Workshop registration

Since 1996, Shiatsu has been integrated into the rehabilitation pathway provided by the “Child Neuropsychiatry Unit and Regional Center for Eating Disorders (DNA) in developmental age” at Bellaria IRCCS Hospital in Bologna, currently directed by Professor Antonia Parmeggiani.
The activity has developed and been shaped according to the needs of the young patients. Currently, it is offered as group work for the Day Hospital and the Ward, carried out in a midweek session lasting one hour and thirty minutes for each service.
The exercises proposed during the activity, shiatsu and the drawings produced by participants are all practices aimed at expanding perception and awareness of the body, mind and spirit.
Their purposes are to:
– contain and reduce discomfort caused by eating disorders
– modify, through the reciprocal exchange of Shiatsu, the passive and self-centered attitude of the involved subjects
– develop relational capacities through contact
– induce a deep and beneficial state of relaxation in the individual
– enhance individual physical and psychic resources
– improve psychomotor processes, cognitive and intuitive abilities
– stimulate interoception
– promote a new body image
– activate and develop individual bodily and energetic knowledge-awareness
– encourage respect and care of one’s own body in the suffering subject
– develop greater self-awareness and a better relationship with the external world

The aspiration of this pathway is to integrate and make synergistic medical-psychological therapies and Shiatsu techniques, with the primary goal of supporting the person in their rehabilitation and transformation process; to make them the protagonist of their life project, according to a holistic vision.

Stefania Ferri
Shiatsu Teacher/Practitioner, responsible for activities in the Ward and Day Hospital of the “Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Regional Center for Eating Disorders in developmental age”
stefania.shiatsu@gmail.com

Sei-Ki is the name that Akinobu Kishi Sensei gives to his own expression of manual therapy.
Sei-Ki is a further development of his Shiatsu, and also a return to its origins. What is Ki?
Ki is “resonance” that is the work in Sei-Ki, just being there in empty space, doing nothing.
That makes us who we are, that makes us shine, that connects us.
Human bodies have a natural capacity to move towards health and balance. When this capacity
is weakened we become a shadow to ourselves.
Sei-Ki respects & works with this innate ability. And we regain our original vitality and health.
The focus of Sei-Ki is on allowing and working with the natural inner movement towards health
and balance, enhancing the ability of the individual to engage with life and employ their
personal talents more fully.
Kishi Sensei encourages practitioners to dispense with once learned techniques of treatment
and meet their clients in the moment, with ‘no-mind’ which allows the natural intelligence in
the bodies to show. It means the Ki “resonance” which is present in the meeting is guiding the
session spontaneously.
I will try to share this experience with you.

A Shiatsu clinic involves a demonstration of a shiatsu treatment being performed on someone who is not attending the congress. Each clinic involves two practitioners, who deliver their treatments one after the other.

Before starting the treatment, each practitioner will give a brief description of their approach. During the session, they may comment on their work, provided it does not interfere with the treatment itself.

At the end of the session, the practitioner may explain their approach further if they feel it is necessary. Attendees will then have the opportunity to ask questions, share comments and express any doubts.

The practice of shiatsu, thanks to the knowledge of Far Eastern medicine, allows vitality to be sustained through treatments that use the free flow of Ki in a longitudinal direction, high/low or Heaven-Earth in the Taoist vision, together with the body’s ability to connect transversally. 
This also results in a reference between the relationship, or axis, between Water and Fire and the transverse relationship between Wood and Metal. With Earth, the Spleen, my body, in a central position.
A treatment will be illustrated and practiced that follows the ascending and descending directions of both the two extraordinary central channels and the main or regular meridians, combined with lateral pressures that cross these energy structures. In fact, a sequence can be performed on the back, which will logically follow more Yang channels, and one on the front, which will use more Yin meridians. This is combined with the treatment of three front lines (the support line, the deep nourishment line, and the opening of the Breaths) and two back lines (the strength line and the breath line). 
Just as in a tree, we have the ascent and descent of the sap that sustains it and the opening to life thanks to the branches and leaves that nourish it.

More and more people today are affected by one or more chronic illnesses. Supportive therapies can vary and may be required for life. Increasingly, affected individuals seek support through the complementary therapy of Shiatsu.

This seminar shows ways we can support patients through accompanying conversations, sensing the relevant Shiatsu meridians, extraordinary vessels/meridians, specific Tsubos, connective tissue techniques, as well as breathing and body exercises (including during the dying process).
The focus will be especially on the Masunaga diagnostic meridians perceived during assessment, their vibrational levels, and three first-generation extraordinary meridians.
This means we consciously integrate Masunaga meridians with the extraordinary meridians Chong Mai, Ren Mai, and Du Mai into the treatment.
We will also sense the vibrational levels of the Masunaga diagnostic meridians and which energy centers (chakras) resonate with each one. We will activate supportive zones, points, and much more.

