The Touch of Healing

by Alice Burmeister

  Mary recalls a man who attended one of her seminars. When it was finished, he dismissed all that she had said. Shortly afterward the man went on a guided tour of the Grand Canyon. When the group got down to the bottom of the canyon, the man became ill and could not go another step. The guide was adamant: “There is no paramedic here, no mule, and no one to carry you out,” he said. “You’ve got to make it on your own.” Unfortunately, the man couldn’t move. The guide took the group back to the top of the canyon so he could send for help. As the man lay waiting in exhaustion and despair, he remembered Mary’s words: “The breath is the ultimate tool. Go into the breath. Exhale and accept the gift that the universe is giving you with every inhalation.” He began to do just that, exhaling and breathing more naturally and rhythmically, receiving life energy with every inhalation. Miraculously, he began to feel stronger. “Pretty soon, he had caught up to his group and made it all the way to the top without any assistance,” Mary recalls. Later, the man called Mary to thank her for what she had taught him.

  The breath is the simplest and most perfect of all the tools we have at our convenience. It can be used at any waking moment to enhance and balance the life energy, so that we can enter the realm from which harmony and healing flow.

  the thirty-six breaths

  Here is a simple breathing practice that restores balance to all of the functions within you:

  Begin by counting your exhalations. (“One, exhale, inhale. Two, exhale, inhale. Three, exhale, inhale.” And so on.) Count until you have completed thirty-six breaths. If you lose count, you can start again. This can be done at one time or throughout the day, counting in four groups of nine. Allow your breathing to unfold naturally. In time, your breathing will automatically become deeper and more rhythmic.

  the depths and attitudes

  chapter two

  the hands as jumper cables

  Throughout the past four decades, Mary Burmeister has seen an average of ten people per day, six days per week. Each session normally lasts an hour. Although many people travel great distances to receive healing from her, she does not see herself as the source of the healing energy. Rather, she believes that every one of us has the same ability to channel the universal life energy through the body by using our hands. Simply placing one’s hands upon the appropriate area allows the life energy to travel through to another part of our own body or to another human being. The universal life energy will penetrate clothing, a cast, a bandage, or a brace. None of these can obstruct the flow of life energy from the practitioner’s hands to the recipient.

  I don’t do anything. The Universal Energy does everything. Therefore, I can take credit for nothing. At the same time, because I do nothing, I never get tired. In all the years that I have jumper-cabled people with contagious diseases, I have never gotten sick from someone else’s disease.

  —MARY BURMEISTER

  Visualize the hands as jumper cables. Just apply—no strength is required. There is no need to rub or massage. When she is discussing the application of the jumper cables, Mary reminds her students that Jin Shin Jyutsu is not a technique but an Art. A technique often requires the memorization of specialized rules and a precise “mechanical” application. An art, on the other hand, calls for a breadth of understanding and a flexible, creative approach. Accordingly, there is no absolute way for applying your own jumper cables. Whatever feels the most natural is the right way.

  Here are some key points to keep in mind whenever you are jumper-cabling yourself or someone else.

  • Relax. If you are unable to relax, just be as you are. There is no need to try to relax. In time you will be able to relax without trying.

  • You may sit, stand, or lie down—whatever is most comfortable, convenient, and practical for you.

  • Simply apply your hands for a few minutes at a time to each step, or until you can feel an even, rhythmic pulsation.

  • Jumper-cabling can be done at any time of day. It is the daily application of the simple sequences that will accomplish results.

  The act of jumper-cabling is, in fact, effortlessly simple—we can achieve powerful results merely by holding one of our fingers. As we shall see shortly, each of our fingers is responsible for harmonizing a particular dimension or depth of our being. Harmonizing each of these depths enables us to unload those pernicious attitudes (such as fear or sadness) that are the primary causes of stagnant energy and disharmony.

  depths and attitudes

  Matter is the lowest level of spirit, and spirit is the highest degree of matter.

  The vast scope of Jin Shin Jyutsu is most evident in the concept of depths. The depths are a practical healing tool as well as a means of understanding how we came into being and how we remain unified with the source of all life.

  The depths can be understood as dimensions of being, each one responsible for a specific set of functions within the body, mind, and spirit. All of these dimensions interact with each other and are interdependent. At the same time, each dimension also provides a direct foundation for the next. Thus they reveal the implicit order in life and give us insight into the intention behind each dimension of our being.

  The depths also describe the process by which energy becomes form, spirit becomes matter, and each step in creation is built upon the preceding step. Although we define each depth as a stage of creation, it must be remembered that we are never separated from any stage, so that even the most diffuse forms of pure energy are still unified with the physical body itself. Each depth interacts with the others to sustain and integrate the human experience. In short, the interrelatedness of the depths reveals the link between nonphysical and physical reality, between thought and substance, and between the universe and the individual.

