is a massage technique originating from Japan, a country famous for its celebration of beauty, and where taking care of your body has evolved from a daily chore into the ritual of an art form. It connects the millenia-old wisdom of Traditional Oriental Medicine with modern western science (human anatomy, physiology and pathology) as well as the more modern techniques of physiotherapy and osteopathy.
The European Shiatsu School provides training in Zen Shiatsu, the style of Shiatsu developed by Sensei Shizuto Masunaga. Sensei Masunaga, having completed studies in psychology as well as Shiatsu, understood the deep connectedness of our physical and emotional worlds. It is for this very reason that Zen Shiatsu seeks to treat body, mind and spirit equally.
It is a deeply relaxing treatment that brings the body back into a state of harmony and balance. It increases vitality as well as stimulating the body’s own regenerative and healing processes. In practice, it is performed by applying pressure to the surface of the body through thumbs, palms and fingers and even elbows, knees and feet, while the patient lies on a futon (traditional Japanese mattress) on the floor. The remarkable health benefits observed through the practice of this method, led, in 1964, the Japaese government to include Shiatsu in national health services. Other countries quickly became interested in the benefits offered by Shiatsu and from the 1970s it has been widely practised in western Europe and the USA.
Sensei Masunaga emphasises the following:
In Zen it is difficult to grasp and comprehend the wisdom behind oriental philosophy, but this is necessary in order to understand what Zen is all about. In Shiatsu, simply pressing will not reveal to you the life essence of what you are pressing. Without knowledge of oriental philosophy you will not be able to comprehend the meaning of life and therefore administer shiatsu correctly. (…) The underlying principle is, like Zen, to establish a life ‘echo’ with the receiver of Shiatsu. Some are satsified with not noticing this important feeling, but this reduces Shiatsu to a mechanical technique rather than a means of healing the life force within our bodies. In Zen it is important that you have a good master to learn from. In Shiatsu your patient is your master.
To provide a fuller response to the question ‘what is Shiatsu?’ we turn to the words of the ESS’s founder, Chris Jarmey:
Between 1985 and 1995, Shiatsu experienced a rapid increase in popularity, greater than the growth of interest in complementary healing methods generally. Why this should be so is most likely due to the fact tha many more people are not only seeking alternative methods to combat deisease and remain healthy; they are also looking for some sort of inner meaning and purpose to their lives.
So, what is Shiatsu, and how does it fulfill the dual role of a healing system and a method for personal development? Perhaps it is easier first to discuss what it is not. It is not merely acupuncture without needles or acupressure, although acupressure can be considered a sub-division of Shiatsu. Neither is it simply an oriental method of physiotherapy or soft tissue manipulation; although if assessed purely from its range of physical techniques, it does incorporate aspects of these methods.
The fundamental principle of Shiatsu is to hold, with clear mental focus, sustained stationary contact with a receiving person’s body using thumbs, fingers, palms or sometimes elbows or knees; with sufficient patience to wait for a response in the receiver’s subtle energy or Ki (qi, ch’i) flow. A variety of stretching, rotating and levering techniques may be required to reduce the receiver’s muscular and mental ‘holding on’, but essentially, stationary pressure or connection at the appropriate angle and depth is what differentiates Shiatsu from massage.
Origins of Shiatsu
Shiatsu is a bodywork technique developed in the early 20th century in Japan. It shares its roots with the various forms of Traditional Oriental Medicine, such as acupuncture, practiced throughout China and the far East. As such, Shiatsu uses the theoretical models of Traditional Oriental Medicine, however, the level to which they are used depends on the style of Shiatsu.
All styles of Shiatsu adhere to the same basic principles of touch, pressure and stretching and include techniques also frequently found in western forms of massage. The European Shiatsu School provides training in Zen Shiatsu, the style of Shiatsu developed by Sensei Shizuto Masunaga. Sensei Masunaga enriched his knowledge of Shiatsu with the fruits of his studies in psychology and his lineage is continued unbroken by the ESS.
Who is Shiatsu for?
As the ESS’s founder emphasised:
The quality and effectiveness of Shiatsu is dependent upon the state of mind of the giver. For example, Shiatsu demands an ability to patiently remain still and focus the mind in order to detect the subtle changes within a receiver’s vitality. Therefore it requires humility and skill to assist the natural healing process. It works more deeply if we understand that we cannot help restore true health effectively if we fail to acknowledge and respond to the person’s particular energetic rhythm and distribution of Ki. The Shiatsu practitioner learns to listen to those energies and assist their natural inclination towards balance and harmony. Shiatsu is therefore about skillfully nurturing the bodymind’s potential for regaining vitality.
The required level of ‘mindfulness’ will naturally equip the giver with a greater ability to empathise with the receiver. This is because during the actual giving of Shiatsu, the giver’s mind is not in the future predicting the outcome of the session, nor in the past trying to figure out why the receiver is as they are. The mind of the Shiatsu therapist is trained to be in the ‘here and now’, which is the only time and space where we can hope to perceive reality. What the receiver is experiencing during the Shiatsu session is happening only in the present, as the sum total of all preceding factors bringing them to this moment. Therefore, Shiatsu brings both the giver and receiver to the same point in time, known as ‘now’. To be aware at that point of time, and aware of that point of time is the only condition in which empathy can be experienced. We all experience empathy at certain times; these are the times when our consciousness rests for longer in the present.
In Shiatsu, we aspire to keep our consciousness relating to the present for as much of the session as possible. Most methods of meditation and ‘mindfulness’ have the same purpose. In that sense, Shiatsu is as much a practice for developing growth in awareness as it is a physical therapy. It is not mechanically physical, but rather physically mindful.
Hence it is important to choose the right teacher, one who is able to lead us mindfully on this path and who provides professional supervision.