Welcome to this online shin tai community. We are so grateful for your presence here and wish you a fulfilling experience as you move through the course materials.

Introduction to Governing Vessel V: The Neck

In this module we explore how to facilitate the flow of governing vessel through the neck region. By creating more space and mobility in the cervical spine, life force can move freely through this bridge between mind and body.

Since the neck is quite reactive to stress patterns in other areas of the body, we usually work with it in the later part of a treatment. It is best to release compressive forces along the spine and trunk so that their influence into the neck region is decreased. Then when we head into work in the cervical spine there is already an increased amplitude of motion and energy helping to open and align the area.

In order for information to pass smoothly through the neck, its structures must maintain flexibility and alignment. When the neck becomes stiff, it causes a separation of the upper and lower body spheres. A departure from wholeness takes place. When the turning of the head is restricted, we lose our full range of vision and listening and start to become fixed in what we see.

Interference of information due to misalignment and stress in the neck can be a result of many influences. Organic problems posture, trauma and various levels of stress can all contribute. The meridians of the bladder, triple heater, gall bladder, stomach, large intestine and small intestine all move through the neck and therefore affect the way it works. Dysfunction of the neck can subsequently disrupt the thyroid, digestive glands and consequently a myriad of other body activities.

You will delve into detailed palpation skills, fascia work and unique alignment techniques all focused on the cervical spine. This allows you to integrate the previous Governing Vessel I-IV materials and facilitate the flow of governing vessel up into the neck and cranial system. When governing vessel is flowing freely, it activates our ability to not only heal, but grow and evolve.

The material in this module is part of a 6 day Shiatsu Shin Tai class called 'Governing Vessel & the Spine.' Although you can take this module on its own, we recommend that you use it in combination with the work presented in modules I-IV.

Governing Vessel & the Spine

The Governing Vessel is the first energy current which develops after conception. It serves to govern the development of the other meridians, chakras, organs and the rest of the body's physiology. The spine itself is the material manifestation of this governing vessel energy.

By working with the meninges (the fascial covering of the spinal cord which serves as a channel for the flow of the cerebrospinal fluid as well as conducting impulses of the governing vessel to the central nervous system) you will learn new ways to diagnosis and treat that touch the core potential of a person.

“The most exceptional feature of these two meridians [GV and CV] is that they regulate the flow of energy in all the regular meridians.” Shizuto Masunaga

Shiatsu Shin Tai

Shiatsu Shin Tai offers practitioners an expanded perception of the body. This style of bodywork focuses on the flow of the central meridians, or energy flows, of the body: Governing Vessel & Conception Vessel. Shin Tai techniques are applied with a unique focus that results in unique responses in the body.

However, it is not the techniques alone which make this bodywork so powerful - it is the comprehensive system of theory and evaluation that lie behind the techniques. Traditional shiatsu is expanded into a contemporary body of material which can bring deep transformation to those you touch.

Shiatsu/Shin Tai Book

We recommend the book Shiatsu Shin Tai by Saul Goodman as a companion to the online video courses Governing Vessel I-V. It has writing, illustrations and photographs to support your understanding of the material. You can order either a paper or digital copy of this book here: https://shintaiinternational.com/shiatsu-shin-tai-books.