The Touch of Healing

by Alice Burmeister

  When the fourth depth becomes unbalanced, the resultant attitude is fear. Jin Shin Jyutsu defines fear as False Evidence Appearing Real. It is the source of all other attitudes. Moreover, fear is a paralyzing force that hinders the natural-motion principles of the fourth depth. It has the effect of slowing down the circulation of bodily fluids. This is not surprising when we recall that our fluid circulation is governed by the fourth-depth organs, the kidney and bladder. Balancing the fourth depth restores freedom of circulation and gives us freedom from fear.

  To balance the fourth depth, jumper-cable either index finger. (See Figure 2.10.)

  “I HAD A great deal of fear about an upcoming business trip. My left low back began causing me increasing pain, to such an extent, I wondered whether it would be possible to go on my trip. I went to a chiropractor to be adjusted, but my back still hurt. Finally, I boarded the plane for my trip, with my back still causing me a great deal of pain. As I sat in the plane, Mary’s words came through loud and clear—‘Keep it simple—when your back hurts, simply hold on to your index finger.’ I held my index finger, feeling my fears melt away, and to my surprise, so did my back pain. Throughout the entire week of my trip, my back was pain free—and I was reminded of the simplicity of the Art of Jin Shin Jyutsu.”

  FIGURE 2.10

  the fifth depth

  Being in the state of knowing instead of just thinking.

  The fifth depth is the source of our intuitive knowledge. (See Figure 2.11.) When the fifth depth is balanced, we are able to receive inspiration directly from the universe. Here, the densing-down life energy is responsible for the creation of our skeletal system. The organ functions supported by the fifth depth are the heart and small intestine. The heart, in fact, offers us an excellent insight into the essence of the fifth depth, for when our heart is open, we trust in, and are thus receptive to, the inspiration of the universe.

  FIGURE 2.11

  The attitude associated with the fifth depth is pretense. Jin Shin Jyutsu refers to pretense as “trying-to.” In order to prevent the fifth depth from becoming unbalanced, Jin Shin Jyutsu advises us to avoid the following common, everyday traps:

  • No judging or being judged. When we make judgments, we assume that we know a situation in its totality, which is impossible on the face of it. Also, judgments assume that any situation a person finds himself in could have been avoided by that person. This is unrealistic. Each act that one undertakes represents an awareness at a particular stage of development.

  • No comparing or competing. All comparisons are false. Every person and situation is unique and therefore cannot be compared with anyone or anything else. All comparisons and all forms of competition are essentially founded on illusion.

  • No labeling or being labeled. To label is to limit. To be labeled by another person compromises our life condition. When we label a situation or condition with our own diagnosis, we give credibility and attention to the disharmony rather than the harmony.

  • No asking why. All maturity and development is an organic process, an orderly unfolding. When we reach the time when understanding is needed, the answer emerges.

  Fifth-depth imbalances often appear in the body in the form of heart or small intestine function disharmonies. Balancing the fifth depth enables us to address these physical disharmonies as well as progress beyond the “trying-to” attitude.

  To balance the fifth depth, jumper-cable the little finger. (See Figure 2.12.) You may hold either one, in whatever way is most comfortable for you.

  FIGURE 2.12

  “IN THE EARLY 1980s, a general practitioner was sufficiently concerned about what he heard through the stethoscope to refer me to a cardiologist. My childhood diagnosis of heart murmur was subsequently rediagnosed as aortic valve insufficiency.

  “ANNUALLY, EVER SINCE, I have received an echocardiogram, consistently demonstrating an ongoing enlargement of critical heart measurements. The cardiologist originally informed me that there was a statistical possibility of my undergoing valve replacement surgery at some point in my life. Based upon the echo indications and a cardiac catheterization in the fall of 1994, the prognosis became ‘when,’ not ‘if’ the replacement surgery would occur.

  “ENTER JIN SHIN Jyutsu in December 1994. Since that time, I have had Jin Shin Jyutsu sessions at one- or two-week intervals. I have also dutifully practiced ‘self-help’ daily, giving a full five minutes each self-help session to the one ‘hold’ that is particularly geared toward heart function (my little finger).

  “WHEN I HAD the fall 1995 echocardiogram, the results indicated a diminution in measurements that equaled the results of a full three years prior in some key measurements. This was the first incidence of reduced measurements since I began the annual echocardiogram about thirteen years ago.

  “THE CARDIOLOGIST STATED that he had no explanation for these results. I do.”

  As we have just seen, the simple act of holding a finger can be a powerful tool for harmonizing the organ functions and neutralizing the negative influence of attitudes. When we use it in conjunction with the breath exercise at the end of Chapter 1, we greatly energize our ability to unload even the most stubbornly entrenched attitudes. Remember, nothing is more basic than breathing for the purpose of releasing attitudes and restoring harmony to mind, body, and spirit.

