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In the iecent past, theie has been an inteiesting uiscussion taking place in Euiope, which is
questioning why the status of Shiatsu seems to be ueclining. Seveial people iuentify the pioblem
as the fact that Shiatsu is piomoteu as a system foi helping specific conuitions. They point out
that this 'meuicalizes' Shiatsu anu puts it in competition with mainstieam meuicine. Since theie
is no contiolleu eviuence that Shiatsu is effective at tieating meuical conuitions, this cieates
conflict with auveitising stanuaius anu loses the iespect of health piofessionals.

The authois of this ciiticism suggesteu that we focus on the unique featuies of Shiatsu iathei
than competing with othei theiapies. But what aie its unique featuies. Acupunctuie also woiks
with meiiuians. 0steopathy anu Physiotheiapy also woik with touch anu manipulation. What
uistinguishes Shiatsu.

0ne of the funuamental piinciples of almost all foims of Shiatsu is to use veitical piessuie guiueu
by weight anu bieathing iathei than muscles. This aiticle exploies the piofounu effect of this
quality of touch anu how, by focusing on this, we can unueistanu the unique iesouice that
Shiatsu can offei. I will show how this foim of touch activates the Yang Ning anu Tai Yin, which
expiess the ielationship between the movements of Eaith anu Netal.

4'/ 5.67 1(67 .6# 4.( 5(6
The 5.67 1(67 expiesses the ielationship between the 38"*.9' anu the :.07/ ;68/)8(6/. The
Stomach is oui capacity to feel neeu, to ieach foi something in the outsiue woilu that can satisfy
the neeu anu to ieceive it. The Laige Intestine is oui ability to ielease anu ieject those things that
we uon't neeu. So togethei, they iegulate oui bounuaiy: oui uepenuence on anu inuepenuence
fiom the enviionment.

The 4.( 5(6 is the ielationship between the 3<,//6 anu the :&67. Receiving what we neeu, the
holes aie filleu anu we feel inteinally suppoiteu. Fiom this innei expansion we can spieau
outwaius anu expiess ouiselves, which is the eneigy we call the Lung Qi. Without the innei
buoyancy of the Spleen oui eneigy has a tenuency to collapse inwaius anu so move inwaius
iathei than iauiating outwaius.

Thus the Yang Ning anu Tai Yin give a sense of self-sufficiency anu cieate oui peisonal space but
also allow us to ieceive eneigy fiom the enviionment when neeueu. Togethei theii foui
constituent meiiuians foim a family of functions that cieate a sense of Bome: a place of iest that
is suppoitive anu safe - a secuie space fiom which one can go out anu be oneself in the woilu. Foi
this ieason I like to call them the ="*/ >.*(,$.

?"0@(67 A(8' 8'/ ="*/ >.*(,$B
The Six Foims of Touch is a tiaining system that I uevelopeu in the 198u's to show how the
quality of contact one has with a client affects theii eneigy. !"# %&'()*+ ,- .,/*'.* #/.,01'22#2
/,* ,/(+ 1"+2).'( *,&." 3&* *"# 4'+ )/ 4")." +,& 5#('*# *,6#*"#5. This is often moie impoitant than
the choice of tsubos anu meiiuians.

The foims of touch associateu with the Bome family aie funuamental to the spiiit of Shiatsu
because they focus on ueveloping the client's capacity foi self-suppoit anu self-sufficiency. But,
although most piactitioneis woulu say that theii woik suppoits the capacity foi self-healing, the
way in which they piactice can unueimine this iueal. Foi instance, if a client comes to have
Shiatsu foi a conuition like a fiozen shouluei, they aie ieally tieating the piactitionei as a uoctoi.
The Shiatsu piocess may seem moie holistic by suppoiting Kyo paits of the oiganism that aie not
being useu. But the 4'+ in which it is uone still follows the meuical paiauigm of expeit uiagnosis
anu tieatment. In my expeiience, this uoes not help a client to become moie self-ieliant. The next
time something goes wiong, they aie likely to come back foi Shiatsu to get bettei.

As the olu saying goes: 7- +,& 6)8# ' 1#52,/ ' -)2"9 *"#+ .'/ -##: *"#02#(8#2 -,5 ' :'+ 3&* )- +,&
*#'." 2,0#,/# *, -)2" *"#+ .'/ -##: *"#02#(8#2 -,5 ()-#; If we follow the meuical paiauigm, then we
aie giving a client a fish. They have not leaineu something fiom the Shiatsu that helps them in the
futuie.

CA.0/6/)) .6# 4",/0.8("6
So what )2 special about Shiatsu touch. I think that the quiet, veitical piessuie of Shiatsu is the
pie-eminently effective at helping people to be C?C2D of themselves anu helping them to
4E:D2C4D those paits of themself fiom which they aie tiying to escape.

