However, our body becomes repatterned according to how our intrinsic resources are able to deal with any stresses that we may experience. Common stresses include physical injury, emotional and psychological stresses, birth traumas and environmental toxicity. Any unresolved stresses, strains and traumas create sites of inertia or “body memories” which may accumulate over time. These memories of our stresses and traumas remain in our system, affecting our ability to function and perpetuating ill health until resolved. Constrictions in muscles and bones, for example, can compromise organ and nervous system functioning, leading to chronic pain and illness. The body thus becomes a unique expression of our health, history and conditioning. Through development of subtle palpatory skills, the craniosacral practitioner can read the history of the body by sensing the patterns and qualities of primary respiratory motion. The intention in craniosacral therapy is to help free any areas of inertia so that the ordering forces of the Breath of Life find expression in the tissues. This is done physically, through manipulation and realignment of cranial and sacral bones and muscle fascia, as well as through energetic suggestions made to the body’s inner intelligence through the tissues. When the constrictions in the tissues and sites of inertia are resolved, it is marked by the restoration of balance and symmetry in primary respiratory motion and a return to normal functioning.