While using this technique, the therapist is working with the cranial sacral system. This system consists of the membranes and fluid that surround the brain and spinal cord, protecting them as well as to the attached bones.
The membranes that surround the brain and spine are like a water filled sac (or like the casing of a hot dog). They extend from the bones of the skull, face and mouth (which makes up the cranium) and down the spine to the sacrum or tailbone area. The cerebral spinal fluid (like the inside of the hot dog casing) acts like vitamin water protecting, nourishing and cleansing the tissue of the central nervous system, enhancing the nerve conductivity.
Cranial sacral therapy frees up the tissues in and around the cranial sacral system to encourage the flow of cerebrospinal fluid.