In the winter of 1995, while studying violin in Lugano, Switzerland, I had my first contact with Zen Shiatsu. At the time, I was living in Comano, a suburb of Lugano, where there happened to be a shiatsu clinic. One day, while strolling through the cobbled streets of Comano, I met one of the therapists from the clinic. We got to talking and I mentioned that due to my daily violin practice I suffered from physical and emotional tension. On hearing this, the therapist invited me to the clinic for a treatment. After my first shiatsu session I felt much happier, lighter and more relaxed.
Thanks to this experience, I started to take an interest in this effective and powerful form of therapy. But it wasn’t until 10 years later that I would take an introductory course in Namikoshi Shiatsu, while I was living in Mexico City. Although I learned a lot from this course, I felt at the time that the Zen Shiatsu method interested me more because, just like my profession as a musician, it required not only physical but also emotional and mental training.
After our arrivial in Toronto in 2006, my husband saw an ad for the Kokoro Dojo, a Zen Shiatsu professional training and therapy centre, in an internet cafe. We took the information and the next day we contacted the clinic. After receiving my first treatment at this clinic, I felt that I had rediscovered my fascination for shiatsu therapy. This led me to take part in a retreat led by Adarsa Chakra Sensei in July 2007, and then to enrol in a diploma course for professional Zen Shiatsu therapists.
To be a zen shiatsu therapist has been of great physical, mental and emotional benefit and a strong incentive to let go of old attitudes. This is something inevitable for a professional therapist, as Zen Shiatsu is a form of therapy that requires constant purification for it to be truly effective. This is a process that is similar for musicians; the stronger your internal world, the more authentic your artistic expression will be.
The diploma course in zen shiatsu therapy has had a very positive impact in all areas of my life. It is a challenge, of course, but a very satisfying one for anyone seeking a personal transformation.
The last three years working as a professional therapist have greatly enriched my vision of music and my playing. My training as a therapist has led me to experience an increasingly powerful mind-body connection and to recognize the importance of breathing and good posture.
In this respect, just as the posture, mental state and breathing of the therapist are essential for therapy to be successful, the pure intention to heal the patient is also extremely important. A similar process takes place in music, as the strong your mind-body-breathing relation is, the clearer and more powerful your musical intention will be both in terms of sound and emotional expression.
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Great article. I wonder if SHIATSU would benefit me as well. I sit in front of a computer screen for 8 to 10 hours a day. What do you think?
Thanks for your comment. Zen shiatsu would benefit a lot since your work requires you to be sitting so many hours. For example,it would help your back, neck, wrists to be looser and that wll affect in positive way your well being.