Melanie Sanders, qualified Craniosacral Therapist, Reiki Therapist Level 1 & 2, Retired Midwife (BSc Hons) and Registered General Nurse.

 
I have been in the caring profession my entire working life, as a nurse for 16 years and  as a Midwife for 24 years, a job I loved.  An interest in alternative therapies led me to train as a reiki therapist initially, but I felt there was so much more I could do with my healing hands. I have always enjoyed trying alternative therapies  believing there is so much about our bodies that the medical profession simply doesn’t understand.  

 

In 2014 life threw my family a curveball, when my fit, active husband had a stroke at the young age of 51. It was my sister in law, a craniosacral therapist in New Zealand, who recommended we try CST.  I have to admit I had never heard of it and my husband is the biggest sceptic I know. However, the medical profession had done what they could and we were now at home coping alone, so what did we have to lose? 
 
The first session was a real challenge for the therapist as my husband lay on her couch, arms folded across his chest, eyes open, staring at the ceiling. I sat in on the session as my husband was needing a fair amount of care at that time and to be honest with you I wondered what we were doing there, as nothing happened. The therapist just moved her hands under his back around his head in various holds and positions for about an hour, we paid and then left. My husband was unable to say what the treatment had felt like, but he was so relaxed and immediately felt happy. Over the next few days there was a noticeable change in his mood, he seemed much lighter and for the first time in weeks he belly laughed - I knew we had found something special. Conventional medicine focuses on treating the symptoms of illness; complementary therapies like craniosacral therapy, assists the body to heal itself.  
 
The changes I saw in my husband and CST I had also received, convinced me I had found the therapy I had been looking for, something very unique and special; and so began my journey to train as a therapist.  
 
As a midwife I was very aware of the impact the birth process can have on a baby, no matter which way they enter this world. Their skulls are designed to move to aid this process, but it is quite a journey and all babies would benefit from CST to assist them in settling everything back into its correct position…...like a sapling, if the roots are not stable and straight when first planted it can have huge implications on the growth and health of that tree for life. 

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Mel