The work of Visceral Manipulation aims to restore proper mobility, glide and function to the structures around and including the valve from the esophagus to the stomach.  It is possible to have adhesion’s in between organs in your abdominal area creating pressure on the esophageal valve which then allows stomach acid up into the esophagus.  Unfortunately, the esophagus is not designed to withstand stomach acid and heartburn symptoms often follow.

During treatment a comprehensive, hands-on evaluation is made to discern potential cause of the acid reflux and gentle hands-on work is performed to begin the process of restoring proper function to the body.  The work is comfortable to receive and usually helps the entire body move and feel better.

There is cerebral spinal fluid in the dura mater that nourishes the brain and spinal cord.  The cerebral spinal fluid or CSF for short, is created in the ventricles of the head.  As this fluid is being created and added to the inside of the dura the volume increase slightly.  This increased volume creates an expansion at the joints in the head and a contraction as some of it drains back into the blood supply.  This expansion and contraction happens on average between 6 to 12 times a minute.

CSF Flow

Due to injuries the joints can become restricted and the flow of fluid is slightly reduced.  Through gentle assessment and treatment these restrictions are easily treated helping the body to heal itself, reduce chronic pain and optimize its ability to heal.

It is very common for a newborn to come into this world with torticollis, basically muscles on one side of the neck that are short causing side bending and often rotation.  It is not hard to imagine that after being in utero, twisted, compressed and growing at a fast pace that the neck could end up with some tension in it.

Seattle Cranial Sacral Therapy - Michael Hahn

My experience has shown me that treatment requires looking at the entire body, not just the neck. Usually the tension spirals from head to toe and the neck is a place where the untrained eye actually sees this distortion.

The good news is that it is easily treated with gentle hands-on corrections.  The work gently restore mobility to the body allowing for nature to take over and let the body grow as intended without undue stress altering its course.

Often we do not think about or even know our spinal cords should glide within many of our vertebrae. This action is critical to a properly functioning and pain free body.  Nor do we realize the ligaments that hold our organs in place could end up short and inflexible.

When we accumulate these types of restrictions year after year we get to a place where our bodies can no longer compenstae comfortably and ultimately we HURT!

These types of restrictions are rarely addressed and usually over looked. The evolution of the work I offer directly addresses these issues through a comprehensive evaluation and treatment plan to restore function to the underlying causes allowing you to get back to a pain free life.

The hemispheres of what was to evolve into the human brain began to develop 250 million years ago.(1)   100 million years ago they developed lateral specialization, and very slowly began to grow in size.  65 million years ago protohominid brain volume had reached 30 cubic centimeters, 20 million years ago, 200 cubic centimeters.  Between 18 and 7 million years ago, the brain did not grow at all, and by 4 million years ago it had grown to 350 cubic centimeters.  Then, after millions of years of no growth, or exceedingly slow growth, the human brain has quadrupled in size in the past 4 million years, to its present average of 1,360 cubic centimeters. (2)

In the big picture, that amount of growth in such a short period of time is phenomenal.  There is much debate as to why.  We are conscious beings with amazing abilities to create and manifest.  I believe our brain is the receiver, translator and generator behind much of this ability.

All that said, here is what I have been up to in regards to fine tuning the structures of the brain.  Below I have listed some of the layers from outside to inside starting from the top of the head:

1. Skin and subcutaneous fat
2. Muscles and their wrappings
3. Bone
4. Dura (the wrapping of the brain and spinal cord, includes the falx and tentorium which are deep support membranes)

From here we get into the many layers of the brain…

Due to impact and injury our 14 – 16 pound head can end up with deep strains and restrictions which diminish the flow of blood and lymph in and out of the cranium.  Also, the bones can loose their flexibility, the joints between bones can become restricted, nerves, arteries and deep enfolded membranes can become tight. This can cause low energy, headaches and discomfort throughout the entire body. The brain has a large role in managing the health of our 70-100 trillion cells that make up the human body.

I have been having great success restoring proper function to the structures that make up our head.  There are many areas and handles that allow for access to the nerves, arteries, bones, joints and membranes.  My experience is showing that when the cranium functions as the designer intended, people feel better, become more aligned in gravity and have deeper access to their bodies inherent ability to heal and thrive.

