Shiatsu is a massage therapy technique of Japanese origin that uses touch to bring balance to the body and thus promote health. It is practiced by exerting pressure with the thumbs, the fingers, but also with the palms of the hands, in order to rebalance the energy (KI or QI) which circulates in our body,  afin that it draws on its own resources to self-regulate (in its physical, mental and emotional dimensions).

 

Depending on the conditions, the practitioner can add other techniques: rotation of the joints, stretching, kneading, kneading or vibration of certain parts of the body.

 

This method does not always have a therapeutic aim, it also concerns punctual well-being. In Japan, receiving treatment is common, it allows you to stay active without accumulating fatigue and avoid overwork and is for anyone, adult or child, who wants to maintain good health or improve their well-being.

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The benefits of Shiatsu:

  

    Sleep improvement

    Increased Vitality

    Stress reduction

    Be less vulnerable to external tensions and events

    Improved digestion, decreased bloating

    Feeling of well-being and recirculation of the movements of life that

         animent : un sentiment vital 

    Improved blood circulation and lymph

    muscle and joint genes

    Various pains and ailments

    Awareness of your body as a whole

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Shiatsu aims to establish a deep dialogue, based on trust but silent; then, the treatment becomes a true art of touch.

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The effectiveness of Shiatsu in some cases, it would be recommended for:
 

Relieve lower back pain
In a study of 66 subjects with lower back pain, results showed significant differences in the degree of pain and anxiety before and after 4 Shiatsu treatments. The authors report that the subjects would recommend Shiatsu as a treatment to anyone with lower back pain.

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Fight against anxiety
In the same study as the one mentioned above on people suffering from lower back pain, the researchers also noted a reduction in the anxiety of individuals after the 4 Shiatsu sessions.

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*Shiatsu does not replace any medical treatment, it only acts as a complement.

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Shiatsu in practice
A Shiatsu session is practiced on a person dressed in light clothing, generally in a lying position on a mattress on the floor or on a low table. Shiatsu can also be done in a seated or standing position.

A session usually lasts 1 hour.

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History of Shiatsu
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Japanese Tokujiro Namikoshi (1905-2000) was at the origin of the creation of modern Shiatsu. His technique began to take shape when he was only 7 years old and trying to relieve the discomforts of his mother suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. He found that she felt better when he used pressure with his thumbs instead of brushing and massaging. Her ailments eventually disappeared and she lived in very good health until the age of 88. Namikoshi emphasized physiology and anatomy and left the function of the meridians aside, to make Shiatsu more accessible to the Western way of thinking.

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A few years later, Shizuto Masunaga reintroduced the basic principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Five Elements, Yin and Yang, meridians, etc.). We therefore find today 2 main schools of thought, Namikoshi Sensei's Shiatsu where the practitioner incidentally only uses his fingers and palms, and Shizuto Masunaga Sensei's Zen-Shiatsu, more based on Chinese medicine.

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In 1955, the Japanese Ministry of Health officially recognized Shiatsu as medicine in its own right.
In May 1997, the European Union mentioned it as one of the 8 methods of medicine

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Conclusion on Shiatsu

Shiatsu is a bit like going to the general practitioner (in the field of Chinese energy) indeed, Shiatsu works on all the meridians of the body and acts on all systems thanks to manual pressure.

For a preventive approach or if you are looking for a good personal balance, we can say that the rhythm of one Shiatsu session per month is a good frequency.
If you are more in a therapeutic approach, to take full advantage of the effects of the sessions, the ideal is to do a session every two weeks on average, or even closer in times of crisis. The number of sessions depends on each organization, the age of the problem to be treated, etc...

Otherwise, some choose to come at each change of season (Chinese, about 1.5 months before our Western season changes), or about 4 to 5 times a year, to help the body easily enter the dynamics of the new season.
Some people who know each other well, come just before the "fall blues", or the "summer hay fever", in order to anticipate....

But some people are simply offered a Shiatsu for their birthday, Christmas, Valentine's Day or other annual occasion!

And it's very profitable too!

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