Training the mind, body with Jin Shin Jyutsu class
Jere Sellers (left) and Jennifer Bradley (right) sit outside the Markey Cancer Center practicing Jin Shin Jyutsu to help against stress and bring back positive energy flow to the body. Wednesday, March 11, 2015 in Lexington. Photo by Joel Repoley
March 12, 2015
By Marissa Beucler
Jennifer Bradley’s self-help Jin Shin Jyutsu classes at the Markey Cancer Center benefits not only cancer patients but also UK students.
Recently there has been an increased interest in the self-help classes due to the high amount of views on the video that can be found on the Markey website. Bradley’s class ranges from one to ten students each session. Energy type therapies are beginning to become more popular in Western countries.
Jere Sellers, a T-cell lymphoma patient, has been heavily involved in the Jin Shin Jyutsu classes that Bradley teaches.
“It works. It really works,” said Sellers, noting that his overall quality of life has improved through the self-help classes. He uses all the techniques and procedures he has learned quite frequently in day-to-day life.
“You can learn to do it yourself. That’s a big deal,” Sellers said. In the past, Sellers had quite a few problems with his port that has been placed in for his chemotherapy treatment. It would get blocked up and the doctors couldn’t determine the cause. They tried several medical procedures to get it unblocked but the only thing that seemed to work was the finger holds that were learned through the Jin Shin Jyutsu classes.
Jin Shin Jyutsu is quite similar to acupuncture but instead is acupressure, which involves a sequence of light touches around the body called “flows” to open pathways and help get movement again throughout the body.
During the class, patients learn different techniques that involve applying light pressure to energy locks to help with emotions. One of the main points learned in the class were the finger holds. Each finger has a different emotion and you hold that finger for a couple of minutes to relax your mind and release the tension in your body.
“This practice of Jin Shin Jyutsu is great because it does not harm anyone and can benefit anyone,” Bradley said. Jin Shin Jyutsu had been available at the Markey Cancer Center since 2011 and Bradley had been volunteering two years before that.
Bradley said her main goal is to reach out to students and help them relieve stress.
For more information about Jin Shin Jyutsu visit the Markey website and download the flyer at UK HealthCare’s website.
