What is Jin Shin?
History is replete with stories and archeological evidence from all over the world showing that touch has been the first and most ubiquitous form of healing traditions. Simply put, we've all experienced the instinct to palm, rub, and grasp sore or tense muscles for relief. And we all know how compassionate touch can dramatically sooth emotional distress.
Jin Shin is a Japanese adaptation of Chinese Acupressure Therapy -a science and art of preserving, restoring, and improving health of mind and body by holding the same acupoints used in acupuncture with each hand, alternating between light and firm touch, until their pulses synchronize, indicating that balance and harmony are restored between those points and their associated meridians.
Professional practitioners typically choose acupoint sequences based on the complex theories of Chinese Medical Analysis. However, ARC uses a "Master Sequence" that balances all the meridians; so you can just follow easy instructions in as little as 60 minutes to immediately facilitate potentially spectacular results. While it's strongly encouraged to further one's knowledge of this healing tradition through multiple classes and instructors, everyone can experience profound results with minimal training. This ancient method taps into wells of wisdom living in our bodies that have been evolving since the beginning of the universe. We simply need to learn how to tune into it, practice often, and let it guide and teach us.
Jin Shin is a Japanese adaptation of Chinese Acupressure Therapy -a science and art of preserving, restoring, and improving health of mind and body by holding the same acupoints used in acupuncture with each hand, alternating between light and firm touch, until their pulses synchronize, indicating that balance and harmony are restored between those points and their associated meridians.
Professional practitioners typically choose acupoint sequences based on the complex theories of Chinese Medical Analysis. However, ARC uses a "Master Sequence" that balances all the meridians; so you can just follow easy instructions in as little as 60 minutes to immediately facilitate potentially spectacular results. While it's strongly encouraged to further one's knowledge of this healing tradition through multiple classes and instructors, everyone can experience profound results with minimal training. This ancient method taps into wells of wisdom living in our bodies that have been evolving since the beginning of the universe. We simply need to learn how to tune into it, practice often, and let it guide and teach us.
Jin Shin Basics
The Tao
(aka Dao)
Which is defined as:
A simple yet practical way to think of the Tao is as The Song of Life;
and disease results when someone plays a different tune. For a brief overview and history of the Tao, read this article by National Geographic.
To explore the Tao deeper, read this by Taoist Priest, Ted Kardash, Ph.D.
This "Song" is the reality we experience through ALL our senses
as the infinite, interdependent polarities known in Taoism as:
Yin & Yang
There can be no Light without Dark, Sweet without Sour, Joy without Sorrow, Pain without Pleasure, "Me" without "You," "Us" without "Them," "This" without "That," or "Here" without "There."
Nothing can be experienced without the essential contrasts of Yin & Yang.
We cannot know what anything IS until we know what it is NOT.
For example, you wouldn't know you were experiencing pain or joy if you never felt their absence before.
In a sense, Yin & Yang is an elaborate binary reality of 1's and 0's.
Jin Shin helps reveal reality to us by:
1) quieting our mind enough for us to perceive what's within and without, and
2) Bringing us back to Balance by helping our nervous system realize how out of balance we had become.
Qi
氣 Qi (pronounced "chee"), as related to "Qigong," or Chi, as related to "Tai Chi," translates simply as “vital life force."
In Classical Chinese Philosophy, Qi is the primal substance that all things in the universe are made of, the force that connects and animates everything, and the quality of relationships between all things in the universe.
This is what George Lucas based "The Force" on in his Star Wars universe.
For a more in-depth review of Qi, click here.
East Meets West
Western scientists created the term “bio-energy” to approximate Qi as a basis for research. However, this only denotes the energy of living organisms and organic processes such as combustion rather than natural phenomena such as water, lightning, wind, mountains, gravity, etc. that exist as a concrescence of the systems that give shape and "life" to all natural phenomena.
Thus bio-energy falls critically short of a proper grasp of Qi to effectively research it in the framework of conventional Western science. The link above reviews these challenges.
Quantum Foam may be a far better equivalent for Qi. Click here to learn more.
However, because Quantum Foam is so small, it presents special challenges in devising studies to explore its potential application to life sciences as it can't be observed directly (so far). Click here for an interactive illustration.
For the purposes of Western science, I propose that Qi is not one substance but the sum of all the biological constituents that collectively produce vibrant health, including ATP, neurotransmitters, hormones, blood, etc.
Qi may yet be an independent phenomenon underlying all constituents of life and physics that we simply have not developed the technology to detect and measure yet. Such was the case for electricity and microorganisms most of history.
Regardless, everyone can learn to perceive and experience Qi directly as millions have done for millennia using the "technology" we're all born with.
Acupoints & Meridians
Acupoints are where blockages occur along the body's meridians -the invisible circuits* conducting our Qi like energetic streams that support all functions of our body and mind.
* A hypothesis was proposed in the mid-1980's that the body's connective tissue -fascia- may provide the anatomical basis to clinically research meridians and acupoints given restricted fascia can inhibit nerve conductivity, blood flow, and body movement.
