What is Shiatsu?

Shiatsu is Japanese for ‘finger pressure'. It is an increasingly popular and surprisingly powerful complementary therapy utilising the same theories as acupuncture in a system of gentle stretches and pressure application. Shiatsu uses the body's own energies to strengthen and improve health and well being. It has its roots in the healing arts and sciences of ancient China, adapted in Japan in the twentieth century by Shizuto Masunaga, a psychiatrist, who incorporated modern Western ideas of physiology and psychology into the traditional Oriental body model.  

From time to time we all develop imbalances in our natural equilibrium whether from the after effects of illness, trauma, injury or constitutional or environmental factors. These can manifest as aches and pains, sleeping disorders, lack of energy or a myriad other symptoms. Like Acupuncture, Shiatsu works on chi, the basic energy that underlies every movement and function of the body. Instead of using needles, however, practitioners use pressure applied primarily with the hands, to remove blockages and allow efficient chi flow, thus restoring balance.

See the theory page for more information.