Shiatsu

Shiatsu is a Japanese form of bodywork in which you lie clothed on a mat or couch while the practitioner applies steady pressure and gentle stretches. The name means ‘finger pressure’, and the practitioner may also use palms, elbows or knees; no oils are used. It draws on traditional ideas of energy (qi) flowing along pathways called meridians. Very few studies of shiatsu exist; the evidence for pain and sleep is limited: see “Shiatsu: what the research says”.