DEVELOPING SENSITIVITY TO KI

The techniques used in the basic sequence in Part One included overall stretches and some other instances where both hands or arms are used equally, but the predominant method that you have been using for palm and thumb work has been what is commonly known as 'two-hand work'. This title is somewhat misleading as it actually means that you are using the two hands simultaneously but in quite different ways; one is more passive and inactive and stays more or less in one spot, as the other hand moves along a line of points. This is particularly useful for rebalancing the energy between the two points of contact, and will help you develop, sensitivity to what is going on in particular places.

If you keep practising your Shiatsu technique you will begin to notice that you encounter different 'qualities' of energy or Ki in the points where you apply pressure in the course of treatment. At the most obvious level, as discussed in the back sequence, the body tissue overlying the area you are working on can have very different qualities to the touch - common impressions include tightness, openness, hardness or sometimes a kind of empty lifelessness. These are expressions of the Ki situation in that part of the body, relative to other parts. There is always some degree of relative imbalance or unevenness in the distribution of Ki, however slight - the body tissue will feel different from one area to another; and that is why we do Shiatsu - there will inevitably be some areas that lack Ki and others that hold excess. When you become experienced in the technique of leaning into an area or point with your palm or thumb, you will soon be able to go below the surface of the person and contact the underlying energy, from which you can obtain a more specific sense of what is happening there in terms of Ki.

KI in THE HUMAN BODY