study is comparable to a well-performed RCT and is judged to be a low risk of bias for ALL domains.Stress is an epidemic that most Americans admit they have felt at one point or another throughout their lifetime. In most cases, this stress ranks between moderate to high and can often be classified as chronic. Chronic stress can be dangerous and disruptive because it can interfere with one’s ability to function normally over an extended period of time. Even acute stress, which is less severe than chronic, can impede one’s ability to maintain attention, learning, and memory (De Kloet, 2000). While the general population can fall victim to stress at any given moment, there is one specific population that seems to be particularly burdened with stress; college students. College students are required to make enormous life adjustments especially within the first semester of college. Even high ranking high school students can undergo unanticipated difficulties when first entering a university or college setting. Students are expected to perform well, but in many cases, they underestimate the amount of effort and time that is needed to accomplish attaining an acceptable to high grade point average (GPA). Students struggle to balance being involved with their family, attaining new friends in an unfamiliar place, and budgeting their time and money, possibly for the first time in their life. At the same time, they must maintain a GPA that allows them to stay enrolled in the university (Kreig, 2013). All of these changes can factor into a student’s level of stress, and while some of the initial feelings of separation anxiety from home may pass, course work continues to become more difficult as the year continues. The first semester of my senior year I enrolled in an on-campus Shiatsu Massage class at Eastern Kentucky University. As a pre-physical therapy major, I was interested in different forms 2 of massage and how it can affect the human body. Throughout taking this Shiatsu massage class I learned that the Chinese, Japanese, and even Indian cultures all have a word to describe the energy that flows through and out of everything. This energy is known as Chi to the Chinese, Ki to the Japanese, and Prana to the Indians. As people undergo stress throughout their lives, they can develop what are known as energy “blockages” that can be located anywhere in the body. Shiatsu massage works towards getting rid of these blockages and helping people to live with less stress physically impacting their body. My purpose throughout this study was to research and determine what previous studies had found on the effectiveness of shiatsu massage, while concurrently conducting a survey of students enrolled at Eastern Kentucky University to discover the perceived effects of Shiatsu massage on stressed college students. Understanding Shiatsu Massage Shiatsu’s primary purpose, in most settings, is to promote well-being, aid in preventing illness, and overall supporting healthy living (Long, 2008). Shiatsu is known as a complementary and alternative form of medicine (CAM). Shiatsu massage uses oriental techniques that originated over 5,000 years ago and have proven to be effective in the reduction of both pain and stress. Shiatsu massage focusses on imbalances throughout oneself, whether they are mind, body, or spirit, and this is essentially the theory advocating the calming nature of Shiatsu massage. Shiatsu massage can be applied with the finger tips, the thumbs, the palms, the elbows, and the feet. The massage is given up or down what is known as a meridian. Meridians are lines of energy that flow throughout the body. Meridians that flow up the body are known as ying, and the meridians that flow down the body are yang. There are a total 3 of fourteen main meridians located in the body. The ying meridians are: the central, lung, liver, spleen, heart, pericardium, and the kidney. The yang meridians are: large intestine, small intestine, triple burner, gall bladder, bladder, stomach, and the governing. (See Figure 1; meridians not included: central and pericardium) The fourteen major meridians that flow throughout the body each take a different direction. The paths are as follows (Lundberg, 1992): Central- From the pubic bone up the center of the body, under the chin, to the lower lip. Governing- From the tailbone, up the spine, over the top of the head and down the middle of the face to the center of the upper lip. Spleen- From the big toe, up the inside of the leg, front of the abdomen to the side of the chest. Stomach- From the corner of the eye, looping around the side of the forehead, behind the ear, back to the forehead, behind the ear, back to the forehead, down the back of the head and shoulder, under the arm, down the side of the chest and the outside of the leg to the end of the fourth toe. Pericardium- From the nipple, down the middle of the inside of the arm to the end of the middle finger. Small Intestine- From the end of the little finger up the edge of the back of the arm to the chest. 4 Large Intestine- From the end of the index finger, up the outside of the back of the hand and arm to the nose. Heart- From the armpit, down the inside of the arm to the end of the little finger. Triple Burner/Heater- From the end of the ring finger, up the back of the hand and arm, the side of the neck, around the ear to the eyebrow. Liver- From the big toe, up the front,