Hi there I’m Kanade! In my blog & Youtube channel, I introduce “Noguchi seitai” that is one of Japanese traditional manipulation therapies.
This video gives an overview of “Katsugen undo”, while showing the demonstration.
Katsugen undo is very unique and comfortable exercise, but a bit difficult to explain about, it’s a self adjustment method, something like automatic yoga or moving meditation.
This page shows what I talk in the video and the books you can read about Noguchi seitai and Katugen undo in English at the last part.
How to practice Katsugen undo?
For Katsugen undo, there are two preparatory exercises and an inducing exercise.
First preparatory exercise
First preparatory exercise, place your first three fingers on your solar plexus.
Exhale slowly and bend forward.
Suddenly relax.
Inhale and return to the original position.
Do this several times until yawning naturally begins.
Second preparatory exercise
Second preparatory exercise, exhale and twist the body from the left side.
Abruptly relax.
Next, the right side.
Do this several times to each side.
Inducing exercise
Finally inducing exercise.
Hold your thumbs between your index fingers, as exhale, push your arms backwards.
Abruptly relax.
Do this just three times.
During Katsugen undo
Close your eyes, completely relax your upper body, be “Pokaan”, that is the state of thinking of nothing in particular, and Katsugen undo will begin naturally.
Once it begins, don’t try to control it, but let it proceed naturally.
Watch the following video for more details.
What is Noguchi seitai?
Now I’m going to explain about Noguchi seitai and Katusgen undo.
Who is Noguchi Haruchika?
Noguchi Seitai was founded by Noguchi Haruchika 1911 to 1976.
He was a legendary therapist but he stopped treatment one day because he found his clients became irresponsible for their health, just relied on him expecting him to cure disease and forgot their own natural power to get health by themselves.
“Zensei” the philosophy
The philosophy of Noguchi seitai is “zensei” which means to live with all of our power and energy every moment until we die. We should stand on our own feet and realize our own power originally we have.
Noguchi seitai has some methods for zensei, Katsugen undo is one of them.
“Katsugen” means activating the power we originally have, “undo” means practice, exercise, or movement.
What is seitai?
The purpose of Katsugen undo is to order our bodies properly, to put them in a state of seitai.
The meaning of seitai is to adjust body or to order body properly, so the word is used as manipulation or adjustment such as chiropractic or osteopathy, but also used as a state of good conditioned healthy body.
Benefits of colds
Now what is health?
Perhaps you think of no illness, but Noguchi sensei (sensei means teacher in Japanese) considered illness can be the process to health because he discovered many of his clients lose their balance before catching colds and recover the balance after passing through colds naturally while he measured distribution of their body weight.
He describes it’s just like a snake sheds its skin as muscle stiffness is released, skeletal distortion is corrected, even skin becomes transparent.
For this reason, he says colds can be beneficial to improve our health and it’s better to catch slight colds as soon as we lose our balance slightly.
It’s totally different from our modern way of thinking that we should fight against colds and disease.
In my opinion, our natural bodies are wiser than we think.
For example, when you feel a stiff shoulder after sitting in the same posture for a long time, you may stretch yourself almost unconsciously, thanks to that, the tension on the muscles will be released, the balance will be also recovered. If you try not to stretch or change the posture, the tension and unbalance will be increasing.
Sometimes we try to stop these kinds of behavior as bad manners.
In modern social life, we often say “I have to do something” rather than “I want to do something” .
Meaning of Sleeping posture
By the way have you thought about the meaning of sleeping posture?
Noguchi sensei also discovered one’s sleeping posture helped to recover his balance unconsciously.
For example, when you think a lot and feel head and neck very tired, you may sleep with your hands up, that can help the tension relax.
It is interesting to observe children’s sleeping posture as they change posture many times as needed because they have more resilient bodies than adults.
They seem to make a fresh start without any fatigue from yesterday, unfortunately adults are not like that.
A healthy body has resilience. It has the capacity to expand and contract.
If we keep resilience and sensitivity, we can make use of the natural power of adjustment more effectively.
Unconscious acts defend us?
Perhaps unconscious acts defend us.
Imagine when you stumble over a stone, you may hit your head if you don’t put your hands on the ground automatically. If unconscious abilities get rust, you may get injured.
If we vomit when we eat something bad, either the food was not suitable for the body or it was poisonous. There is no doubt that vomiting is an act of self defend on the part of the stomach.
Also yawning, sneezing, coughing, fever may be helpful for defending ourselves and keeping our health as well, although we try to stop them as troublesome.
It is best if you can recover the balance while sleeping, but it is also good if you can catch a slight cold and recover soon, for example having some sneezes or fever only for a night. You can feel your muscles get relaxed when you sweat after having a fever if you observe your body carefully.
Everything begins from “seitai”
We should have sensitive bodies, which are ready to react to the slightest changes, and enough resilient to expand and contract.
We call these sensitive bodies “seitai”
It is essential not only for health, but also for precondition for a variety of activities. Everything begins from a properly ordered body.
Imagine If your body tends to veer to one side, you can’t run well, if your lower back is stiff, you can’t swing a golf club properly.
Katsugen undo
I believe Katsugen undo is the best practice for stimulating the power of defending our body unconsciously.
How to activate the natural power?
The adjustment function will be stimulated when your body detects something wrong, for example pepper makes you sneeze.
We use this natural process for inducing Katsugen undo.
From ancient times breathing has been used for yoga and Zen buddhism practice for meditation, because it’s the only one we can control by both consciousness and unconsciousness.
We also use breathing for Katsugen undo.
In normal breathing, when inhaled, the spine bends backward and tense, on the contrary when exhaled, it bends forward and relaxes.
Reverse it.
