The Craniosacral Therapy Dance of the Sphenoid & the Pelvic Bones

The human body is a constant source of amazement in how connected everything is within it. ​

Addressing the Sphenoid Bone through Craniosacral Therapy

​Often when my hands are working with the Sphenoid Bone a client will mention that they are feeling sensation further down in their body, around their hips, legs, lower abdomen, lower spine... “That’s weird!” has been the most common comment. But actually, it really isn’t.

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Offering ease to the sacrum with Craniosacral Therapy

During a Craniosacral Therapy session, when my hand is holding the sacrum and offering ease of tension through the hips or abdomen, tummy rumbles will often begin. The Vagus nerve, which begins in the cranium and extends down into the stomach, is often being impacted as the fascia unwinds and finds ease through the upper body.

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During advanced Craniosacral Therapy training I began to read more in depth about, and notice greater similarities between the Sphenoid Bone (located near the base of the cranium) and the group of bones that create the Pelvis (located at the base of the spine). Both have such a beautiful butterfly-like shape to them. While I learned about the connections between the two through earlier studies, it is clients that, through the years, have taught me just how connected they truly are.

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Dural Tube rocking eases tension in the Nervous System

Both are keystone bones. The Sphenoid is connected to all of the other bones in the cranium and the Pelvic bones, which are key to your structural balance, movement and alignment, bridge your spine with your legs. The two bones sit at either end, and are connected by the Dural Tube. During a Craniosacral Therapy session you’ll find my hands addressing each bone, and the surrounding areas, separately. But also in some cases, addressing them together.

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Often if there is a pattern of tension or compression in one of these bones, or it is holding a protective pattern from past injury or trauma (physical or emotional), the other is echoing the same posture. As either bone begins to soften and ease in its tension or attachments, or shift into a better position, there is a ripple and a shift that happens throughout the body. In that shift, tension eases and softens, and your Nervous System settles. 

Because of where they are situated and their attachments to other bones, the Sphenoid and Pelvic bones don’t act alone, nor do they soften and ease alone. As the fascial attachments of the pelvic bones unwind there is often a corresponding ease of tension felt through the legs, feet, knees, hips, lower ribcage, spine and abdominal organs (all linked through fascia). ​

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In easing tension in the Sphenoid there are resulting shifts in the jaw, temporal bones, occipitals, shoulders, neck, face, upper ribs… As they ease and release so does tension held in the nervous system. The fluid around the brain and down the spinal cord is able to refresh more easily and the nervous system communicates with all aspects of the body, your whole being is more able to access its innate ability to heal in a calmer, more relaxed environment.

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​These bones dance through the tensions, shifts and unwindings of the body.

A Craniosacral Therapy session begins the process. As I tell clients at the end of their session, that process continues to unwind through the next few days. When returning a week later for a second session, the body is encouraged to continue on its path of healing. In that second session the body is beginning from a more empowered space. 

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