ACDM - Association Canadienne des Massothérapeutes et Autres thérapeutes en Médecines Alternatives
THE FIFTH DIMENSION OF MASSAGE
By Sandra Conti is a massage therapist
In massotherapy we work with the physical body within the contexts of space and time.
Yet during the course of a treatment, energy, trapped in the tissues, is released.
This relieves the contraction and the pain, and floods the affected area with fresh energy and the feeling of relaxation and warmth.
There's nothing like a well done massage for treating stress and muscle pain!
But it isn't the touch which produces the healing effect. It is the release of energy. Even better is the strategic release of energy, as anyone who has had an unprofessional massage experience can tell you.
Knowing how, when and where to touch creates an harmonic symphony of healing touch, which should be the ideal standard for massotherapy.
Nature of Energy
The energy which is released, and thereby is already in existence in the body, comes from what I would call a multi-dimensional realm. Ancient healing traditions assert that the universe, all forms and beings, contain this energy.
As therapists it should be our business to understand this life energy, which in asian traditions is called "chi" and follows a path of channels throughout the body called "meridians".
This tradition has existed unchanged for 5000 years.
Well... until now.
Using this tradition as its starting point, "Tao Shiatsu", developed by Master and Buddhist priest, Ryoku Endo, brings shiatsu therapy technically into this, the multi-dimensional realm of chi. Lessons begin with basic instruction in the techniques of internally perceiving chi and intuitively determining where the client most needs to be touched .
As an intuitive and mystic, I found this approach to be "mind-blowing", and so, Master Endo wants his students to see past their minds into the invisible realm of the energies which are present.
For centuries this has been the approach of shamanic healers, and now it is being presented as the new and right starting point for modern shiatsu therapy.
He has also re-mapped the meridians discovering a number which are not even part of the physical body! Now that's revolutionary - and it blends perfectly with the field of energy medicine.
A Perfectly Healing Marriage
Philosophically and technically, we have come a long way as alternative therapists.
Tao Shiatsu takes us consciously into the holistic realms of vibrational levels, and marries it via the bridge of meridians with physical shiatsu manoeuvres to reach energetic blocks and relieve symptoms which could not be effectively reached heretofore.
It was Master Endos' frustration at not being able to be so effective in the 1980's, as his clients presented themselves with ailments caused by energy blockages at much deeper levels than traditional shiatsu could effectively treat, that he began to invesigate and develop this new approach.
His teacher, the Master Shizuto Masunaga, had begun this more intuitive approach for Endo in 1980, but passed away the year he graduated, leaving him in the role of pioneer. He pursued this work for the next 20 years with great humility, seriousness and compassion.
His most recent book, "Tao Shiatsu: Revolution in Oriental Medicine" (2008), describes his life's journey as a student, teacher, and practitioner of shiatsu, as well as the method itself. He also discusses his vocation as a Buddhist priest and its contribution to his being an instrument of the universal healing energy which unites all humanity and life at heart.
Before his establishment of the Tao method, he worked with the Ki (Japanese for chi) and Heart School, believing that the human heart could be opened by treating the heart meridians and applying buddhist techniques of self-analysis, compassion, and humility.
In the Ki and Heart School, it is taught that there should be no touch without openess and application of heart in union with the client and with the total wish for his/her well being. Otherwise, the treatment will not be as effective.
In 2005 I attended a short workshop in his Ki and Heart School in Montreal, which applied his Tao method, and walked away permanently relieved of the chronic knee pain I had been suffering. One of his teachers from the Toronto Center was offerring the workshop, and though he knew nothing of my pain, approached me, pressed firmly three times on my hip, which sent a sharp pain down my leg, and released whatever it was that caused the pain!
I knew then this was the method I'd been looking for and needed to study.
The Post-2012 World
As we approach the end of 2012, I have no doubt that great change is possible in all fields of human activity, but especially in the areas of science, technology and medicine. As alternative therapists we are privileged to be on the leading edge of some of these changes.
As a means to use the healing power of the life force of the universe in a specifically channelled physical treatment, Tao Shiatsu is becoming one of the world's leading alternative therapies, and takes massotherapy beyond a three dimensional world.
It truly is a revolution in oriental medicine.
Sandra Conti is a massage therapist with a certificates in shiatsu, acupressure, and swedish techniques.
References:
Tao Shiatsu: Revolution in Oriental Medicine, 2008.
Copyright Ryokyu Endo.
Tao Sangha community, Montreal.
https://taosangha-na.com/
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