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Sotai & Shiatsu are both manual therapy modalities, distinct from massage, emerging from Japan. They combine both modern medical science with deeply effective traditional healing methods based on the meridian system.

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Our lineage of Shiatsu involves mainly thumb, finger, and palm pressure, not only to a problem area, but also to distal parts of the body that have a connection to the problem. Shiatsu also involves assisted stretching, and techniques where the therapists moves your joints passively through a certain range of motion.

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Sotai is an active treatment method. It involves comparing two movements to determine which is less strenuous, then the recipient moving their body in that direction while the therapist applies gentle resistance. This is all synchronized with respiration, and guided by the therapist, and the result is a reeducation of the neuromuscular system and the improvement of a person's postural alignment and tension patterns.

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Both Sotai & Alex's style of Shiatsu focus on the musculotendinous meridians, which is the expression of the meridians used in acupuncture, but as they express themselves in the musculoskeletal system. These lines of tension are functional, longitudinal networks made of muscle and other connective tissues that run along the entire length of the body. They perform key whole-body movement tasks like lifting something up, or running, and tension tends to accumulate along the entire line, not just the area where you feel discomfort. This is one of the things that makes Shiatsu & Sotai stand apart from mainstream manual therapy approaches.

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Unlike massage, Shiatsu doesn't use any rubbing or kneading in it's techniques, because of this, no oil is used, and it can be performed fully clothed. These treatments can be performed on a table, but treatment on a mat on the floor is better as it allows the therapist to use his bodyweight more naturally.

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My lineage of Shiatsu began as a traditional therapy, and then adapted a western science framework, then later reintegrated the traditional theories. Sotai was developed by a Japanese Doctor or Western Medicine who integrated the secrets of many different traditional healing practice. This harmony of both Western & Eastern medicine is what make these modalities stand out from many other approaches, and also what make them work so harmoniously.

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This treatment is offered in our private treatment space at The Shinobi Village in Scarborough, Ontario, and also through home-visits. (If you live too far away to visit for a treatment, there are lots of self-care techniques that you can learn through Online Personal Mobility Training.)

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Cost: $100/hr +HST

Note: Home-Visit will also include a $10-$30 travel fee depending on your location.