Shiatsu and specific spleen work?

[Winglessangel]

Hi, folks:

I had a local MT call to set up an appointment with me for next week. She has been in the biz far longer than I have, and said she wanted an entire hour just on her legs because "her immune system was down and she needed some spleen work."

Of course I had significant training in Shiatsu in massage school, but it has never been a modaility that I have emphasized in my own practice.

The first thought that cropped up after we hung up was, "Maybe I should call her back and let her know about a male practitioner in our area who is fondly known as the "guru" of shiatsu in our small community (he was also my Shiatsu instructor in school.)"

At the same time, I am always up for a new challenge! For those of you who specialize in doing Shiatsu, what kind of an hour-long routine would you perform on the legs, emphasizing the spleen meridians? Just the basics would be a great help!

Or, if you think I should refer her out, I will also be glad to do that!

What I love most about massage (other than helping others) is that there is always more to learn -- and if I can add to my skills it will benefit all my clients.

As always, you rock! :dancingparty:

Sherry

 

[Savvylee]

I say take the challenge - unless you feel you can't offer the services they are requesting, then refer out.

What is great about this business is no matter how long someone has been in this business, they always have something to learn but also something to teach the other person. I think you will come out better for taking the challenge then referring it to the "guru"...just my 2¢

 

[Peng]

I don't use a great deal of shiatsu in my practice, however
as a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner we address the whole body, as well as the mental & emotional aspects by holding 2 points at a time, with the first 3 fingertips, changing from one point to another in the course of a "flow". Depending on the client, their "projects" as we call them, and overall state of health, we work anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour in a session. Young children, or those who are ill, are generally better off with short sessions repeated 8 hours apart.

Normally JSJ sessions are done with the client fully dressed, in the supine position. If you are working with someone during a massage session you can hold the points over the top sheet and for points under the body, just slide your hand under the bottom sheet to reach any points on the posterior side.

Any time the immune sytem is an issue we will often work kidney, liver & spleen, especially with more critical health issues.

This is the second depth flow and is often used to balance mental & emotional states, particularly sadness & grief, constant worries & fear as well as those hanging onto negativity. It also works with the connective tissues on the fascial layer. We practitioners often use it for various respiratory issues (allergies, mold, hay fever, dust, coughing & mucus, colds & asthma, etc) along with other flows as well to support the lung and more.

The second depth can be utilized to "unload" & pull the energy through the spleen (part of which travels through the legs):

Sit to the right of the client - place the right hand along the lateral edge of the foot, halfway up the length of the foot, place your left hand on the posterior Iliac Crest, and move the fingertips medially by approx. 2".

Hold those points for 2 to 5 minutes (see if you can feel the energetic pulse under each hand, if you pick it up the pulse then take note of how it feels differently from the right & left hand. Remain on those points until you feel both sides harmonize to the same rate of pulsation)

Once the rate of pulse is balanced, shift the right hand to the base of the left ribcage. Hold it as before waiting for the pulse to shift, then move to the right medial leg,
go to the medial knee joint and go up the inner thigh by one hand span width (your client's hand width, that is) and hold there. The last move is the right hand goes to the chest, on the 3rd rib down from the collarbone/approx 1/2 way between the sternum and the lateral side of the chest.

All those moves can be reversed for the opposite side,
with you sitting on the left side.

A quickie move for the spleen flow itself:
Sit on the right of your client, and hold the medial right ankle area (hold between the ankle and the heel) with your right hand fingertips and place the left hand under the sheet, at the base of the coccyx. Reverse for the opposite
side by sitting left and use the left hand on the left medial ankle & the right hand goes to the coccyx.

One other note regarding JSJ, is that it can help when dealing with spleen issues is the if you go two steps ahead to the small intestine, work that area, then go one step
behind to the stomuch meridian & work the points there, it will help to clear out the dam or blockage going on then help with pushing energy through the spleen.

Dealing with detoxing the body, as you know can be a multi-layer process, so hopefully your MT client is doing whatever else she needs to do to support her own
health, through doing colon & liver cleanses, juicing, having green drinks, changing the diet or fasting, etc.

Hope this helps !

 

[SkepDoc 2.0]

In Donna Eden's work, she emphasizes that Spleen is often having its energy conscripted by Triple Warmer (the immune system's offense-system).

So I would also recommend working TW with the goal of calming it down, taking it off red alert. It's sensitive to anything new/unexpected, and so in our information age society it tends to be overly on all the time.

It can also fight your treatment... holding the temples lightly for a couple minutes before beginning is a good way to start.

 

[the cool muslim]

Thank you all for your wonderful replies -- and, riversinger, for your very detailed and thoughtful response. Thank you so much for spending the time to describe the specific steps you would take!

The people on this forum never fail to amaze me -- it is the "most givingest" (I make up words whenever the need strikes me! ) group you could ever hope to find!

Thank you all! t039

Sherry

 

[Pompal 09.]

One quickie method for calming the TW, as EgoMagickian so rightly added, is to place the hands on the outer corners of the eyebrows, sweep them back over the temples, down behind the ears and the back of the neck, across the top of the shoulder line then down the outer line of the arms to the ring fingers. Pass it on to your client/MT as well.
Having used it myself, I find it very calming & soothing to do for selfhelp.

Good luck & have fun working with the JSJ technique. It's amazing stuff !