Jin Shin Do® Acupressure

About Acupressure:

What is Acupressure?
Shoulder and Neck Release
Acupressure Facial
What is Jin Shin Do® Bodymind Acupressure?
The Two Eyes of Jin Shin Do®

Ancient Oriental medical theories that have proven effective for over 5,000 years hold that vital energy (chi, prana) flows through specific pathways in the body Meridians and that all diseases are an indication of imbalances in the individual's energetic system.

When Meridians become blocked or congested you may experience on a physical level pain or discomfort, on an emotional level you may become frustrated or irritable, and on a spiritual level you may feel a sense of confusion, vulnerability and a difficulty knowing your purpose in life.

By applying deep but gentle fingerpressure on specific Acu-points along the Meridian pathways blocked or congested energy starts to release and a balanced energy flow is reestablished. This helps the body to heal itself by regaining its physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and energetic balance.

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Specific acu-points in this area are used to relieve stress, tension and discomfort. The relief of tension and blockages in the neck is extremely important, because all the supply (blood, lymph, and Qi) of our head goes through the neck. A very tense neck might cause headaches, migraines, eye and ear problems, tinnitus and more.

The Shoulder Neck Release is used in combination with the Acupressure Facial, Acupressure and Reflexology treatments.

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Specific points at the head are used in combination with the Shoulder Neck Release.

For rejuvenation I like to add a little of Reflexology to stimulate the release of growth hormones.

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Developed by psychotherapist Iona Marsaa Teeguarden, Jin Shin Do® combines gentle yet deep finger pressure on acu-points with simple body focussing techniques, to help release physical and emotional tension. The client determines the depth of the pressure. Jin Shin Do® promotes a pleasurable trance state during which the recipient can get in touch with the body, and access feelings or emotions related to the physical condition. This bodymind approach is a unique synthesis of a traditional Japanese acupressure technique, classic Chinese acupuncture theory, Taoist yogic philosophy and breathing methods, and Reichian segmental theory.

Jin Shin Do® Acupressure is highly effective in helping relieve tension and fatigue, stress-related headaches and gastro-intestinal problems, back and shoulder pain, eye strain, menstrual/menopausal imbalances, sinus pain and allergies. (With any medical problem, the client is asked to consult a doctor.) A typical session is about 1 ½ hours. The client is clothed and lies on his or her back on a massage table, while the practitioner holds "local points" in tension areas together with related "distal points", which help the armoured places to release more easily and deeply.

After sessions, clients typically feel deeply relaxed, and may even feel "high". If the client is responsive, there will be significantly less tension and pain, together with an increased sense of well-being, for some hours or days, and this response will tend to extend after further sessions. In the case of chronic fatigue, at first the client may feel more tired after a session, because the body is demanding rest, so it is advisable to schedule sessions planning time to rest and relax afterwards. On the other hand, Jin Shin Do® can be used before athletic events to improve performance - for horses as well as for people! Over a period of 10 or more sessions, the long-term benefits are an overall deep release of physical armouring, with a corresponding release of emotional armouring.

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At its basic level, Jin Shin Do® Acupressure is a relaxation method that can help release physical and emotional tension. In the hands of a trained therapist, this Bodymind Acupressure technique can be used to help release the effects of childhood abuse and other trauma. The work can include the intensity of catharsis, but is characterized by gentleness and non-invasiveness, safety in touch, and a sense of wonder and synchronicity. What makes Jin Shin Do® different from other systems of acupressure is its foundational use of the Strange Flows in the choice of 45 JSD points, and its integration of Western psychotherapeutic concepts, notably those of Wilhelm Reich. These Eastern and the Western theories are like two lenses through which to view the bodymind. They are the two eyes of Jin Shin Do®.

Jin Shin Do®'s use of the Strange Flows comes to us from Japanese acupressurist Jiro Murai's near-death vision of "rivers of fire" running through his body. In gratitude for his recovery, he devoted the rest of his life to understanding his vision and learning how to use it for healing. Part of his work, Jin Shin Jyutsu, connected Jiro Murai's "Major Vertical Flow", "Main Central Flow", "Minor Diagonal Flow", and "Fatigue Flow" with the eight "Strange Flows" (or "Extraordinary Meridians") of Chinese acupuncture. This vision reunites Jiro Murai's legacy with its 5000 year old Chinese roots. Jiro Murai's spontaneous recovery and Iona Teeguarden's subsequent research into the Strange Flows enlarged our understanding of them as a primary self-regulating mechanism. Also called "Wondrous Vessels" or "Psychic Channels", they are a system of eight channels that store and release energy to all the twelve "Organ Meridians". When open, these channels shunt life energy around the body, continually adjusting and moderating the flow of energy through the twelve meridians.

Thus, at its basic level, rather than "prescribe" specific points for specific conditions, Jin Shin Do® acupressure seeks to stimulate the body's own system of self-regulation by activating the Strange Flows and allowing the body to balance its own energy.

To this already rich therapeutic approach, Iona added a Western component - from Wilhelm Reich's view of the body as a series of segments, each relating to specific emotional experiences. When we are not allowed to express an emotion, the way we hold it back - or keep it from coming into the world - it by tightening the muscles that would normally express it. This tension can become chronic, with the muscles involved becoming rigid and incapable of expression. As we use muscular tension to numb out feeling, "rings of armouring" develop in specific segments, and we become separated from the emotional energies that could give direction to our lives. To release the armouring, Iona has applied Reichian ideas about the sequence of releasing the segments and the layers of armouring within them. She uses acupressure to loosen muscular armouring and restore emotional expressiveness, and suggests that the vertical flows of energy which Reich talked about are the channels and meridians (all but one of which flow vertically through the body).

Looking again through the Eastern lens, the emotions are honoured as servants of the Spirit. Each pair of meridians carries a specific emotional energy: joy, anger, grief, fear, concern, etc. When we do not honour our feelings and let them guide us, when we hold them back with muscular tension, we also cut off the flow of energy through the channels and meridians, and to the internal organs. Those big tight knots in our shoulders (or back, or neck or wherever) are pools of energy that has ceased to flow through the acu-points. Therefore, one of the best preventative medicines is simply learning to be aware of our feelings - learning to heed them and give them appropriate expression in the world. In this process, the Strange Flows can have a general balancing and calming effect.

This article is reprinted from A Complete Guide to Acupressure, By Iona Marsaa Teeguarden and senior JSD teachers.

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