Massage therapy is the healing art in which hand manipulation of the body is employed to create a feeling of relaxation, ease mental and physical tensions, alleviate aches and pains, improve circulation, and generally reinvigorate and stimulate the body’s systems. A massage therapist is trained in one or more of the following forms of massage therapy: Swedish massage, shiatsu, acupressure, Rolfing, reflexology, polarity, and bioenergetics.

The philosophy of massage is rooted in Eastern medicine and is based upon the balance point of the human body. It is believed that when this balance is tipped, one way or the other, illness can occur. Massage therapy can relax the body and improve circulation, which enables the body to regain its balance point and return to good health.

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Practiced by a man and a woman, shiatsu can be used to overcome sexual problems and enhance the enjoyment of sexual relations, according to Namikoshi. To help the male partner, the woman should press lightly on various points along the base of his spine, from the coccyx, or “tailbone,” up to the waist level. At each point, she should press for three seconds and give ten applications. Also recommended is pressing with three fingers into a point located directly on the midline of the abdomen and just an inch or two under the breastbone. This is said to promote sexual energy. Still another place suitable for relatively gentle pressure is located at the top border of the pubic hair. Finally, firm pressure first around the anus and then on the perineal area, between the anus and the genitals, is also said to stimulate response.

All this may sound rather exotic to a Westerner, but apparently it doesn’t grab the Japanese that way. According to Namikoshi, “Squeezing the testicles firmly—a Japanese proverb says once for every year of your life-proves particularly invigorating as one grows older.”

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Shiatsu, which in Japanese means “finger pressure,” may be thought of as a cross between acupuncture and massage. The art was developed in Japan over the last 40 years by Tokujiro Namikoshi, who claims to have treated more than 100,000 patients for a wide variety of illnesses. Lately, it’s been catching on in the United States.
Shiatsu is similar to massage in that it stresses the importance of deeply relaxing tense or exhausted muscles. By loosening the muscles, blood flow is improved. It differs from massage in that pressure is applied much more vigorously, usually with the ball of the thumb and sometimes even with the thumbnail.

With acupuncture, it shares the concept that there are points on the body (which may be far removed from the part that hurts) which, when stimulated, bring about beneficial results. Thus, pressure to the plantar arch of the foot is recommended not only for aching feet, but to eliminate weariness throughout the body, and even to relieve ailments of the kidneys, to which organ, according to shiatsu principles, the plantar arch is closely related.

Usually, the bulb (not the tip) of the thumb is used to apply pressure. The pressure should be firm, and the force used will vary from patient to patient and from one part of the body to another. In general, according to Namikoshi, the pressure should be “sufficient to cause a sensation midway between pleasure and pain.” The application of the pressure should last from five to seven seconds—no more. It may be repeated three or four times. A shiatsu treatment from a professional may last 30 minutes or more, but for self-treatment, several minutes at a time, a few times a day, is typical.