During a Watsu® session the warm water and low gravity combine with the security of being held. This allows deep relaxation and release to occur as the therapist performs Zen Shiatsu and Massage.  Muscle guarding is decreased and a physically and psychologically calming atmosphere is created.  This environment and the gentle nature of Watsu® are conducive to profound insights, understandings and positive change.

Harold Dull began developing WATSU® in 1980 floating his Zen Shiatsu students in the warm pool at Harbin Hot springs, California, applying Shiatsu's stretches and moves. The holding that working in water necessitates brings receivers to new levels of connection and trust, beyond other modalities based on touch. This, combined with the therapeutic benefits of warm water and the greater freedom of movement it encourages, creates a modality that can effect every level of our being.

The Worldwide Aquatic Bodywork Association (WABA), an educational non-profit organization, is dedicated to making the benefits of both giving and receiving Aquatic Bodywork available to everybody. WABA records classes taken everywhere, making it possible for students to study wherever they want and fulfill the requirements to be listed on the WABA web-site as practitioners, etc.

Minakshi first studied WATSU® with Harold Dull in 1990 and became the first certified WATSU® teacher in 1991. Minakshi co-taught with Harold at every WATSU® class at the School of Shiatsu and Massage in California, until 1998. At that time she opened her own aquatic bodywork facility in the Florida Keys. She continues to teach with Harold and others at the WATSU® Center in California.

WATSU® III (Free Flow)      Open to students who have successfully completed WATSU® II and have given enough sessions to be relaxed and comfortable with their technique and sequence. At this level you develop an intuitive awareness of how to be with another person in the water and further adapt and explore outside the form of WATSU® II. Introductions to other WABA courses and additional powerful stretches and advanced techniques will be taught. Students expand their WATSU® vocabulary, enhance spontaneous creativity and develop their own personal style. (WATSU® II is a pre-requisite.)

WaterDancing^®
Transcending the Illusion of Separation

Experience a profound water therapy in which the client is given nose-clips and is gradually, gently taken entirely under the water. Light is dimmed, sounds are muffled, time stops, and gravity becomes a slow-flying dance of submergence and emergence. It is a physical freedom beyond what can be experienced on land and an ideal state to explore altered realities of movement.

WATSU® I is a pre-requisite.

WaterDance^® (WasserTanzen)

arising independently from Watsu, was developed in Switzerland in 1987 by Arjana C. Brunschwiler and Peter Schröter. These two pioneering forms of aquatic bodywork were brought together in Europe and the USA in 1993.

WaterDance is performed in body temperature water in which clients wear a nose clip to be guided beneath the water into its three-dimensionality. This step requires the practitioner to have a well developed and intuitive understanding of the client’s breathing rhythm. In a WaterDance session movements on the surface alternate rhythmically with those underwater in accordance with each client’s particular needs.

We know from yoga that slowing down the breathing in a relaxed physical state calms mental activity and can help in achieving a meditative state. This occurs effortlessly in a WaterDance session. The soft, warm water gives complete support and continuously flows gently around the entire body including the face. Many people speak of feelings of joy and pulsating liveliness.

On a physical level, the use of specific holds releases and mobilizes the major joints of the body. WaterDance brings to mind the Japanese movement art of Aikido, and is also reminiscent of classical ballet. It can be like the swimming and playing of dolphins or the silent floating of a fetus in its mother’s womb.

As unique as each individual is, everyone experiences WaterDance differently. Perceptions range from the deepest states of relaxation to shifts in the perception of time and space; from regressing to childhood to re-experiencing prenatal or birth-specific events. Memories of old injuries may arise from the subconscious and the body spontaneously releases stress from the past. Some people speak of experiencing all-encompassing feelings of unity and unconditional love during and even long after a WaterDance session. In this way, WaterDance provides support for those passing through life transitions or suffering from disease states arising from low self-esteem. In the training of WaterDance practitioners, emphasis is laid upon holding a space of acceptance to allow the self-healing capacity of each receiver to emerge.