Seminar contents:
– what it means to live with chronic illness
– how chronic illness can manifest energetically
– learning and experiencing specific elements in Shiatsu treatment for chronically ill people
– learning and experiencing supportive breathing and body exercises
– accompanying conversations, supporting resilience and resources
– therapist’s possibilities and limits

Detailed handouts will be provided for the entire seminar.
Over the past 17 years, I have gathered and analysed experiential knowledge on supporting patients with chronic illnesses such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune diseases, clinical depression, anxiety disorders, chronic pain, eating disorders, Parkinson’s disease, Crohn’s disease, fibromyalgia, rheumatism, arthritis and arthrosis, as well as type II diabetes. This seminar includes information on all of these conditions. My work as a therapist is experience-based and practical. 

Good touch in shiatsu is not just physical. The touch within the shared resonance field between therapist and client is at least as important as physical touch, and many of the effects of shiatsu are generated here. Professional shiatsu therapists offer their clients this resonance field through open, relaxed body language.

This presence is enhanced when the therapist feels connected to the ground beneath them, rises gently, aligns themselves internally, and expands slightly in the shoulders, arms, and hands during physical contact. They avoid constricting their space, especially in the shoulders and arms. With this open space, they can resonate with and understand the recipient. For the recipient, such touch is dramatically different from purely physical touch.

Shiatsu inspires me because of its richness and interconnectedness, of structures within us, how these relate to emotional experience, and what acts upon and within me.

The training I received from the team of Wilfried Rappenecker, Meike Kockrick, Jürgen Westhoff and many others moved me deeply and fueled my passion for Shiatsu.
After six years as an assistant, I began sharing Shiatsu with interested learners, and since 2017 I’ve taken over leadership of the Shiatsu School in Hamburg.

The encounter through Shiatsu is one of the most authentic I know.
My curiosity is always eager to explore other forms of meeting and treatment, such as craniosacral therapy, fascia medicine, and more. Yet, my fascination remains with Shiatsu, and my creativity keeps finding new paths and connections between disciplines.
Sharing and exploring this with participants in my courses continues to enrich me deeply.

This title, which paraphrases the theme of the conference, is no joke, but an obvious truth
Shiatsu supports life, and life supports shiatsu with unpredictability, mystery, strength, creativity, coexistence, evolution, relativity, richness and intelligence. All of these characteristics are present in shiatsu, making it a precious means of care and healing.

Life is relationships, movement, complexity, intelligence, mystery, contact and the coexistence of different rhythms and qualities, all of which are closely connected. Shiatsu can bring all these components into being to become the extraordinary technique/path that it is. All these characteristics of life can be present in the shiatsu we practise.

We will see how, during a treatment, we are supported by all of these elements simply by remaining open and listening.
We will work with understanding, relationships and intelligence, and bring into being the basic principle of yin and yang, for example. The yin/yang triad gives shiatsu an unparalleled power.

Many years ago, we defined shiatsu as ‘the art of touch’. This is another fundamental, vital principle that nourishes and strengthens shiatsu, providing it remains a guiding principle for every touch.

Quantum Shiatsu is a bodywork style that recognizes the various manifestations of Energy within the Human Being: a Shiatsu that goes beyond the three dimensions of the material world to open up to the multidimensionality of the Human Being.

Many Shiatsu styles base their theory and practice on the ancient principles inherited from Oriental medicine and Ayurveda. Quantum Shiatsu goes one step further and incorporates concepts from Quantum Physics, which explain how the body functions as a field of energetic vibrations contracting and expanding. When we access this aspect of our body, we open ourselves to the full energetic spectrum available to humans.

Opening up and having access to our entire energetic spectrum means being fully present in our physical reality (the predominantly contracted manifestation of our energy) and, at the same time, being fully in contact with our spiritual reality, the predominantly expanded manifestation of our energy.

This new approach to health implies the activation of the Energetic Body. When we speak of the Energetic Body, we refer to the Human Being considered in its inseparable unity of Body, Mind, and Spirit.

When this activation occurs, the qualities that define our spiritual reality (love, compassion, forgiveness, harmony, beauty, etc.) can manifest in our physical reality, thus promoting a process of spiritual healing and evolution.

“Our spiritual reality has no meaning until it manifests in our physical reality. And our physical reality cannot change and evolve until it is organized within the context of our spiritual reality.”

In Quantum Shiatsu, moreover, the old healing paradigm focused on “correcting what is wrong” becomes obsolete and is replaced by a new paradigm requiring “alignment of our physical energy with what is right.”

An approach that takes into account the body’s natural tendency to find in its healthy energetic aspects the way to “correct itself as a whole.” In short, we contact that vital aspect of the body capable of healing itself, thus interacting with the strengths and potential of our receivers rather than with their weaknesses.

