The History of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on the principles of Chi (or Qi); that we have this life giving energy flowing through our bodies along Meridian pathways that flow through our organs and carry essential energies for body balance and function.

Meridian Treatments basically involve locating and removing blockages from these pathways, to evenly distribute the enrgy and bring about optimum healht!

Traditional Chinese Medicine has been developed over centuries and is widely used to heal and prevent many, often internal, health problems and is present in many modern day treatments.

The belief that the human body is made up of energy has been around for thousands of years. Many Eastern therapies such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shiatsu and Ayurveda follow this theory and aim to heal the body by manipulating the energy system. In more recent years, therapies such as Reiki and Energy Healing have developed. They draw on different theories and combine them. Energy Healing also uses scientific research and developments to create techniques to help the body heal itself such as breathing techniques and energy exercises.

Shiatsu is a Japanese form of bodywork which follows the theory of T.C.M (Traditional Chinese Medicine) as does Acupressure and Acupuncture as it uses meridians and acupoints but no needling is involved.

Shiatsu can be traced back to China to as early as 530 BC and similar types of massage (such as Thai massage) are found across Asia due to cross-cultural fertilization through the spice routes. The massage we now know as Shiatsu had different names throughout its history and development and its name was only coined and recognized as a therapy in mid-1950. There are now many forms of Shiatsu but the two main forms are: Namikoshi’s method based on Western medicine and Masunaga’s method (Zen Shiatsu) which focuses on Oriental medicine (T.C.M).