There's an aspect to the practice of shiatsu, particularly the Zen form, referred to as the 'two-hand' method.

Meaning that at any given time, the shiatsu practitioner will have both hands on the receiver.

Seems obvious enough.

But there is an intention behind what is actually a deliberate placement of hands.

While you will be quite aware of the business of one hand... the one giving pressure with fingers, palms, whatnot (referred to as the 'child' hand), you are only subliminally aware of the still presence of the other, known as the 'mother' hand.

The child hand is active ... doing the work, expressing curiousity, seeking out the tender and hurt places, and asking all kinds of questions. The part of your nervous sytem that is perpetually engaged with assessing stimulus for threat status (will this hurt? oo, that's tender; oh that feels good; where's she going next?) is tracking the motions and the activity. And while the the sensation of healing touch can be relaxing, there is still an element of 'being on alert' present in the receiver's mind.

Hence the mother hand.

Patience, still, stable, providing calm presence on another part of the body. Like the heartbeat drum... ever-present but eventually fading into the background with steady rhythm ... holding the primary beat while the more obvious melody can wander and play.

The mother hand connects with the receiver's nervous system relaxation response. The message is 'Stay calm, I'm here. All is well'.

She stays alert and present for changes: in the receiver's breathing, in muscle tension, in basic empathetic connection between giver and receiver.

While the child hand attends to the details, the mother hand listens and assesses the bigger picture, tuned to the body as a whole and how it's receiving the treatment. She advises whether to slow down, go deeper, or give space.

And with these two hands, an energetic circuit is complete.

From the receiver's body through the mother hand the hara of the giver, through the child hand, back through the receiver's body, in an endless feedback loop. It's an active and conscious conversation between beings.

All without saying a word.

(Otherwise known as, "My head hurts, so why the heck are you pressing on my foot?")

A very, VERY general definition of shiatsu goes something like this:

"Shiatsu, a Japanese word that literally means 'finger pressure', is a modality in which the practitioner uses pressure on the receiver's body in order to restore balance."

Doesn't this just so make you want to run right out and get a shiatsu treatment?

Don't you wake up in the morning after a fitful night of sleep, feeling groggy and with a crick in your neck, and think to yourself, 'Wow, I could really use to have my balance restored today'....?

When finding yourself taken to bed with insane menstrual cramps, teetering on the edge of a self-induced hysterectomy, aren't you wishing to god someone would come and just balance your energy???

Hmmm, I'm guessing no.

Am I implying that a balance of chi flow in the meridians isn't a good thing to aspire to, or that from an Asian perspective, it isn't an explanation of what contributes to vibrant health?

No, I'm just saying that maybe it's not shiatsu's strongest selling point. Not to those of us who aren't used to thinking along these lines anyway.

So, I'm a visual person. Maybe this'll work for you.

Picture the meridians in the body as a highway system. When traffic is flowing, all is well. People getting where they need to be, goods picked up and delivered on time, everybody's happy. The flow is balanced.

Uh oh. Fender bender along the Stomach meridian. Traffic is slowing down, maybe even stagnating. (And in the body, symptoms related to the stomach functions will arise.)

Depending on how this situation is handled, flow may be easily restored again, or it may start backing up into connecting roadways, causing dysfunction and symptoms in other areas. Just great.

One thing to do would be to redirect the traffic to a route that is totally clear. (Ah... balancing!)

This is the idea behind kyo/jitsu in Zen shiatsu. The jitsu (traffic jam) is what we notice, and are most inclined to address. However, a funny thing about energy is that is follows our attention/intention. Putting pressure on something like, say, tight shoulders gives some relief, but really we are just adding more energy to an already excessive situation.

Finding the empty area in the body, and placing pressure/attention there redirects the traffic from a jammed place into an empty one.

Everything gets flowing again, pain is relieved, symptoms diminish and all is happy is Body-land again.

Okay, so that is a pretty simplistic scenario, but still, I hope this helps you gain a little clearer idea of what you would be paying me for.

(As to that subhead... now that you've been schooled in energy balancing... some headaches are described as "Liver yang rising". Meaning that the chi flow of the Liver meridian is going to the head causing pain and pressure, especially as in migraines. There are key points in the feet that bring that energy back down, away from the head, and restore overall energy balancing, like the master traffic light control system. Cool, right? I know!)

Like this post? How about:

Behind Every Crime, a Woman

Gimme Some Skin

Further reading from more respectable writers?

From Masunaga himselfAlso a good one..

I woke up yesterday morning with my first thought being a metaphor about shiatsu.

(Don't ask me... sometimes it's a goofy song, like Pink Floyd's "Pigs"; other mornings, something else totally random. Who knows where my brain gets off to while I'm asleep..)

Anyway, the thought was along the lines of how the difference between other types of massage and shiatsu was like the difference between having a conversation with someone while standing at your front door, or inviting them into your living room to sit down for a while with a big mug of tea.

And, please, this is not to dis' massage in any way. I get regular therapeutic "western" massage. It's awesome. But I think there is a difference for many people in how shiatsu is received, based on my own experience, as well as what my people are telling me. Considering that the most recent comment along these lines came a few days ago, it might explain why my mind was chewing on this.

This odd analogy also seems to synch with how Zen shiatsu is described.

Allow me to lamely paraphrase what I read in David Sergel's "The Natural Way of Zen Shiatsu": From the ancient Chinese perspective, humans exist between the forces of heaven and earth.... heaven's force is along a vertical axis, earth on the horizontal. Ideally our activities are balanced reception of the two.

Our Western experience is more imbalanced toward the earth/horizontal side. More material, more superficial... and, as an example, western style massage is considered to move along the horizontal planes of the body.

Shiatsu is given with a more perpendicular (vertical) direction. The touch is directed inward toward the body's core; it's penetrating, and so it is perceived as going deeply within (..without being invasive. After all, I did say 'invited in for tea', not dragged in and tied to a chair.)

With the practitioner's intention, the treatment becomes like an intimate conversation between friends. It may touch on sensitive topics, but without offense, if the practitioner is mindful and compassionate. The shiatsu giver is careful not to prod or cause pain, which could cause a defensive reaction, but is willing to go deep enough while being supportive, so as to allow the receiver to explore those vulnerable places and bring healing energy to them.

Once again, this is not to suggest that one way is better than another. I know I'm not the kind of person that wants every person that appears at my door to come in and hang for a few hours. Nor am I always open to that experience, no matter who it is. After all, I got lots of things going on along the horizontal plane.

But when I am really needing that, and that need is met, it's always deeply fulfilling.

How 'bout you? Do you have a shiatsu or other bodywork experience to share?