Shiatsu Massage -Yang
Yang – Legs:
- Move your body down level to and facing your partner’s legs. With your support hand on the lower back (sacrum), your messenger hand rocks and kneads simultaneously down the near-side thigh and calf several times.
- Next palm down the leg, avoiding pressure on the backs of the knees.
Now thumb down the path of the bladder meridian. Depending on the length of the leg you may need to adjust your position. To avoid over-stretching, you can also move your support hand to just above the knee.- With one hand on the sacrum, use the other hand to bring the foot gently back toward the buttocks, taking into consideration the leg’s stretching capacity. Hold for a few seconds and then release.
- Clasp both feet together and bend the legs, bringing the feet toward the buttocks. Hold this position for a few seconds and notice which foot goes closest to the buttocks to assess pelvic balance.
- Cross this foot under the other foot and press them toward the buttocks on the “out” breath. Hold for several seconds then reverse the crossed legs and bend toward the buttocks once again. After these movements you will probably notice that the bending capacity if the legs has become more equal and the pelvis is more balanced. Move round to the other side of the body and repeat the rocking, kneading, palming and thumbing on the other leg.
Yang – Working On The Feet:
When “walking” on the feet make sure your position is well balanced as excess pressure or loss of balance may cause your partner pain. Both the giving and receiving of pressure on the feet is very relaxing, and perfectly safe and easy to perform as long as you don’t make any sudden or unexpected movements. Keep your body upright and relaxed as if you were going for a walk. If there is too much of a gap between your partner’s ankle and the floor, or the feet don’t turn inward symmetrically, you may have to leave this technique out.
Turn around so that your back is facing your partner and stand on both feet, shifting your weight from foot to foot. Control the movement from your hips.- Keep in one position and shift your weight back and forth from left to right several times and repeat on various areas of the feet.
As with all the techniques, remember to observe your partner’s facial expressions and breathing. These are obvious indications of how the receiver is feeling. Don’t forget at any time that it’s a human being you are working with, not just a body. General pressure to the sole of the feet helps to stimulate the internal organs through the reflex areas and meridians. Walking on the feet is particularly good for grounding someone with too much mental activity.
