by David Burmeister and Michou Landon
Article from Massage and Bodywork Quarterly; Fall 1992 - slightly revised to reflect our current teaching staff and accommodate this home page.
Jin Shin Jyutsu® is an ancient oriental Art of harmonizing life energy within the body. Said to predate Buddha and Moses, it was rediscovered in the early 1900's by Master Jiro Murai, who, after recovery from a "terminal" illness, devoted himself to the revival of the Art for future generations. He believed that the capacity to use this Art is born in all of us, like our hands, the tools with which it is applied.
Literally defined, Jin Shin Jyutsu is the Art of the Creator expressed through knowing and compassionate man.
It is a physio-philosophy that involves the application of the hands for gently balancing the flow of life energy in the body; more generally, it is the awakening to awareness of complete harmony within the self and the universe.
There are two important distinctions between Jin Shin Jyutsu and many other massage and oriental healing modalities to which it is often compared.
First, Jin Shin Jyutsu is an art, as opposed to a technique; a technique is a mechanical application, whereas an art is a skillful creation.
Second, Jin Shin Jyutsu is not a physical manipulation of tissue and uses only minimal pressure. The hands are used as "jumper cables," contacting 26 "safety energy locks" to redirect, or unblock the flow of energy along its pathways.
A practitioner of Jin Shin Jyutsu is not the "do-er", s/he simply assists in the flow of an infinite supply of universal energy. This process does not affect the practitioner's personal supply of energy.
In a typical Jin Shin Jyutsu session, which lasts about one hour, the receiver remains clothed and lies face- up on a cushioned surface. After "listening" to the energy pulses in the wrists, a practitioner employs a harmonizing sequence, or "flow," appropriate for unblocking particular pathways and restoring the energy to the energy rhythm of the universe.
A "flow" is a series of hand placement combinations (using the "safety energy locks") that stimulates circulation of energy along a given pathway. There are many such pathways in the body, each with a distinct function or essence.
To a certain extent, the experience of Jin Shin Jyutsu is unique to each person for each session.
However, the most common effect is that of deep relaxation. Who among us doesn't welcome any opportunity to let go of stress, which so often interferes with optimum health?
Mary Burmeister, a close student of Master Murai, brought the gift of Jin Shin Jyutsu to America upon returning from Japan in the 1950's. Over the years, demand for Jin Shin Jyutsu has grown steadily, primarily by word of mouth. Mary began teaching in the early 1960's, and, although she did not present the basic workshops herself, she would occasionally sees clients in her office in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Now, the five-day seminars are offered by Mary's eighteen associate-instructors, Muriel Carlton, Philomena Dooley, Wayne Hackett, Susan Brooks, Lynne Pflueger, Waltraud Riegger-Krause, Matthias Roth, Jed Schwartz, Ian Harris, Birgitta Meinhardt, Iole Lebensztajn, Carlos Gutterres, Petra Elmendorff, Jill Holden, Cynthia Broshi, Nathalie Max, Susan Schwartz, and Anita Willoughby. These workshops are held throughout America, as well as in Canada, Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland), South America (Brazil, Venezuela, ) and Israel, United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and Lebanon,. There are currently well over 13,000 students of Jin Shin Jyutsu worldwide.