WHAT IS SOUL CONSCIOUSNESS?

“You are a holistic being with both nondualistic energy and the energy of the physical plane as a part of your being at your disposal.”
— Wayne Dyer

Andrew Schneider helps us understand our human experience of being soul. He says, “Soul consciousness arises when we stand facing in opposite directions at the same time – toward eternity and toward time, toward infinity and toward space, toward unity and toward complexity. We stand in that dualism without being dualistic, for in consciousness we can accommodate the opposites. We do this by identifying with both. This identification results in the experience of being an individual while at the same time being the whole, and finding no contradiction in this experience.”

“Give your difference, welcome my difference, unify all difference in the larger whole — such is the law of growth. The unifying of difference is the eternal process of life — the creative synthesis, the highest act of creation.”
— M. P. Follett

Copyright © 1999 – 2018 Higher Awareness Inc.
Edmonton, AB, Canada T5K 0K6

Karen Moore writes: “An Emergency Situation!” in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, issue Number 81, Summer 2013:

One day many years ago, I felt I was coming down with a cold. I had a strong herbal tincture that I squirted into my mouth. It hit the back of my throat, and my throat began to close down. I realized that the inhale was not coming. I only had an extremely long exhale. I felt sure there was an inhale coming at the end of this exhale, but no. I kept exhaling and realized I had to “do” something. My mind thought about the ones, but my instinct was to hold the ring finger. as soon as I did that, my throat opened and the inhale was right there. Of course, ring finger helps breathing! Mind was bypassed by instinct.

Many years later, I had a client on the treatment table who was experiencing a seizure. I immediately thought of the sevens for seizures. I went to the pads of her big toes. Her feet slipped out of my hands, and she was flailing on the table. I heard a rasping sound coming from her throat, and I realized from my own experience years before that her throat was closing down. I immediately and without thinking about it – actually, I did flash about how the instructors were studying down the hall and could be enlisted for help – but I “grabbed” both her ring fingers, and instantaneously her seizure stopped, her throat opened and her breathing became normal.

Whew! Fingers are very powerful. I looked at the Safety Energy Lock chart and found that the ring finger facilitates Safety Energy Lock 7 at the pad of the big toe.

Thank you, Karen.

Thank you, Mary.

Thank you, David.

Gassho, Namaste, Blessings

All issues of The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter are available at http://www.jsjinc.net.

Jeanette Pasqua, Dublin, PA writes: “My Flight with Frank” in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, issue Number 81, Summer 2013:

continued…

The doctor looked at me a bit strangely. I felt the need to explain, “It worked one time before with someone else, so I though I would try again.” The doctor then asked me if I was a nurse traveling with Frank, to which I replied, “No, I am just a passenger who sat next to him and listened to his story.” The doctor smiled. The blood pressure cuff was still not working properly. We asked the flight attendant if there was a defibrillator on board. She informed us that by law only flight attendants could use them. I said, “Okay, just keep it nearby.” She came back in a short while to inform us that for some reason this new plane did not have one on board.

Frank was beginning to feel a bit better and could respond to questions. We only had three oxygen canisters, about 1-1/2 hours of canned oxygen on board, so its usage was carefully planned out. The doctor was consulting by phone with an emergency group on land. It was determined that Frank was stable enough to go on to Philadelphia and we did not need to make an emergency stop in Pittsburgh.

Safety Energy Lock 4 was beginning to open and become soft. My hands felt very hot and sweaty. It was apparent that Frank was feeling better because he started barking orders to the doctor saying he didn’t want to go to the hospital in Philadelphia. He wanted to go back to his doctor and hospital in Phoenix. The doctor convinced him that it would be a good idea to at least have the hospital in Philadelphia check him out.

Frank lifted the oxygen mask and said, “I wanted everyone to know who I am. Show them the pictures.” I smiled and said to him, “I know who you are, Frank.” So I passed around the Lawrence Welk dance photos and shared them with everyone in the first two rows. The plane had a very quiet, sacred feeling after that. It was a very real and honest moment we all shared. The prayers and intentions of every person on that plan on Frank’s behalf were so evident.

