatic system to move toxins out of where they have be hiding in the cells. How the prana or life force of the body settles in after this portion of the session is very soothing - like a clear fresh breeze on the beach after a storm.

As a side note, when you hear me refer to ‘energetics’, I’m considering mind, body and spirit connection together as one. Other systems noted along the way however both of the modalities we’re looking deeper into here primarily work with the nervous, lymphatic and fascial systems if we were to crack open the physical anatomy book.

Ok let’s look into CranioSacral Therapy for a minute. A modality strongly based in western science but is an incredibly energetic and intuitive system for healing. What I mean by that is that he intention of CranioSacral Therapy is to identify and asses any restrictions in the fascial system – which is the connective tissue that speaks to the entire electrical web of the body - and gently address them to encourage a balanced flow of cerebrospinal fluid that cushions the membranes that surround the spinal cord and brain. The restrictions could be debris from environmental allergens or even toxins remaining from our own neuropeptides or chemicals released in the brain while experiencing emotions throughout the day.

Cerebrospinal fluid that is mentioned above closely works with the nervous system so the smoother the flow allowed through the tissue, the easier the nervous system can send electric impulses. Thus creating more optimal alignment with the energy you work hard at gaining and using towards your daily activities. An added outcome is deep relaxation since the hands-on portion of a session consists of long slow holds on the back, neck and head - the calming effect is quite profound.

As perhaps the picture is beginning to paint itself, the healing themes arising within both Ayurveda and CranioSacral Therapy are to hold intention to clear out what may be blocking emotional and spiritual happiness by way of addressing the physical body. There is an energetic melding of one’s own optimal energy. From the practitioner’s view, there is guidance for the clients healing but ultimately the modalities together activate the human body’s innate ability to heal itself. Its intrinsic and so worthy for everyone to reach higher levels and consciousness of what delivers happiness and creativity for fulfillment in life.

When placed together in session, these two modalities complement each other beautifully.  As these are in theory and conception, to experience how these elements come together is much more beyond words and then we move more into some aspects of the metaphysical and our cosmic nature… Experience is truly the best teacher. Healing sessions can guide you deeper into understanding of self and align with your unique passion and purpose.

Thank you for reading deeper into these subjects, feel free to email to set up a 1:1 session to go deeper into these areas. Much love.