Spring Shiatsu Treatment Creating the movement

By Galit Shaviv

Chinese medicine relies on observation and investigation of nature, its phenomena and its cycles. As man is a being on earth, all movements and phenomena are directly reflected in man's behaviors, moods, actions, energy and every other aspect of life.
We already know that
In a free-association game within Chinese medicine practitioners when "wood element" is mentioned we would probably get this: Breakthrough. New beginnings. East. Morning. Spring. Wind. Keeps the blood. Tendons. Liver. Ligaments. Ability to make decisions and perform. Shouting. Anger. Gallbladder. Allergy. Frustration. Green. Eye-sight. Muscles. Sour. Wheat. Hun. Jue yin. Cleaning. Movement. Renewal. Growth. Ambition. Strategy. Creativity. Flexibility. Wild night dreams. Regularity. Circulation. And more.
All these reflect a movement from within to all directions, like a tree sending its Qi simultaneously to the roots, stem, branches and foliage. Or, in other forms that we rather call "pathology", the outcome of a movement that got stuck on its way to all directions (frustration for example).
In this article we will try to observe the current phase in nature - and what it brings to our lives and clinics. We will make suggestions of a suitable treatment, with a vision beyond releasing symptoms.
Shiatsu is not a symptomatic treatment. Although it's common to diagnose in a Chinese medicine tools and implement it in Shiatsu, we often realize that effectively lies with an accurate connection to the meridian system, inviting it to a mutual "joy-ride" - rather than pressing acu-points or working incidentally on a certain meridian.
Shiatsu is, first of all, a movement. Movement that supports the earth element due to a steady, deep rhythm. Movement that assists the wood to regulate all body movement. In the physical: skin, mussels, tendons, ligaments, joints, blood vessels, bones. In the emotional that is controlled by the Liver. And mainly the meridian system.
3 remarks about meridians
Meridians are the "last" phase of superior energy that has chosen to materialize within a body.
When a soul decides to realize itself as a human, it has to "decrease" its mass width in order to "fit" into compressed form (body) in a condensed space (earth).
The soul begins to condense itself through many forms of energy patterns, finally through the meridian system. Meridians exist between the worlds of vast-endless Qi - and matter, physical.
Meridian makes this connection, translating divine energy that had specified itself. Therefore the meridians "final" "condensed" forms are the organs.
Therefore - the physical body is in the meridian system (in contrast to: meridians are in the body). They reflect in the physical and emotional bodies. A change in the meridian will reflect in the physical.
All meridians are internally connected to each other. A movement that arises in one reflects the other. All eastern therapy methods, also some of the newly developed ones - are based on this principle.
Therefore, even though it's more effective to diagnose and treat a specific meridian, the Shiatsu steady movement will, eventually, affect the whole system.
For further information about inner connection between meridians see Master Matsunaga's book "Meridian Exercises".
Typical patient in spring-time: Lateral headaches. Stiff neck, Shoulders, Shoulder-blades. Allergy. Wild night dreams. Stiffness in muscles. Sever pms. A drive to make a change without the power to do it. A will to clean up digestive system. Will to learn something new. Frustration. All these involve Qi stagnation of wood organs, sometimes combined with connected meridians like pericardium or lung.
Our system cries for movement. Regular, long-dist