What is Shiatsu?

Shiatsu is a form of hands on body work that has its roots in Japanese and Chinese medicine. It is based on the principle that we experience health and wellbeing when we are in a state of balance or relaxed awareness. Balance means that our energy, known as ki (also called chi or qi in Chinese Medicine), flows through our body along pathways known as meridians. Sometimes, particularly when we are stressed, our energy can become blocked, depleted or we have trouble shutting down at the end of a day, thus disturbing our natural state of relaxed awareness.

Shiatsu helps the smooth flow of ki by the application of pressure, gentle stretches and rotation of the joints. The therapist assesses areas of possible imbalance by asking a series of questions and also by palpating (gentling padding), the soft area of the abdomen known as the hara. The degree to which we are ‘centred’ in our hara is possible to feel and differences from person to person are both normal and can be likened in quality to differences between each person's hand-shake.

Shiatsu is a complementary therapy - it is not an alternative to your usual doctor's care but has been shown to be significantly effective in helping reduce and manage certain symptoms.