MASSAGE THERAPY

CranioSacral Therapy

CranioSacral Therapy (CST) is a light-touch approach that can create dramatic improvements In your life.  It releases tensions deep in the body to relieve pain and dysfunction and improve whole-body health and performance.

Few body structures have more influence over your health and well-being than your central nervous system.  And few body systems have more impact on your central nervous system than the craniosacral system – the soft tissues and fluids that protect your brain and spinal cord.  Every day you endure stresses and strains and your body absorbs them.  But your body can only handle so much tension before the tissues begin to tighten and potentially affect the brain and spinal cord.

Unfortunately, this can compromise the function of the central nervous system – and the performance of nearly every other system in your body.
CranioSacral Therapy releases those tensions to allow the entire body to relax and self-correct.  Using a gentle touch – starting with about the weight of a nickel – practitioners evaluate your internal environment.  Then they use distinctive light-touch techniques to release any restrictions they find.
By freeing the central nervous system to perform at its best, CranioSacral Therapy naturally eliminates pain and stress, strengthens your resistance to disease, and enhances your health and well-being.

And because it’s so gentle, CranioSacral Therapy can be effective for all ages, from newborns to elders. 

CranioSacral Therapy helps relieve a full spectrum of pain, illness and dysfunction, including:

• Migraines and Headaches
• Chronic Neck and Back Pain
• Stress and Tension-Related Disorders
• Motor-Coordination Impairments
• Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
• Chronic Fatigue
• Fibromyalgia
• TMJ Syndrome
• Scoliosis
• Central Nervous System Disorders (Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, etc)
• Learning Disabilities
• ADD/ADHD
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Orthopedic Problems
• And Many Other Conditions

Leslie E. Frank, DPT, is Bodyscape’s CranioSacral Therapist.  You can see her full bio under “Staff”.

The information above about CranioSacral Therapy is from the Upledger Institute at www.upledger.com.

Structural Integration Massage Therapy

Structural Integration, better known as “Rolfing” is a form of bodywork designed to bring relief from chronic pain and return the body to its best functioning. At Bodyscape we offer a gentle approach to the technique, slowly working to unwind bound-up soft tissues that hinder the musculoskeletal system. We focus on balancing and aligning the body in gravity. When the body's segments are vertically aligned, joints can move painlessly and without strain.

Structural Integration manual therapy loosens up and reorganizes muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia, to bring relief from chronic pain.  Dr. Mehmet Oz of Oprah fame, recommends the technique. “It literally releases the joints.  When you talk to folks about the impact it has on them, a lot of them just stand taller. A lot is just freeing you up to live the way you're supposed to live,” says Oz.

Rolfing was developed by Dr. Ida B. Rolf, a biochemist who found she could achieve changes in posture and structure by manipulating the body's connective tissue. She called her work Structural Integration, but it was later refered to as "Rolfing" by clients and practitioners.

Structural Integration allows the brain and nervous system to "reboot" areas that are receiving too much electrical stimulation (chronically tight or sore muscles). Once balance in the muscle tone is achieved, the body moves more fluidly with less strain on joints.  The process is recommended to take place over 10 weekly sessions.
 

Who Should Get Structurally Integrated?
Anyone who moves!   We live in a society that requires our body structures to be in positions that we were not designed to be in: sitting in chairs, staring at computers, driving in cars, even wearing shoes!  These positions cause strain in our bodies that, when reinforced day after day, become fixated over time.  Structural Integration makes it easier for you to release those long-held patterns and teaches better ways of sitting, standing and moving.  

Lynn Cohen is Bodyscape’s certified Structural Integration specialist.  She received her certification from the prestigious Guild for Structural Integration in Boulder, Colorado. Lynn also holds massage certifications from the Institute for Psycho Structural Balancing in Culver City and from the Massage School of Santa Monica.