Jennifer Holmes tells us about Jin Shin Jyutsu and the Art of Gratitude in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, issue Number 58, Fall 2007:

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When I was asked to write a short article on the Visionary Living Show, where a group of practitioners from the New Zealand Association of Jin Shin Jyutsu had a stand to bring more awareness of Jin Shin Jyutsu to the public, my immediate response was, “Sure, I’ll write about how I experienced gratitude.” I experienced this in two ways: first, as an observer of those receiving sessions and second, as a practitioner for sessions! However, I was to be surprised.

With two practitioners per table, two tables in our little space, we waited for our first clients. Little did we know we would be working continually from 10 a.m. until closure at 5 p.m. without more than a 10-minute break for lunch. Many people arrived who looked tired or tense – and some a little apprehensive. After all, this was a new experience for most. But a double Mediator Universal Harmonizing Energy Flow worked its magic as we quietly practiced in pairs, 20 minutes each session. the noise around receded, and we created a little space of stillness in the large hall filled with hundreds of visitors. After receiving the flow, clients would get up, without exception commenting on how relaxing it had been…and how “I went into another space and don’t want to come back.” Later I noticed how the same people went past smiling or laughing. Transformation had occurred.

The gratitude became infectious, and as a the day passed, we practitioners became more energized. Instead of feeling tired, the opposite was happening. This brought me to feelings of gratitude, which I experienced both from those receiving and those giving. So I started to think about this feeling of gratitude and the part it plays in our lives and health.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary says: Gratitude. n. Being thankful, appreciation of and inclination to return kindness. From Late Latin “gratitudo” (gratus = thankful…)

I started to look at my attitude and how often I felt or expressed gratitude. When I was a child, it was a formalized part of the day with grace before meals and prayers in the evening. Now I believe we need to look within and feel gratitude from the heart. So I focused on gratitude and found that as I consciously turned my awareness to the multitude of friends and events in my life where I felt thankful, life began to lighten up. It was a though the energy around me intensified, and I began to feel much happier. It was similar to how I feel after a Jin Shin Jyutsu session, where I experience a coming home to myself.

A wonderful example of someone who practices gratitude in her every thought and comment is Pat Meador, Mary’s friend who gave me a session in the Scottsdale office. My recollection of her is as a radiant woman with lightness of being, who lives what she practices – the Art of Jin Shin Jyutsu. My one session with Pat left me with a profound impression.

To be continued…