Here’s our recommendation of excellent Shiatsu massage therapists in Sydney:
Natural Beauty Clinic
(Yoshihiro Nakamura)
Shop 6A, 211 Ben Boyd Rd,
Neutral Bay 2089
Mob 0412 357 259
Trained in Japan, 12years experience in Acupuncture, Moxibustion and Massage (specializing in Shiatsu) trained in Japan. Also has extensive experience as a professional trainer in Japan.
Linda Zivnustkova
Sydney CBD
0405 673 113
parivartanam@hotmail.com
Shiatsu and Zen Shiatsu Therapy. Practitioner of Energetic Bodywork, Herbology, Reflexology, Meditation, Nutrition, Tai Chi, Yoga, Qi Gong and Reiki. Trained in the Czech Republic, Australia and the USA. Robust diagnostic techniques for the treatment and healing of digestion problems, PMS, chronic or acute pains, stress and/or emotion-related symptoms.
Somatonic Shiatsu
(Pedro Campiao)
Energetic bodymind alignment.
Flat4/14 Hunter St, Lewisham
Home 02 9568 3170 Mob 0402 632 541
Treatments may include: Moxibustion, Cupping, Reiki, Chakra Toning, Chinese Patent Herbs, Nutrional Guidance, Counselling.
Phillip Howard
37 Brown St, St Peters
Home 02 9557 2428 Treatment at clients home is also possible.
15 years experienced Shiatsu and Reiki practitioner. Teaching Course “SHIATSU THE ART OF TOUCH” available. Mon-Fri.
Elziby Jenkinson
Home and Mobile based in Elizabeth Bay.
Home 02 9356 2345 Mob 0405 493 889
Elzibyjen@yahoo.com
South African trained in Toru Namikoshi Shiatsu, Chris Starmer’s Reflexology Footology (Reading of Feet) as well as Indian Head Massage and Lymphatic Drainage.
Cornelia F. Wiesemueller
269 Bronte Rd, Waverley Alternative Health Clinic/Shop
0416 149 585 or 02 9365 2989
Japanese Zen Shiatsu, Corrective Yoga, Meditation, QiGong, Meridian
Therapy, Holoenergetic Rebalancing, Holotropic Breath Therapy, Wholefood
Medicine, Personal Health Coaching, Consulting.
More on Shiatsu:
Shiatsu Massage is a traditional healing art developed in Japan a century ago based on traditional 3000-year-old Chinese medicine. It combines massage, stretching, gentle physical manipulation and pressure along channels called meridians.
Acupuncture also uses these meridians and pressure points to balance the body’s energy, called “Ki” or “Chi”.
Each meridian mirrors a particular organ function. When the meridians are balanced, the tissue, muscles, nerves, metabolism and emotions are balanced.
Shiatsu in Japanese means finger pressure. The practitioner uses her/his fingers and also palms, elbows and sometimes even feet to unblock and stimulate the flow of energy.
Western medicine diagnoses illness by measuring any particular internal element as a deficiency, excessiveness or the occurrence of visible abnormal cell growth. Can this condition be called “normal”, however, before the excessiveness, deficiency or abnormality occurs?
Dirty Water:
Consider the human body to be an empty glass. The society in which we live, the food we eat and the emotional stages we endure cause us to take lots of stress and toxins into the body, almost as if we are pouring dirty water into the glass. This ‘dirty water’ unbalances the body.
We do have natural healing power to fix these bodily imbalances and many of the body’s organs help detoxification. We eliminate toxins through the skin, by sweating, and through urine/excrement etc. When we take too many toxins or when our natural healing abilities and body functions weaken, the amount of ‘dirty water’ increases. When the ‘glass’ gets full, it starts to overflow.
Now symptoms appear. The overflowed ‘dirty water’ shows up maybe as a deficiency or excessiveness of something, a headache, a stomach ache, eczema, acne or abnormal cell growth etc.
All of these symptoms are messages from the body conveying the message that something is happening inside the body. The body is asking your help.
Even if the ‘glass’ has not yet begun to overflow, the ‘dirty water’ can still be there. It’s merely is not visible yet. Medicine places a lid on the ‘glass’ to cover this ‘dirty water’. Medicine might give temporary release from the pain to the point where it seems as if the problems are gone – but does that mean ‘dirty water’ is gone from the glass? The answer is no. Even if you put a lid on the ‘glass’, the ‘dirty water’ still exists and it may overflow again. The symptoms may be different next time.