Frank was lying in the enter aisle very relaxed, almost sleepy. We were about to land and I realized that I did not have a seat. As a result of sitting and kneeling in the aisle for 1-1/2 hours jumper cabling frank’s had, my legs were completely asleep. The doctor was strapped into Frank’s seat and the nurse was in my seat, so I chose to stay on the floor with Frank holding his head during the landing. Just as we were landing, I felt a strong hand on my left arm supporting me. I looked over and saw the man holding me. He said, “I’m hanging on to you. I saw what you did. I’m not letting anything happen to you during this landing.” I thanked him and kept holding Frank’s head.

We landed safely. I whispered into Frank’s ear, “Hang in there, Frank, and don’t give these people a hard time. I know yo like to be the boss, but these people are offering help to you.” He smiled at me and shook his head in agreement. The paramedics came on board, and we got Frank up and onto a wheelchair. I carried his things out of the plane. Then I hugged him and kissed his head. After giving my name and number to the airport personnel, they let me go.

I walked out, and my dear husband was waiting for me. I hugged him tightly and said, “I’m so glad to be with you. I’ll explain later, but I have to go to the bathroom very badly.” I ran into the bathroom that was completely empty. I was in the stall and I started my conversation with God out loud, “God, I know you put me where I’m needed and that I asked to be your instrument, but sometimes I’d like to have a quiet ride home. Does it have to be so dramatic?”

I started laughing at myself because I realized what I had just said. I came out of the stall, and a lady was standing there staring at me. I was a little self-conscious and said, “I don’t usually speak out loud, but I just got off the plane and…” With that she interrupted and said, “You’re the lady on the plane! I was on that plane. Wasn’t that incredible? That was amazing” I said, “Yes, the whole experience was amazing, and I was just telling God that sometimes I have trouble accepting what it is I ask for.” We laughed and went on our way.

My husband took me home, and life went on. I did call to check on Frank the next day and the next week. He was still in the hospital with “congestive heart failure”. We spoke several times, and he was having some difficulty breathing. He said, “I’ll never forget you.” I said to him, “Frank, I’ll never forget you either.”

We are all on a journey of discovering who we truly are as spiritual beings on this earth. In living this experience with Frank, I am reminded that when I ask God to use me in service, to be ready to accept that role when it appears. It may not always come in the guise that I have anticipated. It may be as simple as a smile to another, or it can be as dramatic as coming upon someone just after an accident. whatever arrives, welcome it and embrace it for it comes from God. Our opinions of it are of no significance. It is neither good nor bad. It is as it is.Trust whatever comes your way you have within you all that you need to be with the experience. This is part of the journey of our souls’ growth. It is a blessing to be traveling with all of you on our journeys together. Pray we all reach a place within that fills us with contentment and peace in our lives.

Thank you, Jeanette.

Thank you, Mary.

Thank you, David.

Gassho, Namaste, Blessings

All issues of The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter are available at http://www.jsjinc.net.

Jeanette Pasqua, Dublin, PA writes: “My Flight with Frank” in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, issue Number 81, Summer 2013:

continued…

Frank began to tell me about his two remaining brothers who lived outside of Philadelphia. He was planning to meet with them to change his will. He told me he had a beautiful home in Sun City, Phoenix. He continued telling me about his son, his nieces and nephews, etc. with a lot of opinion about how they went wrong. I admit I tuned out of this portion of the conversation.

Then Frank reached up again needing “the maid”. I went over to push the flight attendant button for him. He said he needed to stretch his legs because they were getting swollen. It was quite an ordeal and took two attendants to assist him. The attendants suggested that while he was up, they might as well go to the bathroom. So they helped Frank shuffle to the first class bathroom. They brought him back and he plopped in his seat exhausted from the ordeal. The attendant asked if he was okay, and Frank said, “I’m fine.” She turned away to go back to first class.

