Jin Shin Do ("The Way of the Compassionate Spirit") is a therapeutic acupressure technique developed by psychotherapist Iona Marsaa Teeguarden, beginning in the 1970s.[1]
Jin Shin Do classes teach the use of gentle yet deep finger pressure on specific acu-points and verbal Body Focusing techniques.[2]
Jin Shin Do mixes acupressure, Taoist philosophy, and the ideas of Wilhelm Reich and claims to be able to detect and purge "stagnant energy" from the body.[3] Jin Shin Do is recognized as a major form of Asian Bodywork Therapy by AOBTA, NCBTMB, NCCAOM,[who?] and the U.S. Department of Education[4] among others.
Generally a "local point" in a tense area is held, together with related "distal points" which, though distant from the tense area, help it to release because of functional and energetic relationships. As in Shiatsu, the client remains fully clothed.[5]