The art of Shiatsu is an ancient technique from Japan and is meant to be used to diagnose and treat different irregularities of the body. By using the fingers, palms and the thumbs the person applying the pressure to certain areas of the surface of the body can correct those imbalances. To get good at it will take time and experience to get right but it is something that massage therapists might want to consider adding to their skills.
When you go to perform shiatsu you will need to make sure that your patient is laying face down either on a very low massage table or on the floor. The patient does not have to take their clothes off for this kind of massage because there are no oils or creams used. As soon as the patient is comfortable the therapy can start.
The whole thing is about pressure and you will be using only the fingers, thumbs and palms to apply this pressure. Unlike regular massage where you use the thumbs and fingers to massage and squeeze the different body areas with shiatsu you just apply pressure only to those same body areas.
You need to understand your patient and try to find out why they want to have shiatsu done. Many will know what's wrong and let you know, while others may not know the root of their problem and were just hoping that shiatsu might help. So before you begin the treatment it's a good idea to examine different areas of their body that should include the stomach, the back their legs and their neck. It's a good idea to look for any soft or hard areas. These are the areas that will help you figure out which areas need special attention. Once you have found the area you can start performing the shiatsu treatment.
Remember that when you perform shiatsu it is not like when you perform a regular type of massage. There are specific places on the body that you need to target so that the overall health of the patient is addressed. Areas such as the head, the neck, fingers, palms and the feet including the toes are all what are called access points to the major organs of our bodies. These are the areas that need to be targeted by applying pressure to certain points in these body areas.
The meridians need to be located as well as these are the pathways in which the chi or the body energy flows through. Shiatsu was specifically designed to apply the right amount of pressure to break any blockages there might be in these meridians or pathways that could be keep the chi from flowing. To find these pathways you simply apply pressure to certain parts of the body that have been mentioned prior in this article and then use your fingers to find any stiffness or anything else that might seem to be irregular. You can then work out that stiffness or irregularity by applying pressure with both your thumbs and your fingers.
Understand that a good Shiatsu treatment is going to last anywhere from 1 to 2 hours and you need to make sure that you are thorough. You will need to make sure to work on all of the body areas extensively in order to ensure that the treatment will be of benefit to the patient.
It's advisable that you do good research on finding the body meridians because it will make it a lot easier on you when you go to treat your patient. Understand that the instructions here are basically for some lower level simple treatments at home. In order to professionally practice Shiatsu you will need to get a license to do so.