About Shyuyou Shiatsu（修養指圧）
Shiatsu is a genuine manual therapy formalized in Japan.
I think that Shiatsu has the potential to improve one’s constitution.
The purpose of Shiatsu is to treat client’s illness and daily physical disorder, improve chronic disability, and maintain one’s good health. Now, Shiatsu is widespread all over the world as much as it is in Japan. However, the common problem is that many Shiatsu practitioners themselves are losing physical condition (lumbago, stiff shoulders and so on) while supporting their clients.
To me, it is unnatural that an expert who heals people harms his own body during his activity. Because Shiatsu is a technique to activate one’s natural healing power, it is strange that the surgeon himself is incapable of performing the treatment under the rule of nature.
When doing acupressure, do you use your weight and Hara ? are you relaxed ? do you really use your body properly ? The educational system leads us to use our bodies based on knowledge and images built up through intellectual work. However, for most people what we see as « better » is only what is « conventional » and the result of our « habits ».
Shyuyou Shiatsu is not a method to teach technical skills to deal with headaches, shoulder stiffness or lower back pain. It is neither focused on acupoints or predetermined patterns (forms).
Through Shyuyou Shiatsu work we mutually try to understand our bodies, clarify various principles of nature, take off the filters in your minds (habits), and work to understand the principles of nature at the cell level. This course is a place where we evolve all together. If I explain it with a tree, it focuses on the root part, not the branches and leaves. If the root is healthy, naturally branches and leaves grow up healthily.
In order to acquire a body following the principles of nature, we need to find the balance as human beings.
Balance is mental and physical, providing a constantly calm and comfortable condition (neutral body) no matter what happens. It is the shortest way to understand the principles of nature.
The word of Shyuyou (修養) is from Douka (道家), The meaning is to polish the spirit, to increase knowledge, to refine character and to enhance personality. It is exactly the word that applies to my vision of Shiatsu, so I named it « Shyuyou Shiatsu ».
To me, through Shyuyou Shiatsu, both the client and the practitioner can improve their physical and mental health. Using various exercises we will approach topics that are generally difficult to understand and hard to master (such as: what is a good posture ?, the energy flow…)
Also, what you are learning in this course can be applied to other domains than Shiatsu.
This can bring deeper and clearer insights, and improve relationships with family, friends and coworkers: when the conflict with the opposite party vanishes, the stress caused by interpersonal relationships disappears as well. It may also greatly influence hobbies (progress faster), work (more efficiency), lifestyle (positiveness), etc..
I hope many people will join us to share this method of Shyuyou Shiatsu and participate to this mutual development. Everyone and not only shiatsu therapists can be healthy and improve their condition from inside, by using good posture and energy. My journey is just starting, let’s all evolve together !
We regularly organize open seminars where you can get in touch with this Shyuyou Shiatsu spirit and methodology.
Manabu Watanabe
Su Shiatsu 