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

Craniosacral therapy is a gentle body therapy.

In empirical medicine, this form of therapy is used u.a. for exhaustion, pain, for birth preparation, for 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, bad posture, breastfeeding problems.

If someone z.BIf you're in pain, then something in your body is out of balance. Figuring out what causes pain is sometimes quite simple, and sometimes very complex. Our body is a marvel in which muscles, tendons, bones, as well as the nervous system, hormones, and emotional issues, all interact closely with one another.

What do I do as a craniosacral therapist?

I perceive the entire body. For example, a headache may be caused by a blockage in the pelvis, causing tension in the head area via the spine. The jaw may be 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 creates the potential to pull on various bones and other muscles in the body when tense. If the masseter and temporalis muscles (the muscle above the ear) are tense, this can, through various factors, even lead to impaired hearing, because the fragile ear system is disrupted 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? Gently massage there using light circular motions. The masseter muscle also benefits from gentle circular motions from top to bottom. Caution: Never press so hard that it hurts—this can exacerbate existing tension!

Craniosacral therapy uses various techniques to release and relax both muscles and bones. Essential oils can also be helpful – processed into a cream that has pain-relieving and antispasmodic effects, such as peppermint, lavender, or marjoram. Or plants for internal use, 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 combining bodywork and medicinal plants – you can work directly on the muscles, nerves and bones and at the same time treat both the mind and body through the plants with their complex active ingredients.

Mindful bodywork involves the knowledge that the body also stores emotional issues within its structures. When I release fixed areas, old feelings that were previously held back by tension can surface. Through herbal medicine, with its emotional and physical effects, I can support these issues to truly transform and allow new ones to emerge.

A muscle similarly strong to the masseter is located in the pelvic-abdominal region, 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. This fascinating muscle runs through our pelvis to the thigh and inserts on the other side into the thoracic spine, directly below the diaphragm.

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

You see, our body is a wonderful, closely interconnected system. And sometimes the causes of a symptom lie 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 release blockages in the body and soul. I use my hands to read where energy isn't flowing. To use the road analogy, I read where traffic isn't flowing. Then I figure out why it's slow. And then, if possible, release 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 also 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 to each cup, cover (so the essential oils don't evaporate with the steam), and let it steep for 10 minutes. Enjoy.

Best wishes and stay healthy,

Anne Hentschel

About our author

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

She works in various practices, treating adults, children, and babies. Her own practice, "Lichtkräuter," in Blankenese, Hamburg, opened its doors at the end of 2012. Since 2013, she has also worked as a freelance instructor, offering wild and medicinal herb training for experts and interested individuals. The next session (free of charge in Hamburg) is on March 15 - a Introductory course in wild herb training.

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

Here is Anne’s contact information:

Anne Hentschel

Erik-Blumenfeld-Platz 19

22587 Hamburg – Blankenese

Appointments by arrangement

Phone: 040-27 86 25 71

Mobile: 0177-563 28 69

Website: www.lichtkräuter.de