  Let’s pause for a minute and imagine ourselves as originating from an infinite source of energy. This, in fact, is precisely the way that modern science theorizes we came into being. From a scientific and cosmological perspective, the universe originated with the so-called Big Bang, a giant explosion of energy that created all matter. Before the Big Bang the universe existed as boundless and undifferentiated energy. Within this limitless energy were the seeds for infinite possibilities of creation. That energy still exists and is known in Jin Shin Jyutsu as the ninth depth. Each of us is still unified with the ninth depth; each of us is still connected, as it were, to that original potential of pure energy.

  The process by which this universal energy individuates itself and becomes manifest is referred to as densing down. In densing down the life energy undergoes various stages of contraction in order to appear as matter. This process of contraction begins at the eighth depth. The eighth depth is often referred to as the dot. This conveys the image of a point where the vast, unbounded energy of the ninth depth begins to concentrate itself—the unknowable source of all sources.

  At the seventh depth the life energy has condensed into “the light of the Creator.” This depth provides each of us with the spark of life that animates the physical body. The image that best offers a glimpse of the seventh depth is Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, in which the hand of Adam reaches out to the hand of God. Between the fingers of Adam and that of God is a little space, a synapse, across which the spark of life leaps to bring life to the flesh. The seventh depth is also associated with the sun and light.

  From the sixth to first depths, the life energy denses down into the various aspects of the human form. As such, each of these depths encompasses all of the spiritual, physical, and psychological functions of our human experience. On the physical plane, for example, each depth is responsible for the creation and maintenance of a particular set of organ functions.

  Each of these six depths also corresponds with a particular attitude. In Jin Shin Jyutsu the term attitude refers to a fixed emotional response, such as habitual fear or anger. The inflexible, unyielding nature of attitudes is a primary source of disharmony. Consequently, when a particular attitude becomes predominant, its r
elated depth becomes unbalanced. This imbalance, of course, may negatively affect the particular organ function that is governed by that depth.

  Happily for us, the converse is also true: When we balance a particular depth, we unburden ourselves of its affiliated attitude, which can, in turn, correct any disharmony that may be affecting the related organ. Since each of the first six depths can be regulated by a place on our hand, balancing a depth is as easy as jumper-cabling one of our fingers or our palm.

  What follows is a closer look at each of the remaining six depths. Our discussion will focus primarily upon the organs and attitudes specific to each one. However, because the depths are also related to the elements that make up the earth and the heavens, it should be noted that they have numerous other correspondences as well. Thus each of the first sixth depths is also affiliated with a particular color, planet, element, and season. The chart for each depth illustrates the full range of associations not covered by our discussion.

  While referring to these charts, bear in mind that each association can clue us in to the needs within a particular depth. An extreme aversion or attraction to a specific color, a tendency toward fatigue on a particular day of the week, a strong preference or dislike for a certain taste, all call attention to an imbalance of the associated depth. For example, a chronic craving for sweets is associated with an imbalance of the first depth.

  the sixth depth

  This is the highest differentiated principle in man and is his consciousness in an undivided and unconditioned state.

  The sixth depth is the transition between the “impersonal” universe and our own “personal” human experience. (See Figure 2.1.) Accordingly, it is the source of our personal life energy. This source nourishes all of our organs, as well as all of the materializing forms of energy within us. It supports the functions of the diaphragm and umbilicus and provides vitality to our entire being. For this reason the sixth depth is often referred to as the “total harmonizer” as it harmonizes our body, mind, and spirit with each other and with the universe.

  FIGURE 2.1

  When this total harmonizer becomes unbalanced, utter despondency results. On the physical plane disharmony may occur in the diaphragm and umbilicus organ functions. When the sixth depth is in balance, we feel a sense of profound peace and oneness with the universe. Harmony is brought to the related organs.

  To balance the sixth depth, jumper-cable the center of the palm. (See Figure 2.2.) Remember—however you choose to hold it is fine. One of the most time-honored methods of jumper-cabling the sixth depth is that of the hands at prayer. The ancients knew that this was no mere symbolic gesture but a practical, hands-on way of achieving harmony with the universe.

  At the sixth depth the universal life energy has densed down to become the “blueprint” that determines the building of our manifested form. This progresses from our outermost surface, governed by the first depth, to our innermost physical core, governed by the fifth depth. We will now examine each of those depths in that order.

  FIGURE 2.2

  the first depth

  The sustainer of the material form.

  The first depth is responsible for receiving and processing sustenance. (See Figure 2.3.) It enables us to take in nourishment from both external and internal sources. The first depth then assists us in digesting these nutrients, which are as varied as the food that we eat to the thoughts that we think.

  FIGURE 2.3

  Appropriately, the organs associated with the first depth are the spleen and the stomach. These organs are direct expressions of this first-depth function. The stomach, of course, helps us to digest food. Additionally, the spleen is the body’s source of “solar energy,” which serves to energize all of the other organs. The first depth also creates our skin surface, which, through its enormous porous network, receives nutrients that come into contact with it. It is also the means by which we perceive touch and nurturing from others.

