Shiatsu
Although the
term “Shiatsu” is beginning to become known internationally in recent years,
there are still many who are uncertain as to exactly what Shiatsu is.
A good translation that has been made
for the term is “acupressure”, as a related-in-concept therapy
as acupuncture. Where acupuncture uses needles and/or
metallic stimulation on the human body, Shiatsu utilizes human finger pressure
of the therapist to stimulate some essential points of the human body, which
will in turn cause certain “shifts” throughout the patient’s body.
And yet, there are terms such as
“Shiatsu Massage” giving Shiatsu an impression of a therapeutic form related to
a number of massage therapeutic forms that exist, which is also true.
The term “Shiatsu”, which is Japanese,
is written by two Chinese characters.
“Shi,” which stands for finger, and “atsu,” which stands for “pressure”.
As the term expresses, Shiatsu is a
therapeutic method consisting mainly of, if not all, “finger pressure”.
At Energy Room, the therapist will
press “points” all over the patient’s body, in order to achieve the patient’s
muscles to loosen up, as in massage therapy, and for the ki (chi) energy to
flow throughout the patient’s body, which is just like in acupuncture. These are the two major aims to achieve
in Shiatsu therapy.
The first major point of focus in
Shiatsu therapy is, loosening the muscles. Muscle groups throughout the human
body are made up of muscles, and muscles in turn are bundles of muscle fibers.
By locating the “effective loosening points” of the entire bundle, which
may be on or between the muscle fibers, the therapist can loosen the entire
bundle, simply by applying finger pressure on such points. Once the bundle is loosened, other
bundles (muscles) can be loosened in the same manner, thereby ultimately
loosening the muscle groups of the patient’s body. What distinguishes Shiatsu from other
forms of therapy is that it solely relies on the fingertip pressure of the
therapist, and such therapeutic stimulation can be quite intense and is very
effective.
When all the muscle groups are
loosened, it will lead to the entire human body being loosened, and the mental
looseness follows, in the form of stress-relief. There is a therapeutic principle that
supports that if one can truly loosen all the muscle groups within his or her
own body, completely at will, most bodily malfunctions will either disappear or
heal at an extremely fast rate.
This principle, here at Energy Room, is more of a “golden foundation”
than a mere principle. There are
numerous instances of people exerting their true potential, even those
sometimes considered supernatural by others, when they are able to get
themselves in this state.
The second point of focus is making the
ki (chi) energy flow throughout the body without stagnation. Once the muscles
are loosened, the patient will in most cases feel his or her blood circulate
and the extremities become warm.
Feeling the ki (chi) energy flow is quite similar, only that it is very
difficult to explain verbally, and is even more difficult to explain medically
or scientifically. However, when
valid stimulation is given to the proper “points” to encourage the ki (chi)
energy to flow, the body will become balanced, and the patient, if focused and
sensitive enough, will feel the “flow”.
