Today after a networking meeting I experienced a cranio-sacral session with Debi G. in Puyallup.

Oh … my … gosh ….

*sigh*

*sigh*

*sigh*

How can I possibly describe what happened during the 60 minutes I was on her table?  I’ll do my best, but you really have to experience it to truly understand it.

Cranio-sacral practitioners are trained to feel the body’s internal “currents” — the pathways that the various fluids and electrical impulses in our bodies take to get from point A to point B. (Sure hope I’m explaining this right, even though I’m doing my best to keep the explanation as elementary as I can!)

Often–due to perceived or actual danger, acute trauma, distress, anxiety, and other “insults”–our fight or flight response kicks in. When this happens, our bodies pump adrenaline like crazy, preparing us for intense physical activity: to fight or flee.

Other times, under similar but chronic, unavoidable circumstances, our “fight or flight” response becomes exhausted  and we can “seize up” (withdraw physically, mentally and/or emotionally) out of an instinct for self-preservation. This “seizing up” can cause “bottlenecks” along the liquid and electrical courses that exist throughout our bodies. The result: dis-ease, the beginning of the disease process.

When I got onto Deb’s table, I was curious about what would be done to me. I was a little nervous at first, even though I had witnessed a brief cranio-sacral therapy session  before during a networking meeting.

As it turned out, the entire session was quiet, comfortable, and serene. (I’m  tempted to call it “sacred”, “hallowed,” “consecrated,” but that might throw you for a loop.)

As I understand it, the human body is a repository for everything that has ever happened to it. Although we usually recover nicely from most injuries and traumas, our bodies will often hold on to the memory of the “insults”  they have received.

The bodies of people who have been chronically used,  misused or abused hold on even harder than the rest. The body learns to self-protect needlessly if it has had to do so repeatedly over time. Sometimes this can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, nervous tics, upset stomachs, and lots of other physical, mental and emotional maladies.

What cranio-sacral therapy does, over time, is re-train the body to relax and recover. A CS practitioner can feel (from atop, beside, and underneath your completely-clothed body) the undercurrents within your body and discern where the bottlenecks are: that is, where the currents aren’t flowing freely and where organs aren’t communicating with each other properly.

When I got on Deb’s table, I didn’t think she’d find much amiss. I love what I do for a living, I don’t have any noticeable physical symptoms (pain, headaches, jittery nerves, etc.), and I’m a pretty happy-go-lucky individual. But I wanted to experience it for two reasons: I wanted to be able to write about it with some sense of adequacy, and because I was thinking that, if it seemed to benefit me in any way,I would know that my sister would probably really benefit from it. (She never stops, at home or at work, and she is in a high-stress job and tired all the time.)

Right away Deb said, “The top of your head is hot!” (Not meaning sweaty: I wasn’t sweating.)  “I can tell you’re always thinking!” (That’s mostly  what creative people do!) In other words, my brain is working on all thrusters, as Dr. McCoy would say. She wanted to quiet it down so I would begin to relax.

She asked me if I was at all nervous about being on her table. I shared the concern I had; she allayed it.

The longer I reclined on the table, the calmer and more relaxed I got. I was encouraged to re-position any part of my body if it became uncomfortable, but that only happened once.

Deb placed her hands so lightly, at different times, on my head, face, and various parts of my ears and knees that I felt completely safe with her and relaxed even more. She mentioned where I had bottlenecks and did whatever she needed to do (with light touches) to release them and allow the currents to flow freely again.

I could feel my body responding. I could feel warmth move past whatever “bottleneck” she had identified and released.

By the end of the session, my entire body felt connected and warm and what, at the beginning of the session, had felt like distant touch (on my lower legs and feet) felt very “in touch” and present at the end. I was astounded by how much better I felt!

She said she could tell that I’m the type who doesn’t allow myself much slack. I admitted that I’m always doing something toward my goals.  She said, “You need to give yourself permission to deescalate and relax more. You can work more relaxed than you are. Try to remember what you feel like right now and stay with it for as long as you can.”

I was so relaxed and serene by the time I sat up and slid off the table that I felt almost like I could float out of Deb’s office. I still feel sensational, five hours later–and this is despite unloading a bale of straw and a fifty pound sack of hen food after the session!

So yes, I believe in cranio-sacral therapy! I can see, absolutely, why it’s effective even for people with PTSD. (Hear that, soldiers and survivors of mental, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse? Go see Deb in Puyallup just across the street from the Liberty Theater on Main Street just off Meridian!) Her door reads Inner Serenity Bodyworks.

As soon as I got home, I got a call from an old friend (90 years old!) asking if I was available for lunch, so I jumped in the SUV and met her at Shari’s. We chatted for almost two hours.

Returning home, I made arrangements to have a one-to-one with the graphics designer I met yesterday at the Federal Way meeting. We’ll meet halfway between our two abodes early next week at Starbuck’s near the Super Mall in Auburn. Then the phone rang and I heard from a lady who wants to meet me as a result of the business card she found at JR’s Whistlestop in Spanaway today. So I’ll be doing that just over a week from now.

So now I’m checking in with y’all.  I know I haven’t taught you anything at all about copy writing or the copy writing business these last few entries: my apologies. I’ll make amends this weekend sometime. Life has intervened, so I haven’t taken sufficient time to ponder what to share with you next in the copy writing realm. There is plenty more to know; I just need to get my ducks in a row and decide in which order to share it so I don’t throw you for a loop.

In Other News …

I have over 200 subscribers now. Not bad for a start-up blog. (I think a lot of you followed me from my Almost Famous blog. Thanks for that!) I’d sure like to get to know everyone better who has subscribed. Let me know what you want to know about writing copy or the copy writing profession. I love answering direct questions!

I’m going to volunteer for a church roadside trash pick up event tomorrow morning for a time.

Sunday, as usual, I will be at church in the nursery watching young kids while their older siblings attend Sunday School and, later, while their parents attend church.

Other than that this weekend, I may be helping Lisa Taylor devise a clever corralling solution to give her kitties additional maneuvering room where she lives now so they can visit her in her office.

AND I may be working this weekend on a landing page and email for a present client, if I get the clarification I need to proceed.

For now…

“That’s all, folks!”

(My alma mater!)

(Did you know I worked at WB from 1992 to 2003?)