Shiatsu...coping with life challenges

Shiatsu is a broad-based treatment that covers prevention as much as cure and extends to alleviating chronic symptoms where a cure is not yet available. It also has surprisingly powerful benefits in helping people cope with all kinds of life challenges such as:

Job or business loss
Divorce
Pregnancy
Post-natal care
Injuries and chronic illness (e.g. Alzheimer’s)
Death

Regular shiatsu treatment can provide invaluable physical and emotional support for these trying challenges, usually reducing the stress and trauma involved and helping people come to terms with things to allow them to carry on with life as well and happily as they can.

Job or business loss

The loss of employment or failure of a business can be utterly devastating, often causing depression and major loss of self-esteem which can lead to a vicious circle as people are then less able to face their future. Regular shiatsu treatment and its calming and healing effect can significantly reduce such symptoms and help people rebuild their lives powerfully with renewed strength and confidence.

Divorce

Divorce is one of the most stressful life events exceeded only by grief. Coping with the demands of a divorce and rebuilding your life once the divorce is settled is greatly aided by regular shiatsu treatment (for one or both parties), the calming effect of which helps maintain perspective and keep grief and stress to a minimum. This in turn is likely to assist in settling the family’s affairs, whether or not your former spouse is of the same mind, though ideally, if both spouses cooperating in finding the least painful extraction from their relationship, a healthy post-divorce recovery can be beneficial to everyone involved, especially any children involved.

Pregnancy

Besides being very calming and soothing and restorative in terms of resultant fatigue and drain of one’s system, shiatsu is a treatment that allows profound inner connection not only with yourself but also with the growing life inside you, something that is immensely beneficial to mother and child alike, a benefit that will live with you both for life. It also reduces symptoms associated with pregnancy such as nausea, back pain, SPD and it helps you to relax and boost your energy, maintaining your strength and calmness that also helps the eventual birth itself.

Finally, if your baby is overdue, shiatsu has been shown to increase the chance of going into labour spontaneously (see research by Ingram, Domagala and Yates (2005)).

Post-natal care

Giving birth is a very beautiful but also traumatic experience for mother and child alike and post-natal care can alleviate the impact of the birth and help you restore your strength and balance. For those who find the impact brings depression, shiatsu treatment can make a significant difference by reducing negative emotions brought on by chemical and other causes of depression.

Injuries and chronic illness (e.g. Alzheimer’s)

Coping with chronic and even terminal illness is never an easy matter and shiatsu cannot operate as a cure, of course. However, it can make a significant difference to people attempting to cope with illness, whether it is the sufferer him/herself or a close relatives and carer. It may even have some surprising side benefits such as this story of how it helped someone suffering from Alzheimer's.

Death

Top of the list of life traumas is undoubtedly death. Though essentially a part of a natural cycle of life and death, for those left behind, such notions are often of little comfort when coming to terms with their loss. Regular shiatsu treatment can, however, help deal with feelings or profound grief and provide perspective on their loss, providing a soothing, calm base of which to cope with life without the person who has passed on.

NB Nothing above should be taken to mean that people are discouraged from seeking advice from a medical professional e.g a GP.