Shiatsu for cancer care in chemotherapy wards and private practice: presence, touch, adaptation
In this workshop, I will share my weekly experience in the chemotherapy ward of the Tivoli Clinic in Bordeaux, as well as in my private practice, where I have been supporting people undergoing cancer treatment for many years.
The aim is to show how Shiatsu can provide real support during an intense medical journey: a respectful, adaptable and deeply human practice that restores space for the body and the therapeutic relationship in a highly medicalized context.
The workshop will offer practical tools to support people undergoing chemotherapy: which postures to adopt (physical and relational), which areas of the body to prioritize, how to adapt the touch depending on side effects (nausea, neuropathy, fatigue, pain, hypersensitivity…).
We will explore specific techniques to relieve side effects and improve patients’ quality of life.
A particular focus will be placed on understanding the medical mechanisms of chemotherapy: its physiological effects, why certain symptoms appear, and how these elements can be related to energetic readings and imbalances in Chinese Medicine.
This cross-approach helps refine Shiatsu choices and fosters better communication with healthcare professionals.
A large part of the workshop will be devoted to hands-on practice, allowing participants to experience sequences that can be used in private practice or hospital settings, while respecting the medical and emotional constraints of this type of support.
This workshop is intended for Shiatsu practitioners wishing to expand their skills in oncology care.

Masunaga described the connection we have in Shiatsu as sharing the ‘Echo of Life‘ 
In this practical workshop we will be discovering how to maximise that connection to support the positive life-force of our receiver.
How can we best communicate with our receiver on all levels, and work with them to optimise the effects of the Shiatsu and the value of their experience?
Recently Cliff has been collaborating with both Dr Cindy Engel and with Nick Pole. Cindy’s breakthrough work on Somatic Empathy (‘Another Self – How Your Body Helps You Understand Others’) reveals the extraordinary ways in which our body’s innate pre-verbal intelligence helps us to ‘read’ what’s happening for our receivers. Nick specialises in using Clean Language and Mindfulness to allow body and mind to communicate and support somatic change (‘Words that Touch: How to Ask Questions Your Body Can Answer’).
Inspired by these collaborations, Cliff is excited to share how we can integrate these insights from somatic empathy, psychobiology, clean language and mindfulness – into our practical Shiatsu energy work!

Together we will be exploring how to:
• Access the positive movement of Ki – using the ‘Outcome Question’
• Develop our Somatic Empathy – using Mindfulness
• Connect Kyo and Jitsu with the receiver’s whole Ki Field
• Integrate practical techniques and assess the effects of Tsubos

A Shiatsu clinic involves a demonstration of a shiatsu treatment being performed on someone who is not attending the congress. Each clinic involves two practitioners, who deliver their treatments one after the other.

Before starting the treatment, each practitioner will give a brief description of their approach. During the session, they may comment on their work, provided it does not interfere with the treatment itself.

At the end of the session, the practitioner may explain their approach further if they feel it is necessary. Attendees will then have the opportunity to ask questions, share comments and express any doubts.

A Shiatsu clinic involves a demonstration of a shiatsu treatment being performed on someone who is not attending the congress. Each clinic involves two practitioners, who deliver their treatments one after the other.

Before starting the treatment, each practitioner will give a brief description of their approach. During the session, they may comment on their work, provided it does not interfere with the treatment itself.

At the end of the session, the practitioner may explain their approach further if they feel it is necessary. Attendees will then have the opportunity to ask questions, share comments and express any doubts.

Workshop: Theoretical and Practical, 2 hours
Languages spoken: Italian and basic English and French
Conducted by: alone

Theory:
Shiatsu takes an integral view of the reality it relates to. Uke is a receiving unit and Tori is a practicing unit.
The symptom is an invitation to change. Personal stories are always implicit, can be unconscious but never separated from symptoms.
Energy at every moment is present in limited, optimal, or excessive amounts.
Life is always present. It can only be limited by lifestyle, behaviors, thoughts, and beliefs.
Life is like grass, fragile when the wind blows strongly, powerful when it seeks the light breaking through asphalt, exciting when observed closely, sacred when lived from within, infinite when you rest in it. R.V.L.
Shiatsu and awareness can ally with life and integrate into the treatment by grounding in the present, with power, respect, and sacredness the energy that can support, give strength to Uke on the path toward oneself. A Uke capable of sustaining a more harmonious, more authentic vision of their existence and on the other hand capable of recovering the useless effort toward a dispersive elsewhere.

Practice:
Walking the void, practicing respect, practicing trust, listening, observation, allying with the process. Feeling, thinking, acting. Living mandalas. The Five Elements are actually the constitutive elements of the human system.
Looking beyond the stage, beyond the lights, at the heart of life itself they can be translated into energetic qualities, expressions of nature, archetypes, principles, qualities or essences, forces or mirrors in which one can deeply observe one’s own and others’ existence.
The human being has not changed in their intimate essence, in their fundamental structures.
The human being is the greatest champion of their existence when they realize the immensity within them recognizing themselves beyond themselves, find their place in the world, will find the meaning of their existence. They will feel on their path, understand the Way to follow and will have the strength to do so.
Once the field is built, Shiatsu treatment will ally with the process and support Life.

In Shiatsu, we often believe that we have to “look for something”, blockages, tension, imbalance.
But what happens when we shift our attention from searching to finding?
In this workshop, I invite you to rediscover Shiatsu from a perspective of mindful listening.

Experience has shown me that the deepest encounters in Shiatsu do not come through targeted searching, but through open and non-judgmental perception.
Listening to life as it comes alive means creating space, in conscious presence, for the inner flow of the other person.
We focus our attention on what is already there and wants to reveal itself, without actively forcing it.

