Cup of Tea

Like many other health practitioners, Zelda Trieger was led down the path of her current career due to a personal happenstance. L

About 12 years ago, her then two-year-old son was suffering from constant fluid in his ears and frequent ear infections. After yo-yoing with antibiotics, he had tubes inserted. A while later, he required surgery again to insert new tubes. By that point, Zelda was totally frustrated. Experienced mothers would look at her sympathetically. “You’re in for the long haul,” they’d say, blinking wisely. “You’ll be doing this ten more times before he outgrows it.”

“I tried every natural thing people recommended. I took my son off sugar, dairy, gave him vitamins, and religiously shlepped him to a chiropractor,” Zelda relates. But nothing seemed to help.

“Chiropractic was the most unconventional treatment we tried,” she says.

Then a friend of hers recommended something she hadn’t heard of before: craniosacral therapy. Desperate to help her child, Zelda followed this advice, admittedly blindly. This would turn out to be the beginning of a new era for her and for all those whose lives she’s touched since. After approximately three sessions with the craniosacral therapist, all of the child’s fluid disappeared. Her son’s hearing was restored to perfection. In fact, it’s 12 years later and he hasn’t suffered from any ear-related issue since.

Having finally solved the problem that had kept her on her toes for quite some time, Zelda could have enjoyed the rest of life with her family, happy to have been miraculously helped by some random practitioner.

But at that point, she was a woman possessed. She had to figure out what this “magic” intervention was and how it worked. With that in mind, she decided to see a female craniosacral practitioner to experience it for herself. During the session, the practitioner placed her hand on Zelda’s stomach.

Suddenly, with no prompting, Zelda vividly recalled a painful experience in which she had delivered a stillborn baby. She unexpectedly started opening up about the ordeal right there. As much as trauma is cognitive, Zelda explains, the body remembers what it went through.

On a simple level, that is what craniosacral therapy (CST) is all about: finding “stuck” spots in the body and effectively releasing them.

Naturally, Zelda was sold after this experience. Despite her training and background as a speech language pathologist, Zelda wanted to learn about CST and bring it to her community. How could she not spread the wealth she’d chanced upon? Nine years ago, she contacted the Upledger Institute to inquire about learning the skills of CST. They told her that most classes were held on Shabbos, and so, Zelda temporarily shelved her dream. A few years later, she tried them again, and once again, they turned her away. Classes were held throughout the weekend and there was no way they could accommodate her otherwise.

Eager to learn, she decided to jump in anyway. She enrolled, planning on attending classes only on Thursdays and Fridays, and winging the rest. She wasn’t sure how she’d do it exactly, but at least she was in.

Once she joined the classes, Zelda approached her instructor and shared her predicament. The instructor told Zelda that she was willing to teach her whatever she missed out on Shabbos if Zelda would arrange a group of ten participants.

“But I’ve spoken to the administration a couple of times about this, and they told me there was no way this can be arranged!” Zelda told her.

“I’ll take care of it,” she replied. On the spot, she dialed the administrator and requested clearance to teach another group on a different day of the week. Since the

request came from the instructor herself, they willingly acquiesced.

Zelda put out the word, and within one day, thirty practitioners had enrolled in the exclusive “Jewish” class. That was six years ago. In total, Zelda has sponsored 15 classes for the frum professional world.

Since then, Zelda has become a certified massage therapist, and has trained with the Upledger Institute to practice craniosacral therapy. She has also trained with the Barral Institute and the Chikly Institute for additional certifications. From her private practice in the lovely Monsey neighborhood of Airmont, Zelda, along with three other practitioners, are devoted to helping their clients achieve improved health and wellbeing.

Zelda has seen success with craniosacral therapy for a host of problems her own children experienced. One of her kids had extremely high blood sugar levels. Her baby had asthma and was on high doses of medication. In both instances, the issues cleared up completely after just one session of CST. Zelda is quick to point out that she tried and still tries the conventional medical route first, despite the fact that CST is scientifically proven. Ultimately, she maintains, there’s a place for both routes.