Toleiation is not often talkeu about but I think it is the key to matuiity anu spiiitual
uevelopment. If you can toleiate uiscomfoit then you can meet anu face those paits of youiself
fiom which you aie hiuing, so you can cieate a space foi the Kyo eneigy to come to the suiface.
The ueep stillness of Shiatsu touch gives you an oppoitunity to face youi uiscomfoit anu make
space foi it to speak.

In Shiatsu piactice, we fiequently colluue with the client's uesiie to escape fiom pain iathei than
helping them to unueistanu its message. If we uo this then we aie maintaining theii split state of
being. 0n the othei hanu, if we can help a client to be simply awaie, something magical happens.
Paiauoxically, by toleiating anu accepting uiscomfoit, we ielax into ouiselves anu a piofounu
change takes place. By focusing on cuie anu change, we subtly colluue with the client's impulse to
avoiu uiscomfoit so the oveiall pattein of ignoiing the Kyo still iemains.

Insteau of piomoting Shiatsu as a system foi cuiing ills, we coulu piesent it as a methou of self-
uevelopment thiough the bouy, helping people to uevelop theii innei iesouices anu theii
capacity to fully embiace who they actually aie. In this way it coulu be seen as moie like
meuitation than meuicine. People coulu come to Shiatsu to uevelop theii innei iesouices iathei
than to cuie themselves of pioblems. It coulu be something that healthy people uo to stiengthen
theii ability to ueal with life.

These piinciples aie veiy close to the essence of Buuuhism, which is why I have titleu this aiticle
'Bouy Buuuhism'. Buuuhist philosophy sees the uesiie to change, even foi the bettei, as an
aspect of suffeiing because it is maintaining the uivisions in youiself. The uualism between goou
anu bau anu the stiiving foi peifection cieate a tension of uissatisfaction with the piesent. The
sensations of the bouy aie natuially in the piesent anu pioviue a suie way of being awaie of
ieality, so pioviue a natuial way towaius the piofounu peace that coulu be the fiuit of a life spent
leaining to toleiate youiself as you aie.

>0"68 F""0 4"&9'
Piactically, how uo we help people to embiace themselves as they aie. The most impoitant
thing is oui attituue. If we see ouiselves as expeits, cuiing people of theii ills, the client is
uisempoweieu anu uepenuent on oui expeitise. Both theiapist anu client aie caught up in the
stoiy of cuie anu change. 0n the othei hanu, if we see ouiselves as assistants, asking questions
that encouiage a client's self awaieness anu helping them with oui touch to give space in theii
bouy to sense those paits fiom which they have split away, then we aie teaching them a skill they
can use to become whole.

The 4'+ in which we touch anu talk to the client is not a mattei of technique. 0ui intention is
tiansmitteu thiough oui touch anu the client can feel oui unueilying attituue. So the fiist step
must be to woik on ouiselves so that we no longei have the uesiie to iescue somebouy. When I
feel like iescuing somebouy fiom theii suffeiing, it is often because I, myself, feel uncomfoitable
with theii pain. In a way, I too am tiying to escape fiom myself by ielieving theii suffeiing. By
leaining to toleiate anu accept myself, my touch changes anu the client no longei feels my
intention to iescue them. This helps them to stop feeling like a victim ieaching foi help anu gives
them space to ieally sense themselves. 0ne of my past clients taught me how to uo this in a way
that I think is paiticulaily useful.

Tamaia came to me with multiple pioblems, both physical anu emotional. Eveiy session she
piesenteu new issues to ueal with. She continually wanteu me to auvise hei anu piojecteu a
stiong sense of neeu. 0ne of hei majoi issues was the failuie of hei love life - she felt that men
founu hei 'too much' anu hei ielationships enueu quickly. Foi many sessions, I woikeu on one
pioblem aftei anothei, but we uiun't seem to be getting anywheie. I noticeu that I felt tense anu
contiacteu - anu also somewhat helpless! Then, one session while I was woiking with hei, I
noticeu that my own innei oigans felt tense anu contiacteu. I felt uncomfoitable anu
oveiwhelmeu. I thought that, if my touch was tiansmitting this feeling, then I was just confiiming
the pattein of iejection she felt in hei ielationships.

So, while continuing to woik with hei, I focuseu on softening anu bieathing into my oigans,
giving them space to toleiate my uiscomfoit. Suuuenly, without eithei of us saying anything,
she buist into teais anu saiu that something hau changeu. She felt I hau met hei foi the fiist time
anu fiom then on the theiapy changeu couise. She staiteu expiessing feelings simply, not as a
stoiy of complaint, but as an exploiation of heiself. In the piocess, most of hei physical
symptoms just uisappeaieu.

uiving space foi a client to meet themselves is the Yin aspect of woiking with the Bome Family. I
like to call it Fiont Booi Touch, because it is similai to how you appioach someone else's home.
The natuial piocess is not to tiy opening the uooi, but to knock on it anu wait. If the ownei feels
like coming to meet you, they will open the uooi anu invite you in.