1. Robert Ornstein and Richard F. Thompson, The Amazing Brain, p. 9, Houghton Mifflin, 1984
2. Roger Lewin, In the Age of Mankind, p. 179, Smithsonian Books, 1988

The treatments usually include working directly with tissues such as; nerves, arteries, cranial bones and membranes which are often overlooked in the treatment of headaches. The good news is that people respond very well to this gentle, hands-on therapy and usually experience significant improvements in a short period of time.

Case history:

A client in their mid thirties came to me for chronic headaches they have been experiencing daily for the last ten years.  They are very active and have experienced a few major accidents along the way.  The initial assessment showed many deep restrictions in their body that included:

• Frozen sacroiliac joints
• Liver restrictions
• Stomach ligament restrictions
• Restrictions in the pleura of their lungs
• Spinal cord restrictions to many of the spinal vertebrae
• Deep membrane restrictions within the cranium
• Severe limiting tension at the upper first two vertebrae

During the first treatment I addressed the upper neck tension, spinal cord restrictions at the level of the upper mid-back and the membrane restrictions within the head.  The client reported back after their first sessions that the headaches have stopped two days after our session, their neck functions 60% better and their lower back feels the best it has in years.

This is an example of how restrictions spread throughout the body can manifest as symptoms at a very local area, such as headaches.  When you comprehensively treat the entire person the body has a greater chance of healing itself.

A few resources for headaches:

http://www.headaches.org/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/headaches/HE00001

The body of knowledge called Rolfing is also known as Structural Integration.  Structural Integration is an umbrella term used to describe Rolfing, Hellerwork, Soma and many other forms of bodywork that developed directly out of Ida Rolf’s work.

A few main goals of Structural Integration are as follows:

• Restore proper function to all the tissues of the body.
• Bones, ligaments, joints, membranes, dural and cranial structures, arteries, nerves, brain tissue, organs and their supporting membranes.
• Align the body in the field of gravity.
• Help people feel a deeper sense of connection between soul, mind and body.

Ida Rolf was once asked, “If a practitioner could say a few sentences to someone and achieve the goals of the work would this be considered Structural Integration?” She answered “Yes”.

So for me Structural Integration is a works in progress that allows practitioners  to evolve their work always striving to achieve these goals.  I use many cutting edge advanced therapies such as, Visceral Manipulation, Cranial Sacral Therapy and Hellerwork Structural Integration to help people heal their bodies and thrive in the world.

Sutherland stated the dural membranes act as ‘guy-wires’ for the movement of the cranial bones, holding tension for the opposite motion. He used the term reciprocal tension membrane system (RTM) to describe the three Cartesian axes held in reciprocal tension, or tensegrity, creating the cyclic movement of inhalation and exhalation of the cranium. The RTM as described by Sutherland includes the spinal dura, with an attachment to the sacrum. After his observation of the cranial mechanism, Sutherland stated that the sacrum moves synchronously with the cranial bones. Sutherland began to teach this work to other osteopaths from about the 1930s, and continued to do so until his death. His work was at first largely rejected by the mainstream osteopathic profession as it challenged some of the closely held beliefs among practitioners of the time.

In the 1940s the American School of Osteopathy started a post-graduate course called ‘Osteopathy in the Cranial Field’ directed by Sutherland, and was followed by other schools. This new branch of practice became known as “cranial osteopathy”. As knowledge of this form of treatment began to spread, Sutherland trained more teachers to meet the demand, notably Drs Viola Frymann, Edna Lay, Howard Lippincott, Anne Wales, Chester Handy and Rollin Becker.

Now this work is widely sought out to help people heal their body’s from past injuries and chronic pain.

1. Sutherland A (1962). With Thinking Fingers.Indianapolis, IN: Cranial Academy, 13.

Receiving Visceral Manipulation prior to surgeries helps loosen the tissues and make sure proper motion is available before cutting into the body.  This reduces the potential trauma and creates the potential for easier healing.  Treatment after surgery, usually 4 – 6 weeks to allow for the tissue to heal helps the body function as it was originally intended.

Seattle Visceral Manipulation

Regardless whether a surgery happened recently or years ago, the work of Visceral Manipulation can get the mody functioning the way it was intended and help people reduce pain and stiffness.

For more information about Visceral Manipulation you can visit my website.  I practice this work, Cranial Sacral Therapy and Hellerwork in the Fremont area of Seattle.

I am using a local company named Fullslate and they are a wonderful company with a great eye for detail and simplicity.

So if you are feeling that it is time for a tune-up, it just became that much easier to take your body and being to the next level of comfort and ease.