Shin Tai Bodywork

 - movement as an expression of life -

Who am I?

Where is friction in the system?

What is currently the priority?

Shin Tai means body of origin, body of consciousness.

Shin Tai Bodywork is a synthesis of Eastern and Western treatment concepts, expanding traditional Shiatsu. The focus is on working with gouvernor and conception vessel, structural alignment of the hips, pelvis and vertebrae, fascial techniques, working on the central channel and meninges, hara work (hara - our abdominal cavity), as well as finding and releasing stress patterns.

Stress causes a collapse of space in the body.

When space collapses, there is no longer any resonance.

Tissue contracts, it becomes tight.

Being separated from flow, the natural, free ideal state, creates friction.

The perception of time and space gets twisted.

Stress patterns trapped in the body significantly determine our life by preventing us from acting freely in the here and now. We may interpret current situations and challenges based on stuck patterns from the past, or see reality through a curtain of our stories or fears about the future, or we may be distracted by pain.

One reason for the storage of stress patterns can be, that we have adapted to crises and dealt with issues, but these experiences could not be fully processed and integrated or remained fully unconscious.

Keeping these condensed stress patterns in the system means an expenditure of energy, and additional energy is required to show us our misalignments and limitations. This consumes Ki - life energy - which is no longer available to us to act in the here and now.

In Shintai, deep stress patterns can be identified and gently resolved on different priority levels. If tensions and conditioning are allowed to be released and there is more freedom of movement in the body, this has an effect on our perception of time: more presence arises, lightness comes back and thus also strength and attention for the present moment: we are more present and feel lighter and more flexible.

Releasing tension is like recycling life force.

In Shin-Tai work, a method developed further from Shiatsu by Saul Goodman in the USA, conception vessel (CV) and governing vessel - (GV) - are the main actors for movement and vitality, which regulate the flow of the others 12 meridians. In traditional Shiatsu, they belong to the extraordinary vessels.

These original energy channels arise at the time of CONCEPTION:

Spirals, oscillations and waves are the main movements of a cell and thus an expression of an original vital function. In their combination, life is created from sperm and egg cell. At the moment of conception, an energy cycle is created, from which governing vessel and its sister meridian, conception vessel, develop. This is the core information system for the growing fetus: an inner receiving (CV) and an outer directing energy system (GV), connected in the form of a recumbent figure of eight, a cycle through which all communication and all rhythms of the body are determined.

The governing vessel is the most primitive part of the human information system, an original motive force that permeates the whole body. The steering vessel controls the development of the more specialized energy currents (meridians) in a growing embryo, as well as the creation of the nervous system, organs, glands, bones, etc. - its outer branch runs along the spine, but since it is an electromagnetic current, the governing vessel manifests also in the spinal cord, spine and brain. The conception vessel forms the Hara, the internal organs, as well as our digestive tract and the pelvis with its joints.

The restoration of movement and space in the body leads to a more free exchange of information throughout the body. Stress and its compensatory misalignments dissolve and adapt. The other meridians and energetic components like the chakras begin to function more optimally. Organs function better, circulation and breathing improve, and metabolism increases.

Life transitions such as puberty, menopause or awakening in mid-life are supported by Shintai. Goals and priorities become clear and one can appreciate life's potential. It's like going back online or getting back in sync with our inner power on a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual level.

Shintai is performed with clothes on while lying on a futon or body cushion.

Please wear comfortable clothing.

Source: Saul Goodman, Shiatsu Shin Tai, Evolution & Syntheses of Traditional Bodywork.