Alex Mart, CMT
Craniosacral Therapy & Gentle Bodywork
Alex Mart, CMT
Craniosacral Therapy & Gentle Bodywork
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FAQ's & Policies
What is CranioSacral Therapy? What should I expect?
I practice CranioSacral Therapy (CST) as a light touch and deep presencing modality, working always in attendance to the ease and alignment of the head, neck and spine (head to tail), but inviting the whole body into remembering its innate ability to:
- Unwind and regain mobility and flexibility
- Heal into a sense of greater resilience and capacity
- Let go at a pace that honors what feels safe and can be integrated
- Experience greater flow and freedom
During a session, I will often use specific relaxing holds, attuned listening and responsive touch, and gentle movement. All sessions are tailored to meet your wants and needs, as well as to respond to what is felt in the body.
The body’s natural ability to feel, heal and self-correct is often compromised due to overwork, injuries, emotional or physical stress and trauma. CST gently helps the whole body and nervous system calm, release, and return to its healthy baseline functioning by letting it know it's safe to relax.
Generally, people leave feeling more freedom and ease of movement, deeply relaxed, relieved, and rejuvenated.
Check out my article What is Craniosacral Therapy? for more details about CST's physiological foundations, therapeutic approach, many benefits, and complementary therapies.Craniosacral Therapy can help your whole body relax, release & reset...
- Release tension & pain patterns
- Be more grounded & present
- Digest better
- Heal better
- Sleep better
- Breathe better
- Let go of stress, emotion and energy without having to mentally/verbally process it
- Improve your ability to cope & deal with stress
- Regulate your nervous system
- Know your body better
- Feel more relaxed & rejuvenated
- Feel more alive!
Craniosacral Therapy
has been shown to help with:
- Chronic tension & pain
- Anxiety, stress & depression
- Neck & back pain, sciatica & scoliosis
- Accident/injury/surgery recovery
(whiplash, pain, stiffness, tension, anxiety) - Digestive disorders, IBS
- Exhaustion, chronic fatigue & insomnia
- Immune system disorders
- Long covid
- Headaches & migraines
- TMJ (jaw) disorders
- Tinnitus & Middle Ear Problems
- Pain from EDS and fibromyalgia
- Many other things! Reach out if you are curious and I can let you know if/how CST can help, or offer ideas and referrals more conducive modalities.
What if I'm late or have to reschedule or cancel?
I understand that unexpected things happen in our lives sometimes. To be fair to all clients and myself, I hold the following policies:
Cancellation & Rescheduling Policy:
- 48 hours advance notice is required to reschedule or cancel an appointment without charge. You will be expected to pay one half of the regular appointment rate (see rates above) for changing your appointment with less than 48 hours notice, and to pay in full for 12 hours or less notice. If you have a package, you can either forfeit the session in your package, or keep your package session and pay the 1/2 full rate cancellation fee out of pocket. Thank you for understanding.
- If you have been directly exposed to covid-19 or have any symptoms of any illness develop within the 48 hour window, that payment expectation is waived. PLEASE do not come for bodywork if you may get myself or others sick. Thank you.
Missed Appointments:
Full payment expected, or forfeit the package in your session.
Late Policy:
Your booked appointment time is your time. In order to honor my and other client's time and appointments, late arrivals will shorten your session time accordingly.
Scroll to bottom for covid/sick policy.
How often should I come?
Like any therapy or practice, it is most helpful when done with some regularity, for a certain amount of time, though it mainly depends on your intention for coming.
Some people come to shift painful physical ailments (either acute such as neck pain after whiplash injury, or chronic such as ongoing low back pain); Some people come to release and ground emotional energy without needing to verbally process; Some people come to help unwind and relax their nervous system from stress or accumulated trauma (best in conjunction with somatic/psychotherapy).
Some general timeline ideas might look like:
- Weekly bodywork for 3-5 weeks is a good starting place for giving enough positive reinforcement for an acute or chronic issue to begin to really shift, or for support during stressful transitions.
- Biweekly bodywork is great for longer-term shifts of patterns, management of chronic conditions, or maintenance for those who tend to regularly accumulate more tension.
- Once a month sessions/as needed is wonderful for supporting general health, alignment and wellbeing if you are otherwise feeling well and balanced but have light tensions or pains that crop up.
