The Shiatsu was born in Japan but it bases they are Chinese.

SHI = life ATSU = pressure

The characteristics of the Shiatsu are:
- pressure
- relaxation
- energetic riequilibrio

They use pressures with thumb, palm, elbow.

The therapy Shiatsu takes care of problems that concern the emotional sphere (anxiety, depression, hypertension, abulimia, anorexia, amenorrhoea etc.); all the psychosomatic troubles (muscular pains, articular, ache of back, cefalee, torcicollo etc.).

In the Shiatsu, the therapist (shiatsuka) enters relationship with the patient through the manual contact so that to perceive the state of energetic equilibrium on which must work. This way acting, in the moment in which draws the patient, the shiatsuka ago already an energetic diagnosis. The relationship therapist (torì) and patient (ukè) it is therefore two-way. In the practice the session of shiatsu happens in a calm and comforting environment: generally the patient is extended to earth on a stuffed (tatami) carpet or at times sat on a bench low or stretched out on a gurney from massage, while the therapist can stay knelt or standing. They exist some complete treatments constituted by a sequence of manipulations codified (katà), but a specific treatment can also be effected according to the problem.

The manipulation is very pleasant and relaxing generally and consists of tractions and pressures maintained for some second on precise areas, intercalated by sweet mobilizations of the articulations.

The pressure can be practiced with the point of the fingers, with the knuckles, with the palm of the hands, with the plant of the feet, with the elbow or with the knee, according to the position and of the intensity of sought after stimulation.

It is usually preferred not to directly operate on the skin, therefore the patient usually wears a light suit or an overall.

Natural mobility is never forced and they doesn't come "loose" with strength the possible knots of tension (unlike what happens in some techniques of Chinese traditional massage and western therapeutic massage), but it actually operates always him through a gradual balancing to get the equilibrium.


They are not used therefore olii or creams, as it happens in other types of traditional massage instead (es. ayurvedico).

Some shiatsukas it combines to the treatment some techniques derived by the Chinese traditional medicine or Japanese, what the moxibustione, that consists in the stimulation of the point of acupuncture with the operated heating burning some small cones of dust of dried artemisia supported on the skin or approaching the fire of a to the point "cigar" done with the same grass.