To clarify and make this attitude more tangible, I will explain its significance through systemic theory.
This theory views the human being as a living system, whose self-regulation can unfold through value-free observation and mindful accompaniment.
We discover that life is always present in the other, waiting to be seen and accepted.

The practical part of the workshop will offer concrete exercises where participants can experience how mindful listening enables new kinds of encounters and qualities of touch.
The exercises aim to refine the ability to perceive subtle impulses of life and to support them without manipulative interference.

The goal of the workshop is to provide new inspiration to Shiatsu practitioners, strengthen their trust in their perception, and allow them to dive more deeply into the therapeutic relationship with clients.
Because the true art does not lie in finding what is missing, but in listening to and acknowledging what is alive and already present.
“Come on, let’s go find a treasure.” (Janosch)

Nicola’s workshop is based directly on the work of Pauline Sasaki. It is on the chakras and we will experience the chakras in their different aspects. 

Pauline used the chakras in every aspect of the energetic anatomy.
Pauline’s favourite quote from the Dao De Ching is verse 42. This explains how the chakras work- though we have to look hard.

“From the Dao, the one comes Heaven and Earth, the two. 
Together they create the ‘Chong’, the three. From the three comes the creation of all life and from that comes all things, the ten thousand things.”

As we know, chakras are great wheels of energy. It is where the Heaven and Earth qi creates aspects of life.
On the physical plane- Touch and gesture can activate the chakras and help the physical body move towards harmony.
In the Ether body or the emotional body- the chakras keep the energy body bright and lively and moving.
In the Astral body- the chakras are wheels which help move towards our Divine connection.

And all these aspects are necessary for health.
We can work on them ourselves as part of a yoga or qigong practice.
Having the chakras in alignment is the key to balancing the energy of different meridians and energies in the body.
Finding harmony with the chakras lets all the emotions find their balance and then the whole energy will be enlivened!
Finally when the chakras are all activated and in harmony they can merge as the Astral body becomes part of the ‘oneness’.

Awareness of how the chakras have different aspects which present at different frequencies helps understand their different roles within a healthy person. 
And this workshop should enable you to understand and “see”.

I would like to do a talk and also a practical session.
Talk:
Explore how the Extraordinary Vessels develop in the womb and how they hold the memory of your womb life. I discovered the Extraordinary Vessels in the 1990s through working with pregnant women and learning to understand the development of their baby in the womb. I have kept the name of my business as “Wellmother” because I now understand the impact of our first nine months on the rest of our lives. It is partly through our physical development of our body and our placenta but also the symbiotic relationship between us and our mother, which will influence all future relationships. We access our potential through connecting to our conception, when we draw in not only the two ancestral lines of our parents, but the universe. The first week after conception we are whole and self-contained. This is the transformative nature of the Eight Extraordinary Vessels.
Practical:
Explore the differences between the Inner and Outer Families of the Extraordinary Vessels through practical exercise to understand them in your own body, especially through connecting with womb movements and experiences, and then practical shiatsu to explore how to work with them during shiatsu sessions.

When people come to us with complaints, it is often already valuable to give them attention by acknowledging that they are exactly right as they are in that moment. This can be difficult to grasp, given the physical and psychological pain that people may experience. However, we have found that people’s strengths, potential and beauty often relate closely to areas that currently seem blocked.

In both conversation and physical shiatsu touch, we are embarking on a journey to make this accessible to our clients. We are showing them that apparent weaknesses and complaints can also arise from strengths that are sometimes overused. We are doing this for a good reason. This way of working with people leads away from mere removal.

A Shiatsu clinic involves a demonstration of a shiatsu treatment being performed on someone who is not attending the congress. Each clinic involves two practitioners, who deliver their treatments one after the other.

Before starting the treatment, each practitioner will give a brief description of their approach. During the session, they may comment on their work, provided it does not interfere with the treatment itself.

At the end of the session, the practitioner may explain their approach further if they feel it is necessary. Attendees will then have the opportunity to ask questions, share comments and express any doubts.

A Shiatsu clinic involves a demonstration of a shiatsu treatment being performed on someone who is not attending the congress. Each clinic involves two practitioners, who deliver their treatments one after the other.

Before starting the treatment, each practitioner will give a brief description of their approach. During the session, they may comment on their work, provided it does not interfere with the treatment itself.

At the end of the session, the practitioner may explain their approach further if they feel it is necessary. Attendees will then have the opportunity to ask questions, share comments and express any doubts.

Shiatsu supports life – not only in humans, but also in the animals we live, work, and share our lives with. Horses and dogs are especially sensitive to touch, and in this presentation I will explore how they benefit from shiatsu, as well as how shiatsu can help us better understand our four-legged friends.
The session will consider both the differences and the similarities in treating horses and dogs, including aspects of anatomy, movement, and behavioral responses. What matters most is that shiatsu is always done with the animal – not to the animal.
I will share practical insights on how therapists can safely and effectively work with horses and dogs, and I will also offer simple approaches that anyone can use to support their own animals at home and at the stable.
The aim is not to provide full training in animal shiatsu, but to open a space for discussion and to share inspiring, practical ideas for everyday life. Participants will discover how the principles they already know from human shiatsu translate into the animal world – and how this work can both enrich the lives of animals and deepen the human–animal bond. 

