The 12 points of Bo and Yu

Third-year students work on the 12 points of Bo, found in the chest area (the area of big yin) and also in the stomach area (the area of extreme yin), and also the 12 points of Yu on the back (the yang area). These are points that have a direct influence on internal organs such as the liver, kidneys, lungs, etc.

The students first perfected all these points to feel the reaction of their partners. Then, when they go to work at Saint-Luc Hospital, they will use these points on the patients.

There are two different categories of patients:

  • Those who were sick, but after cure or improvement at Saint-Luc Hospital are receiving shiatsu for its preventive aspect.
  • Those who are still sick and hospitalized to continue to receive care from doctors.

For patients in the second category, shiatsu students could not stay long to do the science of shiatsu, and so could not work on a lot of points. They therefore had to deal shiatsu treatment on only a few points to better withstand their anguish and relieve some of the pain.

What is important for our students is especially to note the lack, or overflow, of ki-energy in patients who are really sick compared to those who are, now, in good health.

In Shiatsu, our students work on the perception of ki-energy; lack, Kyo, and overload, Jitsu. In the Eastern concept, the notion of ki-energy is very important because it is with this receptivity of presence and absence of ki-energy that we determine the state of health of the person.