Shiatsu: What Is It?

What is SHIATSU?

First what it is not! It is not a small hairy animal that barks! It is not an ancient eastern philosophy!

What is it then? It is a type of natural therapy that brings great benefit to the recipient.

Shiatsu relieves aches and pains, it improves vitality and general well-being, and can speed up recovery from ill health or injury. Shiatsu benefits all people and all ages but is especially good for back aches and those general non specific aches that trouble all of us as life wears us down.

The object of Shiatsu is to make the recipient feel better. It achieves this by promoting a constant harmonious and balanced flow of energy in the body and by unlocking knots and tight spots in soft tissue and muscles. But none of this need concern the receiver, they can just enjoy the benefits.

Shiatsu is adaptable to suit the needs of the receiver at that moment . It is usual for the treatment to be given with the receiver laying on a thick padded mat on the floor and the practitioner using a mix of pressure, stretching, and rubbing to physically stimulate selected trigger points, to release toxins that had become locked into tissue, releasing spasms and stiffness in joints.

Shiatsu is also used for correcting posture; it is about working on pressure points and releasing physical blocks to energy pathways. It also involves releasing the body armour, the muscle tightness that indicates you are locked in emotional stress.

The receiver usually remains fully clothed so it is best to wear something like a track suit that enables you to be moved and stretched. It is also better if you have not had a large meal shortly before treatment.

There are many styles of Shiatsu and each practitioner will adapt each treatment to suit the recipients needs at that moment in time.

In every aspect of our lives intuition is the principle guiding force and the intellect is the tool that enables us to go in the direction chosen by our intuition. Complete and eclectic (wide ranging, all embracing) training with really absorbed knowledge are vital for good treatment. Really absorbed knowledge is that knowledge which is known without conscious logical reasoning. Only with these things can the practitioner allow their intuitive senses to guide them into which parts of their intellectual knowledge they use at any moment in time.

So to get the best results from a Shiatsu treatment you need the best Shiatsu practitioners, ones who are properly trained. It takes about 3 years for a person, studying part time and practising each stage of their training at every possible moment, before a practitioner is considered capable of giving a shiatsu treatment for health improvement. During this 3 years the relatives of students get a lot of “part Shiatsu” i.e. as the student learns the various ways of treating a leg all their relatives get leg treatments many time over.

The study of Shiatsu involves not only how to do the movements and where to apply pressure but it also involves the in depth study and understanding of human anatomy and physiology. A great deal of time and effort also goes into learning how to interpret the “feedback” the recipients body gives to the practitioner.

To find your nearest properly trained and qualified practitioner simply go to relevant page on this website. ALL members of the Shiatsu International practitioners referral register have been fully trained and they are all qualified.