The meridians as life functions as we know them are Masunaga’s perspective. He developed a unique meridian theory in which he described the action and expression of Ki. He used the amoeba as a model to demonstrate the life functions and basic needs of humans. This was not just theoretical knowledge, but tangible life movements that we feel, touch and move during treatment, including within ourselves. Being able to incorporate them into the meridian work is a great enrichment and helps to understand the expression of Ki in people.
We will experience the different meridians as amoebae in order to experiment with the body, what Masunaga meant. It will be fun.

Sei-Ki is the name that Akinobu Kishi Sensei gives to his own expression of manual therapy.
Sei-Ki is a further development of his Shiatsu, and also a return to its origins. What is Ki?
Ki is “resonance” that is the work in Sei-Ki, just being there in empty space, doing nothing.
That makes us who we are, that makes us shine, that connects us.
Human bodies have a natural capacity to move towards health and balance. When this capacity
is weakened we become a shadow to ourselves.
Sei-Ki respects & works with this innate ability. And we regain our original vitality and health.
The focus of Sei-Ki is on allowing and working with the natural inner movement towards health
and balance, enhancing the ability of the individual to engage with life and employ their
personal talents more fully.
Kishi Sensei encourages practitioners to dispense with once learned techniques of treatment
and meet their clients in the moment, with ‘no-mind’ which allows the natural intelligence in
the bodies to show. It means the Ki “resonance” which is present in the meeting is guiding the
session spontaneously.
I will try to share this experience with you.

This seminar is designed as an experiential and reflective laboratory focused on Hado Shiatsu, an approach that integrates traditional Shiatsu practice with elements of quantum field physics. This leads to a vision of contact as a phenomenon of resonance rather than a symptomatic intervention
At the heart of the meeting is the Japanese principle of “uketoru,” the practitioner’s ability to receive and recognize energy and information manifesting through connection with the receiver. From this perspective, uketoru is not just an act of perception, but a threshold that provides access to a coherent relational field. In this field, the organism’s vital responses can emerge, self-organise and orient towards spontaneous rebalancing processes.

The workshop alternates between simplified yet rigorous scientific theory, touch demonstrations, partner practice and shared spaces, encouraging participants to delve deeper.
– The modulation of pressure and contact time in relation to energetic assessment.
– The use of neutral presence and activation of integrated senses as tools to resonate with the receiver’s entire system.
– The concept of supporting life as an emergent and coherent system response rather than a targeted action limited to symptom remission.
– The quantum paradigm of Hado Shiatsu explored operatively: vibration (Hado) is not here a theoretical abstraction but a vitality parameter, a perceptible quality of the field expressed through touch, breath, and relationship. This aspect of Ki inherently carries self-healing connotations and focuses on deep self-respect. Thus, resonance naturally arises between the oscillations of our heart and the beauty of the universe.

Learning Objectives:
– Introduce the fundamentals of Hado Shiatsu as a practice that supports life through resonance.
– Offer practical tools to access deep listening (uketoru).
– Develop greater perceptual sensitivity in the bodily relationship.
– Promote understanding of touch as a clinical and relational act.

Required Materials:
Projector and screen for slide presentations, flip chart, markers, futons, and cushions.

There are many similarities between Shiatsu, East Asian medicine and yoga, and even more between Masunaga’s approach and Hatha yoga. Keiraku Shiatsu, also known as Meridian Shiatsu, focuses on treating the entire meridian system. The concept of meridians also features in the energetic physiology on which yoga is based.
It is important to emphasise that Masunaga’s Shiatsu extensively explores and utilises the stretching of muscle chains to affect the meridian network, both conceptually and in practice. This is also evident in yoga practices.

In our presentation, we will delve deeper into specific aspects of these two disciplines and examine the main areas of overlap between Masunaga Sensei’s Zen exercise imagery model and those of the major Hatha Yoga schools.
We will also examine the relationship between meridians, muscles and superficial and deep fascia. This relationship with connective tissue, which is arguably the body’s largest organ, can be defined as the ‘fascia-muscle-organ-meridian relationship’.
We will examine the asanas in relation to the meridians, demonstrating the correct execution method that activates the deep fascia connected to organs and viscera.

Following the introductory talk, we will demonstrate a practical shiatsu exercise related to the discussed topics, followed by a segment exploring pranayama exercises. These exercises can be practised to promote the free flow of Ki by rebalancing the nadi.
Thus, we will experience the asanas in relation to the meridians using the correct execution method to activate the deep fascia connected to the organs and viscera.

“We human beings have been placed on the border between the visible and the invisible, between the finite and the infinite, between time and eternity.”
These words were written by the Desert Fathers in 300 AD.

“The more I follow knowledge, the more I grow; the more I follow the Tao, the more I diminish. Through diminishing, I reach non-action. Through non-action, nothing remains undone.”
We read this in the Tao Te Ching.
In a sense, this verse conveys a similar idea, although with different wording and implications.
As human beings, if we follow only knowledge, we can live and act in relation to the visible, the finite and time. However, if we also relate to the Tao (the invisible, the infinite and eternity) the consequences in our lives will be different.

