Day in the Life: Craniosacral Therapist + Yoga Instructor

My leap into the wellness world was not the norm. Nowadays it is becoming a little more regular, but 5 years ago, few left their high paying, high pressure corporate sales careers to start their own holistic business – mine being a company called Focus Within.  Using two main components, yoga and Craniosacral work (CS), the goal is to assist anyone who wants to feel better about themselves both physically and mentally by journeying inward. Most people these days are familiar with yoga, or at least some form of it, but CS is still relatively new to the East Coast. It is a form of bodywork that works with the rhythms of the body to help alleviate physical pain such as back and neck issues, headaches, migraines, or jaw pain or more internal issues such as insomnia, depression or anxiety. These are just a few of the many symptoms and problems that CS can help.

I like to look at the body as a puzzle, and I am fortunate to have a job where I get to help others solve their own puzzle. Whether it be because of an orthopedic injury or needing help to withstand life challenges and storms, being able to offer yoga and CS to anyone looking for help is a dream career.

Early Mornings: I wish I could say I had a typical day, but due to class schedules and my client’s availability, no two days are alike. The one thing that does happen almost everyday of the week, is I get up at 5am. Whether it is to teach an early morning yoga class or to meet up with clients for private yoga, my days start early.

Mid-mornings: Around 10am I either have my first CS client or my time starts to free up. If I am not working on a client, meditation is my first priority. The remaining time is spent either doing a home yoga practice or going to a class, answering e-mails, updating social media, marketing or prepping for clients and classes. I am fortunate to be able to see many of my clients in my home studio, which means I can control the energy of my work space. My daily preparation of the room is a physical and an energetic activity: it involves the traditional cleaning (dusting, sweeping, mopping and changing sheets) and saging (washing out of old and bringing in new clean energy) to provide a peaceful and harmonious environment for my clients.

Another benefit to working at home is I have an employee that works with me throughout the day. Her name is Rosalita and she is fantastic at Craniosacral work! She is also one of the reasons my morning rituals include cleaning my studio as she is a cat and some of my clients are allergic; therefore any remnant of a cat allergen needs to be removed. Rosalita’s impact on clients (who are not allergic and are comfortable with cats) is noticeable immediately, especially those working with anxiety and depression. My four legged partner usually enters the room after the session has started, and the moment the client hears her, you can literally see them relax down into the table. Rosalita’s official working position is laying down between the clients shins (clients are dressed for CS), and from here she has an uncanny ability to calm and soothe any client. Her fan club continues to grow with each new client…sometimes I wonder if they come for CS or come for time with Rosalita.

Mid afternoon: The afternoons are again dependent on my client schedule – but when time (and weather) allows, I always want to get outside. It could be for a long walk around JP Pond or sitting out in my backyard with Rosalita – both of us enjoy the outdoors. It may also be time to catch up with fellow yoga instructors, bodyworkers or planning tomorrow’s classes.

Evenings: Right now my latest class is on Tuesdays at 6:30pm, but the other days of the week I will take clients, the last appointment at 7pm. Not every night is a late night, so when I am not working, it is time to recover from the day. I enjoy cooking so making dinner is relaxing to me, and if I don’t have to write up my classes for the next day, it is time to relax on the couch and catch up on a little mindless tv.

My biggest challenge is sleep. As much as I know that sleep is an important part of our overall wellbeing, I am a night owl and I struggle to get to bed before 11pm. Six hours of sleep is not enough considering the amount of activity I do during the day so I am working to get to bed 10 minutes earlier each night…hopefully in a couple of months I will be able to maintain a 10pm bedtime…<sigh>

Thanks for reading and I hope you (and I) get to bed early tonight!