I looked over to see if Frank needed help with his seat belt and watched as Frank’s eyes rolled back in his head and he pushed his tongue forward and stopped breathing. I jumped out of my seat and pushed the attendant button. He still wasn’t breathing, and I suspected he was experiencing congestive heart failure with all that I had observed. I placed my right hand on his spine at TV5 and my left hand held his left little finger, for this can sometimes be helpful for persons with an acute heart project. Still he wasn’t breathing. I then stuck my thumbs in the center of Frank’s armpits and rolled my palm and remaining fingers on the acromion (the very upper arm – hi 19) very firmly, knowing that this can be helpful for the breath. Frank started breathing. He had stopped for about 15 seconds. By this time the flight attendant came, and we helped to lay him on the floor in the center aisle.

The attendant went to use the intercom to ask if there were any doctors or nurses on board. In the meantime I was holding Frank’s head. From what has been taught to me in Jin Shin Jyutsu class, I know that when the Safety Energy Lock 4, located at the base of the cranium, is blocked on the right and the left, this is when the spirit may leave the body. With this in mind, I simply held the base of Frank’s head and spoke a silent prayer to God saying that if Frank is to leave, please help him leave peacefully, and if Frank is to stay, please help him to hang in there. Under my fingertips I could sense that very little energy was passing through both Safety Energy Locks. The area felt rock hard. However, I was in for the long haul and simply kept jumper cabling.

At this point, a nurse came from first class and tried to get the blood pressure cuff to work. Apparently it was not functioning properly. A very nice doctor came from behind introducing himself as Richard, a family doctor from Connecticut. He asked what happened. At this point of the experience my adrenaline took over, and I sounded like a scene from E.R. In about 5 seconds I blurted out, “This is Frank, an 89 year-old man with a history of hypertension, had a five bypass operation and is on his second pacemaker. He fell last week and bruised a rib. Here is his list of meds. He went to the bathroom, came back exhausted and collapsed. He stopped breathing for approximately 15 seconds, but never turned blue. I stuck my thumbs into his armpits and rolled outward onto the acromion, and he started breathing again.”

To be continued…

Jeanette Pasqua, Dublin, PA writes: “My Flight with Frank” in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, issue Number 81, Summer 2013:

This article was written in March 1999. Every March in the years from 1991 to 1999, I traveled to Scottsdale, Arizona, to receive what is called an “intensive” of Jin Shin Jyutsu sessions. As a practitioner of this Art, it was truly a great experience for me to receive these sessions. It was so inspiring to be with my teacher, Mary Burmeister, and practitioner, Pat Meador. It was so great seeing everyone in the busy office.

This past March (1999) was wonderful. The weather was bright and sunny in Scottsdale. In between session times, I really enjoyed some quiet time. I meditated and prayed. Part of my daily prayer to God is to offer myself in service in the highest good for all. “My Flight with Frank” was an answer to prayer. (I changed his name to respect his privacy.)

We left Phoenix airport and were seated on the plane in the first row just behind first class. I had an aisle seat, and there was a mom and her little girl to my left. Across the aisle sat Frank. Next to him were two lovely young women. He looked across at me and joked and laughed that he had the best seat in the house. As time went on, it became apparent that Frank was quite a character. He spoke with a gravelly voice and cupped his hand around his mouth every time he spoke to me, as if he was telling me something secretive. The funny thing was, though, he spoke so loud that the first two rows heard everything he said. He said he felt like a sixteen-year-old in an eighty-nine-year-old body. His wife died of cancer two years ago. He said her sister came to take care of him, but that didn’t work out: “She was too bossy.” He shared that he had had a five-bypass operation, and he was on his second pacemaker.

