Do you recognise any of these?

• Tired all the time
  
• Headachey
• Anxious
• Run down
• Unable to cope
• Overwhelmed
• Bloated
• Unable to concentrate
• Irritable
• Restless
• Tense
• Palpitations
• Out of sorts
• Out of touch with your feelings

These could potentially be signs that you are experiencing stress.

Cranio-Sacral Therapy can help transform the symptoms of stress into symptoms of well-being.

Feelings of stress and anxiety can arise within us due to a wide range of factors and situations in our lives. Difficulties at work, relationship issues – with partners, children or parents, illnesses, and financial worries can all eat away at our sense of confidence and disturb our thoughts for example.  We can also be profoundly affected by traumatic events like deaths, relationship break-ups, accidents and abuse that have happened either recently or even many years ago.

Whilst a certain amount of stress might be seen as a motivating and creative influence for change in our lives it becomes a real problem when we begin to feel overwhelmed by it and our whole system and our sense of efficacy in the world can be hugely impacted.  Stress at this level has impacts on our physiology, our psychology and thinking, and our emotions.   We can literally feel ‘weighed down’ by a huge burden that seems impossible to get out from.  Or our systems may feel like we have gone into overdrive with rapid thinking going over and over things, experiencing fear and various physical symptoms etc.

Within our bodies there are natural physiological mechanisms that are triggered into action when stress is perceived in order to help us meet the perceived threat and survive.  However, particularly in our modern lives, these mechanisms are not always able to run their full course and fully shut down. They are, therefore, left ‘switched on’ to some degree after the event. This can leave an underlying feeling of agitation, unsettledness, problems with our digestive system, difficulty sleeping and relaxing etc..   We can feel less in control and less able to think clearly.  We may feel hypersensitive and irritable which can impact on our relationships and in turn can add to our sense of isolation and inability to cope.

Sometimes our bodies can get habituated to functioning at this level of stress to the extent that we don’t even realise we are stressed.  As well as causing ongoing physical symptoms and psychological discomfort this can mean when another stressful event occurs, we have fewer resources to be able to cope with this and so the sense of stress is increased and so on it can go.

Cranio-Sacral Therapy is a very gentle, hands-on therapy which is done whilst you are fully clothed.  Through this very gentle touch your system is encouraged to let go of restrictions and patterns it has held on to.  It can have profound effects on your nervous system and help switch it down a gear or two, leaving you feeling relaxed in a very deep way.  By helping your nervous system relax this affects other systems in your body, and thus, muscle tension, aches and pains can disappear, sleep can improve.  By relieving compression and restrictions in your cranium your thinking can become clearer and less agitated.  You will begin to feel calmer, more integrated and able to experience more joy.  You will be surprised by how relaxing your body and system will help calm your thoughts and sense of ease.

There are some exciting new developments in the research of understanding stress and how we respond to it. Appreciating what happens to us both physiologically and psychologically when we are experiencing stress can be an extremely helpful way of coming to manage our stress in a more effective way.

Cranio-Sacral Therapy can help transform the symptoms of stress into the following symptoms of well-being:

• Relaxed
• At ease with yourself
• Able to cope
• A sense of wellbeing
• Understood
• Clear headed
• Balanced
• Energised
• Unwound
• Connected
• Better resourced
• Able to meet challenges
• Renewed interest in life