How do I prepare for my session?
Before your session give yourself plenty of time to arrive, park or take a little walk. Our office also has a waiting room with water and a bathroom that you are welcome to use.
- Wear or bring clothing you are comfortable to move and stretch in—you are welcome to change in the room. (Think soft yoga/work out clothes/pajamas. Avoid denim/jeans/belt loops/buttons/zippers).
- No perfumes, colognes or strong-scented body products please and thank you! I am sensitive, as are some of my clients.
- What is your intention for this work and session? Consider how you want to bring yourself to the session (perhaps with kindness, compassion, curiousity...).
What should (and shouldn't) I do after a session?
After your session I recommend scheduling some time to integrate and ground. Taking a walk around the neighborhood or journaling can be helpful, even if just for 10 minutes.
Be gentle and spacious afterwards. Be mindful of what kind of activities you schedule after. Subtle work can be profoundly opening, and is most powerful (and you'll get the most out of it) when you can stay connected to a more quiet, mindful state for at least a couple of hours.
Integration can continue for a few hours up to a few days. Being in nature, nourishing food, a nap, going to bed early, and gentle movement like walking are all wonderful.
Avoid strenuous activies or workouts, awkward or prolonged uncomfortable positions (including long sitting, getting on an airplane, going to the dentist), and stressful/highly "on" situations, if they can be avoided (like a big work meeting). Best to let the body and nervous system settle.
What does "Trauma-Informed" mean? And does it apply to me if I haven't experienced trauma?
I work with trauma and stress in the sense of Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Theory (read my "Nervous System & Polyvagal Theory 101" article here), which applies to all animals who experience stress.
When we are not able to process and release stress from our body-mind system, the body often holds onto the stress physically (a simple example is having tense shoulders after a long or stressful drive). Trauma can occur from sudden events, such as from being in a bike or car accident, or build gradually over time, such as from the prolonged stress of being in an abusive/unsafe feeling relationship, or burnout/anxiety from chronically stressful work.
Somatic Therapist and author Resmaa Menakem describes it well:
"Trauma is a response to anything that’s overwhelming, that happens too much, too fast, too soon, or too long — coupled with a lack of protection or support. It lives in the body, stored as sensation: pain, or tension — or lack of sensation, like numbness.
[If the] flight, [or fight] reflex gets overridden [or the body repeatedly goes into freeze mode without completing the cycle to fully release]... it doesn’t just disappear; it gets embedded in the body. As time goes by, the unconscious, reflexive trauma response can show up in all kinds of situations, including extreme reactions to things, irrational fears, avoidance strategies. There’s nothing wrong with this — it’s not some kind of personal failure. It is the body protecting itself from [some perceived bad thing] happening again in the future.
In our culture, we tend to believe logic trumps everything, but logic can’t even get its shoes on before the body is starting to protect itself."The nervous system can get stuck on "high alert". New pain science shows us that most chronic pain starts with an over-sensitized nervous system. Bodywork is a key way we can help our nervous system, body and mind get more practiced with switching into a "rest and digest" state and start to increase our window of tolerance (what I like to call our "window of aliveness" - where we get to stay present and feel alive - rather than feeling like we are freaking out or shutting down).
How do you work with trauma as a Massage Therapist?
My intent is to support your body and nervous system to help see that the present moment is safe enough again to relax back to a baseline of balanced, calm homeostasis - so that you can feel - and actually physiologically be - more capable and resourced to deal with life's challenges.
Trauma-informed bodywork means I am first and foremost dedicated to creating safe space for nurturing touch, relaxation, and exploring the inner sensations of the body. I also have training and experience for being with and grounding intense and full ranges of emotions and embodied expressions, should they arise.
I work with trauma as it manifests in the physical body and nervous system according to Polyvagal Theory. When we've experienced too much stress of any kind, our body can shut down and then get stuck, not able to fully "come out of" the stress response, and so we hold in a state of tension and elevated stress response, even when the stressor has gone away.
In an urban, modern world full of stressors and potential triggers, if we are stuck in an activated nervous system state, it's almost impossible not to get easily overwhelmed, anxious, irritable, and to feel ungrounded and dis-regulated. This is not a personal failure, it's your nervous system doing what it's designed to do, in a world that doesn't generally teach or support us around how to reset and calm down.
