Spring is here and with it brings the desire for spring cleaning; a time to go through our homes, organize, declutter, and clean out what we no longer need. Have you considered spring cleaning for your body? There are many detoxes and cleanses on the market where you nutritionally work to clean your body, which is very helpful in eliminating toxins and waste and to assist with starting a new healthier lifestyle. However, the spring cleaning for the mind, body, and soul is much more than that. It is about looking within and clearing out unwanted and unneeded burdens to allow for a healthier you on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level.

         CranioSacral Therapy is a treatment technique that many find to be highly effective in this type of cleanout. It works on the nervous system and on the deeper layers of tissue, which can be the storage place of emotional trauma, distress, anger, sadness, resentment, regret, fear, etc. Through CranioSacral Therapy, you can work on releasing somatoemotional experiences that are causing an imbalance in your body.

         SomatoEmotional Release work recognizes that each person has an Inner Physician—often identified as the voice within, God, your gut instinct, or your subconscious. When we can disconnect from our cognitive thoughts and listen, we can tune into our Inner Physician. During the SomatoEmotional work, it is important to feel safe and comfortable to be able to find a place where you can be calm and still to let go and allow your Inner Physician to help guide you in your healing. When looking deep within, you may notice that you compartmentalize, store, or bury your emotional experiences away until you are able to deal with them, when you have more time, when you are not as stressed….when you can….and then, that time does not come or it comes, but not before it has created an imbalance within your body.

         As a CranioSacral Therapist, when placing my hands onto an individual’s body, I am able to feel the muscular, fascial, and neural tension and compression patterns, the flow of cerebral spinal fluid, and the movement of energy in the body. By assessing the body’s state through touch, areas where the energy has shifted into a state of discord, usually due to emotional trauma or the holding onto of an emotional experience, can be palpated. Through manual therapy techniques and dialoguing with the patient’s Inner Physician, we work together to clean up these areas of disorganization to help achieve balance within the body. Releasing these energetic areas may bring up emotional experiences from the past, trauma that has not been addressed, and old injuries to allow an individual to explore these feelings and experiences and to release these burdens to achieve a greater sense of mental and spiritual well-being. A sense of calm and lightness comes with the freedom of releasing and letting go of things that no longer serve us, just like cleaning out our junk drawers or packed closets.

         On a physical level, by clearing out these blockages in the body that have impacted muscle and tissue activation and function, impaired blood and cerebral spinal fluid flow, and caused neural compression, it allows the body to be in an improved state for healing. This can allow improvement in chronic pain, range of motion, function, and quality of life. Our emotions and state of mental health greatly impact our physical well-being and experience of pain vs. health/wellness. Through CranioSacral Therapy, the nervous system achieves an improved state of function to allow all of the systems of the body to achieve homeostasis and function at a more optimal level. The body can be in a calmer state, decreasing stress and adrenal overdrive, which is necessary for healing physical ailments. CranioSacral Therapy also assists with improving sleep duration and quality, which allows for healing and restoration.

         Since it is impossible to separate our emotional, physical, and spiritual selves, we must recognize that all of these areas must be addressed in spring cleaning for our bodies to achieve the best outcomes. With CranioSacral Therapy, individuals feel more grounded and more present in their bodies. All parts of our bodies are able to blend together harmoniously to allow for our best and most beautiful selves to shine. This spring, do yourself a favor and clean out more than your home; clean and balance your body so you can bloom into your most perfect self!

Dr. Jacquelyn Hines is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and is Certified in CranioSacral Therapy and in Neuro-Developmental Treatment. Dr. Hines practices at Connectivity Therapy and Holistic Health with locations in Morristown and Red Bank. For appointments, call 732-224-1280. ConnectivityTherapy.com.