Hara Shiatsu includes palpating the abdomen to discover patterns of disharmony and imbalance and treatment of specific points to re-establish equilibrium and flow.
The Hara, as it is known as in Japan (or Dantien in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Martial Arts) is that region of our bodies, below the rib cage and above the pelvis, that we are all a little weird about. The belly button is in the centre; that connection, through the umbilicus, to our mothers. That tells us that this is where we receive our nourishment, which in turn makes our blood and sends vital ingredients to all the cells in our body, via the heart and circulatory system. The small intestine is a twenty foot long tube between our stomachs and our large intestine.
When I palpate the Hara I am looking for specific signs: hot/cold, hard/soft, full/empty, strong/weak to name but a few. There are what are known as Bo points which have an energic correspondence with other organs in the neighbourhood: Liver/Gall bladder, Stomach/Spleen/Pancreas, Heart, Lungs/Large Intestine and Kidneys/Bladder/ Sexual Organs – a colony if you will. We all know that the failure of just any one of those organs can lead to death or severe handicap.
Just below the navel is our centre of gravity, a space of focus for our breath as we do our Tai-Chi, Judo, Meditation and Reflection. The 2nd chakra is there too. A place of emanation of our ‘gut feelings’; our authority and our strategies instinctively felt at the deepest level. Our center of true discernment.
In acu/meridian yin/yang theory the small intestine pairs with the heart. The element is Fire. Joy, Passion, Warmth and Connection.
The Hara as a center of autonomic neural functioning, the Enteric Nervous System or Belly Brain: www.honoringyourbelly.com/inspiration/articles/soul-power.html
Discover what science and research is now discovering: www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gut-second-brain
Neuro hormones of the small intestine: Serotonin and Secretin
Serotonin is a monoamine neurotransmitter that is primarily found in the GI tract. About 80% of the human’s body total serotonin is located in the enterochromaffin cells in the gut, where it is used to regulate intestinal movements. Serotonin has various other functions too: the regulation of mood, appetite, sleep, muscle contraction, and some cognitive functions including memory and learning; and in blood platelets where it helps regulate homeostasis and blood clotting. Serotonin literally translates as blood tonic.
Secretin is a hormone that controls secretions into the duodenum, and also separately, water homeostasis throughout the body. It is found in the S cells of the duodenum in the crypts of Lieberkuhn. Its effect is to regulate the pH of the duodenal contents via control of gastric acid secretion and buffering with bicarbonate.
