acupressure (shiatsu)

ACUPRESSURE (SHIATSU) 指壓 지압

References

Shiatsu Theory and Practice (Carola Beresford‐Cooke) The Practice of Shiatsu (Sandra K. Anderson)

Seitai Shiatsu, Cupping and Gua Sha (Richard Gold) Healing Hands School (Raina Colvin)

CRAWLING

Crawling is the transmission of body weight through straight but relaxed arms and relaxed hands, aided by support from legs, hips

and Hara. If you practice crawling on the floor with full awareness of your body posture and how it changes, you can recognize

some of the most basic principles of good Shiatsu technique ‐ controlled use of body weight and relaxation. You can then apply a

modified version of the technique and ‘crawl’ around the receiver with your hands only, not your knees, on the receiver’s back,

shoulders and hips.

In giving Shiatsu, what is the correct way to change the strength of the pressure?

A. using the muscles to press harder or more lightly

B. by continuing to crawl and use body weight

In giving Shiatsu, this is the correct way to change the strength of our pressure by continuing to ‘crawl’ and use body weight, only keeping

more weight invested in our supporting knees and less in our hands when we need to use a lighter touch.

Source: Shiatsu Theory and Practice (Carola Beresford‐Cooke)

From crawling to use of Hara (腹 복)

When we have learned to feel comfortable ‘crawling’ on the body of the receiver and are able to use body weight and stay

relaxed, we are beginning to understand the use of the Hara. Now we can begin to use new techniques and working positions,

but there are still certain basic ‘crawling’ guidelines which should be checked through constantly.

Take a deep abdominal breath and focus your attention in your Hara for a while, or go into a basic crawling technique until you

feel more relaxed. As you progress in Ki (氣 기) awareness, it can help to imagine your Hara and Central Channel as giving out a

spotlight beam which illuminates the part of the receiver’s body you are working on. The Hara and Central Channel can also direct

Ki, so that you can position yourself with your Hara pointing in the direction in which you wish the receiver’s Ki to go.

In classical Shiatsu, the giver works most of the time from a crawling position. Your Hara should be facing:

A. the area you are working

B. opposite of the area you are working

SHIATSU

(c) HB Kim, www.AcupunctureMedia.com

PENETRATION vs. PRESSURE

Many Shiatsu teachers prefer the word ‘penetration’ to ‘pressure’. When we ‘press’, we are aware of a resistant surface against

which we act with physical effort. Conscious ‘pressing’ comes from the muscles of our hands, arms and shoulders.

When Shiatsu is given from the Hara in a state of relaxation, as when crawling, the surface becomes less important and pressure

becomes penetration; in other words we are able to sink in beyond the surface of the receiver’s skin.

Source: Shiatsu Theory and Practice (Carola Beresford‐Cooke) Source: Healing Hands School (Raina Colvin)

We can increase the quality of our penetration by ‘thinking through’ the surface of the receiver’s body the instant before our

touch has physically contacted it. This would be hard work if we did not use our imagination. If you have seen the movies where

science fiction knights of the future extend blades of light from the hilt of their light‐sabres in order to do battle, you can

imagine a similar ray of power emerging from your thumb or fingertips. Imagine this beam of power penetrating through your

receiver’s body surface (with healing intent) and allow your fingers and thumbs to follow the ‘opening’ it has made. In this way,

our awareness penetrates first and our physical form follows. The way not to penetrate would be to press and then bring our

awareness into our pressure, so that our awareness follows our physical form.

Or, we could choose a technique from the martial arts: students are taught not to aim their blow at the presenting body surface

of their opponent, but through the body to a point on the other side. This principle also works in Shiatsu to increase the power

of penetration; when penetrating with the thumb, elbow or knee, imagine that your pressure is going through to the receiver’s

other side, and with practice you can send it to anywhere you direct it in the receiver’s body without increasing your pressure.

In Shiatsu, ____________ leads to whole body awareness.

A. pressure

B. penetration

With these techniques we need to keep our Ki‐field expanded and avoid the use of will‐power, effort or any other forceful state of mind

which would cause our field to contract. A light, relaxed use of the imagination is far more effective. Energy techniques in Shiatsu are always

a response inseparable from our ‘listening’.

In Shiatsu, ____________ implies the possibility of hearing something very far away and picking up signals at a distance.

