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Articles
The Five Lights Center articles offer a range of wisdom and insights from our diverse community on all things shiatsu and wellness. From recipes, to personal journeys, and insight on tai chi, reiki, color therapy, tapping, shiatsu and so much more.

Manuela and Serena
Mar 18, 20247 min read
Exploring the Roots of Shiatsu: From Do-in Ankyo to Modern-Day Therapy
Shizuto Masunaga, Akinobu Kishi, and many contemporary shiatsu teachers relate to Anpuku as one of the manual arts that gave birth to the...
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Stephane Cuypers
Mar 11, 20242 min read
Le Shiatsu, un Art Japonais – The Japanese Art of Shiatsu, an Excerpt.
On the one hand, we discover a great complexity. The roots are unclear and for Western people, it is difficult to define Eastern medicine...
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Keith Strand
Mar 5, 20243 min read
Makko Ho / Zen Stretches: A Makko Ho Leader’s Perspective
Makko Ho can be defined in several ways. In Japanese, Ma means straight or direct, Ko means direction, and Ho means method...
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Chris McAlister
Feb 19, 20246 min read
Roots: An Excerpt from 'From Source to the Ten Thousand: Shiatsu and Life Practice'.
This short text is an excerpt from Chris McAlister's new book: 'From Source to the Ten Thousand: Shiatsu and Life Practice'. The expected Re
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Bettina Zumdick
Jan 29, 20247 min read
Strengthening Winter Cooking
In our winter cooking, we need to let the nutrients settle into our deepest body structure...
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Kyle Brooks, LMT
Jan 23, 20242 min read
What do you bring to the table or mat? What do you have in your hands?
The clients under our hands are complex beings: physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual.Â
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Casper Valentine
Jan 16, 20244 min read
甲辰 Year of the Wood Dragon
The dragon shows us our power is in our choosing, how we can step out of the race and attend to what we decide is important.
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Casper Valentine
Jan 9, 20242 min read
Water Element and the Winter Season
In the Five Element Theory, winter is connected to the water element. Water is the most yin of the elements...
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Kumiko Kanayama
Jan 3, 20242 min read
Can Walking in the Cold Balance our Energy?
In shiatsu we believe that movement is medicine. When we walk in the cold we're balancing the different energies in our body according to th
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Lorelei Chang
Dec 26, 20231 min read
The World Taiji & Qigong Day Qi Waves
Lorelei Chang is a renowned modern dance artist, Qigong teacher, and a Chinese calligrapher.
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Pamela Ellen Ferguson
Dec 19, 20234 min read
Textbooks to Fill a Gap?
A teacher once advised me to write the textbooks I wished I had during my own student days. Perfect! As my background was in journalism...
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Dara Kustler
Dec 12, 20235 min read
FROM OHASHI’S YOUNGEST STUDENT
When I was thirteen years old I began studying and practicing the art of cooking macrobiotically, and I developed an intense reverence...
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Tamsin Grainger
Dec 5, 20234 min read
Working With Death And Loss In Shiatsu Practice By Tamsin Grainger
Death and new energy Understanding of Eastern life and death Title: How to use our Shiatsu skills when working with death and loss...
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Karen Dawn Oei
Nov 21, 20233 min read
Introduction To Proprioception By Karen Dawn Oei MA, Dip. BSS, SrSS
Proprioception is the body’s ability to perceive its own position in space. The Proprioceptive System is part of the central nervous...
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Chilán Mustain
Nov 16, 20233 min read
Herbs and Shiatsu are like Mother Hand and Son Hand
adding herbs to your shiatsu practice can further improve your treatments by increasing inertia, longevity and specificity.
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Chilán Mustain
Nov 16, 20232 min read
Coming to Shiatsu
It is my great fortune to be born into this life where a pervasive under current of nature/spirit/ medecine rises periodically to the...
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Kumiko Kanayama
Nov 7, 20238 min read
Awakening Body Consciousness By Patty De Llosa
We are living a worldwide emergency. How can we contribute to more peace, more sanity, more balance? Certainly by coming closer to the...
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Kumiko Kanayama
Oct 27, 20233 min read
LAUGHTER by Sooyong Kim, LMT
The first person to write about the benefits of laughter was Norman Cousins, who had been diagnosed in 1964 with a degenerative incurable...
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Kumiko Kanayama
Oct 24, 20231 min read
Tai Chi Ruler By Nayo Takasaki
TAI CHI RULER : Who was the founder of TAI CHI RULER? As a matter of fact, it has been in existence over a thousand years, from the...
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Kumiko Kanayama
Oct 11, 20231 min read
What Is Restorative Yoga? By Ellen Driscoll
Positioning the Client for Traditional Shiatsu using Restorative Yoga Techniques by Ellen Driscoll, PT, Restorative Instructor, OWNER of...
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