Posted on

Digestive Balance

Shiatsu is great in helping digestive issues. You can also help and support your digestive system, by eating slowly. A diet rich in fibre, grains, fresh fruit and vegetables can be helpful. It is important to chew your food well so it is in a liquid form before it enters your stomach. Digestion begins in the mouth. As a suggestion, try to drink between meals rather than with your food. Our digestive system works best in the first half of the day and gets more sluggish in the second part.
The Stomach and Spleen energy channels are associated with the function of ingestion and digestion of food and information for mental, emotional and physical nourishment. In traditional Shiatsu as in traditional Chinese medicine, the Stomach corresponds to the entire digestive tract and is a vital organ for the production of Ki energy in the body.
Shiatsu treatment is ideal for treating symptoms such as indigestion, a bloated stomach and abdominal cramps or pain due to stress.

Posted on

Fascia and Shiatsu

Shiatsu News
Shiatsulondon.com

In November, I took part in a fascia release seminar with Gabriella Poli, an experienced Shiatsu Practitioner, teacher and one of the founders of the European Shiatsu Society. It was impressive and I learnt new techniques which compliments very well with Shiatsu, in realizing releases of old and recent injuries and traumas. It was a comprehensive group of 28 experienced Shiatsu Practitioners from the UK, Sweden, Portugal, France, Greece and Italy.

What is Fascia?
Fascia is a general term for connective tissue. It is also called “extracellular matrix”. Fascia is a band or sheet that spreads throughout the body in a three-dimensional web from head to toe. It covers all structures of our body: it separates, supports, connects and protects. Energetically, fascia is crucial as it is deeply connected and interwoven within our denser structures: bones, muscles, ligaments and organs. Fascia records all physical, emotional and mental activity. Energy that connects with trauma that has not been resolved gets trapped in the fascia tissue. Fascia influences the energy flow in the meridians.
Have a look at this youtube clip ‘Fascia magnified 25 x’.

Fascia restriction
Fascia restriction causes pain, contractions, limitations in the range of motion, dysfunction of organs and body systems and misalignment of body structures.
Fascia reacts to stress and trauma by contracting to protect the body. Collagen fibers thicken in order to provide additional support to the tissue that is undergoing stress. Because fascia is a unique sheath and an interconnected web, restriction of fascia in one part of the body will transfer, through time, into other parts of the body itself.

Fascia Release
In order to release fascia I use no pressure techniques, but instead a light touch. As we do not use pressure, we can therefore treat clients with:
Acute pain
Inflammation
Bones fragility
Varicose veins
Injuries
Fibromyalgia
Rheumatoid arthritis
Etc…..

Fascia releases are performed all over the body, depending on where the restriction is located. Fascia release allows the return of denser structures to their normal physiological adaptive range, relieving pain and improving the quantity and quality of motion and function.

Posted on

Metal Element

We had the hottest summer since records began and the new academic year has started. September 23rd is the official start of autumn. When summer moves into autumn it is important to take time to relax and rest. Shiatsu is the perfect way to help the transition.
The Five Elements are a fantastic model for discovering the cycles of life and nature and their part in our life.
The five elements are Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth.
Each element has its strengths, qualities and propensity in nature, so they can be cultivated in us as human beings – to run like water, bend like wood, ascend like fire, ground like earth and demarcate like metal. These elements and their qualities can be stimulated by the right quality of touch on the body.
Autumn is the season of the metal element which is related to our lungs and large intestine, the element of clarity, value identity and character. This gives the gift of boundaries, focus, leadership and clear authority. The metal element also brings healthy self-confidence, knowing who you are and your worth in the world. Each breath is appreciated and brings us in to the living moment, the certainty of our mortality while we are actively alive! When metal is dreary, life can turn lonely. We sense the isolation of our unique selves, existential and solo, the borders are too clear, rigid and frail. This is a situation of profound grief but a grief not mourned, withered and broken inside, all alone. It represents our basic sense of solitude and loneliness, encircled by autumn leaves and stripped trees. The breath of life is diminished and with it can arrive respiratory difficulties and bowel problems as letting go is tough and hurting. Skin problems show up since it reflects our boundaries and with it a loss of self image. The sharp edge of life is in need of re-modelling and defining to notice our uniqueness and the paradox of being alone and belonging.
Shiatsu aims to recharge the elements, different parts of the body hold these potent energies and shiatsu can wake them up with the right touch and intention. Often the body is waiting to be held in a certain way in a particular place. When we are met in an appropriate way a deep change can take place.
Shiatsu is not something that is DONE to you, but with you, paying attention to both you and your body’s deep needs and wishes and replying to and meeting them in the moment, with your full participation. Shiatsu is a dance, following a pulse of an unfolding process of awareness and a celebration.