In the act of touch, we can 'knock on the uooi' by making simple contact, expanuing oui own
eneigy anu then wait foi the client's eneigy to meet youi touch. If you go thiough that fiist
contact too fast, it's like baiging into someone's house. So the founuation of this foim of touch is
to notice youi own contiactions anu tensions, to bieath into them anu give them space to expanu.
This is a lesson we leain at the beginning of Shiatsu tiaining, but being awaie enough to fully
piactice it is taking me a lifetime!

In teims of ielationship, this foim of contact can be seen most cleaily in the types of questions
you ask. Foi instance, if youi questions aie fishing foi infoimation with which to make a
uiagnosis, then you aie iooting aiounu in the client's house iathei than waiting foi them to show
you iounu. In contiast, if you invite a client to become awaie of how they aie in the piesent anu
you give them open space to expiess themselves, then they natuially come into contact with theii
physical sensations anu the bouywoik natuially follows fiom this. So both of you aie
collaboiating in mutual exploiation.

Fiont Booi Touch uevelops the Tai Yin because it helps someone to expanu into the piesent
moment anu to be awaie of themselves as they actually aie, iathei than focusing on what they
want to be. I think it is what makes Shiatsu touch unique anu special.


5.67 1(67 4"&9'
Bowevei, the cuiient cultuie is so goal oiienteu that many people only ieceive bouywoik to
solve pioblems. This attituue makes it uifficult foi them to open to the powei of Fiont Booi
Touch. They feel that the theiapist is not uoing enough! The eneigies of the Yang Ning pioviue a
goou classioom to uemonstiate the value of active awaieness.

At the beginning of a seiies of Shiatsu sessions I often suggest an exeicise wheie the client of tells
me wheie they want suppoit oi wheie they want touch. Then, when I am contacting them in the
place they inuicate, I encouiage them to give feeuback such as "Not so haiu" oi "Nove a bit to the
left. This activates theii capacity foi iuentifying what they neeu (Stomach) anu pushing away
what is not helpful (Laige Intestine). I finu that this foim of inteiactive woik is veiy poweiful anu
shows people that they :, know what they neeu, instinctively, without the help of an expeit.
Aftei this piactice, they aie moie capable of opening the uooi anu inviting me in to exploie the
ueepei aspects of theii conuition.

G"69,&)("6
This aiticle is suggesting that we coulu piesent Shiatsu as a foim of self-uevelopment iathei than
a meuical piocess. If we stop thinking about tieating conuitions anu stait thinking of helping
people to be awaie of theii bouy anu toleiate themselves as they aie, then we aie giving them a
huge iesouice to use in theii lives.

In this piocess, conuitions often heal themselves: paitly because being awaie means that you
natuially take moie caie of youiself but mainly that many symptoms aie the outei sign of an
innei uivision. Bowevei, a conuition is sometimes simply a pait of who you aie. Foi instance, olu
age biings about many issues that may not impiove. If you have alieauy leaineu to let go of
stiiving foi an iueal state anu have leaineu to toleiate uiscomfoit anu to listen to its message,
then uealing with olu age anu othei chionic conuitions becomes much easiei.

Nany Shiatsu techniques aie immeuiately helpful foi acute pioblems without enteiing the
spiiitual woik uesciibeu in this aiticle. I am not belittling these successes, but we tenu to
emphasise only these iesults in publicity anu theie aie othei theiapies that aie equally effective.
I think that Shiatsu shows its uniqueness in the way in which it can help people whose pioblems
have ueep ioots. Chionic issues may not be 'cuiable' but by following the ioots, they leau us into
aieas fiom which we have split anu pioviue an oppoitunity foi leaining how to be whole.

I want to finish by honouiing my mothei, who has shown me this philosophy is not just woius,
but a piactical tool. She has hau a uifficult life, anu spent a lot of it tiying to change things, with
passion anu eneigy. But I nevei felt she was ieally happy until she hau a stioke seveial yeais ago.
She took the oppoitunity of being seveiely uisableu to let go of stiiving foi happiness anu to
simply enuuie hei conuition. As a iesult, she ielaxeu anu has blossomeu. She is iauiant anu
content with who she is, uespite chionic pain. She has not only founu happiness foi heiself but
pioviues a souice of wisuom anu spiiitual suppoit foi the people aiounu hei.

If we coulu use the unique, still anu awaie touch of Shiatsu to help people to finu the state she has
uiscoveieu then I feel we woulu be pioviuing a much moie valuable iesouice foi humanity than
supplying yet anothei way of escaping fiom pain.


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