Shiatsu is a particular type of manual treatment born and developed in Japan. It makes use of different cultural references and different techniques, which therefore give rise to real different styles.
The term “shiatsu” is a word composed of “shi” (fingers) and “atsu” (pressure): it therefore means “pressure with the fingers”.
This particular method originates from oriental medicine and philosophy for which every living organism, therefore also and above all man, is pervaded by vital energy.
The Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare defines it as follows:
“Shiatsu is a treatment in which the thumbs and palms of the hands are used to exert pressure on certain points, in order to correct irregularities of the organism, to preserve and improve the state of health and to contribute to the cure of certain morbid conditions “.
Shiatsu is currently defined in Italy as an art for health. Through a precise sequence of pressures exerted on the whole body, it helps to rebalance the body both from a functional, physiological and energetic point of view. Furthermore, it allows you to recover your strength if weakened by stress and tension, always in harmony with nature and without any unpleasant or harmful side effects.
One of its important characteristics is to have a global approach to the individual: it does not only aim to eliminate the most superficial symptoms and disorders but considers and therefore treats the person as a whole, taking into account all his complexity.
The primary purpose of shiatsu is to stimulate the ‘self-healing’ capacity inherent in each individual; therefore it contributes to keeping the organism in the best conditions of health.
Shiatsu has been present in Italy since the mid-1960s. Since then, different styles have developed that have had a remarkable and positive evolution, the result of the study and practice of many pioneers and researchers.
In the shiatsu treatment the perpendicular pressure, kept constant, constitutes the peculiar characteristic of refined work, which each style realizes, according to its own scientific, cultural and technical references.
The professional training of the shiatsu operator is original and autonomous. It is produced by the coexistence of specific technical and cultural elements which are the patrimony of those who carry out research in this field and who practice this profession.
The shiatsu operator is trained in a multi-year process in which the acquisition of technical, theoretical and perceptive elements is closely and constantly connected to the practice.