About four times during the flight Frank would reach as far as he could to touch the attendant button, but couldn’t reach it. I got out of my seat belt and pushed it for him. He cupped his hands around his mouth and said very loudly that the two young ladies to his right “are no help at all.” I smiled and asked if he wanted the flight attendant, to which he replied, “I need the maid.” The flight attendant came every time, bringing Frank extra water, napkins, etc. Frank was extremely breathless after speaking and also cleared his throat so loudly that many times he apologized, saying he was embarrassed. I told him that his body was doing what it needed and not to worry.

He said, “I want you to know who I am. Go get my leather brown bag out of the overhead and give it to me.” I did as he said. Frank pulled out a slip of paper that had a long list of his medications on it. Then he reached into his bag and pulled out some professional studio photographs of himself as a young man in dance poses, dipping pretty women. He explained that in the late 1930’s he was with the dance troupe of Lawrence Welk and was on the very first televised programs. I remarked how handsome he looked. He winked and smiled.

Soon our food came, and Frank gave me his roll and told me to take it home. I said, “No, thank you.” He kept insisting. I said, “No, thank you, Frank.” Finally he got the message. Then I felt him tapping my arm with his bowl of chicken saying, “Could you cut my meat?” At this point I could feel a bit of agitation rising within me. I exhaled and received another breath and said, “Sure, Frank.” I turned to the woman beside me and asked her jokingly, “Do I have a big neon sign on my forehead saying ‘Mrs. Softy’?” She laughed. We all finished our meal.

To be continued…

Marlies Castaing writes: “Lunch and Learn” in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, issue Number 81, Summer 2013:

Over salad Nicoise and tasty deserts, forty-eight women gathered on a January afternoon to eat, socialize and learn about Jin Shin Jyutsu (JSJ). Many had never heard about this Japanese Art of health and balance. The event – a “Lunch and Learn” presentation – was one of a new series intended as an informal introduction to JSJ. It was part of an effort in the Phoenix area to broaden the community of people aware of JSJ’s powers.

I am a relatively new member of the Jin Shin Jyutsu family, but the moment I discovered the power of self-help, I became passionate about learning and, in turn, eager to spread the word about the simplicity of the Art.

Furthermore, my mother still lives in the Austrian Alps where I grew up; and during my regular visits, three times every year, I found a surprisingly large number of people familiar with Jin Shin Jyutsu in that region. Local Austrian mainstream bookstores offer JSJ literature, sometimes right next to the cash register, and some children learn the Main Central Flow in Kindergarten with an audio book. There are entire valleys filled with people who practice JSJ as self-help or with practitioners. JSJ is also featured on radio programs or in the local newspaper.

After seeing such a strong community in Austria, I asked myself the simple question: “Why not in the United States of America…?”

I spend about half the year in Arizona. Outside of the JSJ office and its family at large, very few people seem to have heard about JSJ or know about the power of holding fingers.

The Idea of “Lunch and Learn” came out of a conversation with a good friend and well-known chef in Phoenix. I had been talking to Vincent Guerithault, the chef behind the restaurant Vincent on Camelback, for some time about JSJ and told him about how much I wanted to share JSJ with a larger community in Phoenix. Vincent was eager to offer his culinary expertise as accompaniment to a 60-minute PowerPoint presentation I prepared, introducing JSJ. When we announced the first “Lunch and Learn”, both of us were surprised at the number of attendees who wished to participate. Subsequent presentations have averaged about 25 people.

My main goal with “Lunch and Learn” is to create awareness about JSJ. In my presentation, I focus on what I call my own three JSJ pillars:

• Holding fingers
• The Main Central Flow
• The 36 Breaths

I have found it beneficial to use some parts of the booklet, “An Art of Gentle Touch”, created by Mary Blackford and available on the JSJ website (www.jsjinc.net). Although the booklet was originally created specifically for people coping with cancer, it contains a succinct history of JSJ, as well as a useful, layman’s explanation of what the Art is. The brochure also offers helpful guidance on The Main Central and an easy-to-follow Hand Chart. In the course of my presentation, I explain the resources available to learn more about JSJ. I always have materials available about the classes offered through the JSJ Scottsdale office.

