Day 119 - Shiatsu! God Bless You!

Class

Many moons ago when I worked at the old J-O-B, one of the neighbor companies in the office park was named "Otsuka." When my sister and I carpooled together, I asked her one time as we drove by the building, "What does that say?"
She replied, "Ott-soo-kaa."
So I responded, "God bless you," as if she had sneezed.
That's what the name sounded like to me.
A sneeze.
And that's what Shiatsu sounds like to me as well. However, unlike the Japanese pharmaceutical company, Shiatsu is a Japanese word that means "finger pressure," and we are studying this in class for the next five weeks. It's another modality, like acupressure, that is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine. And you may remember how much fun I had with acupressure. I will say this, though. I can see me probably using this more than I will acupressure.
In tonight's class, we got a short lecture on what shiatsu is and then we got a demonstration of it. We also got to try a couple stretching things on our partner as well. In the next five weeks, we'll also be creating our own protocol to use on a client that my partner and I create. No, that is not a dangling modifier. We get to "create a client" with ailments and imbalances that can be helped by Shiatsu.
I think I'm looking forward to this class. At the very least, it will help me with my flexibility.
Things to remember for Shiatsu:

1. Yoga mat or really big thick mat (a mattress would be great, but my be bulky to carry into class)
2. Wash feet and change socks before going to school
3. Wear loose, comfortable pants, preferably sweats. Hello Kitty pajama bottoms could be fun, too.
4. Don't eat beans the day before or the day of Shiatsu class
5. Make sure to take care of any rest room needs before practicing

Clinic

In other news, I had my fourth (and final for this session) student clinic shift this past Saturday. My first client wanted deep pressure, but not on his back. Nothing on his back. The next hour, I got to receive a student exchange. As much as giving is good experience for me, receiving from another student is also good to pick up other ideas and have reminders about strokes and speed and that sort of thing. In the third session, I performed a student exchange. For the fourth and final session of the day, I had a young lady client who enjoyed her massage so much, she tried to give me a tip. I told her that I couldn't accept cash, but even more important to me now is a student evaluation feedback form.
From this week until the end of student clinic, I will be taking the Saturday afternoon shift, which means I won't be getting home until about 7:00pm.
Short term sacrifice for my long term goal...

Day 99 - Finality of Pressure

Well, we took our Acupressure Final Exam tonight, with a written portion worth 100 points and a hands-on portion worth 100 points.
I have been studying during breaks at work, lunchtime, and even during work when there isn't any work to do (yeah, it happens sometimes). There was a whole bunch of information that we had to know and it wasn't "natural" stuff like we Westerners are used to.
I'm very glad to be done with it and I'm also very proud to say that I got a 98% on the written portion and a 100% on the hands-on portion. Usually, I'm not as impressed by a hands-on grade, but this time, the last week of studying has been for this particular portion. Needless to say, I'm quite relieved.

Day 88 - Fire!

In tonight's Acupressure class, we learned about the Fire element and what do with it in doing an Acupressure session with a client.
I may have mentioned in a previous Acupressure post that one of the things we're learning is how the five elements (fire, earth, metal, water, and wood) work together in Traditional Chinese Medicine, even with personality types...or in this case, they're referred to as "Archetypes."
According to acupuncturetoday.com, "Archetypal expressions of fire include compassion, communication, pleasure-driven, seeking novelty and excitement. This individual thrives on the ecstatic nature of new love and will do just about anything to avoid routine or boredom."
According to the "quiz" in the book, I'm pretty high in fire, so I'm not sure how to take this.
I actually tried to get something out of tonight's class. I guess that's a good thing. I think I was pretty bummed out last week by my low grade on the quiz I took. I am still not totally sure about all of this stuff, but I gotta learn it anyway, so just relax and have fun with it.