According to the most widely accepted scientific theory, everything that exists came into being with the Big Bang. Before the explosion, the entire universe (or universes) was contained in that tiny speck, including us human beings.
In reality, it is not possible to say ‘before the explosion’, because time and space were born with it. Before that, there was infinity, eternity and the invisible.
As human beings, we participated in that infinity and eternity and potentially existed within the invisible.

We experience these two natures in every moment.
Shiatsu, which ‘touches’ life, can only reflect this reality, which explains many aspects of our practice.
Having a theoretical awareness of our human reality helps us practise shiatsu correctly and use its full potential, without becoming imprisoned by rationality or emotion alone.

During the workshop, we will explore these two realities within us through a combination of theoretical explanations and experiential practices, such as guided meditation. This will help us to deepen our awareness and gently incorporate them into our Shiatsu practice.

If time allows, we may also explore the following:

“The Blue Side of Shiatsu”

It is said that African Americans sing and have sung the blues about their longing for their lost homeland, the home from which they were torn. The defining characteristic of blues music is its ability to express such emotions as melancholy and nostalgia.
We all have a ‘blue side’ within us, a longing for our ancestral home.
This emotion within each of us is like the finger pointing to the moon in the Zen tradition.
Becoming consciously aware of our ‘blue side’ enables us to find the deeper meaning of our existence, and to avoid being enslaved by emotion.
The same can happen during a Shiatsu session with the receiver : it is a healing energy.

A Shiatsu clinic involves a demonstration of a shiatsu treatment being performed on someone who is not attending the congress. Each clinic involves two practitioners, who deliver their treatments one after the other.

Before starting the treatment, each practitioner will give a brief description of their approach. During the session, they may comment on their work, provided it does not interfere with the treatment itself.

At the end of the session, the practitioner may explain their approach further if they feel it is necessary. Attendees will then have the opportunity to ask questions, share comments and express any doubts.

Masunaga described the connection we have in Shiatsu as sharing the ‘Echo of Life‘ 
In this practical workshop we will be discovering how to maximise that connection to support the positive life-force of our receiver.
How can we best communicate with our receiver on all levels, and work with them to optimise the effects of the Shiatsu and the value of their experience?
Recently Cliff has been collaborating with both Dr Cindy Engel and with Nick Pole. Cindy’s breakthrough work on Somatic Empathy (‘Another Self – How Your Body Helps You Understand Others’) reveals the extraordinary ways in which our body’s innate pre-verbal intelligence helps us to ‘read’ what’s happening for our receivers. Nick specialises in using Clean Language and Mindfulness to allow body and mind to communicate and support somatic change (‘Words that Touch: How to Ask Questions Your Body Can Answer’).
Inspired by these collaborations, Cliff is excited to share how we can integrate these insights from somatic empathy, psychobiology, clean language and mindfulness – into our practical Shiatsu energy work!

Together we will be exploring how to:
• Access the positive movement of Ki – using the ‘Outcome Question’
• Develop our Somatic Empathy – using Mindfulness
• Connect Kyo and Jitsu with the receiver’s whole Ki Field
• Integrate practical techniques and assess the effects of Tsubos

I would like to do a talk and also a practical session.
Talk:
Explore how the Extraordinary Vessels develop in the womb and how they hold the memory of your womb life. I discovered the Extraordinary Vessels in the 1990s through working with pregnant women and learning to understand the development of their baby in the womb. I have kept the name of my business as “Wellmother” because I now understand the impact of our first nine months on the rest of our lives. It is partly through our physical development of our body and our placenta but also the symbiotic relationship between us and our mother, which will influence all future relationships. We access our potential through connecting to our conception, when we draw in not only the two ancestral lines of our parents, but the universe. The first week after conception we are whole and self-contained. This is the transformative nature of the Eight Extraordinary Vessels.
Practical:
Explore the differences between the Inner and Outer Families of the Extraordinary Vessels through practical exercise to understand them in your own body, especially through connecting with womb movements and experiences, and then practical shiatsu to explore how to work with them during shiatsu sessions.

In all ‘energetic’ techniques, it has been observed that, during the self-healing process, the organism reactivates unresolved, chronic, disharmonious conditions in order to reprocess them and thus achieve a better balance.

In shiatsu, the concept of ‘false aggravation’ was briefly mentioned by Shizuto Masunaga in the early 1970s. Unfortunately, this did not lead to further methodological studies.

Through a systematic analysis of reactions to Shiatsu treatments over a period of about 50 years, I found that it is possible to recognise the self-healing activity of Ki, signalled by ‘false aggravation’, according to interpretative methods consistent with knowledge originating from TCM and supported by a specific application of Shiatsu technique.

The behaviours of Ki, as determined by the self-healing process, allow us to define a methodological framework for interpretation. This framework identifies the emergence of different energetic movements in the self-healing phase, according to the progressive sequences of Ki activity, from the most recent disturbances to the most chronic and stratified ones.

