What is Shiatsu?
Shiatsu is a type of Japanese hands on massage stemming from the same ancient Oriental principals as Accupuncture. Like western massage it uses pressure, stretches, holding, joint mobilizations and rocking to affect the physical structures of the body. It also works with the body's Qi (Chi) - energy. Shiatsu has positive effects on the body's physical structures and the internal organs, but also, the emotions can be touched and helped to heal. Shiatsu is a therapy that addresses all aspects of our being: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
What is Qi?
Qi (sometimes spelled 'Chi' or 'Ki') is our life-force. Qi provides the energy for all our life processes. It gives our organs their transformative abilities, holds everything in place and supplies our vitality. It is also the organising force which enables our component parts to act in harmony.
For example, the food we eat gets broken down, and the various components absorbed by the intestines. But consider what happens next. There are some processes whereby this food is transformed and integrated so that it actually becomes you. Western science does not usually look into these aspects of our life force. Whereas ancient Chinese wisdom does, and allows us to work with these subtle energies. This is one of the reasons why Oriental therapies (working with Qi) can so often help balance mind body and spirit.
How Shiatsu works:
According to the Oriental view, the Qi flowing in each of the meridians has different qualities and functions. Health and wellbeing can be positively affected by working with these different energies. The Shiatsu practitioner should be able to tune-in his/her own energy field with that of the receiver and hopefully offer some possibilities for both physical and emotional improvement.
Western science acknowledges that Shiatsu will tend to sedate the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and promote the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The SNS is associated with the 'fight or flight' response. In our daily lives this is activated by all the various stresses to which we may be subjected to. The PNS relates to what we might broadly describe as the nourishing and healing functions (digestion, deepened breathing, blood circulation, etc). These are suppressed when the SNS is more highly activated.