WaterDance is a form of body therapy that should only be practiced by well-trained practitioners in a safe environment so that the wealth of feelings and perceptions it can draw forth are given the appropriate space to develop.

In WATERDANCING® I

we explore the art of breath connection

that enables you to establish a deep rapport with your clients,

inspire their trust and offer the attentiveness that is necessary

when bringing someone below the water's surface.

You will learn the Waterdance short form

which includes learning to establish a rhythm that works with each client's breathing needs

and to move all body types through the water with security, ease and graceful fluidity,

giving the receiver a profound sense of freedom and joy.
Prerequisites: WATSU® I

In WATERDANCING® II 

you will deepen and build on the skills you learned in Waterdance 1.

You expand the principles and material

with a repertoire of new underwater moves and techniques.

You will learn and practice variations on familiar moves

as well as how to link different moves into a graceful flow.

By the end of this course,

you will have learned enough material to give complete Waterdance sessions

that are fun, healing and profound.
Prerequisites: Waterdance 1

In WATERDANCING® III

This class expands on the foundation built in Waterdance 1 and 2

and takes your repertoire of moves into the realm of personal creativity.

You explore the poetry of spontaneity inspired by what presents itself in the moment.

You will be supported to create your own vocabulary of underwater moves,

and learn to link them in endless new ways.

The dance of a free flowing experience, back and forth between giver and receiver,

is emphasized and discovery of your own unique style is encouraged and affirmed.
Prerequisites: Waterdance 1 & 2 and

20 practice sessions (at least 10 of which were logged after Waterdance 2)

The WaterDance^® courses can be chosen as the 50 hour elective

to become a WATSU® practitioner.

Learning to give WaterDance® can significantly deepen the flow of your Watsu®.

Aquatic Shiatsu^®

Fire and Water^® I and II (50 hours each)

fulfills the 100 hour Shiatsu requirement

to become a WATSU® practitioner.

These courses can also be chosen as the 50 hour elective.

Fire and Water offers a clear, coherent, and most importantly, applicable base of knowledge to participants. Whether you are new to Watsu, and/or bodywork, or have been practicing for years, the information taught is invaluable. With Minakshi’s grace and skill in the water, combined with Shinzo’s fire and profound knowledge of Shiatsu, this course is sure to be enlightening, enlivening, and enriching beyond measure.

Theses courses are taught half on land, half in the water.

On land, students are introduced to concepts of oriental Shiatsu.

They learn ways of using meridians and points that are only available in the water. 

Would you like to sense where & how blocked energy

could be released in yourself & others?

In "Aquatic Shiatsu" we learn to develop rapport while studying Oriental philosophy. In studying the Five Element Theory we understand that everyone has some of each of the elements. We learn to support balance in another without judging. Instead of considering what the other’s problem is, we learn what their passion is, what their love is. In order to support another, we need to understand ourselves and be clear. When we are in balance ourselves, we can be with another without imposing judgment. We vibrate with our own elemental nature….wood, fire, earth, metal, water. Then we can vibrate with another’s nature and support their wellness and health. In studying the Five Elements we learn to explore and respect our own essential essence. Then we can understand our partner’s poetry (essence) and learn to dance with it. In this way we create a “free style” in which we create our own poetry, dancing with the elements….based on Oriental theory.

In "Aquatic Shiatsu" (Fire and Water II) we begin with learning assessment questions based on the “Five Elements Theory”. This helps us understand clients and gain their trust. We expand our understanding of the benefits of the meridians and points learned in Fire and Water I. We experience, measure and document "Kyo" (deficiency) and "Jitsu" (excess) in relationship to the beginning and ending points of meridians, then apply what we have learned to understanding the condition of the hara. We learn indications for “back/yu” and “front/alarm” points based on understanding sense organs, etc, their relationship to the 5 elements, and understanding “chronic” and “acute” conditions. We practice applying what we have learned while giving sessions on land and in water. We finish each practice session with sharing our understanding with our client (another student) inspiring them to share responsibility for their own healing.

Minakshi
62900 Overseas Highway #9
Marathon  FL  33050
305-743-2624

minakshiwatsu@comcast.net

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