Cranio-sacral grief work is a form of bodywork that originally emerged from cranio-sacral therapy. CST developed out of osteopathy and is sometimes called the little sister of osteopathy.
It is not a manipulative technique; the tissue is merely invited to move in the free direction. The therapist enters into contact with the tissue, and the person is always seen as a whole. From my work as a sports physiotherapist and from many additional trainings, a specific form of therapeutic grief work has developed that combines many aspects.
Our cells have a cellular memory. This stores not only information about past pain or altered tissue tension, but also repressed feelings such as grief, anger or loneliness. Triggers may include birth processes, stress, accidents, operations, spinal injuries and grief situations.
At first we enter a state of shock. We are unable to act, and our cells and body structures remain in this rigidity as well. Then we switch into a functioning mode. In this process feeling is lost; we lose orientation within ourselves and no longer feel ourselves. In the acute phase of grief this is meaningful, because often the pain would otherwise be unbearable. But the sadness may accompany us for a lifetime, because the cells remain in this frozen state. Physical complaints such as headaches, tension, back pain, depression or seemingly inexplicable outbursts of anger may appear. Grief has many faces.
My work aims, through special techniques, to give grieving people back the ability to feel and to be alive in their pain. All structures of the body and all cells in which the experience and grief have manifested are treated, otherwise the experience is not processed.
CST offers the possibility of bringing those affected back into feeling. Grief also wants to be felt so that grief work can begin to move. All this happens in its own time, in its own rhythm and in a held, mindful space. Those affected notice that thoughts, feelings and tears come - but they come in order to go. The body's own regulation mechanisms are stimulated to restore balance. There is no need to fear being overwhelmed; only as much appears as we are able to bear.
In palliative care, cranio-sacral grief work can be a way to give dying people balance and orientation on the path they must walk. Because of its relaxing effect on the whole organism, calm and harmony can often be observed.
