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 < back to authors list Betty Jo Wray-Fears:
Shiatsu massage is based on the Chinese five elements: water, wood, fire, earth and metal, which stand for the primal rhythm or movement of energy that shapes a person's behavior and social-psychological elements. "Energy flow can be shown in the Chinese five elements," Wray-Fears said. "It is the movement of nature inside a human being. The same cycles that occur in nature occur within our bodies. It is the primal system or flow that exists in all mankind. An innate energy that flows in all of us." Each of the five elements, said Wray-Fears, shows a stage of development or meridian lines or pathways, organs, emotions and mental faculty connected with development. The element wood, for example, is our ability to plan, to create and be creative and to have visions. It begins with movement, the ability to move left and right. An infant thinks, "If I move this way I can reach this toy." This phase changes throughout the person's entire life, she said: "It is a continual expansion and learning. Learning to develop more, learning more ways to express himself." In the highly technical world today, some type of primal space rhythm has been disrupted, said Wray-Fears. "You can observe from the first day a child is born different stages of child development," she said. "All of the basic movements a child makes are related to their physical and emotional state." When a child is diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder or Clinical ADD, said Wray-Fears, "what we're observing is not dysfunctions but actually a movement of this energy system. The five elements have somewhere gotten obstructed." This could occur, she said, by a fall, from being shocked with a loud sound, from being in an over-stimulated environment, or from having his or her movements impeded. If one phase gets blocked, all are affected, said Wray-Fears. This is where Shiatsu massage comes in. The Five Elements in the Lives of Children, is a comprehensive, introductory text which centers on children's physical and emotional well-being, and shows how Shiatsu massage can help to help balance the body physically, emotionally and mentally so children are then able to observe where their lives have balance and where they don't. The book describes the theory, gives examples of children who have been helped by Shiatsu massage and asks questions of therapists and parents. The book was written for parents, therapists and teachers to give them examples to do on a verbal level to recognize the five phases of change within themselves and children. The theory of Shiatsu massage is this, said Wray-Fears: "If you drop a stone in a pond, you will see concentric circles, that's very much what happens in the five phases of change. Most ponds aren't free of debris, so sometimes the development of the rings come out in oblong shapes. You lose the concentric circles. Shiatsu massage stimulates the phases of change, and allows the circle to develop full and round again." Wray-Fears first learned about Shiatsu massage while living in Germany, where she was studying for a bachelor's degree in psychology from the European Division of the University of Maryland. She began studying Shiatsu and completed a diploma with the Institute for Shiatsu in Wiesbaden, Germany in 1987. When she returned to the United States in 1988, she went back to massage school to get licensed in Florida. Now a licensed massage therapist, Wray-Fears now owns the Shiatsu Massage Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. She also teaches massage therapy at the Humanities Center school of massage in Pinellas Park, Florida. She and Kalbanter-Wernicke met in Germany in 1984. They both expressed an interest in how Shiatsu massage affected children. Their book, said Wray-Fears, is the first to combine the Eastern and Western view of Shiatsu with children. "We're trying to create an opening to children and their development," said Wray-Fears. Kabanter-Wernicke is the main author, Wray-Fears wrote the sections devoted to teachers, parents and therapists. She is now taking the translated German manuscript and putting together the English version. Wray-Fears said the different time zones and the fact that she doesn't read German were two main obstacles in working with Kalbanter-Wernicke long distance. "Since I don't read German, I had to have any letters, etc., translated," she said. In spite of the difficulties, however, she said she liked the challenge of putting the book together. In addition to seeing oriental body work and oriental medicine as a hobby as well as a career, Wray-Fears enjoys boating and family activities with her husband, Greg Fears, and her children Arielle, born in 1990, and Michael, born in 1993. — reported by Kim Pawlak, 1999 |
