Shiatsu is a Japanese word made up of two written characters meaning finger (shi) and pressure (atsu). The word Shiatsu literally means “finger pressure”. It is a traditional Japanese healing art and a form of physical manipulation. But it is very different from most forms of massages practised in the West, since there is no kneading, friction, or smooth flowing strokes. Instead, pressure and stretching are used almost exclusively. The practitioner uses the palms, fingers, thumbs, knuckles, elbows, knees, and even the feet to work on the hundreds of ‘tusbos’, or acupuncture points, along the body’s meridians or energy channels.
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