stress and shiatsu

Do you get stressed ever?  Do you know anyone else who gets stressed?  When I get stressed, I can feel  like I have too much to do (which I may have).  I may feel  that I can’t make good decisions, or don’t have time to inform myself properly in order to make good decisions.  I may feel tension infusing my body, and affecting my weaker areas – down along my arms, up my neck, along my legs (mm, well, quite a lot of me).  I may feel a kind of buzzing in my head.  How about you?  Signs of stress may include physical symptoms like body tension, including tense shoulders – we have the expression ‘her shoulders were up by her ears’.  Other symptoms may include headache and sleeplessness and irritability. 

I remember attending a business course many years ago, and the trainer said that the ‘one thing you can say about shiatsu is that it relieves stress’.  Presently, I am having some coaching for my business, and my coach is emphatic that I need to find a niche.  I have decided to focus presently on stress because there is such a lot of it about – there are reports of high incidence of stress, people absent from work as a result, and money lost by businesses, countries and individuals as a result.

Stress is important – and reducing stress crucial to all our success.

Shiatsu treatment works physically on the body, and so stimulating muscles, skin, nerves, bone.  For muscles, it seems plausible that by holding the middle of a taut muscle, say the trapezius which runs between neck and shoulders, the areas of muscle imbetween that are working over-hard may get a chance to relax.  There is an acupressure point in this spot, which we use in shiatsu treatment, and is considered good for releasing pain in head and shoulders.

Shiatsu treatment also stimulates nerves.  There are energy lines running through the body, and the acupressure points follow these.  Each side of the spine, runs the so-called Bladder meridian (part of the Water Element) – these points are really important for all aspects of the body.  Physiologically this is also where nerves insert into the spine and spinal cord.  My sense is that nerves need to be stimulated, and sometimes this doesn’t happen so imbalance occurs.  I suggest that this work can enhance a sense of physical, and thus emotional and mental self.

Feeling stressed can also generate a feeling of having lost our way, or not knowing where to go for support.  A touch therapy like shiatsu allows the body to feel more present, and may enhance a feeling of being supported, and knowing where to find support.

There is quite a lot in the press at the moment about stress – I saw a full page article in the Guardian recently (Wednesday 3rd October, Time to talk about workplace stress by Debbie Andalo) where the problem of stress was discussed.  The writer reported running a workshop for stress, but said it had to be badged Keep your Edge in order for a high attendance.  So, stress can result in poor performance at work as well as home.  Keeping on top of things is more achievable if we feel relaxed and comfortable on all levels.

What do you think?  What are your experiences of stress, and how have you managed them?  Have you tried shiatsu?  Did it help?

please post comments on this blog.  I'd love to hear from you.
Catherine.

pondering on the placebo effect...

The placebo effect was first mentioned in clinical trials as the baseline effect of healing which may occur just by taking a pill.  It has been found that the very look of the pill, including for example colour may affect how effective it is at supporting healing (Heller et al, 2005, pp.144-148).  The word ‘placebo’ comes from the Latin word meaning ‘it pleases’.   The idea is that just by taking something that looks like medicine, the belief can help someone to get better.  There is a converse to this idea:  the ‘nocibo’ (meaning ‘it harms’) – which might be exemplified by the classic African witch doctor causing someone to believe they will die, and dying, apparently just by the belief (Evans Pritchard, 1937).

The tendency is for orthodox medicine to dismiss the placebo effect as something unimportant.  And Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAMs) have been dismissed as just placebos.  Some CAM therapists may rejoin by making the point that if a placebo can have some power, would it not be worth exploring this further.  Having said this, most CAM therapists think there is more going on with their treatment than just the belief that it may have an effect.

There was a dramatic study conducted in Texas where conventional doctors gave sham surgery to people with serious knee problems, and concluded that the significant improvements in all participants (operated and sham operated) were all placebo effect (Moseley et al 2002 and BBC2 and Open University 2006).  Interestingly, medical doctors themselves who conduct these operations have often said that they do not know why they work (e.g. Colquhoun, 2006).
 Davidson (2010, personal communication) asserted that shiatsu is more than placebo because the actual touch is inevitably having an effect, which seems plausible to me.  Brown (2012) suggests that shiatsu acts as a catalyst for self-healing, which also seems plausible to me.  I’m not sure how to disentangle these and whether, in a way, it matters.  What do you think?

  

BBC2 and The Open University (2006) ‘Healing’ 31^st January, presented by Kathy Sykes.

Brown, T (2012) ‘Chair’s report’ Shiatsu Society Journal, Spring, issue 121.

Colquhoun, D (2006) ‘Improbable Science’ blog, [date accessed 9^th April 2012].

Evans Pritchard, E E (1937) ‘Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande’, The Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Heller, T, Heller, D, and Yamey, G (2005) ‘A critical look at orthodox medical approaches’ in Lee-Treweek, G, Heller, T, MacQueen, H, Stone, J and Spurr, S, Abingdon, The Open University/Routledge.

