What is Shiatsu?
Shiatsu is a type of bodywork. Like western massage, it uses pressure, stretches, holding, joint mobilizations and rocking, to affect the physical structures of the body. Unlike western massage it also works with the body's Qi (Chi) - energy. It 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 innumerable component parts to act harmoniously and in concert.
For example, we all know that the food we eat gets chewed-up, broken down, and the various components absorbed by the intestines. But consider what happens after this basic process. There is some unfathomable alchemy whereby this food is transformed and so thoroughly integrated that it actually becomes you. Western science cannot explain aspects of our life force such as this. Chinese wisdom does, and the understandings the ancient Chinese developed allow us to work with these subtle energies. This is one of the reasons why Oriental therapies can so often help when Western medicine has not been able to.
The Oriental approach has a completely different rationale from that of Western medicine. One particular aspect is that it does not separate our mental, emotional and physical aspects. These are all seen as manifestations of Qi. The emotional and mental components are Qi in a more rarified form than for the physical body — but just as real and present, nonetheless. Therefore, working with the Qi (to release blockages, stimulate or balance it, etc) can help with mental and emotional problems as well as physical conditions.
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 is able to tune-in and resonate his/her own energy field and to offer, at a sub-conscious level, some possibilities for change - both physical and emotional.
There are some very interesting questions as to whether our physical body creates our Qi field (‘etheric body’, ‘energy-body’, ‘aura’, etc) or whether the energy-body creates the physical one. It is increasingly widely believed that much illness first occurs as a distortion in the energy field which then, because that field provides our ongoing template, introduces the distorted pattern of illness into our physical body.
The Western scientific approach 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 society, this is activated far too much of the time by all the various stresses to which we are subject. 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.
Qigong
This is also written as 'Chi Kung' and 'Chi Gong'. It means ‘energy cultivation’. It is a way to work with, and to cultivate - or increase, our energies. It consists of specific movements, usually done in time with the breath, and with close attention. These exercises activate and increase the intake of Qi. TaiQi (Tai Chi) is a particularly long and complex form of Qigong. Many of the exercises are very simple to learn, but are profound and act deeply.
Qigong practices fall into two main categories: health-related and martial-arts related. Martial arts practices concentrate on the development of strength, power and the ability to resist blows, etc. Health related forms are designed to improve health. Different exercises act in different ways. Some are very specific and may be intended to improve the health of particular organs or parts of the body, while others are intended to have more general and widespread effects. The common factors seen in Qigong exercises are use of the breath, movement and mindfulness.