Relax your body, strengthen your immune system and build up your nervous system…

Craniosacral therapy is a gentle body therapy.

In empirical medicine, this form of therapy is used for exhaustion, pain, birth preparation, pregnancy problems, joint problems, concentration and learning difficulties, headaches, trauma, menstrual problems, migraines, back pain, stress, teeth grinding and for babies after difficult births, Caesarean sections, premature births, crying babies, poor posture, breastfeeding problems.

If someone is in pain, for example, then something in the body is out of balance. Finding out what causes pain is sometimes very simple and sometimes very complex. Our body is a miracle in which muscles, tendons, bones, but also the nervous system, hormones and psychological issues all work closely together.

What do I do as a craniosacral therapist?

I perceive the whole body. For example, headaches may be caused by a blockage in the pelvis and tension may be building up in the head area via the spine. It may be that the jaw is involved - for example, the masseter, the large chewing muscle that runs from your cheekbones to your lower jaw, has the most power in the body.

At the same time, this has the potential to pull on various bones and other muscles in the body when it is tense. If the masseter and the temporalis muscle (the muscle above the ear) are tense, this can lead to a deterioration in hearing due to various factors, because the fragile system of the ear is disturbed by the strong muscle tension.

Try gently stroking the muscles above your ear - where is the skin tight, where does even gentle pressure cause pain? Massage there carefully with light circular movements. The masseter also likes gentle circular movements from top to bottom. Be careful - please never press so hard that it hurts - this can increase existing tension!

There are various techniques in craniosacral therapy to loosen and relax both muscles and bones. Essential oils can also be helpful here - processed into a cream that has a pain-relieving and antispasmodic effect, such as peppermint, lavender or marjoram. Or plants for internal consumption, such as lady's mantle to strengthen the nerves and tone muscles, or St. John's wort tincture to relieve pain and strengthen the nervous system.

That's the beauty of the combination of bodywork and medicinal plants - you can work directly on the muscles, nerves and bones and at the same time treat both the soul and the body through the plants with their complex active ingredients.

Mindful bodywork includes the knowledge that the body also stores emotional issues in its structures. When I release fixed areas, old feelings that were previously held in place by the tension can emerge. Through herbal medicine with its emotional and physical effects, I can help issues to really change and new things to emerge.

A muscle just as strong as the masseter is located in the pelvic-abdominal area, the psoas. It reacts to criticism and fear, among other things, by shortening, and it doesn't like it when we just sit and are stressed at the same time. This fascinating muscle goes through our pelvis to the thigh and attaches to the thoracic spine on the other side, directly under the diaphragm.

If the psoas is shortened or hardened, it can lead to back pain, leg problems, problems in the thoracic spine, but also to depression and exhaustion via the connection with the spine and various parts of our autonomic nervous system.

You see, our body is a wonderful, closely connected system. And sometimes the causes of a symptom are somewhere completely different than you think. This makes working with the body a bit like detective work.

When someone asks me what exactly I do, I say: I'm actually a construction worker. I remove blockages in the body and soul. I use my hands to read where energy isn't flowing. In other words, to use the road analogy, where traffic isn't flowing. Then I find out why it's at a standstill. And then, if possible, remove the blockage. I provide support with medicinal plants - as tea, cream, oil or tincture.

An everyday tip for you

A wonderful tea blend for strong nerves, which at the same time contains many nutrients such as calcium, iron +, magnesium and boosts our metabolism:

• nettle for detoxification and our inner clarity
• lavender for strong nerves and healing sleep Rose to love ourselves, relax our center and strengthen all other plants in their effectiveness
• dandelion flowers and leaves for new courage and transformation and to strengthen and relieve our organs of change, liver and kidney

Mix the herbs in equal parts.

For a healing tea, add 1 teaspoon per cup, cover (so that the essential oils do not evaporate with the steam) and leave to steep for 10 minutes. Enjoy.

Best regards and stay healthy,

Anne Hentschel

About our author

Anne Hentschel is a trained alternative practitioner, craniosacral therapist and expert in medicinal plants and aromatherapy.

She works in various practices and treats adults, children and babies. Her own practice “Lichtkräuter” in Hamburg, Blankenese opened its doors at the end of 2012. Since 2013 she has also worked as a freelance lecturer and gives wild and medicinal herb training for experts and interested parties. The next appointment (free of charge in Hamburg) is on March 15th - a introductory course in wild herb training.

But Anne also offers courses online. For example on April 10th on the subject "Make your own cosmetics".  MEGA!

Here is the contact to Anne:

Anne Hentschel

Erik-Blumenfeld-Platz 19

22587 Hamburg – Blankenese

appointments by arrangement

Tel.:040-27 86 25 71

Mobile: 0177-563 28 69

Website: www.lichtkräuter.de