The word shiatsu is made of two elements: SHI (finger) and ATSU (emphasis). Shiatsu is a method of treating diseases with pressure, at which the thumbs are used to transfer it to specific points to improve the failure of the body, to preserve or improve health, to support the treatment of specific diseases. The main purpose of shiatsu is to restore balance in the body – its disorder, in any area according to eastern medicine is the cause of disease.
Shiatsu is made by tenugui – a cotton stretch of thin material, and the patient stays in comfortable clothes all the time.
Original Japanese Koho Shiatsu is not a massage – it is not made on bare skin, no oils are used, and the goal is not to loosen one muscle group or a joint. His education lasts for several years, covering also a part of subjects studied in medical fields.
Basic effects
The effectiveness of Koho Shiatsu is proven in cases of functional, metabolic and psychosomatic ailments. The method is used as an auxiliary in areas such as:
– rheumatology
– gastrology
– urology
– cardiology
– pneumology
– impotence
– endocrinology and problems with metabolism.
Prophylactically, shiatsu is often used during periods of high tension, stress, migraines, headaches, decreased immunity, high exhaustion or general ill-being.
Diagnostic techniques
Two basic techniques are used to test the patient:
Pulse technique – the measurement is carried out with three fingers: index, middle and cordial. During two breaths, count the number of strokes. If it is smaller or larger than 8 or 9 the patient is not healthy. Other rules are used to determine the specific site of the disease.
Observation – observing the patient, you can collect many insights about the patient’s health condition.
Acupuncture, diagnosis and treatment
Pulse technique is the most common diagnostic technique. This method is difficult to learn and looks very mysterious. However, even in ancient China, the pulse diagnosis method was not the only one. Close observation of the patient was also carried out, and many other techniques were also used.
If the two forces in the body, yin and yang, are imbalanced, the patient is ill. Treatment consists in restoring balance.
The Chinese have observed that this internal imbalance or disease is revealed by or on the skin. Thousands of Asian doctors, for many centuries, studied human structure before the system of points or lines was known, on or under the skin, relating to various organs. This system became known as the meridian system. In the acupuncture, needles are inserted along the meridians, while the shiatsu presses the points to regain or balance.
In modern times, “western” medicine reveals many neural connections that run exactly along the meridians described by ancient Chinese. In this way, “East” meets with “the West”; many Shiatsu Shi * use the results of modern diagnostic tests, and many doctors recommend their patients, apart from drug therapy, to use also “natural” methods.
* SHIATSU SHI are people who after completing all training can use this method within the family, circle of friends and people experiencing various diseases (therapeutic shiatsu)