One of Zelda’s babies experienced Erb’s palsy (“stuck arm syndrome”), which occurred from nerve damage during birth. She tried CST, and again, was amazed at how Balancing hormones PTSD PPD Developmental delays Pregnancy pains Fertility Cycle issues Breastfeeding issues Anxiety Depression Focus and concentration Learning issues Aches and pains

What can craniosacral therapy be helpful for?

Note: CST should be used as auxiliary treatment to speed up therapeutic or traditional medicinal processes. It should never replace proper medical/ psychological/psychiatric care for any of the abovementioned issues.

quickly it helped.

“One fascinating facet of craniosacral therapy is that it solves not only physical issues, but it’s helpful in curing emotional issues, as well.” The reason? Often, negative emotions are “stuck” in different parts of the body. Individuals can go through years of therapy, seeing only limited success. CST unsticks trauma that is trapped in the body, freeing an individual’s emotions and effectively accelerating the process of healing.

Before Zelda works with a client, she establishes two policies. First, the client must have a clinical diagnosis before seeing her for physical ailments. She insists on clients receiving clearance from their physicians before commencing on alternative treatment. Second, she makes it clear that CST or the other modalities her practice employs are there to support the healing process, and not in lieu of any other method. Clients need to keep up with their OT, PT, medication, or psychotherapy during treatment.

What impresses me about Zelda is her balanced attitude to all things alternative. Unlike healers who insist on the exclusivity of natural powers, frowning upon the traditional approaches of conventional medicine, Zelda recognizes that there’s a place for everything.

“What do you actually do during a session?” I want to know.

“Some of it is intuition, and then there’s the technical aspect of the work,” Zelda explains. “The human body is like one large rubber band ball, connecting all tissues known as fascia.” As Zelda touches different parts of the body, she can feel the tightness or looseness, the two primary expressions of an issue. Once she identifies the place, she performs gentle motions to release the issue along that specific “rubber.” One method is “holding,” in which she holds the specific spot, applying the pressure of a nickel with her fingertips. The other method involves gentle mobilization techniques, in which she moves the part of the body until she feels some level of change as the body reorders itself.

“Frequently, the client will feel a loosening, relief, or other physiological change. Sometimes they will cry, other

How do I choose a craniosacral therapist? Desperate to help her child, Zelda followed this advice, According to Zelda, look out for CST therapists who have complet- admittedly blindly. This would ed a variety of different classes. The issue with licensed CSTs is turn out to be the beginning of a that after each course a potential craniosacral therapist attends, they new era for her and for all those receive a certification that states they have completed the course. A whose lives she’s touched since. CST can officially say they are certified after attending only a single course! Therefore, do your homework to find out exactly how much schooling the individual in question has gone through—and how effective their work has been--before scheduling an appointment.

times they’ll emit a sigh.”

“How soon can a client expect to see results?” I know I’m asking an impossible-to-answer question, but still, I try.

“Often, clients feel relief after one session. It can take a few days post-session for results to be observed. Sometimes it takes a few sessions to see any measure of change. If a client isn’t seeing any relief after four sessions, it’s probably not the correct modality for their issue.

“On occasion, we see dramatic spontaneous healing, but that’s unusual.”

While Zelda gives no empty promises, she deeply believes that the modalities she’s become familiar with have much to offer. Thus, she’s been tirelessly working to bring education to our community, facilitating the opening of many clinics across heimishe communities in New York and New Jersey. Her desire is for people to be aware of help so they should not suffer needlessly.

She’s driven, she’s passionate, and she just wants people to get better.

• Lymphatic drainage: The lymph nodes are the body’s means of ridding itself of toxins. There are some physical activities that activate the lymphatic system, including swimming, running, and jumping. When an individual suffers from chronic pain, this may stem from a lymphatic draining issue. LDT is a gentle technique that works through the body’s interstitial and lymphatic system to activate the body liquid circulation and stimulate the functioning of the immune and parasympathetic nervous systems.

