Origins of Amatsu Amatsu medicine is a Holistic Japanese medicine that evolved during a three thousand-year history influenced by Chinese, Korean, and other Asian philosophies and medical approaches. Amatsu medicine has evolved into its present form through the research and clinical experience of its practitioners. Its philosophies are as appropriate now, if not more so, than they were three thousand years ago. Amatsu in the West Amatsu emerged in the west due to the efforts of Dennis Bartram, Chris Roworth and William Doolan, 3 western therapists studying under the guidance of the Japanese Professor Masaaki Hatsumi. Their previous experience in physical medicine came from backgrounds in Osteopathy, Chiropractic, Psychotherapy, Hypnosis, Physiotherapy and natural medicine. Western Amatsu medicine clinics now exist in England, Germany, Spain, Eire, Australia and other European countries. |
Amatsu Medicine and the Godai When translated, Amatsu literally means "To restore balance naturally" The Godai - The five factors for health and harmony, are important in Amatsu. According to the Godai, health can only exist when there is a balance between the five factors that make up our person. Physical -Muscles, bones and all the rest of our physical bodyEmotional - Our mind and mental processesNutritional - Intake and Excretion of our foodEnergy - How our Qi/Ki/Chi, our Life Force, flowsEnvironmental - Our interaction within everything around us
In Amatsu medicine it is important to balance the Godai of a person, rather than focus on symptoms, which are a manifestation of our loss in balance. For example, any physical injury places greater demands on our nutrition of the person. A change in temperature makes our muscles more or less relaxed. Continual noise increases our stress levels. |
Amatsu and Pain Pain is a signal within our nervous system to tell us something has gone wrong or that we need to avoid a situation. Treating pain with painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs often overloads the liver and doesn't correct the underlying causes of the pain. The best way to treat pain is to treat the cause. Professor Hatsumi notes that we treat pain like a man who goes out in the snow and because it is unbearably cold takes a pain killer rather than the more sensible option of simply going in to sit by the warmth of the fire. Obviously all pain should be investigated to ascertain its true nature and exclude any serious conditions or diseases first. At Amatsu Arts we treat pain relief and the underlying causes of problems through balancing the Godai natural factors. Once disease has been ruled out, Amatsu with its physical and energy meridian balancing, along with a healthy diet, relaxation training and gentle exercise will help to maintain alignment and balance. Amatsu allows the body to un-learn unhealthy adaptations and so often enable the body to use its natural mechanisms to alleviate painful conditions. |
What Is Amatsu? Amatsu is a natural Japanese therapy used since ancient times for correcting the alignment problems in your body whether due to illness, an accident, a sports injury or just a busy lifestyle. Poor health builds gradually over time. The human body is wonderfully adaptable, evolution shows us that. Unfortunately that can help us to ignore problems and keep going, forcing the body to cope when we are pushing it in the wrong direction. Muscular pain, fatigue, stiff joints, irritable bowel, tingling and numbness are all warning signs that we are busy building on deeper problems. |
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Amatsu has more relevance today than ever! The pace of 21st century life makes more demands on us than ever before, gradually depleting our reserves. The workplace is more hectic, our environment is more polluted and our diet is chosen often for convenience rather than nutrition. These factors combine to make our overall state of health more vulnerable. By taking a forward thinking approach and using Amatsu therapy regularly we can more easily recharge our batteries and often can prevent ill health from arising. Coming from the East and having a 2000 years old lineage, Amatsu therapy is an integrated system of holistic natural medicine that is now becoming increasingly popular in the UK. Amatsu therapies work to alleviate stress related symptoms. Over a course of treatment clients report higher energy levels, regular sleep patterns, less muscular pain, improved joint mobility and a sense of vitality and well-being. Amatsu is a body movement oriented therapy, useful for both acute and chronic conditions. An Amatsu treatment, called a balance, is suitable for all ages- from infants to the elderly. Amatsu works dynamically on the muscle, fluid and ligament systems that maintain the stability of the skeleton and the functioning of vital organs. Gentle to firm pressure is applied to points on the body to release patterns of internal tensions in tissues, ligaments and muscles. As Amatsu helps correct spinal and pelvic misalignment , it is particularly good for treating back, neck , hip and shoulder pain. The body, arms and legs are supported and gently moved through normal ranges of motion to re-connect and re-pattern the natural pathways of movement. An Amatsu balance ends with deeply relaxing gentle work on the head and neck, re-establishing the integration of nerves, muscles and skeleton. |
Treatment Before commencing treatment, your detailed history is taken. The Japanese word for this is Gairon, literally meaning "the big picture". Your practitioner will seek to identify the main causes of disharmony in your body, emotions or lifestyle. You will then be examined to verify the problem whilst also searching for the underlying causes. This examination incorporates light touch or palpation, muscle testing and some standard orthopaedic checks and is performed standing, seated or lying on the treatment couch. Once a pattern of imbalance is found, your practitioner will relieve this by gentle re-alignment of the limbs, gentle to firm pressure on the body and subtle cranial release procedures. Routinely the feet, pelvis, and head are worked upon and often shoulders, knees, arms as needed, usually seated or lying down. Treatment times vary between 30 and 40 minutes. Usually you will be treated fully clothed, it is best to wear loose comfortable clothing. A cotton tracksuit is ideal.
Post Treatment Aftercare Following a balance, you are advised to drink several glasses of water to aid the detoxification process. Avoiding alcohol, coffee and sugar is strongly recommended. A gentle walk is also beneficial. Occasionally there is a post treatment reaction such as muscle soreness, tiredness or increased thirst. This is temporary and usually lasts only a short while. As the balance expels acid toxins into the body's lymph and blood, extra liquid, gentle exercise and a soak in the tub before retiring will minimise any discomfort and support the body's own healing mechanisms. |
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