I've been studying and practicing Jin Shin since 1988. It's actually much more than a healing art...it touches on everything from cosmology, philosophy, many spiritual disciplines, numerology and astrology as well. As a healing modality, it can be practiced as a form of hands-on energy-work. Self-help is emphasized and encouraged. In both applying and experiencing it, Jin Shin is both a complex and simple art....at the same time both subtle and dramatic.
Jin Shin address harmony on all levels of being -- emotional, spiritual, mental, physical. Notice I wrote harmony, not disease. Jin Shin recognizes the harmony in the individual, and if we get what we look for in life, then looking for harmony helps it emerge.
One thing I really appreciate about Jin Shin is that you cannot do it wrong . This is because the practitioner isn't really the healer. Jin Shin is the Creator's art is through compassionate man -- a good example of learning to get out of the way of progress! For me, a lot of the learning I've received through Jin Shin is to not do...to let go and let God (or whatever you believe in).
Hands are place on the body over the clothing without pressure or rubbing. We call hands "jumper cables." As used in a car with a powerless battery, jumper cables do not do any work; they are just "there" forming a bridge between the weak battery and the stronger one. As we lay hands on ourselves or one another, it is important to remember that we don't need lots of knowledge/training/understanding beyond what we need to permit the Universal/Creative force to do the job. I see my job as a human translator for healing energy. Remember, jumper cables don't DO anything...they just hang out and allow the current to pass through them. Same with Jin Shin.
As we "jumper-cable," we are looking for a feeling of "pulse" in them -- an energy pulse. Now, this can feel like blood pulse as it found in say, the wrists, neck, etc., but the energy pulse can be found everywhere in the body and is a sign of the movement and presence of energy. Not everyone can feel this in their hands at first. If both hands are being used, then optimally the pulse is felt in both hands beating together before they are moved to a new position on the body.
What if you don't feel the pulse yet? Then you either have to keep your hands in position a little longer (up to 20 minutes) or just move onto the next step when your "gut" tells you to (say, anywhere between 5-20 minutes).
Personally, I suspect that Jin Shin and Chinese medicine have a common mother art. They are many similarities in their understandings of how energy moves in the body. They both organize energy into elements/organ relationships, and for the most part these are the same relationships.
In some approaches to overall health and harmony, one particular portion of the body can be seen as the microcosm of the individual. Reflexology uses the foot; acupuncture the ear. Jin Shin uses the hands and fingers. We can help ourselves in the following way by gently holding each finger in succession without "doing" anything other than permitting the healing energy to function. The following applies to fingers of either hand:
THUMB: helps stomach and spleen...the skin's surface....the attitude of worry (think of a baby sucking it's thumb...there can be a lot to be anxious about as a little one!)To help you remember the fingers and the attitudes that relate to them, think of the following: I can get rid of Worry FAST (worry is the attitude of the thumb and FAST is the first letters of FEAR, ANGER, SADNESS, TRYING TO as you go in order from the index finger to middle, ring, little fingers).
INDEX: Kidney and bladder....the muscles..... ears/hearing.... attitude of fear
MIDDLE: Liver and gall bladder...the blood....the eyes....attitude of anger (now, where have we ever seen a raised middle finger used as an angry gesture? Jin Shin is a conscious use of things we already know unconsciously!)
RING: Lung and large intestine....grief/sadness.....deep, or fleshy skin
LITTLE: Heart and small intestine...the bones....attitudes of "trying to" (struggle, effort) and pretense (being one thing inside and another outside (think of how we stick out our pinkie when we are showing how chic we are).
MIDDLE OF THE PALM: all the above comes together here, and the center of the palm can be held to address many things at once.
If you have only one hand free and want to hold fingers, take the designated finger and place the thumb of that hand over the nail of the finger you want to be holding -- this is equivalent to holding that finger.
Holding each of the 10 fingers is a type of self-help/preventative care I and many others use every day. Not enough time? Hold only the fingers of one hand. Still not enough time? Hold the center of the palm or the finger(s) which seem best for your situation. Still not enough time? Maybe it's time to rethink how many obligations and how much stress you have in your daily life! In Jin Shin, we say "there is always something I can do to help myself," and holding the fingers is a perfect demonstration of that.
Deborah is the founder of Whole Energy Essences, a company which makes fruit, flower and gem essences. She is the founding editor of the World Wide Essence Society.
Deborah is an internationally published writer on the topics of food, health, and healing and holds a masters degree in counseling psychology.
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