A. Listening

B. Feeling

When we listen with our ears, we are seeking something, perhaps a pattern or a signal or a meaning within a spectrum of sound, we are

seeking to identify something and interpret it. When we ‘listen’ with our touch, we are doing the same thing, seeking to take in our

receiver’s communication through the different sensations our touch conveys to us. We also have a quality of stillness when we listen; we

make ourselves quiet in order to do it. ‘Listening’ implies the receptive quality within our touch, the Yin. If it were possible to ‘look’ with our

touch, it would not be the same, since ‘looking’ with the eyes can have a Yang, assertive quality about it. The Yin, the receptive, quality of

our touch is an essential part of contact with Ki, the counterpart of our active Yang penetration.

SHIATSU


TWO‐HAND CONNECTEDNESS

One of the characteristics of Zen Shiatsu which first differentiated it from most other styles practiced at the time is that both the

giver’s hands are always in contact with the body. Sometimes both hands work together, but very often one hand is still,

supporting one part of the meridian or a central area of the torso, while the other hand works down another part of it. This way

of working was introduced during the 1970s by Masunaga and almost universally adopted throughout Europe and in many Shiatsu

styles elsewhere in the world.

Stationary hand Working hand

Yin Yang

Mother hand Son hand

The mother hand, although it does not appear to be doing anything, is vitally important; it provides a reassuring touch for the

receiver and support where it is needed. It also provides stillness to counterbalance the movement of the working hand, not only

from the standpoint of the receiver but from that of the giver as well. When we invest calm attention and awareness in the

‘mother hand’, a source of stability and ‘listening’ remains open in our state of being.

On hand The other hand

remains stationary and receptive applies pressure along a meridian

receptive hand working hand

The interaction of Yin and Yang is the reaction between two different polarities or charges to create a flow or current.

Source: Shiatsu Theory and Practice (Carola Beresford‐Cooke) Source: Healing Hands School (Raina Colvin)


empty softer cooler harder active warmer

The mother hand is also vital in increasing our sensitivity to Ki (氣 기). As the open, receptive hand, it is able to inform the

working hand. If we think of Yin and Yang as negative and positive poles between which a charge can flow then the Yang,

projecting hand and the Yin, listening hand amplify the flow of Ki in the body area between them. This can be used to enhance

both diagnosis and treatment.

In working with the two hands, the Shiatsu giver is essentially creating two different polarities

in the still and active hands respectively.

⇩These different polarities can be used to amplify the current flowing between the two hands,

especially if the giver is working with a meridian.

SHIATSU


Because Yin and Yang (which contain among their infinite manifestations that of positive and negative polarity) can refer to a

magnetic charge as well as an electrical one, this means that in using the two‐hand technique the Shiatsu giver can pick up

information not only from electric flow but also from the magnetic fields which carry far more information and which are not

confined to meridian pathways.


Listening hand Working hand

↓ ↓Amplifies the electromagnetic flow between the two hands

Making the sensing and correcting of abnormalities in that flow an easier process for the practitioner

In Zen Shiatsu, a form of body work based on energy meridians in the body, the practitioner uses two hands on the client’s body.

What is the name of hand which holds the original grounding point and maintains contact with the particular energy meridian?

A. Mother hand B. Father hand

C. Working hand D. Son hand


holds the original grounding point travels the length of the meridian

↓ ↓They work in harmony with one another until the meridian feels integrated.

Together, the “mother hand” and the “son hand” harmonize the energy of the meridian, encouraging it toward health.

In Shiatsu two‐hand technqiue, the “mother hand” and the “child hand” harmonize the energy of the meridian, encouraging it

toward health. What is the function of “son hand”?

A. holds the original grounding point B. maintains contact with the particular energy meridian

C. Yin hand D. travels the length of the meridian

Which one of the following is the chracteristic of Mother hand in Shiatsu?

A. harder B. active

C. empty D. warmer

Which one of the following is NOT a characteristic of Child hand in Shiatsu?

A. yang B. softer

C. active D. warmer

SHIATSU


Shiatsu is Specifically Oriented to Sensing Ki

Shiatsu therapists benefit from other aspects of their practice which allow them to tune in more directly to the flows and currents

of exchange of information within the client’s body. Shiatsu givers are working on the meridians.

In a recent review of the studies conducted, seven out of nine meridian studies showed positive association between acupuncture

meridians and ________ electrical impedance and ________ capacitance.

A. lower, higher

B. higher, lower

It is difficult to pick up the body’s electrical field by random application of electrodes to the skin, because of the differing electrical resistance

of the tissues. As the meridian studies tend to show, the meridians are flows where there is less resistance, and the body’s electrical field will

thus manifest more clearly on the surface along these flows.

SHIATSU


acupressure (shiatsu)

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