ot attain them, sometimes we just satisfy our needs in other ways.

Stage 3 - Central control and conversion Having digested that tasty particle, the amoeba has to process it to make it part of its own structure. This is where that hamburger magically transforms from being a MacDonald's to muscle, bone or fat. We have to do this with knowledge and information too. We may be able to swallow an idea bu

Shiatsu is about balancing the energy flowing in the human body. The skilled practitioner is able to feel this energy under their hands but at the same time relate that to the emotional and spiritual needs of the client. This sounds like a complex task but thanks to Zen Shiatsu's founder Shizuto Masunaga beautiful distillation of his theory all of this complexity disappears.

Shizuto Masunaga was not only a master of Shiatsu but a professor of psychology at Tokyo University. He developed his Zen Shiatsu style by combining his extensive research into the ancient traditions of Chinese and Japanese medicine and his Western medical training. His theory of human energetics was eventually simplified into what is now known as the Life Cycle of the Amoeba.

Stage 1 - Vitality through exchange For an amoeba to be an amoeba it has to distinguish itself from the surrounding chemical soup. It has to create a border. All cells have a border that contain the nucleus and this border is permeable to allow nutrients in and to let waste products out.

Humans have their border too, the skin. We also have the Lungs where we allow oxygen to enter our bloodstream and the Large Intestine where we let waste products go out of the body. This is our identity, our structure; but like the amoeba we need it to be permeable to let energy in and waste out.

Stage 2 - Hunger and satisfaction Once the border has been identified the amoeba has to feed itself. It must identify food and reach out to grab it and digest it. Humans have hungers for food but also for more complex morsels like money, power and material goods. If we cannot attain them, sometimes we just satisfy our needs in other ways.

Stage 3 - Central control and conversion Having digested that tasty particle, the amoeba has to process it to make it part of its own structure. This is where that hamburger magically transforms from being a MacDonald's to muscle, bone or fat. We have to do this with knowledge and information too. We may be able to swallow an idea but

aster of Shiatsu but a professor of psychology at Tokyo University. He developed his Zen Shiatsu style by combining his extensive research into the ancient traditions of Chinese and Japanese medicine and his Western medical training. His theory of human energetics was eventually simplified into what is now known as the Life Cycle of the Amoeba.

Stage 1 - Vitality through exchange For an amoeba to be an amoeba it has to distinguish itself from the surrounding chemical soup. It has to create a border. All cells have a border that contain the nucleus and this border is permeable to allow nutrients in and to let waste products out.

Humans have their border too, the skin. We also have the Lungs where we allow oxygen to enter our bloodstream and the Large Intestine where we let waste products go out of the body. This is our identity, our structure; but like the amoeba we need it to be permeable to let energy in and waste out.

Stage 2 - Hunger and satisfaction Once the border has been identified the amoeba has to feed itself. It must identify food and reach out to grab it and digest it. Humans have hungers for food but also for more complex morsels like money, power and material goods. If we cannot attain them, sometimes we just satisfy our needs in other ways.

Stage 3 - Central control and conversion Having digested that tasty particle, the amoeba has to process it to make it part of its own structure. This is where that hamburger magically transforms from being a MacDonald's to muscle, bone or fat. We have to do this with knowledge and information too. We may be able to swallow an idea bu

to be an amoeba it has to distinguish itself from the surrounding chemical soup. It has to create a border. All cells have a border that contain the nucleus and this border is permeable to allow nutrients in and to let waste products out.

Humans have their border too, the skin. We also have the Lungs where we allow oxygen to enter our bloodstream and the Large Intestine where we let waste products go out of the body. This is our identity, our structure; but like the amoeba we need it to be permeable to let energy in and waste out.

Stage 2 - Hunger and satisfaction Once the border has been identified the amoeba has to feed itself. It must identify food and reach out to grab it and digest it. Humans have hungers for food but also for more complex morsels like money, power and material goods. If we cannot attain them, sometimes we just satisfy our needs in other ways.

Stage 3 - Central control and conversion Having digested that tasty particle, the amoeba has to process it to make it part of its own structure. This is where that hamburger magically transforms from being a MacDonald's to muscle, bone or fat. We have to do this with knowledge and information too. We may be able to swallow an idea bu

the body. This is our identity, our structure; but like the amoeba we need it to be permeable to let energy in and waste out.

Stage 2 - Hunger and satisfaction Once the border has been identified the amoeba has to feed itself. It must identify food and reach out to grab it and digest it. Humans have hungers for food but also for more complex morsels like money, power and material goods. If we cannot attain them, sometimes we just satisfy our needs in other ways.

Stage 3 - Central control and conversion Having digested that tasty particle, the amoeba has to process it to make it part of its own structure. This is where that hamburger magically transforms from being a MacDonald's to muscle, bone or fat. We have to do this with knowledge and information too. We may be able to swallow an idea bu

ot attain them, sometimes we just satisfy our needs in other ways.

Stage 3 - Central control and conversion Having digested that tasty particle, the amoeba has to process it to make it part of its own structure. This is where that hamburger magically transforms from being a MacDonald's to muscle, bone or fat. We have to do this with knowledge and information too. We may be able to swallow an idea but can we understand and use it in our own way? Can we sort out the good ideology from the bad?

Stage 4 - Impetus away from danger Amoebas are potential food for more complex creatures and so need a way of detecting dangers and escaping. We may no longer live in a world of Sabre Tooth Tigers but we still have a fight or flight response. Our dangers may be a pressing deadline at work or a spider in the bath but we need to respond appropriately to the threat.

Stage 5 - Circulation and protection The amoeba lives in a watery world full of other amoeba. It needs to respond to the changing environment and live in harmony with its neighbours. Humans too need to respond to changing weather conditions, bugs, bacteria and pollution. A healthy circulation has long been recognised as a way to keep the doctor away.

We also have to live with other people. This is another border to our body that extends outside of the skin. Call it the energetic border or personal space but we all recognise it and don't like people violating it. We only allow someone into that space when we grow to trust and love them.

Stage 6 - Choice of direction Our amoeba is now well fed and can cope with bigger creatures and the environment. It can build up reserves of energy and start to make decisions about its future. The human world is full of decisions and we are expected to make them constantly draining our energy reserves. Sometimes we get stuck and are unable to decide what to do or can decide but unable to act on that decision.

All of these energies are present in the body and are represented in the different meridians