Monica Aranguren, LMT, CST-T Advanced, Techniques Certified CranioSacral Therapist
Welcome to Vital Core Healing! My passion is to promote your highest health and life through Advanced CranioSacral Therapy.
My journey to hands-on work began in my mid thirties. I was rear-ended and suffered a severe whiplash injury. It took me almost two years to fully recover. Among the therapeutic approaches I explored to support me were conventional physical therapy, chiropractic and massage. I also took up meditation, yoga and Reiki to Level II to help me move with greater ease and flow through my personal and professional life. The recovery process led me towards greater awareness of my body and connecting more deeply with my inner self—this experience has helped me to more effectively support my clients.
Eventually, I left my career in law in favor of a gentler path that would allow me to follow my passion to help others. I completed the therapeutic massage certification program at the Bancroft School of Massage Therapy, Worcester, MA in 1998. Massage therapy introduced me to the fascinating complexity of the human body and its interconnection with the mind, spirit and energy of each unique individual. Serving clients helped me to develop an understanding of this complex relationship and the impact that life experiences and memories have on our health.
Most of my years as a massage therapist were focused on applying deep tissue techniques, with firm pressure, to help relieve my clients’ muscle tension, soreness and pain related to stress, injuries, chronic overuse, postural imbalance, and to restore range of motion to affected areas. My experience treating clients brought me into collaboration with varied wellness practitioners, including physical therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, life and business coaches, physical trainers, psychotherapists and psychologists, which enriched my insight on the diversity of human experience and its influence on whole health.
As my understanding of the body-mind-soul-energy-life connection deepened, I realized that the soft tissue discomfort my clients endured was, in most cases, the outside manifestation of life experience that they carried within. In addition, I found that the application of pressure and detail in technique in order to force the release of tissue tension did not necessarily yield positive, long-term results. In other words, I discovered that the societal concept of “no pain no gain” or “the harder the better” does not translate into our best health. Over time, I began to feel limited as a practitioner in what I could do to effectively support the broader well being of my clients. Rather than continue to merely treat the symptoms, I began searching for healing approaches that address the root cause of symptoms and helps revitalize and harmonize all dimensions of the human being.
This pursuit led me to complete the Polarity Realization Therapy Career Program at the Polarity Realization Institute, Ipswich, MA in 2005. Polarity Therapy introduced me to the impact that gentle touch and focused intention can garner. I learned that the human body is energetically dynamic and whole health is driven by much more than the tissue that we can see or feel. Through such skills, I have been able to help clients to connect, for instance, with their inner power and joy and move forward in the lives they desire with greater clarity and direction.
In 2007, I discovered my true calling–CranioSacral Therapy. The mystery, power and beauty of CranioSacral Therapy is my passion and has transformed my practice, such that it is now my core therapy. I firmly believe that it is primarily through this holistic approach that I can most significantly impact the health and lives of my clients. Through CranioSacral Therapy, I have learned that profound and meaningful healing evolves from gentle and patient facilitation of the body’s natural processes.
I have pursued my training in CranioSacral Therapy (“CST”) through the Upledger Institute International, the most comprehensive CST venue in the world. Its founder, Dr. John E. Upledger, D.O., O.M.M., was an osteopathic physician who cared deeply about his patients and respected and honored the human body’s intelligence and natural ability to heal and make itself whole. His groundbreaking discovery of the Dural Pulse and his pioneering work with other scientists at Michigan State University led to his development of CST. I am CranioSacral Therapy Techniques Certified through the Upledger Institute. I am also honored to be a Teaching Assistant to the faculty of this respected institution. For more information on my ongoing advanced training in CranioSacral Therapy, click on iahp.com and then insert my name.
Through the gentle and deep listening touch of CranioSacral Therapy, I help my clients to connect with their inner landscape and its wisdom and the fullest expression of their authentic selves. It is my honor to facilitate the innate desire and capacity of each client’s body to heal and to bear witness to the profoundly positive impact of this approach on optimizing health. Benefits my clients enjoy include deep, unwinding relaxation; sounder sleep; increased energy; mental clarity; reduced muscle tension; increased range of motion; reduction of acute or chronic pain; decreased anxiety; heightened self-awareness; improved ability to manage emotions; potent insight into cellular memories of old trauma; and rediscovering their inner radiance. By feeling better my clients are able to live better. For more information on how my clients have benefited from CranioSacral Therapy, please see Client Stories.
I am excited to introduce you to wonders of CranioSacral Therapy and SomatoEmotional Release. I look forward to the opportunity to join your health care team–to be your guide and support as we work together to find your optimal wellness so that you can THRIVE!
P.S. With the Covid-19 Pandemic staring us in the face, I trained in Distance Healing from the Core® which has allowed me to offer you a new dimension of my skills and presence while you are comfy at home. I am able to help you to deeply relax, be empowered in your self healing capabilities and keep your immune and central nervous systems strong in function and health through the ongoing stress and unsteadiness of our world. This has proven to be a wonderfully powerful adaptation of my practice that is here to stay as an available alternative to in-person care and treatment. I invite you to explore and enjoy this possibility for sustaining your wellness journey when you cannot make it to my office!