Trying a new type of therapy for the first time can come with a lot of questions.
What actually happens during CranioSacral Therapy? Do you stay fully clothed? Will we talk? What will I feel? And perhaps most importantly, am I supposed to do anything?
The simple answer to that last question is no.
Your first CranioSacral Therapy session is an opportunity to slow down, become more aware of what is happening in your body and allow me to begin listening to the patterns your body presents.
Some sessions are deeply restful. Others involve more movement, sensation or emotion. Memories can surface. You may want to talk. You may barely say a word.
There is no correct way to experience CranioSacral Therapy.
Here is what you can expect from your first session with me.
Before Your First CranioSacral Therapy Session
You do not need to do anything special to prepare for CranioSacral Therapy.
You can eat and drink normally beforehand and continue with your usual day. I would simply recommend wearing clothes that you feel comfortable lying down in for an extended period.
Unlike massage, CranioSacral Therapy takes place fully clothed. There are no oils and you will not be asked to undress.
You also do not need to arrive with a perfectly defined reason for coming.
Some people know exactly what they want to explore. They may be experiencing jaw tension, headaches, persistent physical discomfort, stress or burnout.
Others simply know that something feels off.
Perhaps you have been feeling tense for months. Maybe you struggle to properly relax. You might feel disconnected from your body, or perhaps you are simply curious about what CranioSacral Therapy might feel like.
That is enough of a starting point.
We Start With a Conversation
Before you get onto the treatment table, we take some time to talk.
I want to understand not only what is happening physically, but how you are feeling emotionally and what has been happening in your life.
If you are coming because of pain or physical tension, I may ask when it started, where you feel it and whether anything seems to make it better or worse. But our conversation does not necessarily stop with the physical symptom.
I may ask how you have been feeling recently. Are you stressed, anxious, frustrated, sad or overwhelmed? Is there something in your life that has been taking up a lot of emotional space? Are there feelings that seem to keep returning, even when you understand where they come from?
We may also explore recurring patterns.
Perhaps you notice that you repeatedly put other people’s needs before your own. You struggle to say no, even when you are exhausted. The same type of relationship dynamic keeps appearing. You find yourself reacting strongly in certain situations without fully understanding why. Or you recognise a belief about yourself that you have carried for years, even though another part of you knows it is no longer true.
These things can be relevant because I am interested in the relationship between what we experience emotionally, mentally and physically.
Sometimes someone comes in talking about a tight jaw and, through conversation, we realise they have been holding back what they really want to say. Someone else may have persistent tension alongside a period of feeling responsible for everyone around them.
That does not mean I assume there is an emotional explanation behind every physical symptom. There may be, or there may not be. We are simply curious about the whole picture.
You also do not need to tell me your entire life story during your first appointment.
We go at your pace. You decide what you feel comfortable sharing, and there is no pressure to uncover something profound before we begin the hands-on work.
The conversation simply gives us a starting point.
And sometimes, something we discuss at the beginning of the session becomes relevant again later when a particular sensation, emotion or memory arises on the treatment table.
What Happens on the Treatment Table?
You will usually lie comfortably on your back on the treatment table, although we can adjust your position if another position is more comfortable for you.
I then begin using light contact at different areas of your body.
This might include the feet, legs, sacrum, pelvis, spine, ribcage, shoulders, neck or cranium. I do not follow an identical sequence with every client because I am responding to what I am noticing through your body.
Although it is called CranioSacral Therapy, the work is not limited to your head and sacrum.
The cranium is the skull, while the sacrum is the triangular bone at the base of the spine. The membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord extend between these areas, forming part of what is referred to in CST as the craniosacral system.
But this system does not exist separately from the rest of you.
The fascia, nervous system, muscles and other structures throughout the body are interconnected. This is why I may spend time working somewhere that initially seems unrelated to the place where you experience tension.
If you would like to understand the anatomy and principles behind the work in more depth, I explain them in What Is CranioSacral Therapy? The Ultimate Beginner Guide.
What Does CranioSacral Therapy Feel Like?
This varies enormously.
Some people feel changes almost immediately. Others become so deeply relaxed that they are only vaguely aware of what I am doing.
You might notice warmth or coolness, tingling, pulsing, heaviness or lightness. Your breathing may change. You might feel an area of your body soften or become aware of a subtle movement that you are not consciously creating.
You may sigh, swallow or suddenly feel the need to take a deeper breath.
Sometimes an area that felt very present at the beginning of the session becomes quieter.
You may also experience spontaneous unwinding movements, where your body begins to gently turn, stretch, rotate or move without you consciously deciding to make that movement.
Some people also enter a deeply relaxed, theta-like state, similar to that space between waking and sleep. The conscious mind can become quieter and you may experience thoughts, imagery, emotions or memories differently from your normal waking state.
And sometimes you do not feel very much at all.
That does not mean you are doing CranioSacral Therapy incorrectly.
You are not required to feel pulsing, experience unwinding, see colours, remember your childhood or have a profound emotional release.
Your only job is to notice whatever is actually there.
Fascia, Tension and Unwinding
Fascia is an important part of my CranioSacral work.
It is the continuous network of connective tissue that surrounds and connects structures throughout the body, including muscles, bones, nerves and organs.
Because fascia is interconnected, an area of tension does not necessarily exist in isolation.
Someone may come to me because they are experiencing tension around their jaw, for example, while the wider pattern may also involve the neck, shoulders, ribcage, pelvis or elsewhere in the body.
Rather than deciding beforehand where something needs to change, I pay attention to how the tissues respond under my hands.