Observation of the receiver’s energetic structure is carried out through dialogue, physiognomic observation and analysis of the state of the meridians and energetic evaluation areas. The collected data are organised into an Energetic Axis that highlights the most significant phases of the receiver’s crisis. This provides a snapshot of the receiver’s energetic state, revealing the layering of their disharmonious conditions and the chronic development of the energetic alteration of the Five Movements.

Using Shiatsu treatment in accordance with the receiver’s spontaneous sequences of self-healing Ki activity avoids overlapping with what the receiver’s Ki is doing to restore balance.

A Shiatsu clinic involves a demonstration of a shiatsu treatment being performed on someone who is not attending the congress. Each clinic involves two practitioners, who deliver their treatments one after the other.

Before starting the treatment, each practitioner will give a brief description of their approach. During the session, they may comment on their work, provided it does not interfere with the treatment itself.

At the end of the session, the practitioner may explain their approach further if they feel it is necessary. Attendees will then have the opportunity to ask questions, share comments and express any doubts.

Kiyindo Shiatsu®, literally meaning “The Way (Do) of Energy (Ki) in Depth (Yin),” is an original well-being technique, both curative and preventive, featuring an analgesic touch that deeply releases muscular and joint tensions, boosts the body’s self-healing capacities, and redefines our body image.
This practice is the result of years of research following my studies with Takeuchi Sensei and my investigations into pain identification at the University of Strasbourg. I aimed to find a way to channel pain and bypass it.
Based on Takeuchi Sensei’s theory of anatomical crossed relations, I developed an original form of alternative touch on two acupuncture points either in parallel or diagonal, which allows pain analgesia since the brain cannot register two painful stimuli simultaneously.
This principle of communicating vessels (Kyo/Jitsu) in crossed relation between two tsubo points enables painless access to deep spasms, frees joints, and relieves musculoskeletal pain.
This therapeutic practice has both preventive and curative aims, does not just suppress pain or symptoms… It allows a return to essentials: our posture and how we place ourselves on this earth to be more conscious with ourselves.
In Kiyindo Shiatsu®, postural analysis teaches us to listen to and decode the messages of our body and determines the treatment strategy. The goal is to lead each person to actively participate in the healing process and become the actor of their own well-being.
Kiyindo Shiatsu® is one of the most effective natural analgesic methods, enabling rapid pain relief. A true bubble of oxygen, literally and figuratively, the treatment offers a moment of escape, release, and serenity.
After tonifying deficient organs and relieving joint restrictions, Kiyindo Shiatsu®, combined with postural advice, helps the jusha (receiver) integrate a new awareness of their body, reclaim it, and thus become active in their healing process.

Sacred Geometry is the blueprint of Creation and the genesis of all forms. It is an ancient science that explores and explains the energy patterns that create and unify all things and reveals the precise way that the energy of Creation organizes itself.

It represents the creation of life itself, the manifestation of the harmony of all forms both in the microcosm and in the

Sacred Geometry us shows that everything comes from a matrix, the one and only source. Human beings included.

On every scale, every natural pattern of growth or movement conforms inevitably to one or more geometric shapes.

By studying the nature of these forms and their relationship to each other, one can seek insight into the scientific, philosophical, psychological, aesthetic and mystical laws of the universe.
The ancients believed that the experience of Sacred Geometry was essential to the education of the soul.

The designs of exalted holy places from the prehistoric monuments at Stonehenge and the Pyramid of Khufu at Giza, to the world’s great cathedrals, mosques, and temples are based on these same principles of Sacred Geometry.

The symbols of Sacred Geometry are:

• The Flower of Life
• The Fruit of Life
• The Tree of Life
• The Cube of Metatron
• The Platonic Solids
• The Torus
• The Merkaba

Nicola will present how to use the Star Tetrahedron or the Merkaba. This easy technique helps align yin and yang or Heaven and Earth and can easily be added to any treatment! This technique can lead to more abundant energy and will certainly let the receiver feel more balanced!

Gabriella will present how to open the Fruit of Life in a Shiatsu session, and how to integrate its high frequency energy in the touch to support receivers in experiencing their connection to the “Oneness”

The Extraordinary Vessels are an exceptionally powerful and valuable tool in Shiatsu work.
They are particularly precious during life transitions (such as puberty or life crises) whenever we feel lost and wish to return to ourselves, to our inner identity and what truly defines us.

The Extraordinary Vessels provide strong support in these processes.
Take the Governing Vessel, for example, a vessel of sincerity and authenticity, of nurturing and connection.
Already within it resonate questions that touch us all: how do I relate to myself? And how do I form meaningful connections with myself?

In this three-hour workshop, I will offer insights into the history, theory, and practice of the Extraordinary Vessels.
I will introduce one vessel in depth, and we will conclude with a Heavenly Circuit Meditation.

