Sotai

Sotai or Sotai-hō (操体法, Sōtai-hō?) is a Japanese form of muscular or movement therapy which was invented by Keizo Hashimoto (1897–1993), a Japanese medical doctor.

He developed a model of treatment that was based on returning to natural body alignment by working with the breath and moving toward comfort, rather than adjusting toward pain. He developed his system from traditional oriental medicine (Acupuncture, bone setting (Sekkotsu), Seitai Jutsu) in concert with his knowledge of modern medicine.

Sotai is intended to be a method for neuromuscular reeducation, untwisting muscular holding patterns. According to their practitioners, this balances the nervous and muscular systems. Its central point is the backward movement or reverse-motion treatment. The idea is that the wrong point of the frame could be returned by moving the body in the comfortable direction. Using the effects of an isometric contraction followed by a sudden relaxation (post-isometric relaxation) can normalise the strained condition.