MysticMag has the opportunity to chat with Intuitive Healing Facilitator, CranioSacral Therapist, Energy Healer and Licensed Massage Therapist, Cindy Carlton, LMT.
How and why were you led to work and aid with healing?
After college, I worked retail and customer service positions. Although I enjoy helping people, I knew there was something else I was meant to do. I got a hint when a friend and I saw a commercial for a massage school on tv. I had never had a massage before, and the idea of helping people that way seemed interesting. I went to an informational meeting at the school without my friend. She ended up going to become a massage therapist, and I didn’t.
Then 8 years later my dad was in an accident that put him in an ICU in Boston. I flew from Portland, OR to stay with my stepmom while we waited to see what would happen with my dad. (He’s still alive 16 years later, living with a traumatic brain injury.) The waiting across the country from my job and home life put in perspective how unhappy I was. When I returned to Portland, I started to look at attending massage school again. And this time I signed up to go. That was the shift that opened up my world to being a healer.
It was while in massage school that I was introduced to CranioSacral Therapy. I went to class with a migraine one night. My teacher’s speciality was CranioSacral Therapy, and she gave me a treatment. I decided to leave class early, because I thought I just needed to get home and go to bed. By the time I got home, the headache was gone and I felt fine in my body – no nausea nor any other of my usual symptoms. I didn’t have the day-after-migraine-hangover either. I thought it was magical! And I wanted to learn more. So I took my teacher’s class on CranioSacral Therapy through the school and then moved on to the Upledger Institute’s series of classes after that. It has become a foundation for all sessions I do with clients – both in person and remotely.
As I’ve done my own healing work over the years, I’ve become more and more clear about my role in helping others on their healing journeys. I find joy in seeing my clients light up when they make the breakthroughs they’ve been looking for. It’s incredible!
How would you describe the power of touch?
The power of touch. Wow. There is so much research behind the power of touch, that I could go on and on. For me, when I touch my clients it’s about being a conduit and facilitator. As humans, we hold a lot in our bodies – physically, emotionally, mentally, energetically and spiritually. When I put my hands on someone, I see myself as giving their bodies an outlet for releasing what’s no longer needed or receiving what’s needed. That doesn’t mean I’m taking on their pains and stressors onto myself, or that I’m giving over my energy to them. No, I’m just holding a safe container for their system to do what it needs.
There have been studies showing the importance of babies and children receiving touch to help them feel safe and secure. As adults, we need the same, especially if we didn’t get it as children. And by giving my clients the opportunity to experience therapeutic touch, I feel like they walk away from sessions feeling more safe and secure in their bodies.
To whom would you recommend CranioSacral Therapy?
I would recommend CranioSacral Therapy to almost anyone, and especially to those who may be afraid of or who are sensitive to touch. It’s a gentle form of bodywork, where the bodyworker places their hands above and below a person’s body in different areas using very little pressure. Once my hands are in position, I think of myself as melding with the person’s body, then following the rhythms or patterns that are happening in that area.
I’ve used CranioSacral Therapy to help people with anxiety, chronic headaches and pain (like my own migraines), women’s menstrual cycles and fertility journeys, and more. I’ve also used CranioSacral Therapy to help babies with latching/feeding issues and children, especially those who are highly sensitive and neurodivergent. And I’ve used CranioSacral Therapy on pets, especially dogs.
Can you elaborate on the science behind Craniosacral Therapy?
CranioSacral Therapy was developed by an osteopathic doctor/surgeon named John Upldeger. He discovered while assisting on a spinal cord surgery that there was an uncontrolled rhythm occurring along the spinal column. He found that cerebral-spinal fluid created its own rhythm, just like blood flow through the body creates a pulse.
From here he looked at studies that were done by previous osteopathic doctors that showed how impingement on the central nervous system – whether on the brain or spinal cord – could cause a number of conditions – pain, disease, etc. With light touch vs attempting to force movement, he found the cranial bones could be shifted to relieve the pressure on the brain and membranes. This allowed better flow for the cerebral-spinal fluid, and therefore relieved issues of discomfort and pain. This is how he developed CranioSacral Therapy, and there have been many offshoots from his work.
What other services do you offer your clients and what is your mission?
My mission is to hold safe and sacred space with lightness and joy, so others can feel grounded, energetic, and strong, while they release old stories and integrate new beliefs.
In my one on one sessions, this could be through bodywork, such as CranioSacral Therapy and/or therapeutic massage, along with energy healing and intuitive readings. I see clients in person or remotely via Zoom.
I also teach classes and speak on holding energetic space for others, especially to bodyworkers, as well as developing one’s intuitive abilities. As a society, more people are becoming energetically and spiritually aware, and those of us already on the journey need to know how to hold safe containers for those just embarking on the quests for healing.
If you would like to find out more about Facilitated Health & Healing, visit https://www.facilitatedhealth.com/ or follow on https://www.instagram.com/facilitatedhealth/ or https://www.facebook.com/FacilitatedHealth
