Treatments are used to balance the body. For example, if you have a pounding headache, most of your energy is in the top half of your body. I will almost always work on your feet before your head. Why? To bring that energy down and ground you. During the treatment your breathing will slow and become deeper. This will have a very calming.
Another example would be pain/stiffness in the hip. After the assessment I will determine which channel the pain/stiffness lie. Shiatsu is about balance. The area of pain could be considered jitsu - an excess of energy. Close by, there will be a kyo area - a deficiency. The treatment will entail moving the excess towards the deficient. Good pain will be felt. That "ah" feeling is the movement of energy. Pain is decreased and the body feels more balanced.
Shiatsu is a full body treatment that includes Hara, the body's centre. Hara diagnosis allows me to have an energetic understanding as to what is happening in the body. Again, I look for jitsu and kyo areas. Hara diagnosis allows me to note: fatigue, neck pain, a busy mind, constipation or irritability. The shiatsu technique involves longer/deeper holding on kyo and shorter/dispersing pressure on jitsu. This results in balancing the body's energetics. The effect is felt immediately and even days afterwards.
Balance is key to our body wellness. We should not always be too happy, angry, sad and stressed for long periods of time. We should not suffer pain, headaches or even PMS. There is an imbalance. Shiatsu allows the body to balance and heal. Wellness is the goal.