  The breath is also essential for directing the life energy to flow in a specific pattern. With every exhalation, energy moves down the front of the body. With every subsequent inhalation, it moves up the back. As we shall see in the next chapter, this particular pattern of movement is the most elemental of all the body’s energy flows. When we relax, exhale, and receive the breath, we keep this most important energy pathway free from obstruction.

  the trinity flows

  chapter three

  The simple breath and jumper-cable exercises presented in the first two chapters are powerful lifelong tools for both attaining and maintaining harmony. All of the spiritual, psychological, and physical functions of our existence can be regulated through our breath and fingers. In fact, Jiro Murai’s research revealed that each one of our fingers affects 14,400 functions within the body!

  In a sense, there is nothing else we need to know to deal with any conceivable disharmony that might occur within us. Although Jin Shin Jyutsu encompasses many other concepts and practices that we have yet to learn, they do not necessarily enable us to “do more.” Yet expanding our awareness of Jin Shin Jyutsu brings a corresponding increase in our awareness of ourselves. We grow more finely attuned to the sources of disharmony. Additionally, some of the more specific exercises of Jin Shin Jyutsu can be especially beneficial for our particular personal needs. Since many of these sequences work directly upon the body’s flows, we shall now pause and explore this very important concept.

  what is a flow?

  During the course of his research, Jiro Murai verified that the body is traversed by energy pathways, or flow patterns. These flows integrate and unify all the seemingly disparate parts of the body.

  In order to better understand this concept, visualize the energy as water. Water in the atmosphere is generally diffuse, taking the form of vapor. When water vapor condenses, it becomes rain and falls to earth. This, as we have already seen, is not unlike the way energy denses down through the depths.

  When rainwater reaches the earth, it runs down hills and mountains into valleys, where it is channeled into rivers. The largest and mightiest of these rivers could be termed ancestral, having traveled the same course for many thousands of years. Eventually, these ancestral rivers branch off.

  All of these rivers do more than simply flow endlessly, without purpose. When they run easily and abundantly, they deliver life-giving water and nutrients to the river bottom and the surrounding banks. The nearby areas become fertile. On the other hand, when their flow is too constricted or too turbulent, they do not nurture their surroundings in the same way.

  Our body’s energy flows operate in a similar fa
shion. When energy circulates easily and abundantly, body, mind, and spirit are all nourished. But when the flow becomes blocked, constricted, or stagnant, disharmony results.

  In Jin Shin Jyutsu, there are three main harmonizing flows, which are collectively referred to as the Trinity. These three flows are the Main Central Flow and the (left and right) Supervisor Flows. The Trinity Flows are like the body’s ancestral rivers. The most important of them is the Main Central Flow.

  main central: the source of life

  The oval, all inclusive, the rootless root of all.

  In the preceding section, we compared the Main Central Flow to a mighty ancestral river. The Main Central is also like a sensitive and powerful antenna that connects us directly to the universal source of energy. This connection, as we recall, occurs within the sixth depth, where the universal life energy begins to form the source of our personal life energy. From this source the life energy flows in an oval circuit, descending the face, neck, and sternum, through the abdominal area and pubic bone, ascending the spine, and going forward over the head, then back down again.

  Just as the sixth depth is the total harmonizer, the Main Central is the primary harmonizing energy flow in the body. It maintains our connection to the Creator. Accordingly, it keeps us in rhythm and harmony with the source of life.

  Because of its direct connection to the original source, the Main Central Flow is the main energy source of the body. It recharges us and revitalizes all of the body’s other flows. Whenever energy is unbalanced on one side or the other, the Main Central can harmonize it and bring it all back into balance.

  We saw, at the end of Chapter 2, how regulating our breath directs the flow of the Main Central. Let’s take a moment now to focus again on the breath. As you exhale, imagine the energy moving down the center of the front of your body. Now inhale, and visualize it moving up through the center of your back. Continue to picture this for a few moments. Envision the energy moving in a constant, unbroken circle as you breathe. This, of course, is precisely how the energy does move when you breathe. What you have just visualized is the path of the Main Central.

  The Main Central pathway reveals two important concepts of Jin Shin Jyutsu. These are, respectively, the descending and ascending energy functions.

  The descending energy moves down the front of the body. It helps release stagnations that occur above the waistline. Keeping the descending energy flowing is therefore useful for preventing headaches or breathing difficulties.

  Conversely, the ascending energy, which moves up the back of the body, is responsible for clearing tension below the waistline. Swollen ankles, stiff hips, and bunions are but a few examples of ascending energy needs.

  PROJECT 1: HARMONIZING WITH THE SOURCE OF LIFE

  Sometimes certain places along the Main Central Flow become blocked or stuck. When this occurs, you can easily remove these blockages by jumper-cabling various key areas along its pathway. The following simple sequence shows how to remove those blockages and keep this most important energy “river” flowing freely.

  These sequences are called projects because projects are creative solutions to life’s problems. Problems are limited; projects are open-ended and can be fun. Here is a project that will harmonize the most important flow in the body, the Main Central, and put you back in rhythm with the universal harmony.

  Remember: As you use this sequence for yourself or another person, don’t be concerned with technique. Just hold each area for a couple of minutes, or until you feel a rhythmic pulse. (See Figure 3.1.)

