What is shiatsu?
Benefits of shiatsu
Who can it help?
More about the treatment
The origins of shiatsu
Is shiatsu the same as massage?
Is shiatsu healing?
What is shiatsu?
Shiatsu is traditional Japanese bodywork. It is beneficial for many health related issues, as well as being extremely relaxing. It is not only used for health related problems, but also relaxation, and muscle and joint issues. Some people call shiatsu acupuncture with pressure not needles, or Japanese physiotherapy.
Benefits of shiatsu
Because shiatsu is deeply relaxing, regular treatments help prevent the build up of stress and maintain good health. People also receive shiatsu massage for general health problems and injuries. In practice, few conditions cannot be alleviated to some extent by shiatsu. The extent depends both on the choice of pressure and techniques by the therapist, and the ability of the giver and receiver to work together.
The shiatsu treatment helps to regulate our response to stress, to relax the mind, and to release tightness from the body that is both a result of stress (like stiffness in the shoulders), and a way of holding stress in the body. Since the body and the emotions are both manifestations of ‘Ki’ (or ‘Chi’) energy, a treatment can reharmonize the emotions as well as the body.
Who can it help?
Three types of people come for shiatsu. Firstly, there are those who need to de-stress, release tight muscles and revitalize, perhaps as a result of a high pressure life. Secondly, there are those who use it to address specific physical symptoms, such as joint pain, digestive issues, insomnia, migraine, pain, etc. Thirdly are those who use it preventatively to maintain good health. So while office workers and sports people benefit from its physical work, pregant women, the elderly, and people with health issues benefit from the work at both the physical and energetic levels.
More about the treatment
Our shiatsu treatment space is in downtown Geneva, Switzerland. An appointment lasts an hour, with the treatment about 50 minutes. The session takes place on a futon mat on the floor, and is performed through the clothing. The practitioner asks you about your health. Accordingly s/he uses a variety of techniques, including pressure with palms, thumbs and elbows on the energy meridian lines, and dynamic joint work and stretches. When appropriate s/he uses gentle energetic work, such as with pregnant women, the elderly, or those with injuries.
The origins of shiatsu *
A Japanese word where Shi means ‘finger’ and Atsu means ‘pressure’, shiatsu is the name adopted early last century to describe an increasingly distinguished form of healing.
Along with acupuncture and herbalism, for centuries massage was a key part of traditional Chinese medicine. In Japan massage, known as ‘Anma’, became gradually separated from medicine and associated with relaxation. Certain practitioners were concerned to preserve massage and related techniques as an accepted healing art.
In the early 20th century, shiatsu developed to fill this need. It melded eastern health practices with western medical knowledge, using techniques from disciplines such as physiotherapy and chiropractic, alongside traditional finger pressure techniques. Shiatsu uses the theory of Yin and Yang, the Five Elements and Ki energy. Shiatsu was recognised by the Japanese Government as a distinct therapy in the mid 20th century.
Shiatsu is based on the oriental philosophy of Tao or Dao (‘the way’). Tao is a way of understanding the world we live in, where all of nature is in natural harmony, and there is balance between all things in the world, and between the world itself and the universe. In the taoist way of thinking, one lives in harmony with nature, the seasons, and one’s surroundings. In shiatsu, the focus is not to force change, but to create the conditions in which change, improvement and balance can naturally take place. The results of subtle work like shiatsu are more likely to be long lasting, whereas change that is forced on the body is unlikely to be long lasting.
Is shiatsu the same as massage?
Shiatsu has some features in common with European-style massage and other forms of bodywork: physical pressure and stretches serve to reduce muscular tension and loosen stiff joints. However the principal aim is to work on the whole system, from the physical to the energetic levels, not just muscles and joints, which is a difference between shiatsu and some other physical therapies.
Is shiatsu healing?
It is more accurate to say "shiatsu aids healing" than "shiatsu heals". Shiatsu assists the body's natural healing process by encouraging the client's energy to move out of an imbalanced state. A skilled practitioner's touch can enable each of us to contact our own abilities for self-healing. Thus a course of shiatsu is a partnership between the giver and the receiver. Because the client is actively involved in the work, improvements in health can be more sustained.
* Text credits: Shiatsu Society; internet sources.
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