When exhaled, bends backward and tense so that your body can realizes there’s something wrong, then unconscious movement will start automatically for adjustment, we call this Katsugen undo.
Pokaan
After inducing Katsugen undo, you don’t need to try to move, just stay neutral and wait for the movement from your inner body.
The most important thing is to be “pokaan”.
“Pokaan” means to relax and to think about nothing.
Stop to stop moving, let your body move naturally.
It looks strange, but definitely a natural movement.
Of course, you don’t need to copy me, it just depends on the time and person.
This may be a bit difficult for some people who always ignore the voice from their bodies, and the bodies are stiff with tension.
The preparatory exercises will help even these people to relax. Please do it until giving a big yawn that means your body is ready because yawning is also considered as one of Katsugen undo.
Reactions to Katsugen undo
As you continue doing Katsugen undo, various reactions may occur in your body.
1. Relaxation
The first reaction is called the period of relaxation.
You will get very sleepy, feel strangely tired, and the whole body is pleasantly relaxed.
During the period of relaxation, simply relax and keep your body warm.
2. Heightened sensitivity
The second reaction is called the period of heightened sensitivity.
Aches and pains may arise in various places and you may have a fever after you feel cold.
You may feel the pain that reminds you of the old bruise or illness many years ago.
In this period, you don’t need to go to bed even when you have a high fever, just do as usual.
If you rest more than necessary, the process will slow down.
3. Discharge
The third reaction is called the period of discharge.
Waste and other harmful things within the body are discharged.
You will find some changes on your skin and sweat a lot.
You may be surprised by a lot of changes, but you can realize it is a reaction to Katsugen undo because your condition improves with each discharge, such as a stiff shoulder or a stiff neck becomes completely relaxed.
Precautions in reaction periods
During these periods of reaction, you can help the process if you imagine you are breathing through your spine.
Taking a foot bath is also a good option.
The most important things to remember during the periods of reaction are the following.
- To avoid by every means getting cold.
- To allow for complete rest and relaxation after a reaction.
- To avoid moving around immediately after a reaction just because it has finished, and to begin moving around just after you really feel like doing so.
The body’s condition is almost the same as in the case of acute sickness, when the body should be rested after the fever has subsided.
If you pass through them as through natural processes, you will become truly healthy.
Accordingly, it is a good idea to continue with Katsugen undo until all the reactions have been completed.
How to stop Katsugen undo?
The movement will sooner or later end naturally, but it may be stopped at any time.
In order to stop the movement, take in a deep breath, then exhale very slightly and force the breath down into the lower abdomen, making a sound like “Hmmmp”.
While maintaining the tension in the lower abdomen, open the eyes one by one and then breathe out slowly.
Hope you enjoy Katsugen undo!
Books about Noguchi seitai in English
There are three books about Noguchi seitai in English.
They must open your eyes, I promise!
ORDER, SPONTANEITY AND THE BODY
Not only about “Katsugen undo” and “Yuki”, but also the principles of a healthy life.
Human beings live by means of the extremely subtle, autonomous activities of life. Nevertheless, many people these days cannot bring themselves to realize this, and they suppose that they cannot maintain their health unless they rely on medicines and specialist techniques. It is no exaggeration to say that, just as the regular use of synthetic hormones inhibits the body’s own production of hormones, the tendency of modern people to rely excessively on medicines weakens those autonomous capacities that man naturally possesses. The author believes that it is necessary to revitalize the autonomous capacities of the human body, and he recommends a method of training the extrapyramidal system which is known as “katsugen undo”, as well as doing “yuki”. In this book, the ways to practise these methods are explained in detail, and the book provides a useful introduction to living in a “seitai” way.
COLDS AND THEIR BENEFITS
I really want anyone in the world to read this book now in the panic, we should know our bodies are much wiser than we think!
In my experience, while I used to take medicine once I caught a cold until I was twenty years old, I often caught a cold and could not easily get rid of it.
What a surprise!
Since I stopped taking medicine, I rarely have caught colds and they have passed through much faster than before. I understood why this happened when I read this book.
The common cold is regarded as the root of all illness, or it is dismissed as being of no account. From the point of view of what is generally accepted, the title of this book may seem rather odd, but the author’s position is that a cold is not something to be cured, but something to be “passed through.” When the biassed fatigue in a person’s body and mind reaches the limit, that person will, by means of the autonomic workings of the body, catch a cold in order to regulate this fatigue. The author does not regard a cold as a pathological condition, but as a natural means whereby health is maintained. He argues persuasively that if you do not disturb the natural process that is a cold, the body becomes renewed after a cold, rather like a snake that has sloughed its skin. The author’s very original concept of “passing through” an illness, which derives from his own understanding of natural processes, has the power to change our modern way of thinking concerning illness, which is that it should be fought against.
SCOLDING AND PRAISING
Unique idea how to scold and prise as it is considered from the aspect of bodily function and energy not like usual psychology. Noguchi sensei always sees live human beings which minds connect bodies. Highly recommended for parents, teachers, and anyone who are interested in the sight of seitai.
Giving a scolding and giving praise are both difficult arts. A parent’s way of scolding is sometimes so unskillful that children mistake a scolding for an outburst of anger. And praise that doesn’t hit the mark exactly is regarded by children as condescending gush. With a scolding, though, if it is not a little off the mark, the child will resist: when a wound is touched directly, it is painful. But it is from such a wound that new energy arises, and so the parent has to judge precisely how deep the wound is in giving a scolding and avoid touching it directly; for if the mark is hit too exactly, an opening up of the child’s sensibility is unlikely to occur. For both praising and scolding, discretion is needed. This book explains the psychological and physiological make-up of the child. In addition to dealing with children’s upbringing, it explains that parents should have the capacity to look at themselves.
Where to buy?
You can buy these books at this site.
Enjoy!
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