Massage Therapy Journal Winter 2025

Winter 2025 • 23

More traditional shiatsu focuses specifically on the anatomical and physiological aspects of the body and does not consider the mind or spirit.” Zen shiatsu shares many of the same benefits as shiatsu, but due to the added emphasis on mind and spirit, Zen shiatsu is especially beneficial and effective in helping with conditions where emotional disturbance or stress is an underlying factor, according to Zen Shiatsu Chicago. The most common of these include: • Insomnia • Anxiety and depression • Muscular tension • Headaches • Digestive disturbances • Menstrual disturbances • Lower resistance to infection “Zen shiatsu is a hands-on method used to help with pain, injury and stress relief, like massage. Additionally, it is helpful for people’s internal health issues, such as problems with digestion, elimination, sleep, immunity or various chronic illnesses,” says Steve Rogne, director of Zen Shiatsu Chicago. A longitudinal case study 3 measured Zen shiatsu’s effect on stress reduction in a child with autism spectrum disorder. The seven-year old male was given a 20-minute Zen shiatsu massage weekly for six consecutive weeks. Stress was measured using a five-point stress scale designed for children with autism to indicate the client’s stress level before and after each session. The study found that based on the five-point pictorial stress scale, the child’s overall quality of life improved within the six weeks of receiving Zen shiatsu, offering preliminary evidence for the possibility of Zen shiatsu providing a viable integrative therapy for alleviating stress in children with autism. “The process of Zen shiatsu feels very affirming, in that it feels like it is directly responding to the unfolding needs of the individual. This makes it extremely well-suited to working with those with a history of trauma,” Rogne says. “Because our work has no preset

agenda and only works with the body’s inherent momentum, it does not set up any dynamic of force-on-force, or attempting to take the client’s body somewhere it is not ready to go. Instead, by concentrating our senses, we can follow and support the exact amount of healthy change the client is ready to make.” During a first session, extra time may be given to client intake to reaffirm their goals. The session will then comprise work directly on the muscles, alternated with relaxing stretches and movements applied to the client’s body to benefit joint health and fluid flow. “Both verbally and through our sense of touch, we determine the exact healthy change that the client’s body is trying to make, and we monitor the effectiveness of our treatment based on whether that change is happening or not” says Rogne. “We use our senses to feel for the most effective places to stop and stay, where the client’s body does the healing on its own. Zen shiatsu is as deep or light as needed for any individual, and our clients include those who can be easily overstimulated and need a relatively light depth of contact, as well as those whose bodies respond best at a deep level of contact. Our highly refined senses help us to exactly calibrate those needs.” References 1. Okuda I, Takeda M, Taira M, Kobayashi T, Inomata K, Yoshioka N. “Objective analysis of the effectiveness of facial massage using breakthrough computed tomographic technology: A preliminary pilot study.” Skin Res Technol. 2022 May;28(3):472-479. 2. Norhapifah H, Isa MR, Abdullah B, Mohamed S. “The impact of shiatsu massage on labour pain and anxiety: A randomized controlled trial.” Int J Community Based Nurs Midwifery. 2024 Oct 1;12(4):243-253. 3. Burke A. “Zen shiatsu: a longitudinal case study measuring stress reduction in a child with autism spectrum disorder.” Int J Ther Massage Bodywork. 2014 Dec 2;7(4):23-8.

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