Shine with shiatsu journal
4 dimensions of health and how Shiatsu supports all of them
When I was about 5 years old, I have discovered that adults have this division when it comes to food. Some things were considered healthy and some were simply not. With never ending excitement I have interviewed adults around me, to understand what this really means. Long afternoons in my grandmas garden were the perfect place to explore more. Once I harvested some gooseberries or herbs, I would run to her asking the same question over and over again. „Yes, mint is very healthy, you can eat the leaves just like this“ – grandma replied. While I was putting the green plant into my mouth and slowly chewed on it, I felt so proud to have discovered another piece of the big puzzle.
Today, some decades later, my love for mint has remained. And so did my passion for a healthy lifestyle. With the only difference, that my understanding of health has expanded a lot.
1. The energies within us
Thanks to studying energy work, observing myself and witnessing the experience of my clients, my perspective on wellbeing has become much wider. I see our overall health as a combination of energy on many levels. Our body, our physical wellbeing is one of them. Then there is our heart, the seat of our emotions, desires, fears. Another element is our mental health, that builds our inner resilience. Finally there is our soul, our spiritual dimension, that connects us to our purpose in life, to something bigger than ourselves. Those energies within us are interconnected and I believe that being healthy means feeling vibrant on all those levels.
2. Distressed mind, distressed body
It seems obvious that when we are experiencing physical pain, lets say for example tightness in our chest, our emotions get affected by that. As a result we can become anxious or distressed. But what if the opposite were also true? Can a constant feeling of worry or anger, cause disease? Can our emotions affect the state of our body? I strongly believe that this is not an exception, but the actual case. It is our negative thoughts and emotions that manifest in physical pain and ultimately in dis-ease.
In life nothing ever stays static. As we adapt to different life situations so does our health.
One of the most important lessons that I’ve learnt, is that its not what happens to us, but how we are responding, that counts. Here the choice is ours.
Are we allowing ourselves to feel whatever comes to the surface? Are we ready to face a conflict with integrity and speak up even with the anger inside our belly? Are we allowing the tears to run when we feel helpless or in grief?
Sometimes this requires a bit of courage and also gentleness with ourselves. In the long run accepting our emotions and living by them brings a great benefit. This way our energies can flow more easily and don’t get stuck. This also affirms our intuition, trusting that we have the right to feel and express who we are.
3. Make your glass full again
In order to strengthen our health, it’s great to engage in activities that support us holistically. That means activities that integrate our body, mind and spirit, like Shiatsu, meditation, yoga, breathing exercises or anything that involves our senses.
I value Shiatsu for so many things. For that it allows us to take a break from thinking and acting. We stop our busy lives for a moment.
Shiatsu brings us on a gentle journey of self-exploration. We’re becoming aware of the different voices inside of us. Aligned with our values and needs we are able to find new answers to old problems and patterns.
Finally we experience a feeling of wholeness, connecting our four dimensions. Our mind becomes clear, our body revitalized, our heart beings to open up and our soul finds its connection between Heaven and Earth. This is why I love working with Shiatsu, it reminds us about the abundance that is inside of us. Cause we tend to forget about that.
Love,
Aleksandra