Moseley, J. B, O'Malley, K, Petersen, N J., Menke, T J., Brody, B A., Kuykendall, D H, Hollingsworth, J C, Ashton, C M, and Wray, N P. (2002) ‘A Controlled Trial of Arthroscopic Surgery for Osteoarthritis of the Knee’ N Engl J Med, 347, pp. 81-88.

Guardian Open Weekend and Twitter

So, as a committed Guardian-phile, I attended the Open Weekend at Kings Place (their 'new'(ish) home just behind Kings Cross station) 10 days ago.  I was drawn to attend two sessions on Twitter - one on how to do it, and another discussing how Twitter might be a 'tool of the elite'.  The 'how to' session went a bit quick for me - I hadn't even got my iPhone tuned up, before they whizzed off - nevertheless, it was an interesting session, and good to get the two facilitators' (Jonathan Haynes and someone else whose name I have unfortunately temporarily forgotten) views.  I remember being struck by Jonathan saying how he found Twitter enabled him to have the odd chat with e.g. celebrities who he would not normally come across.  Sunday morning I managed to get there on time, despite my train getting delayed (what's new on a Sunday) and facilitated by a taxi [phew] - for the discussion, including Suzanne Moore, Jonathan Haynes (again), and a couple of others - they must have started early in introducing themselves if they did.  I was amused by Suzanne saying how useful Twitter was to find someone to help with her child's physic homework; someone else pointed out that her experience was probably due to her 'known-ness' along with c 16000 followers, or however many there are.  Thus, illustrating the topic of the discussion.  Food for thought for me.  I also remember Jonathan talking about how it can take a while to 'get' Twitter, and I feel a bit more au fait with this now.  Such an interesting, stimulating weekend - and clever to organise such beautiful weather of course.  A mate showed up, and showed me the nearby canal - quite a different flavour to York Way and all that.  Thanks, Tammy!

using social media

As a rather floundering 'digital immigrant' as they (? the OU, and no doubt others) say, I find myself somewhat curious about the use of Social Media.  Impressed by the Archers use of Tom's Piggy football (is it really there? - must Google after this post) (and, yes, the Archers was set up to educate), among other things, it's clearly a powerful medium, and naturally I would like to harness it in useful, benign/ win-win kind of way.

As part of this curiosity, last year, in my role as a director of the Shiatsu Society, I was able to invite Wendy Francis, shiatsu/ acupuncture practitioner, as well as IT expert, to run a session as part of our annual Congress.  Although the session was relatively poorly attended (shiatsu folk are not generally that interested in this kind of thing - they want to get on with giving shiatsu), I argue that there was a quality of presence - well, me, of course, but also interestingly, our eminent presenter, Ohashi, (flown in from New York, originally from Japan, and who taught many of our now-eminent teachers in the early days) came along to the session.

Monday I managed to have a session with Wendy, and she helped me take forward a few aspects with regard to my use of social media, and on the back of that I have now booked six sessions at monthly intervals.  I do this because it is important for my business, but also because it has a sense of fun and excitement to it for me.  Wendy helped me do a little duck logo for my email signoff, to link to this blog, for example, wonderful!  You can find Wendy via http://www.creativeconnections.co.uk/ if you would like to ask if she can help you too.

so, I'm excited about taking this forward - what would 'piggy football' look like in the shiatsu world, or for inviting people to participate in the Transformation Game?

- watch this space.
cheers, c.

I love my iPad

so as a friend put it, I have 'With one bound, ... leapfrogged into high coolness. How wonderful that must feel:- )'
I can't quite remember why I went for it in the end - ah, yes, I remember now - I'm slightly embarrassed to say, since I claim not to go for 'deals' - but my paper Guardian (also a deal) told me I had free Guardian iPad for 3 months - and this catalysed me to 'got for it' - along with the fact that Graham Wakley, who has been helping me out with my IT was around to help me figure out how to get it going... - on top of the set up that Apple usefully do on purchase.

they always ask 'you' what you want to use something you're going to buy, and I don't always know - that's part of the adventure of buying it - when it's new technology like this.  I guess I wanted to see what the Guardian looked like - in fact, a bit of a disappointment because it looked just like the Guardian paper version, not fitting very well into an iPad.  However, I have discovered that the online Guardian itself is quite good, and worth a look - with more of the links to videos etc that I had been expecting of the 'offer'.

apart from that - I find it very handy just to check what email has come in - not necessarily to work on it, because I find the touch pad a bit fiddly to operate. 

- what I have really found useful is the listen again TV - and I have just spent today watching lots of Shirlock - how brilliantly it has been done (thanks, Graham, for the tip).

- I'll report back in a while to say how I'm progressing, and what I have found out as time goes on.

all for now, c.

2012 - Happy New Year

so, the new year begins... I managed to include playing the Transformation Game - a game developed in the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland, as a tool for reflection.

I would like to develop my role as supporting others to do this, and propose to invite people to play - good location, delicious food, and pleasant environment.

- let me know if you are someone who would like to do this...

best wishes, Catherine.