Sometimes there is a gradual sense of softening. At other times, the body may begin to move spontaneously.
In CranioSacral Therapy, this is sometimes referred to as unwinding.
During unwinding, your body may slowly turn, stretch, rotate or move into a position without you consciously deciding to make that movement. It can be very subtle, such as the head gently turning to one side, or involve a larger movement through an arm, leg, shoulder, spine or pelvis.
I do not direct or choreograph these movements. Instead, I support the body and follow where it seems to want to go, allowing the tissues to move through patterns of tension at their own pace.
For the person on the table, this can sometimes feel quite unusual. You may be aware that your body is moving while simultaneously feeling that you are not consciously making it move.
An unwinding may end with a stretch, a deeper breath, a sigh, a feeling of warmth or a noticeable softening in the tissues. Sometimes the movement simply becomes smaller and eventually comes to rest.
And sometimes the physical release is accompanied by an emotional one.
An emotion, image or memory may suddenly surface as the body moves through an area of tension. This does not happen every time, and it is not something we try to create, but if it does happen, we can give it space rather than interrupting it.
When Emotions or Memories Surface
This is something that can surprise people during their first CranioSacral Therapy session.
As an area of physical or fascial tension begins to release, an emotion, image or memory can sometimes surface with it.
You might suddenly feel tearful. You may remember something you had not thought about in years. An image might appear in your mind, or you may experience a strong emotion without immediately understanding where it has come from.
This is sometimes described in bodywork as the body or tissues “holding memory.”
It does not necessarily mean that fascia stores conscious memories in the way that the brain does. But our experiences are not purely mental.
When something affects us, the body responds too.
We brace. Our breathing changes. We tighten our jaw. Our stomach contracts. Our posture changes. We may make ourselves smaller or hold tension without even realising we are doing it.
Over time, the nervous system, muscles, breathing patterns, posture and connective tissues can all adapt around what we repeatedly experience.
Sometimes, when a long-held physical pattern begins to change, something associated with that experience seems to surface too.
This may even connect with something we discussed during the conversation at the beginning of your session.
If that happens, you do not need to lie there silently.
We can talk.
You may want to tell me about the memory that has appeared, describe what you are feeling or simply say, “I suddenly feel really sad and I don’t know why.”
We can stay connected to what is happening in your body while giving the emotional experience space too.
My background in EFT, Matrix Reimprinting, somatic and energy work naturally influences how I support these moments.
Equally, we do not go searching for emotional releases.
There is no prize for crying during CranioSacral Therapy. A quiet physical session is not somehow less meaningful than an emotional one.
We work with what actually emerges.
You Are Always in Control of the Session
This is important to me.
CranioSacral Therapy is not something I impose on your body while you passively endure whatever happens.
You can speak at any point.
You can ask me what I am doing. You can tell me that something feels uncomfortable. You can change position. You can ask for more support under your knees or head. You can tell me that you would rather I did not touch a particular area.
And you can ask me to stop.
Likewise, if you would prefer to close your eyes and say absolutely nothing for most of the session, that is welcome too.
Part of creating safety within bodywork is knowing that you still have choice.
My role is not to decide what your body needs and then make it happen.
I see it more as listening with you.
What Happens After CranioSacral Therapy?
At the end of the hands-on work, I give you a little time before asking you to sit up.
People respond differently afterwards.
You may feel very relaxed, grounded or slightly sleepy. You might feel lighter or notice that an area of tension feels different. You may feel emotionally clearer, or simply very quiet.
Changes can also continue to unfold after you leave.
You might become aware of your posture, breathing, sleep, emotions or physical sensations differently over the following hours or days.
There is no complicated aftercare routine.
I do recommend drinking a little more water than usual after your session. CranioSacral Therapy involves working with the body’s tissues and fluid systems, and good hydration supports normal tissue and fascial function.
Give yourself some space to rest if your body is asking for it, and pay attention to how you feel. You may continue to notice physical or emotional changes over the following day or two.
You also do not need to analyse every sensation looking for evidence that the session “worked”.
Sometimes the most useful thing you can do afterwards is simply notice.
How Many CranioSacral Therapy Sessions Will I Need?
There is no predetermined number of CranioSacral Therapy sessions that everyone needs.
Some people notice something meaningful after their first session. Others find that the work develops gradually over several sessions.
It depends on you, why you have come and how your body responds.
I prefer not to tell someone they need a package of sessions before we have even worked together.
We can begin with one.
Afterwards, we can talk about what you experienced and whether another session feels useful.
If nervous system regulation is one of the main reasons you are considering CST, you can also read more about CranioSacral Therapy for nervous system regulation.
Your First CranioSacral Therapy Session With Me
I practise my sessions in the beautiful therapy rooms at HUMA in Estoril.
My sessions are primarily offered in English. I also speak Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese, which can be helpful if you naturally move between languages, even when English remains the main language of our sessions.
My wider background includes yoga and meditation, EFT, Matrix Reimprinting, somatic work and energy work, alongside my training in CranioSacral Therapy.
That means I am comfortable working with the session wherever it naturally goes.
Sometimes that is primarily physical.
Sometimes it is quiet and deeply restful.
Sometimes an emotion, belief or recurring pattern becomes part of the conversation.
Sometimes a memory surfaces unexpectedly during the bodywork.
And often it is a mixture.
If you would like more information about working with me locally, you can also read:
CranioSacral Therapy in Cascais & Estoril
CranioSacral Therapy in Lisbon
You do not need to arrive knowing what is supposed to happen.
Come as you are, get comfortable, and we begin from there.
Book your first CranioSacral Therapy session with Natalie.