Touching the Invisible

Exploring the Way of Shiatsu

by Chris McAlister, Jeremy Halpin & Jan Nevelius

Formats

Softcover

£27.95

Softcover

£27.95

Book Details

Language : English

Publication Date : 29/01/2021

Format : Softcover

Dimensions : 8.5x8.5

Page Count : 326

ISBN : 9781728352480

About the Book

Three experienced Shiatsu practitioners share knowledge and insights gained over thirty years of clinical practice and teaching to create a book they themselves would have wanted to provide practical guidance and philosophical perspective on this healing art. The book’s central themes are awareness, intuition and intention in the practice of Shiatsu and how this body-mind perspective can influence the wider health debate. A modern rendering of the ancient wisdom underpinning Shiatsu and Oriental medicine, this book goes beyond the technical details of Shiatsu as a specific therapy to the universal principles underlying it. Presenting Shiatsu from different perspectives, ranging from its philosophical underpinnings to the realities of daily practice, this text represents the fruit of the knowledge we apply and continually re-evaluate in our ongoing clinical work. The question and answer format is based upon classical tradition – the most famous text within traditional Oriental medicine, Huang Di Nei Jing, uses this method to illustrate complex ideas in an easy to read manner. The text is organically formed through questions formulated by our student and fellow practitioner Filippa Freed. These questions, stemming from her training and practice, facilitate a broad discussion that roams freely between technical principles, case studies and informal anecdotes.

About the Author

Customer Reviews

Touching the Invisible is a “living book”. It is one of those books that invite you to read the chapters and be with them. Layer after layer is revealing and invites your stories and experiences to emerge and resonate with the experience of the authors. The format of questions and answers is an invitation for conversation. When I was reading the first chapter I almost could see myself sitting in a cozy café with Chris, Jan and Jeremy in Stockholm with a cup of tea, listening to why Shiatsu became their Way, three different and inspiring journeys. This simple question: “How did you come to be Shiatsu therapist?” Already opens a door for a shared space and the session begins. The next pages are unusual. If you zoom out your focus enough, the whole book is a single, a multidimensional Shiatsu session. If you zoom in, every dimension and aspect of Shiatsu that reveals is discussed in relation with the big picture, but also with respect of its own right to be acknowledged. In the Shiatsu practice there is a space between the theories, techniques, mental concepts and the reality of the touch, where a lot of open questions frame our approach. In a way the process of embodying the living knowledge behind the models is left to the post-graduation courses and the willingness of the individual practitioners to develop their skills. In Touching the Invisible the readers will find a map, how the mental frames we learn during the training for Shiatsu practitioners are applied in the practice, but in an open and respectful way for self-discovery. I will quote Jan about the essence of Shiatsu: “I believe that the essence of Shiatsu is presence. Presence creates balance, harmony and awareness. It heals that which is broken. Lack of presence is the root of many problems. The solution is therefore to encourage presence where before there was none.” The space that the book creates is an emanation of this state of being present, discovering your true self with all the freedom and responsibilities that follow. This book is a philosophical essay about Shiatsu. It also covers the area of the “How-questions” which often are the unspoken truths we are learning through our bodies. The insights are revealed in the pages covering the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual effects of Shiatsu. At the same time, it provides ready to use ideas and suggestion that could be applied straight away in the next Shiatsu appointment.

Snezhana Stoeva
A MUST book for the curriculum of all Shiatsu schools around the world! I really enjoy reading this book. One time is not enough. I often return to its pages again and again! “Touching the Invisible” not only touches the Invisible but also speaks the unspeakable. Almost every other book I know of about Shiatsu is a manual. This particular book webs the culture of Shiatsu and Shiatsu therapists. The authors, very experienced Shiatsu therapists, write down very clearly and precisely aspects of Shiatsu and the relationship between Shiatsu therapists and their clients that none book in the existing bibliography offers. As the authors mention in the Preface “This is not your typical book on Shiatsu. It is not a “how to” manual…. Rather, it is a view of Shiatsu practice and philosophy we wished to exist when we were students.” And they achieve that vey successfully as in every page I recognize similar experiences, insights, questions and understandings in my Shiatsu practice and this makes me feel confident. The authors have written down thoroughly the stages that Shiatsu therapists go through as they evolve in their profession. And this is exactly why this book is so precious for every Shiatsu therapist. The authors address to Shiatsu therapists as professionals with responsibility.

Panayiota Polychroni-Giannino

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