  FIGURE 3.1

  1. Begin by placing your right palm or fingers or fingertips on the top of the head. Hold your right hand there throughout the remainder of the exercise (until Step 7, when you will move it to the base of the spine).

  2. Place your left finger or fingers between the eyebrows. This will revitalize the deep body energy circulation (energy deep inside the body), improve memory, and dissipate mental stress and even senility.

  3. Place your left hand on the tip of the nose. This will revitalize the reproductive functions and the superficial body energy circulation.

  4. Place your left fingertips on the sternum or breastbone. This will revitalize the lungs, breathing, pelvic girdle, and hips. (Just a reminder: Your right hand remains on the top of the head.)

  5. Place your left fingertips at the base of the sternum, directly above the solar plexus. This will revitalize the Source of Life energy, both descending and ascending.

  6. Place your left fingertips over the top of the pubic bone. This will revitalize the descending Source of Life energy and strengthen the spine.

  7. Leave your left hand on top of the pubic bone. Remove the fingertips of your right hand from the top of the head and place them at the base of the spine, at the area of the coccyx. (The palm or back of the right hand may be used, whichever is more comfortable for you.) The last placement of the hands revitalizes the ascending Source of Life energy and aids in circulation of the legs and feet.

  “MY HUSBAND, A medical doctor, had recurring back problems for many years, which he had treated chiropractically and through various kinds of massage. Finally, last summer his lower back totally rebelled and gave out. He slipped the disc of his fourth lumbar vertebra. For weeks he lived in great pain and fear: fear of excruciating pain, fear of having to have an operation. I worked on him sporadically for a few weeks when I had time, and he experienced some relief. But he was still worried and frightened, in a great deal of pain, and unable to move freely. Desperately, we sent the kids away for one long weekend, and I was determined to treat him twice a day for the duration. While treating him so intensely, I found myself utilizing the Main Central Flow because it runs through the center of the body, energizing the spine and total being. Through using this flow, we were able to strengthen and straighten the spine and relieve pressure on the disc. That weekend was the turning point for him. Afterward he felt he could see the light at the end of the tunnel, that he was actually on the road to full recovery.”

  the supervisor flows

  The illuminating intelligence of the body.

  Along with the Main Central Flow, the left and right Supervisor Flows constitute the Trinity. Both Supervisor Flows are born out of the Main Central. At the base of the spine, the Main Central branches off into two flows that run down the inside of each leg. At the inside of each knee, these branches become the Supervisor Flows. As the name implies, each of these flows then serves to “supervise” all of the functions on their respective sides of the body.

  The left and right Supervisor Flows are mirror images of each other, existing like two vertical ovals of energy on each side of the body. The left Supervisor Flow flows down and up the center of the left side of the body. The right Supervisor Flow follows a similar pathway along the center of the right side of the body.

  Each time the Supervisor Flow begins its circuit anew at the knee, the energy travels a little deeper. In this way the energy conveyed by the Supervisor Flow is distributed throughout all five depths of the body.

  The following project enables you to balance either the left or the right Supervisor Flow. It is especially useful for clearing the head and breathing, aiding digestion, and easing back stress.

  PROJECT 2: THE SUPERVISOR FLOWS

  Because the left and right Supervisor Flows oversee all of the bodily functions along their respective sides, you can apply the appropriate Supervisor Flow when one side or the other feels particularly tense.

  For left-side descending energy needs (see Figure 3.2):

  FIGURE 3.2

  1. Place your right hand on the left shoulder.

  2. Hold the left buttock with your left hand.

  For left-side ascending energy needs (see Figure 3.3):

  FIGURE 3.3

  1. Place your right hand on the left shoulder.

  2. Hold the left groin with your left hand.

  For right-side descending energy needs (see Figure 3.4):

  1. Place yo
ur left hand on the right shoulder.

  2. Hold the right buttock with your right hand.

  For right-side ascending energy needs (see Figure 3.5):

  FIGURE 3.4

  1. Place your left hand on the right shoulder.

  2. Hold the right groin with your right hand.

  FIGURE 3.5

  “SHARYN AND I have known each other since we were three years old, and we were born exactly two months apart. As we grew and played together, my mother noticed a dissimilarity in our development. It was found that Sharyn had scoliosis. After five years of wearing a chin-to-sacrum brace, an operation was performed at age fourteen, and a metal rod was attached to the length of Sharyn’s spine. In 1993, I went to visit Sharyn in Seattle. We had a lot of catching up to do, as it had been eight years since we had seen each other. I was shocked to see her limping; I never remembered her limping. When we arrived at her home, I asked her to stand, and I felt for her spine. I found it one inch left of where a spine should be. I brought this to her attention and told her I knew of something that might help correct the position of her spine: Jin Shin Jyutsu. I used a right Supervisor Flow and then a left Supervisor Flow. Sharyn stood again, but this time more erect—her spine seemed straighten She no longer limped. Sharyn also noticed that her body felt more relaxed and that she could sit for longer periods of time without having to get up and move every half hour because of stiffness.”