The Breadth and Depth of Ancient Medicine

Those of us who find ourselves drawn to Shiatsu are not typically aligned  with the dominant cultural narrative about healthcare. We’re more inclined  toward natural remedies and non-invasive procedures. We believe in the  power of the life force. So, I’m going to trust that I can dive a little deeper  into that uniqueness of ours to explore the understanding we have of life — or, better said, the understanding of what in our world is actually alive.

When we study healing from any ancient culture, we come across references to  

the natural world. Since we read about these natural forces in texts translated into our own language, we tend to accept them as concepts. However, in the early times of those original cultures, natural forces weren’t concepts – they were living entities. They were beings you could pray to. You could ask Water to rain down on the fields. You could ask the Fire to show you a vision.

In the current age of industrialization and technology, we have pretty much dropped the practice of anthropomorphizing these glorious beings. Instead,  we think of them in the abstract. We’ve lost that sense of personal kinship with nature. Even though we may love nature, we don’t typically cultivate a personal relationship with the wind, for example, or befriend a certain shrub in the neighborhood. Don’t get me wrong; that is not to imply that industry and technology are necessarily bad — just that our loss of an intimate  personal intimate relationship with these splendid beings of the natural world  is not exactly good . . . especially when it comes to healing.

Mother Earth is not symbolically our mother. She is actually our mother. We are all carbon-based entities made from the same elements as our Earth Mother. Her DNA is in us. Father Sky/The Heavens is not symbolically our father. He is actually our father.  

His DNA is in us. We are all made of stardust from the Big Bang. 

Treatments touch a deeper level when we stay conscious of the fact that we  are related by DNA to Earth and heaven (and our clients!). And that Fire is our brother; Metal, our sister; Water, our auntie; and Wood, our uncle, etc. You feel more supported in your sessions with your family there assisting  you . . . giving you their take on the situation, offering suggestions and  advice. So, why not dare to believe that they have consciousness and are  ready to interact with us? Could we interact with them and not fear the  judgement of “rational” people? After all, if you are the daughter or son of  these magnificent beings, then you, too, are a magnificent being!

But clients don’t need to know we are working with our Elemental "family." When we ask these sacred Elemental energies to contribute their expertise to the treatment, our clients feel the effects. Our treatments are different when we consciously work with these energies. We are able to relax in a  more attentive way, knowing we have the additional value of their unique  point of view. If we let them do some of the work, we are able to allow our  hands and fingers to be moved by their insight and wisdom. We can actually work less and have a deeper healing effect.

And going even further . . . 

We’ve already suggested that Earth is our Mother and the Heavens our  father. So . . . if “mother” is female and “father” is male, then we also have  the forces known as yin and yang. But here, again, we run into the problem  of varied cultures and time periods. The problem is that our culture does not consider “forces” to be alive. In indigenous cultures, they are! As a matter of  fact, in many Asian and indigenous spiritual cosmologies, forces were often  thought of as gods and goddesses. So, not only are they living beings with  consciousness, but their consciousness is higher than ours.

[I’m well aware that some of us do, in fact, consider these elements  and forces to be alive. However, many of our clients simply don’t think this  way. Don’t forget that we shiatsu specialists do not typically relate to the  world like “normal” people.]

Not all industrialized nations have abandoned these knowings as completely  as we Americans have. But the “lesser developed” peoples seem to have  kept stronger ties to the Great Mystery – what we call Spirit. 

I have been practicing and teaching shiatsu for 50 years now. I have always been deeply affected by the seemingly accidental precision and complex simplicity 

of Japanese art – not only the healing arts, but also martial arts, flower arranging, literature, painting, etc. I immersed myself. I spent time in a Zen Buddhist monastery in the Catskill Mountains. I made Shinto pilgrimage at holy sites in Japan.

But it was my studies and apprenticeships with healers of various shamanic  traditions – Cherokee, Russian, Hawaiian, in addition to Japanese – that  introduced me to practices that profoundly opened my heart, as well as my  mind, to these magnificent spirits/forces/entities . . . actual beings, as alive  and real as flesh-and-blood humans! They exponentially expanded my  understanding of human nature and the nature of healing. They added immensely to the depth and power of my meditation practice. They brought  out the healer in me.

At this point in my career as a shiatsu specialist, I don’t do shiatsu; I use shiatsu to do healing work (shiatsu is really good for that!). And, as a certified instructor, I no longer teach shiatsu theory and practice simply as a skill; I teach shiatsu as a means of healing, as a means of psychic and spiritual development that can be transmitted through our hearts and hands for the benefit of ourselves, our clients . . . and even for mankind.

I was lucky enough to study directly under the great shiatsu master and  creator of Zen Shiatsu, Dr. Shizuto Masunaga, in the 1970s. I then had the  great good fortune to meet and apprentice with teachers who elevated my  understanding and enhanced my skills. They endorsed me to carry the work  forward and pass along what they have given me. These teachers include  Shinto priest, Akinobu Shinmei Kishi; Cherokee priest, Grandmother River  Reasoner; and Russian shaman, Gregory Antyuhin.  

For those who feel called to this work, it is my mission and my passion to  offer them ways they can use, rather than do, their shiatsu technique – to  draw out the profound nature of healing from their own innermost being, and transmit it to their clients. It’s a beautiful way to be of service to clients, to the development of the soul, and to the Great Mystery. Those of us who  do this work are truly blessed to have been led on this path of beauty, awe  and healing.

Grandmother Winter Jade Forest is a priest in her Cherokee tradition. Her spiritual journey over the past 50 years have taken her on two parallel paths: one healing and the other teaching.

You can learn more about Grandmother Winter Jade on her website:

https://grandmotherwinter.com/