Vivien Ray Craniosacral Therapy Herefordshire

22/04/2026

09/04/2026

A woman in Australia has successfully taken her hospital to court after the birth of her baby, claiming negligence and battery because she was forced to have vaginal examinations during her labour.
The hospital refused her admittance, pain relief or access to a midwife unless she agreed, despite her having said in her birth plan that she would only agree to a vaginal exam if there was a pressing medical need. She was not told in advance that her birth plan wishes would not be respected.
You can read the details here

15/03/2026

One day is not enough to honour and celebrate motherhood.
To all the mothers who struggle, to all the mothers who are lonely, exhausted, frightened and worn down, to all the mothers who take on the guilt, who are told it's their fault, who feel ashamed, I send love and honour and compassion.
I wish that your work, your pain, your capacity to get up again and again and your love could be recognised and valued above all other activities in this crazy world.

04/02/2026

Home visits for newborn babies.
Welcome your baby into the world with a craniosacral therapy session.
Babies benefit from craniosacral therapy soon after their birth to help with the shock of the birth and any early difficulties with feeding.
I am offering home visits for babies within the first two weeks after birth.
This offer is available within a half hour drive of Garway Hill and will cost £85.
Please phone me to book
01981 580577

Home visits for newborn babies.Welcome your baby into the world with a craniosacral therapy session.Babies benefit from craniosacral therapy soon after their birth to help with the shock of the birth and any early difficulties with feeding.I am offering home visits for babies within the first two we...

17/01/2026

Craniosacral Therapy can help when a child is anxious, unhappy or shut down.
“She combs my thoughts.” a client said.
Book a 30 minute free phone consultation to discuss your child's needs and enable the session to focus on the child.

Sessions cost £60 for an adult, £50 for a child, payable on the day, preferably in cash. Missed appointments and cancellations within 48 hours are charged at the full price. ​

09/01/2026

Snow

When my children were little, we lived in the North Yorkshire Moors. Our house was down a half mile track through the woods or a walk down two steep fields.
In winter the landlord's cattle were kept tethered in their stalls, and the giant bull lived in a shed where his floor got higher and higher as straw was chucked in. He wasn't let out till spring.
There was usually a period of about six weeks when we lived in deep snow, digging tracks across the yard to break the water for the cows and struggling alongside each one to release her for a trip to the water butt. They were thirsty and quite inclined to squash us before we could reach their neck chains.
My neighbour frequently woke in complete darkness when the snow had filled the gully behind her house beyond the level of her upstairs window.
School was across the high moors. We climbed up the fields, disinterred the car from the snow chucked up by the snow plough, and turned the heater on full blast.
The road was kept clear by giant blowers that created high walls on either side of the road. We drove through a deep, white tunnel.
If the wind blew or more snow fell, it was hardly possible to see the road in the endless white.
Once over the Moor we drove down steep lanes to the school. I have an unpleasantly vivid memory of skidding right across the road and helplessly sliding along the pavement behind an oblivious woman and child. No harm was done. We kept our guardian angels busy.
The car had sacks and sand and space blankets, snacks and shovels. But there were no mobile phones to call for rescue and no constant weather updates. When did storms start to be given names?
Our major concession to the weather was to fit sturdy winter tyres on the car.
Indoors, the rayburn consumed piles of wood, and the living room fire kept going day and night.
There was always a goodly store of dried food, preserves and oils. I baked bread, cooked stews and cared for the baby.
I have photos of her in a playpen on the kitchen floor, wearing a wonderful knitted suit and hat and playing on thick sheepskins. I am quite impressed now to remember that each climb up to the car was achieved with her on my back. She learned to walk quite young and trudged through the snow in tiny wellies.

31/12/2025

I have appointments available this Friday, 2nd January.Give your year a good start, or set your child up for the new terms?
www.vivienray.co.uk

21/12/2025

This approach to healing is fundamental to Craniosacral Therapy and many other healing modalities.
Start with love, and a deep faith in the healing capacity of each if us.

Quote from Dr Jim Jealous

19/12/2025

I will be opening my practice on Monday for those of you who would like a pick-me-up before Christmas.
It's not on my booking form so give me a ring.
01981 580577
Please leave a message if you don't get me.

Craniosacral Therapy is a gentle hands-on therapy which assists people’s natural capacity to self-heal whatever their age or state of health. (Although the name, Craniosacral Therapy, may suggest that it is a therapy for heads, it is a healing method for the whole body.)

15/12/2025

I have had a cancellation on Friday at 3.30.
Book it at
www.vivienray.co.uk/bookings

26/11/2025

Craniosacral therapy for babies

Few mothers would claim that birth, however rewarding, is without pain, hard work and often exhaustion.

However, we are less aware of the fact that, for babies too, birth can be confusing, frightening and painful as the baby is subjected to compressive and other forces during its journey through the birth canal.

The new-born baby has a limited range of expression at his or her disposal: We know they cry with hunger or the discomfort of a full nappy, but babies also cry to express and seek comfort for the shock and pain of birth.

They may kick their legs, perhaps re-living the struggle to push their way out, (babies are very active during birth, kicking their legs and lifting their heads as their contribution to the efforts of the mother.)

Some arch their backs and act out the twists of the birth journey.

All these babies are trying to tell us that they are not comfortable. They may all benefit from Craniosacral Therapy.

The compression of the birth canal and the expansion as the child is born both contribute to helping the baby’s systems to adjust to the new environment outside the womb. Ideally the bones of the head overlap each other, moulding to fit the pelvis, then expand after the birth. However, even in a natural and apparently problem-free birth the fit may be less than perfect, potentially giving rise to issues such as colic and respiratory difficulties or interfering with the shape of the jaw and the palette, making feeding difficult, (see breastfeeding).

Caesarean and assisted births bring their own challenges to the baby’s ability to adjust.

"My youngest suffered from a blocked tear duct resulting in a continuously weeping eye. My GP informed me that, if the weeping didn’t clear up by the time he was 1 year old, they would recommend operating to unblock the tear duct. Research around the subject brought me to CST and I am delighted to say that, after just 2 treatments, the blockage was cleared and has never returned, so no operation was necessary."

In all these situations it usually only needs a few sessions for the baby to be able to relax and start to enjoy life with his or her family.

Craniosacral Therapy is just as useful for older babies and toddlers, giving them the chance to unfold the experiences of their birth or any other discomfort they may be experiencing.

Toddlers have their sessions on the move, playing with the toys, moving round the room or sitting on their parent’s or carer’s knee. The time I get to make contact with their body is often fleeting, but they are also very clear what they need, often placing my hand on their bodies where they want the attention and removing it when they have had enough.

Babies remain fully clothed and usually snuggled up with their parent or carer

Sometimes I will hold the child while I help him to unfold his body or move to express his needs, always keeping him near his mother and helping him to return to her when he is ready.

Babies have huge reserves of health and vitality and a wonderful capacity for recovery. When, in a Craniosacral Therapy session, the baby has expressed the problem and had it listened to through the “therapeutic hands” he or she is able to relax and blossom becoming both more alert and very peaceful and seeming to take delight in their environment.

Often for the mother too these sessions after the birth can be a time of healing for the shock or the pain of the birth and a chance to come to terms with the changes involved in the arrival of a baby.

Babies who are uncomfortable, distressed or struggling to breastfeed, respond really well to Craniosacral Therapy.