The art of personal healing
The SELF SHIATSU course was developed in order to give participants the
opportunity to take well-being into their own hands. The true power of
health care lies with the individual because healing starts on an emotional
level. If you do not want to heal, it does not matter what you do, you
will not get well. By taking full responsibility for your own wellness,
you have made a conscious choice to restore balance to your life.
The focus of SELF SHIATSU is personal healing. The principle, ‘the
only person who can heal you, is you’ is a greatly self empowering
one. Much of our current cultural belief undermines this very powerful
statement — in many ways, traditional medical practices seek to remove
personal choice and responsibility from the individual. However, all areas
of one’s life can be changed and transformed if one simply chooses
to make a difference.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that true health care
is not limited to merely the physical body. Given that the human individual
is made up of physical, emotional and spiritual components, it makes sense
that in managing your own wellness, you should address all three of these
aspects. This is what we refer to as working with the whole self.
Using SELF SHIATSU techniques specifically designed to release tension
from within the body’s tissues, we naturally begin to access the
emotional component of ourselves. Stored physical stresses do go hand
in hand with emotional ones — headaches may be wrapped up in frustration,
backaches in fear, stomachaches in anxiety, etc.. Tuning into the emotions
at this point is a very simple process — all you have to do is feel.
In so far as the physical tensions will release themselves, so too will
the emotional ones. Truly feeling involves not only experiencing the physical
sensation of release, but also allowing yourself to access and feel all
the emotions involved.
One of the fundamental pursuits of Shiatsu treatments is to create balance
within the whole self. This is done by developing a greater awareness
of how one feels both physically and emotionally and coming to terms with
these individual components as integral parts of a whole. When we reach
a state wherein we feel at peace with who we are physically, emotionally
and spiritually, then we have moved into a state of harmony.
With the SELF SHIATSU program, the intention is no different. Through
the implementation of various introspective exercises and SELF SHIATSU
techniques, one begins to tune into the body and feel what is happening
within physically, emotionally and spiritually. Consciously working to
release blockages both at the physical and emotional level, is where truly
profound healing begins. This is the point at which an individual has
the power to heal themselves. No one can force you to release your emotional
blockages and no one can do it for you — only you can do this work.
Everyone else is simply a facilitator.
As we develop a greater sense of who we are, and move into a place where
we come from a deeper sense of peace, harmony and love, our spiritual
self begins to open up more fully. Recognizing the inter-relationship
between our physical self and our emotional self helps reflect our true
relationship to all that is around us — helping us realize that we
are as One. True spiritual awareness, then, is simply the deep realization
of the inter-connectedness of our three bodies within ourselves, and that
the entire universe is a reflection of this same oneness.
How, then, does SELF SHIATSU go about bringing harmony to the whole self?
The SELF SHIATSU classes consist of diverse techniques which include Basic
Meditation, Breath Work and Meridian Stretching, as well as various introspective
exercises and fundamentals of Zen Shiatsu practice.
These combined exercises make a very powerful approach to developing ease
within the body and resolving some of our daily stresses. Participants
will learn how to manage the effects day-to-day stress has on the body,
as well as assist it in alleviating common complaints such as headache,
backache, muscle stiffness and so on. By practicing systematic relaxation,
opening up and unblocking the energy pathways, we are better able to recharge
the whole body, enabling it to regenerate and strengthen itself for optimal
health.
SELF SHIATSU is designed as an ongoing program of four-week workshops
for beginner, intermediate and instructional level participants. Regular
weekly maintenance classes, one hour in length, will be available to past
workshop participants. Throughout the year, specialized SELF SHIATSU programs
will also be offered for: Couples; Women; Athletes; Over 50; etc.. Whether
for professional development or personal enjoyment, continued participation
promises to yield greater insight and promote individual well-being.
For information on currently scheduled SELF SHIATSU classes, please contact Gregory Axelson at Essential Choices, 416•934•9179.
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