What is Macrobiotic Shiatsu?

by Yuko Ozawa Weston, Local Practitioner at Six Senses Spa at Sharq Village & Spa

While many people associate macrobiotics with a vegan diet of wholegrains, lots of greens, and beans, this is not entirely true. The word macrobiotics originates from the Greek words meaning “big life.” It’s an approach to our life, looking at our energy balance in a bigger picture, ranging from food, lifestyle, emotions, attitude, and thinking patterns. In other words, if you would like to achieve health only through diet, you may be missing other important factors, such as emotional work, physical exercise, and lifestyle changes.

So, what’s macrobiotic shiatsu? My macrobiotic shiatsu session views the person holistically by connecting the multidisciplinary elements described above.

On a physical level, I work on energy balance along the spine, on the abdominal area and meridians (energy channels running throughout the body). Through my touch, I find tension, emptiness, coldness, heat, sensitivity, and other subtle energies that the body is holding. Then I press, rub, or touch where needed according to the energy condition that I find. I also combine the breath work to bring an autonomous healing power.

From there, I connect the physical energy with food choices, lifestyle, and emotions. For instance, when we worry, our stomach gets tight and craves for sweetness to relax. When our voice and creativity is suppressed, the liver or gall bladder meridian gets stagnated and the imbalance is manifested in physical symptoms such as stiff shoulders, shallow breath, craving for green detox smoothies and/or sour taste. When the kidney area is cold, we may find it difficult to sleep deeply or to feel grounded and are attracted to savory tastes.

I see my role as a health facilitator to help people connect with their own energy, so that they can enhance their own healing power. After all, we know our own body and mind better than anyone else. Therefore, I would say, accept who you are, what you are, and be kind to yourself. Finally, I’d like to finish with a quote by Elisa Lottor (Issue 49. Vegetarian Times. 1981)

“[Macrobiotics] is the universal way, based upon the native and intuitive common sense of people throughout the world, and has been practiced throughout the history of mankind by the majority of cultures apparently without consciousness.”