CranioSacral Therapy: Intention & Attention
That was so relaxing…and also, what are you doing during our CST sessions together? Several of you have asked me this, and it’s a very fair question! In this blog post, I’ll share from my experiences, reflections, and training as a CranialSacral therapist. I hope that this helps to convey an impression of what’s happening while you and I are together in session. (And why often I’m doing as little as possible!)
Have you ever noticed how your same actions, or your same words, might have a very different impact, simply based on where you’re coming from as you do or say something? Intention matters, deeply. In a CST session, my intention is this: To support you from a space of compassion and nonjudgment, and to be present with you while you release whatever you’re ready to release and receive what’s yours to receive.
At this point though, intention essentially stops. Attention takes over. I don’t approach our sessions with a critical mind, believing that your tissues need to release, or that the rhythms of your body need to shift. I might listen for change beneath my hands: Would you like to let go at the pelvic diaphragm? What might more flow between the sacrum and occipitals feel like? But I don’t try to “fix” what I feel. Intention can get heavy-handed if a well-meaning practitioner begins to chase the outcome that they believe is best for someone else.
Noticing without judging infuses CranioSacral Therapy with neutrality. Every CST practitioner is taught to “stay in neutral.” So as I work, I pay attention to where I feel a sense of expansion or contraction; I notice what feels tight or restricted; what’s moving and what the quality of that movement is; I pay attention to what I feel physically beneath my hands, and to any energetic impressions they register; sometimes I imagine the anatomical structures beneath my hands. I also notice how my own body is feeling, the wind in the bamboo outside the windows. This is all part of being present with you, without judging or fixing.
When we pay attention, every session is a fresh opportunity for noticing and being with what’s happening that day. From your perspective, one session you might notice that you have a harder time getting out of your thinking mind; another session you might have insights into where you’re holding and releasing tension in your body; yet another, you might simply feel like you floated away. Ahhh. Sometimes a session is challenging, but truly, it’s all good. It’s all welcome.
This is attention as intention: To be with what’s there. To experience our capacity on any given day to remain in or enter into acceptance. To be open to feeling stuck, and to welcome the change that unfolds in session and beyond, which may not be the change we envisioned. To take the time and space to simply feel and trust, without expectation. Often this territory can feel radical and unfamiliar. Thank you to my CST clients for exploring it with me!