  When the first depth is in harmony, we feel secure in our capacity to admit nourishment. The opposite feeling is worry, the attitude associated with an imbalance of the first depth.

  To balance the first depth, jumper-cable either thumb. (See Figure 2.4.)

  FIGURE 2.4

  “WHILE RECEIVING A Jin Shin Jyutsu session from Mary, I commented on a peculiar burning sensation running down my arms and into my hands. I wanted to know what caused it. In response to my question, Mary held my hands up and invited me to take a look at my thumbs. She pointed out how arched their top joints were. ‘This is the sign of a good worrier,’ she told me. Mary continued to jumper-cable me. Within minutes I was again instructed to look at my thumbs. This time, to my amazement, they had straightened out! (They have remained so twelve years later.)

  “THAT EVENING WHEN I returned to my hotel room, I found myself thinking about all the things that would normally provoke me to worry. But somehow, I managed to remain calm and relaxed while thinking about them.

  “SINCE THAT EXPERIENCE, I have learned the value of keeping my thumbs in order. When I find myself obsessing (a less frequent occurrence), I hold my thumbs. I am still surprised by how effective they are for relaxing me.”

  the second depth

  Rhythm and harmony.

  The second depth gives vitality and energy to the body. (See Figure 2.5.) It also moderates the essential rhythms of life—our outflow and intake. When the second depth is harmonized, we are better able to let go and receive energy at an even, unhurried rate. For this reason, the second depth is also referred to as “the little breath of life.”

  FIGURE 2.5

  Not surprisingly, the second depth orchestrates the body’s respiratory system. Its related organ is the lung, as well as the large intestine. Here also is where the life energy creates what is called the “deep skin” tissue, the network of tissue that underlies the skin and sheaths the body’s major organs.

  When we are overwhelmed by grief, the second depth is unbalanced. Grief, of course, arises out of a disruption to our natural emotional rhythms. When we grieve, we experience a diminished capacity for letting go. We become stuck, clinging to something we can’t possess. Balancing the second depth helps us to release our grip on the old and be receptive to the new, on both the emotional and the physical plane (lungs and large intestine function).

  To balance the second depth, jumper-cable the ring finger. (See Figure 2.6.)

  “MY FRIEND HAD a twenty-year history of asthma. I showed her how to hold her ring fingers to strengthen her respiratory functions. She remarked on being able to breathe more freely after holding them and decided to receive some Jin Shin Jyutsu sessions from me. I focused on balancing the second depth. After three sessions, she said she felt like a new person. She didn’t need any medication or vaporizers since receiving Jin Shin Jyutsu. Also, she said she could feel her lungs become more clear for the first time.”

  FIGURE 2.6

  the third depth

  The key to harmonizing the elements.

  Like the sixth depth, the third depth is also a harmonizer. But where the sixth depth regulates our harmony with the universe, the third depth modulates the body’s own inner harmony. (See Figure 2.7.) The third depth is responsible for maintaining all of the body’s individual elements in the correct proportions. Similarly, the third depth harmonizes all of our various emotions. When this occurs, we are able to view life with a more compassionate eye.

  FIGURE 2.7

  The third depth oversees the liver and gall bladder functions. It is also where the “blood essence” is created by the life energy. Fittingly, Jin Shin Jyutsu sees the blood as a harmonizing force, due to its role in distributing various nutrients to the many different parts of the body.

  The attitude associated with the third depth is anger. Jin Shin Jyutsu sees anger as a force that can separate the soul from the body because it creates such an intense, destabilizing energy within. When we balance the third depth, we increase our capacity for compassion as well as reinstate harmony to
the liver and gall bladder functions.

  To balance the third depth, simply jumper-cable one of the middle fingers. (See Figure 2.8.)

  FIGURE 2.8

  “MY HUSBAND RETURNED home from work in an extremely frustrated state. Everything that could have gone wrong that day did. He proceeded to tell me about the many annoyances he was subjected to.

  “AS HE WAS no stranger to Jin Shin Jyutsu, I simply suggested that he take hold of his middle finger while he spoke with me. This he did. Within a few minutes his demeanor shifted. He started to laugh as he told me, ‘I can’t talk about these things now—they just don’t seem to bother me anymore!’ ”

  the fourth depth

  The liquid of life.

  The fourth depth represents “flow,” or fluidity of motion. (See Figure 2.9.) It enables us to overcome the negative impact of mental, emotional, or physical stagnation.

  FIGURE 2.9

  Because fluidity and motion are so central to the fourth depth, it is fitting that this depth is responsible for the creation of the muscular system. The fourth depth also governs those organs that regulate the movement of water throughout the body, namely, the kidney and bladder. Jin Shin Jyutsu, like several other ancient healing arts, believes that the kidneys also serve the larger function of storing and distributing the life energy for the entire body.