Learning to listen to and live in my body has transformed and maybe even saved my life. For the past twenty-five years, after a complete razing to the ground of my life as I previously knew it, I have been passionately conducting my own independent study of the human body and what it means to be in it.

Studying psychology and biology in college and getting a degree in physical therapy provided an infrastructure for this “study”. But it wasn’t until I moved out West after Physical Therapy school and attended a holistic health college of massage and bodywork that the gaps of my previous training began to fill in, and magic began to happen. It’s been a deep dive into the realms of bodywork, somatic psychology and trauma resolution ever since.

While taking my first CranioSacral Therapy course at the bodywork college in San Diego, I had an immediate flash of recognition: “This is the work I'm here to do." It simply felt so right. When I laid on the massage table receiving the work, I experienced for the first time someone PAUSING with their touch to LISTEN to my body. Holy everything! It was like I was finally receiving the nutrient my body was starved for, and I hadn't even known I was starving before! Who knew? Gentle, present, listening touch would be the key to unlock my nervous system so that healing could begin. Up until that point I thought I needed something else ‘done’ to my body to help with the pain, I just wasn’t quite sure what. It turns out that I already had too much ‘done’ to my body which had wound my system into a twisted stuck place. I needed the presence of this listening touch to help me get free.

When first receiving CST, tears came bubbling up, which surprised me. I later realized that emotions had been held in the cells of my body, contributing to the physical pain I was in. The therapist’s present skillful touch was a source of permission not to do anything except BE with what was here, just notice … and be gentle with myself.

Now, after having worked with lots of bodies over the years in this way, it feels true to say that physical and emotional pain are expressions of restriction in a body asking for attention. And here’s another truth I’ve discovered: the body is intelligent and knows what it needs to heal. CST works in a simple and profound way to provide optimal conditions for accessing these restrictions and this intelligence, restoring a natural state of well being and wholeness.