Shiatsu/ Chinese Medicine/Didgeridoo treatment
After the obligatory discussion re ailments I might have, the session began as a general Shiatsu treatment, which means working along the various meridians, stretching and kneading. This was done with clothes on, which seemed to work fine as he was able to apply sufficient pressure and locate the appropriate points OK. I found it unusual to have a session without the skin to skin contact.
After this part was complete, after asking me if it was OK, he put in some acupuncture needles. He then pulled out his didgeridoo and played that all over my body, coming from different angles, each creating various sensations in my psyche. I’d had some experience before of using sound vibration as a healing adjunct so just relaxed. I have experienced chakra singing, where singing or humming over a chakra creates a vibration in it, creating an orgasm-like sensation. This is when it started becoming a little psychedelic as the sound vibration increased the energy movement through my body. In a way the ‘didg’ was like a massive sonic vibrator that pulsed through my body, loosening the psyche at the same time as enhancing the energy flow directed by the needles. Then it stopped, and I was left in a silent gap which was delicious.
He then played some more which drew a different response, and stopped and started again. This was repeated about five times, each time taking me on new journeys, like it was flushing my system, then leaving me to feel it, integrate in the quiet, then start again. It was great watching how with every gap I became quieter and quieter.
It was like having a sonic bath specific to the energy meridians he was working on via the needles, and I could feel the aliveness under the needles enhanced. It was a blast having this aliveness along with silence. What also interested me was how the internal colours I was experiencing changed each time he played. One moment I would feel myself bathed in an azure colour, the next deep orange. It was gorgeous. The whole inner landscape became technicolour!
I find that shiatsu is a really good physical tune-up, and the didgeridoo made a wonderful complementary experience. It is quite a buzz to experience someone who knows what they are doing and who is into experimenting.
Written by Mark O'Brien for the "Session of the Month', Here & Now magazine 1999-2005
View all people that practice: Acupuncture | Shiatsu