Seeing what is without being clouded by judgment or opinion
In Iokai Shiatsu, we do not just treat the symptoms or complaints, but the person behind them. We try to understand where a problem truly originates. Clients come with a wide variety of complaints, but they are often just the visible expression of an imbalance at a deeper level.
By looking, listening, and feeling without judgment, a picture slowly emerges of what is really happening. Not by analyzing or explaining directly, but by leaving space. A space in which something can be revealed.
But what does it mean to be an uninhibited and unbiased Shiatsu therapist?
It requires that we let go of our own ideas, interpretations, and judgments. That we don’t immediately fill in what we think we’re seeing, but remain open to what arises. In practice, we sometimes call this ‘not thinking.’ Not because there are no thoughts at all, but because we don’t let them guide us.
That is not self-evident. We humans are accustomed to thinking. Thinking has brought us a lot and is an important part of who we are. In our Western culture, it has even taken a central place. The statement of René Descartes “So I think I exist” There is a well-known example of this.
But what happens when we stop thinking for a moment? When there is a moment in which we do not draw on knowledge, experience, or judgment? Then another form of presence arises. A silent, open attention. Being in the moment, without needing to immediately understand or name it.
You could see it as a state related to what is described in Zen: being present without adding anything. Just seeing what is there.
In a treatment, that can mean that you don’t approach the client from a story or diagnosis, but from direct observation. That you feel how the Ki moves, where there is stagnation, where there is emptiness or tension. Not because you think about it, but because it can be experienced.
If you can be there, even if just for a moment, the quality of your perception changes. You no longer see only the complaint, but the person as a whole. Without judgment, without the rush to fix something.
Attention to being present
In our Shiatsu classes, we pay a lot of attention to this way of being present. It is an essential part of the profession, but also of personal development.
Because the effect extends beyond the treatment alone. You notice that there is more peace of mind. That situations don’t get stuck in thinking or reacting as quickly. That you may take yourself a little less seriously, and life becomes a little lighter.
Being present without judgment is not a technique that you can apply immediately. It is a attitude that develops slowly. Starting over again and again, returning again and again to what is now.
And maybe that is the core: not looking for what should be, but learning to see what already exists.