Fear

The ability to perceive fear is fundamentally a healthy human reaction in threatening life situations. It awakens all the senses, draws attention and prompts people to protect themselves. If people regularly experience fears, if these are disproportionate in relation to the current situation or inexplicable, then they may be the result of accidents or shock-like or traumatic experiences that have not been adequately processed. The person reacts to this with overactivity, hecticness and panic or with a state of numbness, “being frozen” up to depression, often with loss of memory or repression of the experience.

Physiologically, overactivity and numbness manifest themselves via the nervous system with, for example, a faster pulse, increased blood pressure, impaired breathing, hot/cold spells, trembling, perspiration, diarrhoea, urge to urinate, inner restlessness, insomnia and nightmares. Muscles contract and may harden, the chest becomes tighter and breathing shallower, circulation and digestion become stalled, the immune system weakens. People with anxiety can be very irritable, suddenly erupt in anger, they develop survival strategies or overprotective behaviour, feel vulnerable, exposed, are excessively jumpy or resigned and withdraw from life. The quality of life is extremely limited in the process, as in the case of existential or death anxiety, fear of anxiety, fear of exams, fear of flying, heights, space, loss, fear of losing control or of going among people.

A particularly important aspect in the treatment of anxiety is a trusting therapeutic framework. The mindful touch of the body level with Shiatsu-specific techniques enables energetic balancing and promotes the client’s resources, potential and self-regulation. Nerves, muscles and breathing can relax and the connection with the earth can be experienced as supporting. Sensory perceptions and thoughts come into harmony and strengthen trust in oneself and in one’s own path. The therapist’s empathic involvement and the accompanying conversation promote the recognition and naming of connections around the occurrence and handling of the anxiety states. In this way, the anxiety becomes observable, it can be consciously and actively confronted and thus it gradually weakens. Through therapeutic Shiatsu, new, strengthening life experiences become possible.

The client is in her late 20s and lives with her boyfriend, she works in a law firm in the commercial sector. Ms. S. has been a smoker for 10 years and has been taking sleeping pills for about 5 years due to problems falling asleep and staying asleep. She wants to make use of Shiatsu because she feels determined by her fears and unable to cope with her current life situation. During the day, she experiences pressure to perform at work, lack of concentration, stress and anxiety, and in the evening, the fear of “going to bed”, especially when her boyfriend is not with her. She is afraid to stop taking sleeping pills because every time she has tried before, she has gotten sick and has missed a lot of work because of it. She also wants to stop smoking for fear of lung cancer.

Ms S. appears delicate and insecure, with a pale complexion and “far away”. She shows herself to be very head-buttingly controlling and has noticeably moist hands. During and after Shiatsu treatments the client perceives herself more clearly in her body and centre and becomes aware of her inner restlessness and tensions. In addition to deep recognition, she experiences liberating release, inner widening and stability, moments of security within herself, as well as growing inner peace, relaxation and trust. She implements the guided body and breathing exercises in her everyday life and is amazed to find that her fears decrease and she is proactive again and feels joy. After 2 months, in consultation with her family doctor, the client stops taking her sleeping pills and replaces them with herbal remedies, which she is ready to discontinue after another 3 months. During the treatment cycle, in the accompanying conversation, she becomes aware of connections from earlier life situations and how she avoided her fears, wanted to “master” everything with her head and put herself under pressure in the process. Medicines and cigarettes were substitutes for support. She decides to give up smoking under the guidance of her doctor and has a desire for change in her job.