Last week, I wrote about my experience of shiatsu as a part of my transition in Making the Shift in Mind and Body. I knew I hadn’t done a great job of explaining how shiatsu works, in particular the connection between the mind and the body. So I asked Sarah Waller, my shiatsu practitioners, to explain it for us:
Sarah writes:
What is the body-mind connection?
A good body-mind connection is something that is naturally within all of us and it provides us with an awareness and recognition of how we are feeling, functioning and recovering whether its from an injury, an illness, trauma or stress. When our body is working in harmony with a good body-mind connection, our body recovers quickly and feels well so we can continue to live our lives to the best of our ability.
Often when we experience pain, trauma or stress, whether on physical or emotional levels or both, our body tunes in and focuses on that particular area. This can result in disconnection from how the rest of the body feels and works. This can occur with both acute (recent) and chronic (longstanding) conditions.
How can shiatsu help?
Shiatsu is a very versatile approach to treatment that uses a combination of traditional Oriental Medicine and 5 Element theory to look at a person as a whole individual rather than just a ‘problem’. Following injury, trauma and illness the messages that help the body work effectively can become distorted. By taking into account not only the present condition but also the diet, sleep pattern, likes, dislikes and habitual behaviour we can collate an accurate picture of how to hep the body ‘reboot’ itself. Shiatsu is a hands on treatment that stretches, mobilizes and opens up the body to encourage better flow and communication.
Why is this important?
By us being connected to how our body-mind is feeling and working on a daily basis, we are better able to be more aware of when problems are starting to occur. This helps enable us to treat and prevent problems spiralling out of control and causing disharmony and possible ‘disease’ . We can get on and live life!
Clare writes: Thanks Sarah, that’s a much better explanation than mine!