My work, at its core, is about re-grounding and down-shifting the nervous system. It's about being with physical sensation, and facillitating a sense of safety, relaxation and release. (It's not about processing emotions/feelings/thoughts - I am not a trained somatic or psycho-therapist, but I highly suggest doing this work in conjunction with one!)
If emotions, thoughts and feelings arise, that is completely okay and you are welcome to express them, and, most importantly, practice being with the sensations in your body as emotion moves through. In this way, you can begin to develop more capacity to stay present, have choice, self-regulate and experience life in full color and flow.
I am trained in techniques for practicing consent and control/empowerment, feeling and releasing charge slowly and gently, safe-porting with touch and words, etc. I also strive to create a safe, welcoming, comfortable office space, and clear boundaries with time, touch, money and communication.
I've worked with people with a variety of trauma, including complex and developmental trauma, childhood head injuries, acute whiplash after car accidents, and debilitating anxiety following violent crime. If you're unsure whether working together would be a good fit, please reach out, and also please consult with your therapist or doctor.
What does it mean to be a "Highly Sensitive Person"? Do I need to be sensitive to benefit from this work?
As someone who identifies as an "HSP" myself, I am honored to working with and hold space for others who feel a lot, and/or who are highly sensitive (but you certainly don't have to be to benefit from this work). I have found gentle bodywork to be a wonderous way to channel my own sensitivity into service and care for others.
Sensory-Processing Sensitivity (the trait’s "official" term) is an innate trait found in 15-20% of the human population as well as many other species.
HSP's are innately more aware of subtleties in the people and environment around them (smells, other people, sounds, etc.), and are commonly more easily overwhelmed, especially in our modern high-stimulation world. Personally, I wonder a lot about this trait and whether there is connection/correlation to trauma and having a more activated/heightened nervous system...
I have found Craniosacral Therapy helpful for developing more capacity to sense and live with more awareness and connection with the body, to be able to stay present both with challenge and pleasure, to recognize and be able to respond to the signals the body is sending—knowing what is needed.
Bodywork can also be a direct way we can get to enjoy our sensitivity. I believe sensitivity is a super power, but I honor that it doesn't always feel that way.
Read more and take a HSP Self-Test on Dr. Elaine Aron's site.
What kind of products and scents do you use?
In general, I always use and offer unscented hand soap, cleaning products, and unscented hypoallergenic lotion. My sheets are laundered with scent-free soap and no fabric softeners.
Note that the office is not a dedicated scent-free space, however. Essential oils and some scented cleaning products are used and offered in the space.
I am sensitive to some scents (especially artificial scents and perfume/colonge fragrances, but also some essential oils). Please do not wear them to your appointment, or if you're not sure, check in with me before you come.
Please do reach out here if you have any questions or have special requests. Thank you!
Accessibility:
The building has an elevator (we are on the second floor, press "Offices" button, or we are up one flight of stairs) and our office follows ADA regulations for spacing, signage, and general accessibility. Please reach out if you would like any additional information or assistance getting to the office.
Office Sick/Covid Protocol & Agreements
- Masking is optional some, all, or none of the time. I am more than happy to wear a mask (N95 is my default) if you prefer, please just ask!
- Please consider wearing a mask (or letting me know so I may mask) if you've recently traveled, been to large events, or otherwise had large public group exposure.
- Asking for full disclosure (goes both ways between me/clients) of any symptoms of illness, or direct exposure to someone who is sick, and checking in about rescheduling if so.
- I stay up-to-date on vaccinations.
- I disinfect the table, equipment, and all touch surfaces between clients.
- I run a HEPA air filter, as well as an HVAC system for air flow and quality, and I always open the screen door to the balcony between sessions, and am happy to leave it open if requested during session.
- Hand sanitizer offered and lots of standard thorough hand washing :)
- I'm always open to requests to help you feel more comfortable, please just reach out.
- 48 hours advance notice is required to reschedule or cancel an appointment without charge. You will be expected to pay one half of the regular appointment rate (see rates above) for changing your appointment with less than 48 hours notice, and to pay in full for 12 hours or less notice. If you have a package, you can either forfeit the session in your package, or keep your package session and pay the 1/2 full rate cancellation fee out of pocket. Thank you for understanding.
5270 College Ave #200, Oakland, CA || © 2024 Alexandra Mart