When you receive shiatsu is clearly a deeply relaxing experience but can a physical therapy like shiatsu help with emotional problems such as depression and anxiety?

A recent BBC programme highlighted research that indicates that emotional pain causes physical hurt. This research found that the part of the brain call the anterior cingulate cortex is activated when we experience processed or emotion pain. Its conclusion is that as social animals we need to remain in our groups to survive. Experiencing social isolation in the same way as a physical injury helps us avoid situations that would cause us to be rejected.

But as the report continues “Sometimes physical pain can become chronic, long outlasting its original purpose, and emotional pain is the same”.

This research offers a physical explanation for what we feel but shiatsu has its roots in Chinese medicine that does not recognise a division between the physical and emotional. Looking at the body using the Chinese system the five major organs don’t just have an obvious physical function, they include the following mental and emotional aspects too:

From this we understand that emotional conditions like depression have several sources. Sadness and grief may arise from a deficiency in the Lungs and a lack of joy from the Heart. Working to this model we see that one treatment such as tranquillisers or anti-depressants is not suitable for everyone labelled with the Western diagnosis of depression.

Shiatsu, like other systems based on Chinese medicine, looks at the whole person to understand how their energetic pattern is imbalanced. In shiatsu this includes talking as well as the physical treatment itself. Shiatsu treatments are very supportive. Lying on the floor is immediately grounding and that feeling is reinforced by the relaxed contact given by the practitioner.

The traditional Chinese model tells us a lot about the long term imbalances of energy in the body but being a touch based therapy shiatsu is more immediate. Shiatsu practitioners although informed by the theory work with what is happening to their receiver in the moment. If that means the client wants moving and stretching then that will happen. Sometimes, the treatment will simply be still and reflective.

Shiatsu treatments are not an immediate cure for depression and no client would be advised to stop taking their medication. Shiatsu is a supportive therapy that may aid a client through the process of understanding their condition. As a practitioner I would be happy to work with a client and their medical doctor as part of a solution that may lead to a reduced dependency on medication.