Shiatsu - The Basics


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shiatsu

shiatsu Shiatsu is one of many practices that help us to transform our lives through cultivating an awareness of ourselves and what brings about our negative states - and also what is required to create a more positive state. Its roots are in ancient Chinese massage, though the word itself is Japanese; shiatsu means finger pressure: shi - "finger," atsu - "pressure".

In shiatsu, the fingers, thumbs, elbows, knees, and hands are all used to stimulate or sedate the energy flowing through the body to promote health and healing. Like acupuncture and other Asian medical practices, shiatsu works with the body's energy system. The Asian concept of energy can be loosely understood as "vitality" or "vital force", which we cannot see but can sense or feel.

According to Asian medicine, our energy, or ki, moves along specific pathways (meridians) around the body. These meridians relate to our internal physical organs and our emotional, psychological, and spiritual state. The organs and functions in the body are divided into six pairs and all are linked by ki. For the Chinese, all parts and functions of the body are interrelated; no problem can successfully be treated in isolation.

In shiatsu, the connecting point of the organs and functions in the body is the meridian system. The meridians are like a closed circuit of water channels, and the water flowing through the channels is equivalent to the ki. There can be many interruptions along the way - sticks, stones, and leaves silt up the channels, with a resulting blockage. If this keeps happening, the water will continue to be disrupted and blocked. On one side of the blockage, there is too much water and on the other too little. The difference becomes more apparent the longer the blockages remain. Similarly, if we continue to deny the causes of our blockages, our energy will decline. Our blockages can be felt as stagnation in the body, with the "full" side as a pain or discomfort and the "empty" side as a weakness or apathy.

Inefficient flow of ki around the body results in tiredness, physical pain, depression, emotional upsets, stiffness, headaches, and many more common problems. Various shiatsu techniques are used to correct these imbalances. Along the meridians are tsubos, or specific energy points, where the ki is more active; it is in here that blockages can be felt most clearly and where the energy can also be released. The tsubos are the same as Chinese acupuncture points.

Shiatsu is done through the clothes, and a treatment - usually taking a little over an hour - is normally given on a thick mat on the floor. One session is not as beneficial as three or four spaced out over a period of four to six weeks. The number of sessions needed for any one individual depends on his or her particular problem.

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The Shiatsu Society

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Shiatsu - For Health and Well-Being
A Fully Illustrated Guide to a Safe Effective Home Treatment
Susanne Franzen

Shiatsu can be practised on a partner or you can administer self-help shiatsu yourself. This practical guide contains sequences for both and introduces routines to benefit each region of the body.
Paperback, 64pp. Southwater, 2000.

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