So far, the “Lunch and Learn” presentations have been an incredibly positive experience. There are participants who show genuine curiosity about the Art and seem excited to have been introduced to it. However, I’ve also learned through these presentations that despite my own enthusiasm, JSJ is not for everyone. But this has not discouraged me from letting the world know about JSJ. I feel almost an obligation of “giving back” some of the numerous gifts I have received through JSJ. My mission is to spread the JSJ word, and once introduced to it, it is up to each individual to embrace or not to embrace the Art. It is only if one hears about it, that one can make that choice.

Thank you, Marlies.

Thank you, Mary.

Thank you, David.

Gassho, Namaste, Blessings

All issues of The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter are available at http://www.jsjinc.net.

i

Jill Pasquinelli writes: “Surrender to the Unknown” in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, issue Number 81, Summer 2013:

Guidance: priorities of the Spirit, Soul and Body

continued…

For me this is Jin Shin Jyutsu, moving us closer to our true selves, to be in alignment with the creator, nature, myself and the universe…to be a reflection of light back to the cosmos.

Another client, Terry, came to see me for depression. This was many years ago. I still see Terry today. At the time she came to see me, her father was dying, and she was dealing with breast cancer. She loved the Jin Shin Jyutsu treatments and told me they helped her to be in her body, and she always felt uplifted after a treatment. Over the years of treating Terry, life happened as it often does. Her husband went through prostate cancer, her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, her daughter got married, she retired, and they sold the family house and moved up north to the country. This is a lot of movement…all significant things, but I watched Terry handle it all and take it in stride with ease, grace and humor. I thought I would be seeing her a lot less because she now lives an hour and fifteen minutes away but it has become clear to me that Jin Shin Jyutsu is a way of life for her. She continues to come for her weekly appointment. She is growing a large beautiful garden, and has gotten into art – something she has wanted to do for a long time but didn’t feel confident. She is happy and content and has the flexibility and resilience to deal with what life hands her.

I see another person, Polly, who is living with rheumatoid arthritis. I’ve been seeing her for eleven years now. She has had many ups and downs with pain, medication and fatigue. She has had to give up things that she has cherished like yoga and her long walks. She struggles daily, and yet I know few people as fiery with life as Polly. We often laugh at the absurdity and irony of life; in fact, I think I’ve laughed harder with Polly than with anyone. Sometimes we have tears rolling down our cheeks during a session we’re laughing so much. As Polly’s disease has limited her body, her spirit, mind, and heart have opened and continue to be what I call a savage gift. I remember Mary saying, “A person’s thoughts can change, sometimes the body follows.” …But not always, as I’ve come to see. I remember one man when asked the question, “How are you doing today?” replied, “The spirit is well but the body is not so good.”

A woman called me several years ago because she had ovarian cancer. She told me that since she had started chemotherapy she wasn’t able to function at all. She couldn’t get out of bed, had no appetite and wasn’t able to work, even though she could work from home. The reason she wanted to come for Jin Shin Jyutsu was because she didn’t want her hair to fall out from the chemotherapy. I told her I wasn’t sure the Jin Shin Jyutsu could prevent the hair loss, in fact, probably not. But I was pretty sure it would help her to feel better. She paused, then decided to make an appointment for a session. After her first treatment she was able to get up out of bed and eat something. She came to see me two more times and each time felt better. Her appetite was growing, she started working part-time and had more energy. In general she was feeling much better. Before her fourth treatment she called to cancel her appointment. She told me the Jin Shin Jyutsu wasn’t working. Her hair was starting to fall out. I pointed out how much better she was doing, but she felt the Jin Shin Jyutsu had failed her. I never saw her again.

The body has it’s priorities as does the spirit, soul, mind, and heart. The route is not always direct and the journey is unknown. We always remain unfinished as we always live in an imperfect world. How perfect is that design for our growth and transformation?

As one client said, “Jin Shin Jyutsu hasn’t helped my stomach pain but all the rest of my life is better.”

Thank you, Jill.

