Jiriki is the Japanese Buddhist term for self-power, the ability to achieve liberation or enlightenment through one’s own efforts, says the official Jiriki Setai website. When I originally booked a reservation at Chroma Yoga for a Pink Jiriki class I didn't know exactly what to expect.
Tucked into a cute corner of East London's Shoreditch neighborhood, Chroma Yoga is a unique yoga studio combining light and colour therapy techniques, brain stimulating soundscapes and bespoke natural scents to create an immersive, multi-sensory yoga experience. I was thrilled when I came across this place online during my search for yoga studios in London. It's my first visit in the city. One thing that has become a priority for me when traveling, and in general life is affording myself opportunities that will enrich me on a higher level. With wellness taking center stage at this point in my life, I'm beginning to enjoy indulging in wellness spaces. The price of the class was only 11 pounds, as first timers get a small discount. That's a price of a simple meal or glass of wine. While culinary experiences are bomb, they are less of a priority and I'm so glad I booked this class alone and went because the experience left me Shoook.
Jiriki’s aspiration is to teach students how to cure most chronic disorder with their own powers, and to even prevent pain from appearing by applying Jiriki movements. "The restorative, relaxing and healing practice, which helps to realign your body, combines various elements of shiatsu, chiropractic treatment, yoga, acupressure and meditation, teaching students to free body and mind" says the official Jiriki Setai website. The class was lead by Marie Yagami, a Japanese woman whose father actually founded + created Jiriki Setai. Marie is one of several instructors in residence at Chroma Yoga. After class we chatted it up and we took some photos with and for each other. Here we are:
Marie's father Yu Yagami created Jiriki in the 1990's. "In 1993, thanks to the combination of his knowledge and practice as chiropractor, acupuncture therapist, and yoga teacher, Yu created a healing movement practice called Jiriki. This discipline aims to teach practitioners to apply therapists’ techniques to their bodies in order to treat chronic disorders without outside help", says the about section of Jiriki Setai's webpage.
Marie is one of only 2 English speaking Jiriki teachers, with about 500 instructors trained by Yu living in Japan. Approximately 200,000 people are practicing this healing modality in Japan.
So, what did we do?
Unlike the typical form of hatha yoga that is practiced in most mainstream yoga studios Jiriki is not pose focused. The end goal is never to exert full range of motion in one static position. Instead of exerting muscle, the aim is to be restorative and relieve muscles, and joints. Flowing between a few loose poses, and using acupressure massage (Shiatsu), gravity and the practitioners own body weight to self administer healing. Guys.... when I tell you I was shook? Yes, I have heard of self administered massage from my various energy working friends, but this experience really left my body zinging with Qi. A first of it's kind for any yoga class that I have taken. I also learned that this type of healing is integrated best with movement, vs receiving a massage flat on a table.
What was easily grasped from my experience in class and my talk with Marie, was that the Jiriki movement is anchored in Self-healing, and I personally feel this is the way of the future. Another point of conversation was the fact that so many healing modalities you can receive from a practitioner are very expensive, and which isn't bad if you can afford it and see the value in that investment... but it builds up a dependency on an outside source for your healing. What if a great majority of people knew how to self administer physical and energy healing? Sounds fire to me.
Creating a lifestyle for yourself where you are centered in your own healing seems to be a growing attitude amongst healers, creatives, intuitive energy workers and generally those who are in this world to raise the collective vibration of our planet. It is this ethos that struck me most during my experience with Jiriki Setai.
I look forward to experiencing another one of Chroma Yoga's classes. Maybe I will try the orange or red light next time I find my way back to London? I'm definitely holding the tidbits I learned in the Pink Jiriki class to try at home!
Would you guys be open to taking Jiriki Setai class?