Shiatsu Theory and Practice

811 Pages·2016·14.97 MB·English

by  Carola Beresford-Cooke

SHIATSU
THEORY AND PRACTICE
THIRD EDITION
CAROLA BERESFORD-COOKE
FOREWORD BY THOMAS MYERS
LONDON AND PHILADELPHIA
Reprinted in 2016
by Singing Dragon
an imprint of Jessica Kingsley Publishers
73 Collier Street
London N1 9BE, UK
and
400 Market Street, Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
www.singingdragon.com
First published by Churchill Livingstone, Elsevier, London, UK, 2011
Copyright © Carola Beresford-Cooke 2016
Foreword copyright © Thomas Myers 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form
(including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or
not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written
permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the
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Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of this
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Beresford-Cooke, Carola, author.
Title: Shiatsu theory and practice / Carola Beresford-Cooke ; foreword by
Thomas Myers.
Description: Third edition. | London ; Philadelphia : Singing Dragon, 2016. |
“First published by Churchill Livingstone, Elsevier, London, UK, 2011.” |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015039345 | ISBN 9781848193086 (alk. paper)
Subjects: | MESH: Acupressure.
Classification: LCC RM723.A7 | NLM WB 369.5.A17 | DDC 615.8/222--dc23 LC record
available at
http://lccn.loc.gov/2015039345
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 84819 308 6
eISBN 978 0 85701 260 9
For Allan and Alex, with love
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Notes on the terminology used in the book
SECTION ONE: The science of Qi, old and new
1. What is Shiatsu?
2. The history of Shiatsu
3. The science of Qi
4. How does Shiatsu work, practically?
5. The healing encounter
SECTION TWO: The practice of Shiatsu
6. Self-development, health care and injury prevention for the Shiatsu
practitioner
7. Working with Shiatsu 1: it’s not what you do, it’s the way you do it
8. Working with Shiatsu 2: basic techniques and tools
9. Working with Shiatsu 3: a trip around the body
SECTION THREE: The theory of Shiatsu
10. Traditional Chinese medicine for the Shiatsu practitioner
11. Zen Shiatsu
SECTION FOUR: Putting theory and practice together
12. The Water Phase: the Kidneys and Bladder
13. The Wood Phase: the Liver and Gall-Bladder
14. The Fire Phase: the Heart, Small Intestine, Heart Protector and Triple
Heater
15. The Earth Phase: the Spleen and Stomach
16. The Metal Phase: the Lungs and Large Intestine
SECTION FIVE: The Shiatsu session
17. The four methods of diagnosis
18. Interpreting the diagnosis
19. The session
20. After the session
Appendices
1. The Governing and Conception Vessels
2. Common ailments and suggestions for treating them
Glossary of Chinese, Japanese or Shiatsu-specific terms
Bibliography
Index
Online resources
The online resources accompanying this text include video sequences of all
the techniques indicated in the text by the icon. To look at the video for a
given technique, click on the relevant entry in the Contents list on the Singing
Dragon website: www.singingdragon.com/catalogue/book/9781848193086.
The online resources are designed to be used in conjunction with the text and
not as stand-alone resources.
Introduction and Basic
Principles
Introduction
Tools and Techniques
Tools and Techniques palms, thumbs and Dragon’s Mouth
Tools and Techniques the ‘mother hand’
Tools and Techniques elbows
Tools and Techniques fingertips
Tools and Techniques stretches
Tools and Techniques rotations
Supine Position
Sequence
Supine preparation and Hara diagnostic routine
Supine front of hips
Supine leg meridians and stretches
Supine inner leg meridians on opposite leg
Supine knee into meridians of back of thigh
Supine ankle rotation
Supine foot work
Supine sole of foot
Supine abdominal treatment
Supine sides of torso and chest
Supine supine shoulder technique
Supine arm meridians and stretches
Supine shoulders and upper chest
Supine neck work, stretches and major meridians
Supine face work and use of cloth
Prone Position
Sequence
Prone upper back and shoulder area
Prone back work and ‘shoulder slash’
Prone side of hip
Prone sacrum
Prone back and side of legs
Side Position
Sequence
Side palming back
Side fingertips down back
Side sacrum
Side head and neck
Side shoulders and arms
Side side of torso
Side waist, hips and legs
Foreword
Nothing comforts, enlivens or commands attention like the informed touch of
another human being. Touch is food, vital nourishment – and for all our
speed-of-light riches, we as a culture remain starved in the domain of contact.
The book you hold in your hand, Carola Beresford-Cooke’s tour de force
on Shiatsu, is itself a form of touch. Wander where you will in its pages to
feel the warm support of a sure and deft hand guiding your orientation into
this ancient but ever-new art.
Carola’s style is unhurried but wastes nothing. With easy patience and
sunny practicality, she takes us first through the frame around the art: its
history, some recent science, self-care, and tools of the trade. The canvas of
Shiatsu’s ‘trip around the body’ is then filled in with color and line – literally,
in this case, the meridian lines – clearly and concisely presented.
The color comes in the many poetic and physiological connections that
Carola draws from the classical canon of Asian medicine, blended with her
own considerable experience. She has clearly looked the classics in the eye
and weighed their staying power, so is unafraid to adapt the tradition to
current conditions.
No book is just a book any more, and this book’s DVD gives the visual
learner more access to confidence in the accuracy of techniques learned. This,
coupled with the thorough appendices and index, make this definitive
presentation a lasting resource for your bookshelf.
Every ancient art – yoga and Qi Gong, meditation and dietary rules –
deserves respect for centuries of on-the-job training. But every ancient art is
currently being reconceived to answer the pressing question singular to our
time: How do we maintain balance between our ‘Neolithic’ body –
unchanged in essence since we domesticated fire – and our ‘new’