-Overview of the history, theory, and practical applications of the Extraordinary Vessels
-Focus on the Governing Vessel, with tools ready to apply in your practice
-Heavenly Circuit Meditation for personal use and regular practice

Katrin Schröder, Berlin
www.esi-shiatsu.de

Bringing Hope and Change to human life with Shiatsu
We experience a deeply traumatized society, people in pain, in lack of grounding, aggressive, disembodied in an overactive sympathetic nervous system.
The human body is a ​multidimensional generator producing various dynamics of ‘fear’ or ‘safety’ blended in a very fine net accessing and linked to all human senses inside and outside. As therapists we have many talents and we can apply a gentle and meaningful practice. ​Our intention and thesis to give care is essential and becoming a resilient therapist is a crucial point.
This course aims to give effective skills to accompany the client in a safe travel within the body.
​ You will enrich your trauma toolbox,​empower yourself with trust and self-agency, and support your Shiatsu self along the trauma healing process!
Learning plans below give a sight of what we will develop and explore together :
– Listening to the whispers of Body Mind with Focusing skills
– Building a deeper, stronger and safer relationship within
– Body-based techniques to support client at his homework
– Reset and regulate the ANS​ 
– Chakras and Meridians in neurophysiology
– Building resilience with Shiatsu and Focusing process

Shiatsu touch is like waking up the receiver from a dream of a huge split. We lovingly train the human being to create a better state of Being. 
We allow the Rainbow to reveal within, to process and transport the multi-level human system to the next plane of ascension. And this exploration has 2 directions. 
I cannot say Become Light, if I do not become Light! 

Good touch in shiatsu is not just physical. The touch within the shared resonance field between therapist and client is at least as important as physical touch, and many of the effects of shiatsu are generated here. Professional shiatsu therapists offer their clients this resonance field through open, relaxed body language.

This presence is enhanced when the therapist feels connected to the ground beneath them, rises gently, aligns themselves internally, and expands slightly in the shoulders, arms, and hands during physical contact. They avoid constricting their space, especially in the shoulders and arms. With this open space, they can resonate with and understand the recipient. For the recipient, such touch is dramatically different from purely physical touch.

This workshop will show how the Qi is influenced by the WAY in which you communicate, the quality of touch you use and how to involve the client more actively in the therapy through guided movement. The quality of touch is as important, or even more important, than the meridians with which you choose to work.

Each Form of Touch is related to one of the combined meridians, often called the Six Divisions, which traditionally connect the physical and mental aspects of energy. Bill has shown how these combinations of meridians are related to developmental movement and thus how to work with meridians through movement exploration as well as through touch. This transforms the therapy into an interactive voyage of discovery, where the client is the leader and the therapist is assisting their self-exploration.

This approach is particularly relevant and effective for people with early trauma and chronic conditions that resist treatment. This is because the client is in charge of their process, so feels safe to enter more challenging areas of themselves. The techniques and processes of Movement Shiatsu can be easily used within other forms of Shiatsu when working with this type of issue.

Bill and Teresa always teach together because this allows them to demonstrate the techniques from both the point of view of the practitioner and of the client.

The mother of all our questions surely concerns the mystery that still surrounds life and death and involves the Universe and, within it, the living beings of our planet.
My presentation will focus on certain aspects related to the nature of the human organism, some of its modes of functioning through the amazing journey that will attempt to describe the wondrous combination by which the infinitely large is contained within infinitely small structures.
We will try to understand the mechanisms by which our organism operates, which is not only a “complex system” but an incredible set of “complex systems.”
Through the analysis of the main components of the human organism and their mechanisms of action, I will try to explain why, beyond the coordinated and balanced functioning that corresponds to a state of health and well-being stimulated by Shiatsu of every style, and beyond imbalance, which gives rise to discomfort or illness counteracted by Shiatsu of every style, there is a third state that we can call chaotic. This is by no means an illness, but rather one of the normal physiological mechanisms of functioning.
Through this perspective, we can consider the need to revise certain aspects of mechanistic medicine, also taking advantage of what quantum physics has provided us.
In this certainly exceptional and extraordinary reality, we must find the role and space that Shiatsu can have with great dignity and effectiveness.

Before starting the treatment, each practitioner will give a brief description of their approach. During the session, they may comment on their work, provided it does not interfere with the treatment itself.

At the end of the session, the practitioner may explain their approach further if they feel it is necessary. Attendees will then have the opportunity to ask questions, share comments and express any doubts.

A Shiatsu clinic involves a demonstration of a shiatsu treatment being performed on someone who is not attending the congress. Each clinic involves two practitioners, who deliver their treatments one after the other.

Before starting the treatment, each practitioner will give a brief description of their approach. During the session, they may comment on their work, provided it does not interfere with the treatment itself.

At the end of the session, the practitioner may explain their approach further if they feel it is necessary. Attendees will then have the opportunity to ask questions, share comments and express any doubts.

Shiatsu supported my own life for forty-five years. This workshop will follow the learning, mistakes, experiences and realisations of a Shiatsu practitioner and teacher throughout that time. 
This will be a practical workshop, with as much hands-on time as possible. I’ll offer practices based on my various teachers’ work as well as ones that I hope will illustrate the experiences which led me further and deeper into Shiatsu. 
There will be some theory involved in this story of a life in Shiatsu but it will absolutely not be didactic. