Shiatsu is a traditional Japanese healing art, it is an oriental massage technique. In Japanese the word means "fingerpressure". Shiatsu is based on acupuncture (fingerpress), where during the treatment natural body weight is applied on special points of the body for relieving pain, tension, exhaustation and symptoms of disease.

Through this pressure the energy flowing in the bodies meridians (energy channels) is influenced. This energy is called chi. Chi by itself is invisible, but the way chi works can be seen in the body. When a wound is healing 'just by itself' it is the work of chi. Traditionally everything was seen as an expression of chi. Chi is the origin, the power of life. When chi stagnates, the body becomes ill.

According to western medicine theory it is only that part of the body that needs to be healed, where pain is felt. Western medicine separates the body into individual parts, where the part of the body experiencing illness or funcional disorder is considered as a whole.

Oriental medicine believes that human body was created as one whole. This suggests that it is impossible to separate the body into individual parts, as the funcionality of one body part can influence the whole body. According to the oriental philosophy the human body is considered as a small part of the Universe, as a microcosmos, which is governed by the 5 elements (Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood) and by the yin and yang forces (manifestated in changes, in "life").

The organs of the body are divided into six yang (positive) and six yin (negative) organs, which are paired together, one yang organ with one yin organ. Each of the individual organs represents one of the five elements which works in unison with its other paired organ. Applying treatment to the ill organ is not sufficient as the paired organ must also be treated in order to maintain the body's balance.

Shiatsu treatment doesn't concentrate on the illness itself, as the source of all illness is derived from blockages in energy flow around the body. Instead, the treatment is applied along the meridians, reinvigorating the energy flow throughout the whole body and alleviating the energy blockages.

While Shiatsu can be used in the healing of diseases, many people utilise the powers of Shiatsu to obtain health and vitality and to strenghten the immune system and the body's organs.