A form of healing bodywork developed as a variation on Jin Shin Jyutsu by Ron and Iona Teegarten in California in the 1970s. Jin Shin Jyutsu is a form of acupressure in which various points on the body are massaged in a set sequence. Following their introduction to Jin Shin Jyutsu in the 1960s, the Teegartens began to explore a means of addressing what they felt were the emotional states underlying pains and body tensions. They taught those who came to them for bodywork the techniques of Yoga breathing, exercise, and meditation.
The practice of Jin Shin Do continues to draw on the Chinese understanding of the self, which pictures the body as permeated with an invisible network of pathways (called meridians) that allow for the flow of universal energy (chi) through the body. Health is coincidental with the free and balanced flow of chi to all parts of the body. There is little evidence that the chi is a healing force that is capable of affecting specific diseases. However, that one may attain an overall positive effect from practicing Jin Shin Do with its exercise and mediation components is readily understandable.