Shiatsu Bodywork
WHAT ARE SHIATSU AND ACUPRESSURE?
Shiatsu is a therapeutic Japanese healing modality that has its roots in 5000-year-old Eastern medical massage practices. It uses acupressure, passive stretching and joint mobilization to create a deeply relaxing and rejuvenating balance in the body’s energy system. It is done on a futon on the floor (unless the client needs to be on a table). The shiatsu practitioner uses thumbs, palms, elbows, and knees to apply comfortable pressure along the meridian pathways to clear blockages and nourish depletion. One client described the stretching and movement of shiatsu like receiving a gentle yoga class while you nap and dream. Another client says it feels like a mix of massage, chiropractic, and physical therapy. It is a wonderful experience that helps us let go of chronic tension. An acupressure session takes place on a massage table, and will involve no movement but instead the combination of points stimulated with finger pressure. In a regular shiatsu session, we usually integrate both kinds of treatment (movement and acupoint pressure) inviting the receiver to fall into a deep sense of their own well-being, and to feel more ease and flow in their body. Each session is custom tailored to the client’s goals as well as the body’s needs as assessed in the hara at the start of every treatment.
How can ASIAN BODYWORK help You?
Shiatsu moves and balances your Qi with stretching, pressure, and movement. Acupressure moves and balances Qi with the strategic choice of specific acupoint combinations stimulated with finger pressure. Many people use shiatsu for muscle recovery after workouts, to improve mobility and wellness after injury, or for relaxation and mental calm. People may use acupressure for deep relaxation, to relieve chronic armoring that results in tight musculature, or for various health concerns. Both acupressure and shiatsu help relieve symptoms related to musculo-skeletal issues, sciatica, women’s health, digestive problems, respiratory disorders, neurological disorders, low energy, anxiety, headaches, injury rehabilitation and more. As somatic therapies, shiatsu and acupressure can also help someone reconnect with themselves in the context of trauma healing. Our practitioner can combine these therapies or offer shiatsu-only or acupressure-only treatments. If trauma recovery is something you are working on, please contact the practitioner directly to understand what to expect and how we can approach this together safely. In this case you are encouraged to also be working with a therapist who can help you process what may arise in bodywork sessions.
What to Expect.
For your shiatsu/acupressure treatment, please wear a comfortable t-shirt (long or short sleeve) and loose pants that cover the legs and socks. While a Western massage therapist works on the skin directly, shiatsu is best done when the skin is covered. There is no need to remove any underclothing. Jeans and tight pants limit mobility if your practitioner is helping you with a knee stretch to your chest, for example. And although tight spandex compression leggings facilitate your movement, it can make it difficult for your Qi, your body's own energy in the meridians, to both flow freely and be perceived easily for treatment. You can bring your loose comfy clothes with you and change before and after your treatment, if needed. Thank you!
TESTIMONIALS
Words directly from clients:
"My body and therefore my life has experienced dramatic and positive changes in very subtle and gentle ways through Amy Mills's expertise in shiatsu and acupressure. Her vast knowledge, combined with her love for healing, work magic on my body. I always leave feeling lighter, and more at ease with increased mobility and a sense of calm as well as unconditional love.” Carol
“I have been going to Amy Mills at New Harmony Wellness for Shiatsu Massage for a number of months now. The changes in me include a major reduction in arthritis pain, improving posture, cleared energy blocks and improving general health. In my experience, Shiatsu is a body/energy work that includes acupressure on certain body points to release the energy flow in the body. It also includes body manipulation and stretches. Every time I go I feel better afterwards. At my latest session I could actually feel the unblocked energy flowing robustly through my body. It is very different from the common understanding of a massage. In Shiatsu, you are fully clothed and there is no touching of bare skin. This is truly a mind, body spirit experience. I highly recommend Shiatsu with Amy. It is absolutely worth a try.” Anne
From a client’s Instagram post accompanying an art piece she drew after a session:
“You don’t have to solve everything,” said Amy Mills, a gifted shiatsu practitioner, as I left our third session together. By “everything” I knew she didn’t mean everything in the world right now which is in need of a solution, but rather she was calling my attention to what I carry on my own heart and mind in spaces where I can have a direct impact. Some of these things I had named and others she simply had a sense of because, as Bessel van der Kolk, MD writes, the body keeps the score. This piece of art looks much happier than I imagined it would. I think that when it came time to paint, I created the liberatory joy I felt with Amy’s caring reminder rather than the weight she was helping to lift.” Karen
From Google:
“I’ve had Shiatsu sessions with Amy and enjoyed every single one! She has a very calming and comforting presence, and her approach to the body and health/wellness is very unique. I always walk out feeling more relaxed than I expect!” Shivani
“I have found the Shiatsu and acupressure treatments with Amy to be very helpful. Amy is so present and intuitive in her approach. Initially my focus was on calming my nervous system. I am so happy to see that happening! I feel more grounded with less stress and tension. My body seems to have a more even and unified flow of energy. I continue to have awareness of my whole energy body. I recognize it as a resource and a support as it shifts and evolves – the process continues! Amy is a gifted practitioner! Working with her I find that I am more able to rely on the healing capacity within myself. I deeply appreciate her abilities and her compassionate nature!” Corey
“My first Shiatsu session with Amy was amazing! She is does a great explaining everything- what shiatsu is, the meridians and organs and how they connect, what symptoms or emotions might show up with imbalance. my body feels great as I am leaving today and I am already looking forward to my next session. Amy gave me two simple things I can work on at home to help with my issues.” Angela
“New Harmony Center is the healthcare solution that I was searching for, but didn't know existed until I was referred there for an herbal remedy. Amy Mills generously gave me her time explaining Shiatsu and telling me about Bryn Clark's exceptional practice of acupuncture and herbal treatments. I have had wonderful results from all three methods, as well as a Bio-Photon treatment that was so amazing, I didn't even think about pain for over a week afterwards. You are treated as a whole human being existing in this vast world which is all connected. Western medicine has so much to learn from the East - if only they could uncouple from Big Pharma!” Deb
From Yelp:
“I went to New Harmony to get treatment for lower back pain caused by arthritis -- I'm in my late 60s and need to figure out how to deal with this for the rest of my life. I got a cycle of acupuncture treatments from Bryn Clark and am in the middle of a set of Shiatsu massage treatments from Amy Mills.
Amy conducts her sessions like a composer and orchestra conductor. They are like a wonderful piece of music, complete with opening "exchange" with me (the audience -- or am I in the orchestra?), then running through variations that involve some tissue massage, some joint bending, some stretching, some fluid movement. She returns, towards the end, to the opening theme and wraps it all up, often leaving me with the same kind of practical idea about some aspect of movement or exercising that stays with me -- as was the case with Bryn.
It's a pretty powerful combination. I likely sound a bit woo-woo, especially in the paragraph above -- but I want to underscore the useful practicality of these sessions for me, along with their impact on my well-being in the moment. I've enjoyed them a lot, will keep going back, and recommend these folks wholeheartedly.” Andy