• Visceral manipulation: Visceral manipulation is gentle mobilization of organ-specific fascia. At times, overuse of muscle groups, repetition of movement, injuries, strains or accidents can cause an internal pulling of organs and their attachments that create pain or discomfort in muscles, connective tissue, or the skeletal structure. Using visceral (organ system) techniques, a practitioner can gently enhance the mobility and tissue movement of the organs, which decreases pain and promotes the body’s natural healing process.

• Reflex integration: Reflex integration involves a series of developmental programs that begin with the proper integration of the basic neuro-sensory reflexes that are present at birth. These reflexes later play important roles in all other aspects of development of the brain. Reflexes that are not integrated can affect physical and emotional health.

Other Modalities Used at Zelda’s Practice

Anecdotal Evidence Some are routine, all in a day’s work. Some make me shake my head in disbelief. Here’s a sampling.

Craniosacral therapy can facilitate somatic emotional release, in which the practitioner, by touching specific areas of the body, triggers the client’s subconscious to surface. Somatic touch also helps clients access their memories, as Zelda mentioned her first personal encounter with craniosacral therapy.

In one case, Zelda was seeing a woman who was chronically unwell. She’d been to a host of doctors, as well as alternative healers, with no results. Zelda dialoged with the body, bringing what the client had been unconsciously thinking to the fore. The revelation was enlightening, but ultimately Zelda couldn’t cure her.

The woman’s story was as follows: Her husband was very sick, and by being unwell herself, she avoided having to do the duties she would normally be obligated to do. By getting better, she would have to do her own job, as well as the things a husband would typically do. Her body figured out a way to avoid having to do all of it—by feeling sick. As the session progressed, the client realized she was not ready to get better just yet. In other words, on an emotional level she wasn’t ready for the shift that getting better would herald.

After experiencing back injury, a young woman required physical therapy and was instructed to engage in various exercises. Six months into PT, she was still in pain and hadn’t made much headway. The physical therapist took a week off, in which this woman came in for a CST session. In the span of one week, she regained use of her back and was completely pain free. Similarly, the physical therapist was taken aback and also made a career switch; she just had to learn the magic of CST.

A mother was worried about her one-year-old baby who wasn’t crawling yet. The child had been receiving physical therapy for a while, with no results. After a single CST session, the baby started crawling. The baby’s physical therapist was so shocked by the sudden change, she ended up training to become a craniosacral therapist herself.

A woman booked an appointment with Zelda, not mentioning that she unfortunately had cancer. (Zelda does not see clients with cancer, thanks to her balanced approach to all things natural.) When this fact came to light during the session, Zelda dialoged with this person’s subconscious, helping her come to an astonishing realization.

She had divorced a while back and subsequently remarried. Before she remarried, she vowed to herself never to get out of her second marriage, no matter what. Her second marriage turned out to be toxic, but she forced herself to stay in it despite it all. The extreme toxicity of the marriage seeped into her body and caused a cancerous tumor. She was very sick, and the chances of a full recovery were small.

While there isn’t necessarily an emotional factor in every physical malady, Zelda points out, in this case somatic emotional release helped the woman understand why all of this was happening to her. Her body was merely giving in to the poison of her marriage. Zelda encouraged this client to go for therapy. Her therapist eventually helped her get out of her marriage, and she ultimately recovered.

Craniosacral therapy is also helpful in supporting general wellbeing, like a tune-up. Zelda recalls the timid woman who was stuck in a dead-end office job and desperately wanted out. She even knew where she wanted to go from there. She had trained to become a massage therapist but lacked the confidence to leave her steady job and start on her own, fearing that she would remain without income.

After a general wellbeing session, the woman felt permeated with confidence. The craniosacral therapy had released the enormous feeling of stress and inadequacy she’d been experiencing. She shared her feelings with Zelda, who encouraged her to print business cards for her new massage therapy business as homework. Within a month, she got some clients, and incredibly, within six months, she was making enough money to leave her office job and work on her own full time.