Simply Help Yourself
Introducing a Jin Shin Jyutsu Self-Help DVD
by Juliane Barner
A few years ago Manuel Abascal and I got together to create a self-help DVD for low income people with serious conditions. The project came out of an “Open House” event of the Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic (CMCC) in Oakland, CA, where Manuel and one of the founders were talking about other ways to help clients. CMCC is a state licensed health clinic providing free complementary alternative medical treatments to low income women with cancer. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday modalities like acupuncture, Chinese and Western herbs, Jin Shin Jyutsu and massage, among others, are offered by dedicated women volunteers in addition to social services, transportation and organic produce and bread donated by local merchants.
I was a volunteer at CMCC for 10 years, primarily working for the InHome Comfort Care Program (IHCC) and serving as its program manager for 4 years. IHCC is an end of life service for clients with end stage cancer who are dying and no longer able to come to the clinic. They receive very gentle hands-on and/or emotional support at their home or facility.
In general, low income people lack accessibility to medical and/or alternative care. This means not only the inability to pay for care including alternative modalities such as Jin Shin Jyutsu, but also a lack of exposure and therefore awareness of alternative holistic medicine treatments and their effectiveness. A self-help DVD can promote outreach and offer a sense of personal power to individuals.
Over the years we created a beautiful DVD on a very low budget thanks to many extra portions of good will, dedication, generosity, love of the Art of Jin Shin Jyutsu and love of humanity by everybody involved.
We aspired to make the DVD in the spirit of Jin Shin Jyutsu, of Jiro Murai and Mary Burmeister – in the spirit of IT IS, IS. And I hope we accomplished that.
The project wasn’t just easy. It experienced its share of bumps and took much longer than expected. Mistakes were made, and a lot has been learned. Hindsight – of course! How perfect, though, the debut of Simply Help Yourself in 2012! Not only because of the 100-year anniversary of Jiro Murai’s discovery of the Art through self-help, but also of the change that is associated with this year and the years ahead.
The DVD is made in a way that it can easily be translated into other languages and we hope that in the future the DVD will be available in other languages spoken within the U.S. as well as other countries if funds and logistics allow it.
We are living in a time where more and more people are struggling on an economic level, are poor, and many are homeless. The need for help, for community and for change is great worldwide. This time, I believe, is also a time where alternative medicine, Jin Shin Jyutsu and other modalities, will become more visible and able to help humanity understand who we truly are and the healing powers within each of us.
And here, dear fellow Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioners, is where this project would like to invite you to become a part of it, to get involved in whatever way would work for you. If you are working or volunteering for organizations that serve individuals with low economic means – like community clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, organizations that help veterans, etc. – please request a DVD. Maybe this project encourages you to volunteer for an organization. Or you may want to make a donation and/or alert family, friends or organizations etc. about this project.
All are welcomed and appreciated. Let’s build community and serve each other. We are all one.
With deep gratitude to: Manuel Abascal, Margo Shafer (editing and support), Jill Pasquinelli (voice), Donna Morton (demonstrating the exercises), David and Michael Burmeister, Jeanne Marie Brennan (Mary Burmeister Outreach), and many others for all their contributions, assistance and support for this project.
The Mary Burmeister-Jin Shin Jyutsu Outreach is providing free of charge a limited number of Simply Help Yourself DVDs for low income people. The DVDs are available only to low income people and/or practitioners or organizations that serve low income people. The Simply Help Yourself DVD will be duplicated and distributed by the Mary Burmeister-Jin Shin Jyutsu Outreach within the U.S. only.
To get a preview of what is available on the DVD please click on this link:
To obtain a Simply Help Yourself DVD please send a written inquiry with information about yourself or your qualifying organization to:
Mary Burmeister - Jin Shin Jyutsu® Outreach
C/O Kelly McElroy-Mount
P.O. Box 410 Simpsonville, KY 40067
Donations are gratefully appreciated and are tax deductible in the U.S. Donations may be sent to the above address or made online under Outreach Help Others