Reading the Body

by Wataru Ohashi and Tom Monte

Published 1 November 1991
"People are always asking me, how can I be happy? Or, how can I find the thing I really want to do in life? I tell them: you are standing on your answer. The secrets of your life are written on your body" -Ohashi

Ohashi helps you learn these secrets by showing you how to "read your body" to determine both your physical and spiritual condition as revealed in the physical self. Because, as Ohashi notes, "the body is the physical manifestation of the soul," your posture, your features, and the texture of your skin can tell you who you are.

This is not just a book about health and shiatsu; it is a guide to living well. The goal is to find unity of body, mind, and spirit, emphasizing that everyone has strengths and weaknesses and that accommodating one's weaknesses is as important as utilizing one's strengths.

Filled with diagrams, drawings, and sample diagnoses, this is not only a practical guidebook-by "reading the body" one can tell what shiatsu techniques apply to the various energy meridians of the body-but also a fascinating meditation on how to live.

A growing number of Americans are discovering the pleasurable and therapeutic uses of shiatsu, a Japanese method of acupressure. In Do-It-Yourself Shiatsu, Ohashi, one of the most knowledgeable and well-known U.S.-based shiatsu experts, offers step-by-step instruction on how to perform shiatsu at home. Ohashi, who has taught and practiced shiatsu for more than thirty years, focuses on common ailments faced here in the West. He provides clear explanations of all technical terms and helpful photographs throughout to illustrate shiatsu techniques and locations of pressure points. Also included are explanations of special shiatsu exercises, designed to keep energy flowing through the body, and a new preface by the author.