Testing Shiatsu in the real world

Personal Development, Shiatsu Practice

I really like this post by Steve Pavlina called Testing to Failure it really sums up my journey this year and how I want to proceed in the future. For me 2007 has been about getting over several hurdles especially the mental ones that prevented me from really experiencing Shiatsu. I was caught up in what Steve Pavlina terms fear based thinking and succumbing to critics.

In his article Steve Pavlina warns about testing our plans too much in our heads and predicting failures that may never happen. In Shiatsu terms one could rephrase this in terms of the Stomach energy churning ideas and the Liver being unable to make a decisions or act on a life choice.

Part of Steve’s argument is that we often do not act because of the fear of embarrassment; that if we fail then we look a fool. This is of course the domain of the Heart and Heart Protector. The Heart is a sensitive organ that does not like to be exposed, which I suppose is what happens when we feel foolish. The Heart Protector, as the mediator between the emotional core and the other organs, will do its best to ensure that we act in a way to maintain the dignity of the Heart.

We may want to accept a situation or act on choice but will only do if the core feels it is happy to proceed. Putting Steve’s advice into practice then requires us to be confident at our emotional core. The Shen needs to be content within the Heart.

Tony Brown @ May 15, 2007