Is Jin Shin Jyutsu similar to Acupuncture?

I am often asked: "How does Jin Shin Jyutsu compare to acupuncture?"

Jin Shin Jyutsu is gentle and involves no needles, no manipulation, no pressure -  simply gentle application of hands to very specific places in the body.
Whereas Acupuncture is Chinese in origin, Jin Shin Jyutsu comes to us from Japan.

There are however some similarities between Jin Shin Jyutsu and Acupuncture.

I have heard Jin Shin Jyutsu referred to as “The Grandmother of Acupuncture”. Both derive from the Eastern medical tradition, and have a contextual similarity in understanding and approach. Jin Shin Jyutsu however is in many ways an innate knowledge – babies sucking their thumbs, and children resting with their cheeks in their hands are doing these things innately to restore some equilibrium to the body, help digest the world around them and facilitate the availability of energy to the body when they are tired. Part of learning Jin Shin Jyutsu is making conscious this innate knowing.

Focussing “here” to help “there”

Both Acupuncture and Jin Shin Jyutsu can work with locations in one part of the body to facilitate healing in a different part of the body. This comes out of a broader understanding of the pathways of energy through the body which protect and provide life force energy to the whole body. There is also an understanding of the relationship between the elements that build the body (water, fire, earth, air/metal and wood/ki).

Acupuncture utilises “points” Jin Shin Jyutsu utilises “Safety Energy Locks” (SELs)

In Jin Shin Jyutsu we do not work with precise “points” as acupuncture does – rather the “safety energy locks” we hold are zones. These zones are actually vortices of spiralling energy, the reach of which has a diameter of approximately three inches (seven and a half centimetres). The centre of this vortice moves slightly in position.

Jin Shin Jyutsu is not a healing modality but an opening to the wisdom we each of us have inside.

Jin Shin Jyutsu Safety Energy Locks (SELs) are not just points to free up the flow they are wisdom centres -  whole kingdoms unto themselves. Each contains a particular wisdom or universal truth. Simply by holding the SEL this wisdom is made available to body, mind and heart. So receiving Jin Shin Jyutsu over time, does transform our way of being in the world, in such a way that life becomes easier and more authentic. We learn to live and not just to exist.

I have experienced a lot of intensive acupuncture sessions – never after a treatment did I have the feeling to laugh and dance. Many times after a Jin Shin Jyutsu session I have felt deeply inspired and delighted by life, my eyes shine and I feel a great lust for life, together with a tremendous ease and a deep joyous feeling of well-being and fun!

Jin Shin Jyutsu is non-invasive, utilising only gentle touch with the fingers, no needles or heat are applied.

To use Jin Shin Jyutsu one simply applies the fingers, finger tips, palm of hand or back of hand to the relevant “zone” and rests them there for as long as feels appropriate. One can apply one’s own hands or visit a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner who will apply his/her hands to your body. While a practitioner has training and experience to utilise Jin Shin Jyutsu with particular efficiency, regular application of Jin Shin Jyutsu “self-help” can change a person’s quality of life.

During acupuncture treatments points are stimulated through the insertion of long thin needles into the skin. This acts to unblock meridians and increase the flow of chi through them and, thus, promote better health. Sometimes additional means of stimulating the points is used such as moxibustion.

Jin Shin Jyutsu can never do harm, you can use it on yourself with very little knowledge.

Whereas in Acupuncture there are important precautions and contraindications and it is essential to  have extensive training before utilising it, Jin Shin Jyutsu has no contraindications at all.  So although to practice Jin Shin Jyutsu with other people training and certification is required, it is possible to use Jin Shin Jyutsu to help yourself even if you know very little about it  - you can not possibly cause any harm to yourself with Jin Shin Jyutsu.

Working with symptoms and cause of symptoms

Jin Shin Jyutsu works with manifest and the manifesting aspects of what presents in the body, and also with the non-manifest aspect (which shapes the manifesting and becomes manifest). Some people says Jin Shin Jyutsu transforms the cause of the cause of the symptoms -  It facilitates the transformation of consciousness, changing how we view life and this is the foundations that our body is created from in each moment.

Jin Shin Jyutsu does not diagnose. Jin Shin Jyutsu does not treat.
Jin Shin Jyutsu is simple (complicatedly simple).
Most essentially Jin Shin Jyutsu helps us to BE; to live with our breath in balance with the Big Breath of Life. When inhalation and exhalation are in balance life flows abundantly and joyfully.

I am often asked: "How does Jin Shin Jyutsu compare to acupuncture?"

Jin Shin Jyutsu is gentle and involves no needles, no manipulation, no pressure -  simply gentle application of hands to very specific places in the body.
Whereas Acupuncture is Chinese in origin, Jin Shin Jyutsu comes to us from Japan.

There are however some similarities between Jin Shin Jyutsu and Acupuncture.

I have heard Jin Shin Jyutsu referred to as “The Grandmother of Acupuncture”. Both derive from the Eastern medical tradition, and have a contextual similarity in understanding and approach. Jin Shin Jyutsu however is in many ways an innate knowledge – babies sucking their thumbs, and children resting with their cheeks in their hands are doing these things innately to restore some equilibrium to the body, help digest the world around them and facilitate the availability of energy to the body when they are tired. Part of learning Jin Shin Jyutsu is making conscious this innate knowing.

Focussing “here” to help “there”

Both Acupuncture and Jin Shin Jyutsu can work with locations in one part of the body to facilitate healing in a different part of the body. This comes out of a broader understanding of the pathways of energy through the body which protect and provide life force energy to the whole body. There is also an understanding of the relationship between the elements that build the body (water, fire, earth, air/metal and wood/ki).

Acupuncture utilises “points” Jin Shin Jyutsu utilises “Safety Energy Locks” (SELs)

In Jin Shin Jyutsu we do not work with precise “points” as acupuncture does – rather the “safety energy locks” we hold are zones. These zones are actually vortices of spiralling energy, the reach of which has a diameter of approximately three inches (seven and a half centimetres). The centre of this vortice moves slightly in position.

Jin Shin Jyutsu is not a healing modality but an opening to the wisdom we each of us have inside.

Jin Shin Jyutsu Safety Energy Locks (SELs) are not just points to free up the flow they are wisdom centres -  whole kingdoms unto themselves. Each contains a particular wisdom or universal truth. Simply by holding the SEL this wisdom is made available to body, mind and heart. So receiving Jin Shin Jyutsu over time, does transform our way of being in the world, in such a way that life becomes easier and more authentic. We begin increasingly to live and not just to exist.

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