January/February 2010 Alternative Health
Heal Yourself with Jin Shin Jyutsu

by Nancy Mehagian

Whether you want to reduce anxiety, boost your immunity or just chill out, the ancient hands-on healing art known as Jin Shin Jyutsu (JSJ) can easily harmonize the life energy in your body with the touch of your fingers.

With the fast-paced and stressed-out lives most of us are leading these days, it has become second nature to treat aches and pains with a pill. If only people knew more about how these problems started in the first place, they’d learn that a lot of their discomforts could be easily healed on their own.

Jin Shin Jyutsu, an ancient Japanese healing art, is just that — a simple and effective hands-on practice that anyone can do on themselves to induce relaxation and reduce the effects of stress with just a little bit of knowledge. Literally translated, Jyutsu means art, Shin means creator, and Jin means compassionate man. And so it is: The creator's art through compassionate man.

While it’s not widely known to Westerners, JSJ is similar to acupressure and works with a set of 26 points (called safety energy locks) along the energy pathways of the body.

When a pathway becomes blocked, energy stagnates. This initially affects the local area of stagnation, but has the potential to create imbalance along the entire pathway. The 26 energy locks are the locations on the body where energy tends to become stuck. Acupressurists and acupuncturists, by comparison, learn over 300 points.

JSJ is a valuable complement to conventional healing methods and also teaches you how to restore your own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual being with various techniques you can do anywhere, anytime.

Here are some easy JSJ techniques:

  • To calm the nerves, simply hold the last three fingers of your hand, either side. This is the reason people wring their hands when nervous. Jin Shin is part of our innate wisdom so we are practicing it all the time unknowingly. Simply holding those last three fingers together is far more effective. Do this when sitting in the dentist's chair, in meetings or doing interviews.
  • To energize and revitalize the body when tired, simply sit on your hands, palms up, for 10 minutes. This can also be done laying down. As a bonus, sitting on your hands also helps reduce cellulite.
  • For indigestion, gas and stomach aches, simply hold your thumbs, one at a time. If you are someone who tends to worry a lot, holding the thumbs also takes away worry.
  • For cancer prevention and to help the immune system, place the fingers of both hands on the sternum (breast bone located in center of your chest). Do this for a few minutes daily.

Nancy Mehagian teaches Jin Shin Jyutsu seminars throughout Southern California. Visit www.sirensfeast.com. To learn more about JSJ, visit www.jsjinc.net.