Shiatsu Massage & Summer’s Impact on Health Pt. 1
I occasionally write about the effects of the seasons on our health from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine as it’s reflected in my practice shiatsu massage. The summer is according to TCM’s, 5 Element theory-a season of fire! Remember this system uses metaphor in relating our bodies to the natural world. I will list some correspondences below and then expand a bit on them..
- Cyclic stage: growth
- Body tissues: blood vessels
- Organs: Heart/Small Intestine
- Sense organ: tongue
- Sense: speech
- Sound: laughing
- Emotion: joy
- Spiritual aspects: mind
- ….many more correspondences
See a previous shiatsu overview article here. So this is a general sketch of how a shiatsu therapist might react to a person, using some of this rather arcane information. I like to create a composite person to show the manifestation of imbalance and how shiatsu can help. I’ll highlight (in italics) the clues that relate to the aspects in the list above, that help to plan an effective session for this client.
It’s July and a woman comes in for a shiatsu treatment. After filling out a health intake form, we review her answers. She is in her 20’s, has had issues with stammering in her childhood and still occasionally does. Her manner is very jovial and she laughs in between sentences throughout our conversation. She conveys a feeling of excitement and quick emotions. She suffers from anxiety for which she takes medication. She has restless sleep and is often nervous, and temperature changes affect her, she often feels to hot or too cold.
As I continue to listen, she asks many questions re: what shiatsu is and expresses worry that it can help her. I repeat the information several times in different ways to help her understand. We transition to her relaxing on the shiatsu futon so we can begin. After a few minutes of relaxing, she relates further that she is back in school and finds that feels a bit overwhelmed by the new information and has trouble assimilating it. I feel good as I have now some idea of which meridian flows might need support…even before begin the actual hands on sensing of her energy….
Pt. 2 next time. Click button in sidebar to receive auto updates of this blog.
