On February
15th to
27th, we
set up a shiatsu booth at
Vancouver Sinclair Centre as a special event to
celebrate 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. As our wish is to spread the
knowledge of shiatsu, many people
tried shiatsu
in the event. We
sincerely appreciate the opportunity to offer
shiatsu treatment to people who visited from many countries for the
2010
Vancouver Winter Olympics. We, as I.S.I.
members, are hoping
that shiatsu
will be recognized in Canada
more and more.
This is a comment from Chiharu
Sato who was in charge of the special event from Canadian College of
Shiatsu Therapy.
Ｉ.S.I. / Ikenaga
Shiatsu
International Holdings.
・Canadian College of Shiatsu Therapy
・Japan Shiatsu Clinic
|
2010 Vancouver Olympics
Celebration Shiatsu Demo @
Sinclair Centre
Chiharu Sato, Cheif
Operating Officer of the Canadian College of Shiatsu Therapy
|
|
Although
it was a short period, I
met many people from many countries through this special event. I met
this
couple who visited Vancouver
because of their brother who is an athlete participating
in the Winter Olympics. It was a valuable experience to feel a global
event.
In Europe, shiatsu is more known
to people than in other countries, so people from Europe tried shiatsu
with no
resistance in the event. On the other hand, people from Asia
were more cautious about shiatsu and they mostly
hesitated to try shiatsu. However, Japan is
an exception. Many Japanese people who had not experienced
shiatsu before tried and seemed to be impressed by the traditional
Japanese hands-on
therapy.
What I felt most impressively was
that most people have trouble with their body and look for solutions to
heal
themselves. They live with pain and don’t know how to get rid
of
it.
On one occasion, a business man,
who experienced shiatsu before, came to the booth saying “I
have
pain on my
neck and I can’t move my neck, but I have no time to care for
it”. I told him
“Your health is most important and it should be maintained
first
of all, no matter
how busy you are. You are the only one able to take care of
yourself”. Several
hours later, he returned to the booth to get shiatsu treatment. I was
so happy
seeing him pain free.
Something similar happened to me
before too. When I woke up in the morning, a pain suddenly ran down my
back so
I visited one of our shiatsu clinics. After shiatsu treatment, the pain
was
gone right away. I was curious and asked my shiatsupractor what do
people who
don’t know shiatsu do in the same situation as my situation?
The
shiatsupractor
said that they most likely take a pill to be pain free temporarily.
When I
heard the answer, I realized that how happy I am. Through this
experience, I
strongly felt that I want to let as many people know about shiatsu.
Most people have pain on their
backs or necks, and it is painful to me to see them suffering from the
pain.
Facing your condition and
maintaining yourself are necessary to avoid a serious problem, and
shiatsu is
one of the best ways to help it. When
the problems are removed, you will be refreshed and you will get your
energy
back. This is exactly what shiatsu is for.
I am greatly honoured to introduce
shiatsu to many people from many countries. They enjoy shiatsu
regardless of
where they come from. Shiatsu is universal.
The list of nationalities that
came to the event was overwhelmingly from Canada.
However, Canada is
a multicultural country. As our hope to spread
shiatsu over the world, we as I.S.I members believe that this event
will help
spread the knowledge of shiatsu.
I feel realistically that in
this world, where we can get almost everything, shiatsu, Japanese
traditional
hands-on therapy, is what people really need.
Lastly, I sincerely thank all
people who visited the event for shiatsu. It was a very precious
experience for
me.