The hyperlinked study above is a meta-analysis of several studies which are each worth reviewing. This one in particular well explains why this hypothesis provides a good Western framework to research the concept of meridians and acupoints further.
Blockages impede the free flow of Qi, causing an excess of Qi on one side of the point and a deficiency on the other, each causing different symptoms. If left unattended too long, these disruptions become dysfunctions that degenerate our body and mind.
The goal of Jin Shin, Tui Na, Shiatsu, Acupuncture, Qigong, Tai Chi, Diet, and other Taoist Arts (ie. Calligraphy, Feng Shui, Meditation, etc.) is to resolve those blockages to restore balanced flow of Qi throughout the Meridians.
Jin Shin activates sequences of acupoints called Flows along different Meridians according to symptoms as determined using Chinese Medical Theory principles like 5 Element Theory and Meridian Theory.
A Universal Method
Unlimited Applications
In Chinese Medicine, balancing Yin & Yang in the body's Meridians establishes the most fundamental foundation that supports healing and homeostasis just like diet, exercise, hydration, sleep, and massage attenuates virtually all conditions arising from systemic dysfunctions regardless of pathology.
While the principles of this nearly 5,000-year old system of medicine are dauntingly complex, it can be approached with profound simplicity by learning how to let Nature to do its work.
Giving Jin Shin
The process of giving Jin Shin is characterized as an art of "listening" with one's hands -and entire being- to the Recipient, Provider, and the Spirit within, between and beyond them both (the Tao).
Receiving Jin Shin
Jin Shin is traditionally received fully clothed and supine (face up) on a table. While it can be received as a stand-alone treatment, it is generally best to administer it after decompressing joints, increasing blood flow, and relieving physical tension with Tui Na so recipients can relax deeper for Jin Shin to work best.
Although Jin Shin is deeply relaxing, and can leave you feeling a bit spacy after, people quickly feel brighter, clearer, more grounded, centered, energized, and renewed.
Why you haven't heard of Jin Shin before
Jin Shin is taught either as a stand-alone program or as part of a Massage Therapy program. MDs and PhDs rarely encounter this field, and Jin Shin practitioners rarely become MDs or PhDs.
Since Jin Shin is rarely found outside of private practices, very few people outside of clients and practitioners are exposed to it. This art was lost in ancient times due to various sociocultural reasons, and not rediscovered until 1912, while acupuncture remained ubiquitous in Chinese culture since the Shang Dynasty (1600 - 1046 BC). These factors have resulted in there being very few studies on Jin Shin. This perpetuates a self-reinforcing cycle. This page shows the handful of known Jin Shin studies and where it's been integrated into Western Healthcare settings. Since Jin Shin is based on the same theory as acupuncture, we can use the abundance of acupuncture studies to support Jin Shin. Click here for examples.
However, no acupuncture studies I know of have demonstrated results as remarkable as I observed using Jin Shin -particularly on a stroke patient (review). Click here for considerations as to why. No Jin Shin studies like mine have been attempted yet. Determining what distinguishes Jin Shin and/or the protocol I used demands further study.
Proving my protocol's efficacy across multiple conditions has profound implications given it can be learned from a simple set of instructions in as little as 30 minutes by anyone, even children age 7 or older. There are countless studies validating the wide therapeutic value of Meridian Therapy (Acupuncture, Acupressure, Tui Na, Shiatsu, Jin Shin, and ARC), especially when combined with proper nutrition, exercise, massage therapy, physical therapy, and psychotherapy.
The abundance of studies proving acupuncture’s efficacy for conditions that Project ARC evaluates, as well as the other disciplines that ARC integrates, supports confidence in ARC’s therapeutic potential.
Since Jin Shin is rarely found outside of private practices, very few people outside of clients and practitioners are exposed to it. This art was lost in ancient times due to various sociocultural reasons, and not rediscovered until 1912, while acupuncture remained ubiquitous in Chinese culture since the Shang Dynasty (1600 - 1046 BC). These factors have resulted in there being very few studies on Jin Shin. This perpetuates a self-reinforcing cycle. This page shows the handful of known Jin Shin studies and where it's been integrated into Western Healthcare settings. Since Jin Shin is based on the same theory as acupuncture, we can use the abundance of acupuncture studies to support Jin Shin. Click here for examples.
However, no acupuncture studies I know of have demonstrated results as remarkable as I observed using Jin Shin -particularly on a stroke patient (review). Click here for considerations as to why. No Jin Shin studies like mine have been attempted yet. Determining what distinguishes Jin Shin and/or the protocol I used demands further study.
Proving my protocol's efficacy across multiple conditions has profound implications given it can be learned from a simple set of instructions in as little as 30 minutes by anyone, even children age 7 or older. There are countless studies validating the wide therapeutic value of Meridian Therapy (Acupuncture, Acupressure, Tui Na, Shiatsu, Jin Shin, and ARC), especially when combined with proper nutrition, exercise, massage therapy, physical therapy, and psychotherapy.
The abundance of studies proving acupuncture’s efficacy for conditions that Project ARC evaluates, as well as the other disciplines that ARC integrates, supports confidence in ARC’s therapeutic potential.