Eastern Medicine – including Acupuncture, Moxibustion and Shiatsu Massage – increases the body’s self-healing power and bodily functions so the body can detoxify properly and restore the body’ healthy energy flow– it is actually preventive medicine which ensures the body is less likely to have toxins and that balance is restored.
Causes of Illness:
Eastern Medicine believes illness is caused by disharmony between nature and the human body and mind. When the body loses its energy, balance is affected by three different causes.
Nai-In(Internal cause) eg: drastic change of seven emotions. Anger, Joy, Pensiveness, Anxiety, Fear, Fright and Grief. When these emotions are excessive or last a long time then the body’s powers of resistance are incapable of restoring the balance.
Gai-In(External cause) eg: The natural environmental change. The six Pernicious Influences. Wind, Cold, Heat, Dampness, Dryness and Summer Heat. When the body loses its adaptability to environmental changes.
Funai-Gai-In (Others) eg: Injury, Diet, Excess or lack of sex, Accident, Overwork, Pollution, Drugs etc.
When those Internal, External and other factors affect the body, the body loses its Ying /Yang balance and also the balance of the five elements within the body so “Ki” stops flowing freely and this then produces a symptom- according to Chinese Philosophy.
Yin/Yang are the two mutually contradictory properties of all phenomena. They are manifested everywhere and all movement and changes are between them.
- Yin: earth, shadow, cold, female, passive, interior, back, inward, decrease
- Yang: heaven, light, heat, male, active, exterior, front, outward, increase
The organs in our body also belong to either of them and they are related each other to maintain balance.
Five elements are seen in the splitting of Yin and Yang into more tangible components – Wood , Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. They are related in a creating and controlling cycle.Eastern Medicine diagnosis is conducted according to the 4 Diagnostic Techniques :
- Observation: The colour and the structure of the face, tongue and the body
- Listening: The sound of voice and breathing
- Interview: Determining medical history, life style, heredity, and symptoms.
- Touch: Feeling pulse, body temperature and tenderness or pressure.
Shiatsu Massage Practice:
Shiatsu massage is especially concerned with touch diagnosis of the Abdominal area (Hara Diagnosis). This was originally developed in Japan and subsequently made its way to China some time afterwards. The aim of Eastern Medicine is to increase vital self-healing and to restore the patient’s harmony with nature by adjusting Yin/Yang and the five elements in the body – so s/he can communicate with his/her own body and find the cause of the illness in her/his lifestyle.
The session is carried out fully clothed. This procedure once took place on a Futon mat at floor level back in old days when massage tables were not readily available. It is currently possible to receive Shiatsu while sitting on a chair or lying on a massage table.
People wonder whether Shiatsu Massage is painful. This is probably because there are some practitioners who believe stiffness in the muscles needs to be targeted and attacked roughly – but it doesn’t necessarily have to be painful. If the body is already in pain, why should we give it more?Healing Hands:
The word “Teate” in Japanese (literally means Healing, Treatment) simply means “press hands” or ” hands touch”. I believe that everybody must have experienced the power of healing hands at least one time in their lives. Imagine when you were child, when you were in pain for any reason, your mother touched the area where you were in pain and in a little while the pain just went away and you felt much better afterwards.
Alternatively you might simply place your hand on your head or stomach when you have a headache or stomach ache? This is the healing power we all have.
It is because we unconsciously know we have this healing power and where to put our hands when we are in pain. This is the basis of many of the touching therapies. Causing additional pain is not required. Muscle stiffness, abnormal cells and illnesses are not things that are built in a day then do not expect then to disappear instantly like magic.
Take your time and communicate with your body to find out what the cause of the illness is first. Do not try to just kick them out. They are part of you. Talk to yourself and give your love to every part of yourself. The body took time and gave you a signal asking you to recognize the disharmony with nature that eventually caused the illness. Let your body take time to heal it. What the body need is reformation not aggressive revolution. Revolution always creates chaos in our lives. The most important thing is to communicate with yourself and improve the problems within your life style. Shiatsu Massage is designed to balance your energy and give you the opportunity to communicate with your body.
WOOD
Season: Spring
Colour: Blue/Green
Yin Organs: Liver
Yang Organs: Gall Bladder
Taste: Sour
FIRE
Summer
Red
Heart
Small Intestine
Bitter
EARTH
Indian Summer
Yellow
Spleen
Stomach
Sweet
METAL
Autumn
White
Lungs
Large Intestine
Pungent
WATER
Winter
Black
Kidney
Bladder
Salty
(The knowledge and understanding of these theories is essential to making a proper diagnosis.)
Article by Ayumi Sato.