Thank you, Mary.

Thank you, David.

Gassho, Namaste, Blessings

All issues of The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter are available at http://www.jsjinc.net.

Jill Pasquinelli writes: “Surrender to the Unknown” in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, issue Number 81, Summer 2013:

Guidance: priorities of the Spirit, Soul and Body

We never really know what brings someone to us for a Jin Shin Jyutsu session. It’s usually a condition or symptom, something that we don’t want, but there’s something else underlying that, something unspoken, unidentified, not yet seen or known. Maybe it’s the soul calling us back to ourselves.

One thing I know for sure is the healing process is one of mystery, it’s movements often unpredictable, taking us to unforeseen places and foreign territories only unfamiliar because we don’t  recognize them as our own landscape. There is no one path or clear path or a path at all really, just the one we are making while we travel this vast terrain of the psyche and soul. I think it’s the soul’s journey. When we’re in this kind of movement of our entire being, we often wrestle with this unknown and unfamiliar place, wanting what is familiar, wanting things to be clear and certain, ordered and predictable but that’s not usually how the process of transformation goes. We can’t see clearly because we’re inside of the experience, it’s being revealed to us as we experience it. There’s also no timeline, no way to know when we’ll be out of this, but whether we surrender or fight it, at some point we emerge from this place and it’s as if the light shines on us so we can reorient ourselves, have some perspective, have an authentic experience of who we are now, and yet we recognize we are unfinished.

This is the movement of our life. What calls us, whether it’s a loss, an illness, a memory, a birth, a death, whatever it may be.

I think of my client who came to see me because she had liver cancer and was given a six month prognosis. Rita was a nun and had a deep spiritual life but struggled with depression. Something was missing for her. I treated Rita for four and a half years. She was a closet poet, and often we would start her sessions with a poem she had written. She confessed to me that the prognosis the doctors had given her “was always on the back burner” as she put it. In the face of her fears and struggles I watched Rita blossom over the years. She began having public poetry readings, and this guided her into leading prayer groups in her community. As she was helping others and an inspiration to all of us, she took a big leap and did something she had always wanted to do, which was get her Master’s in psychology. I watched and witnessed Rita becoming more herself, moving into an inherently earned freedom as she navigated the unknown, finding herself along the way, living and expressing the beauty that was Rita. As she was moving into the dying process, one day she said to me “Jill, this has been the happiest and best four and a half years of my life. I found what was missing, and it was me!” We both cried, we both came to understand she was free from the past and the future. It didn’t matter anymore, she was whole. She could let go of her life easily and she did.

To be continued…

Eika Bingden writes about: “Jin Shin Jyutsu in Psychiatric Care: A Case History” in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, issue Number 76, Spring 2012:

The participants clearly enjoyed the self-help exercises and received a relaxing and profound effect from the beginning when they did some of the self-help sequences on each other. From time to time the initial skepticism decreased; first reports were given at the second meeting of the group, and may participants considered how they could already integrate Jin Shin Jyutsu into their lives and their work. At the third and fourth event, one could sense that the spark of enthusiasm was ignited for most of them.

By the way, the participants received credit points from the hospital for this training course.

Following, the head of the nursing service, Ms. Jüttner, who looks upon this project benevolently, was asked by the participants to relate to the physicians and therapists that the nurses want the doctors to be informed about our project and the general ideas about Jin Shin Jyutsu.

At short notice we were given a twenty-minute opportunity during the weekly meetings of physicians and therapists to introduce Jin Shin Jyutsu and our present experience with it. We especially emphasized the simplicity combined with high effectiveness and the self-help aspect. During the subsequent short discussion, we also referred to the twenty years of clinical experience of Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey, U.S.A. We got the impression that there is a certain openness for Jin Shin Jyutsu even in the medical profession.

One month later we met again with the training group. This time the question in the foreground was what kind of experience had been gained and what help was still required in order to employ the knowledge. Besides the valuable personal experiences, there were actually several reports where Jin Shin Jyutsu had been employed in certain cases.

Especially in physiotherapy and on a ward for people suffering from depression, the nurses had started to offer a Jin Shin Jyutsu session to several patients and, without exception, had received  positive feedback. Again we summed up the most important principles for the application of Jin Shin Jyutsu and outlined extensively the content of Mary’s three introductory books, thus encouraging those present to “simply” start.

In the meantime, a further month had passed by, and we had another discussion with the very committed head of skill enhancement, Ms. Machner, and the head of the nursing department, Ms. Jüttner. Both are great supporters of this action. In a detailed way they reported about the first beginnings which individual participants of the further training had described. Besides, a group already exists which meets on a monthly  basis in order to exchange experiences. Many wish to attend a 5-Day Basic Seminar soon. We discussed the realization of this wish financially.

Within the coming six months, all experiences which have been gained in the use of Jin Shin Jyutsu, shall be collected and evaluated. Should the result be significant (which we assume it will!), a long-term project can be envisioned.

A beginning has been made!

Thank you, Eika.

Thank you, Mary.

Thank you, David.

Gassho, Namaste, Blessings

All issues of The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter are available at http://www.jsjinc.net.

Eika Bingden writes about: “Jin Shin Jyutsu in Psychiatric Care: A Case History” in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, issue Number 76, Spring 2012:

Renate Kanigowski was a physiotherapist in the regional hospital for psychiatry in the town of Wehnen near Oldenburg, Germany. As part of her professional training, she got to know physio-acupuncture-therapy; however, working with this method did not feel appropriate to her. In a book about Schüssler-Salts she was given the hint that you can remove physical blockages with Jin Sin Jyutsu. In February 2001 she found out more about Jin Shin Jyutsu in a public lecture by Dr. Markus Dongowski and received a reference to the book The Touch of Healing by Alice Burmeister.

Immediately she started to hold particular Jin Shin Jyutsu sequences on her patients and gained firsthand experience. The self-help courses expanded her understanding of the healing art and made her curious about the 5-Day Basic Seminars, which she had attended annually since 2006. Gradually she employed the (re-)gained knowledge about the connection between body, mind and soul, especially in cases where all conventional methods did not work. Many a success in treatments quickly got around to the practicing doctors and psychologists, and more prescriptions were given for Jin Shin Jyutsu . Sometimes she gave 5-6 treatments a day. The head of the physiotherapy ward had to restrict the weekly amount of Jin Shin Jyutsu treatments so that Renate could also do a certain amount of classical physiotherapy treatments. In the meantime she had established two patient self-help groups with whom she met once a week and carried out simple self-help exercises. When she gave up her job at the end of 2009 due to a changed personal situation, there occurred a vacuum for some time.

In the beginning of 2011, owing  to a private contact between the business administration of the hospital and Dr. Markus Dongowski, Jin Shin Jyutsu was reintroduced to the renamed Karl-Jaspers-Clinic.

It was arranged to introduce Jin Shin Jyutsu during working hours as part of further internal training for interested nurses as well as employees in physiotherapy. Basic knowledge was to be acquired, putting the nursing crew in a position to have firsthand experience with the application of Jin Shin Jyutsu in the psychiatric field for self-help as well as for nursing intervention on various wards.

We decided to provide an overall view on the basis of Mary Burmeister’s Self-Help books, 1, 2 and 3 for the participants, allowing them to experience Jin Shin Jyutsu in a simple way:

• for oneself
• for patients by offering self-help tips to them
• as nursing intervention

Fourteen interested people registered for the skill enhancement.

The hospital together with the Rafael Publishing Company as well as the German Association for Mary Burmeister, Jin Shin Jyutsu, provided three introductory books by Mary Burmeister to the participants free of charge.

The four Wednesday afternoons were organized in a way starting with an explanation of the physio-philosophical background and was followed by practical experience of Jin Shin Jyutsu. What was studied in the three books varied during the four afternoons.

To be continued…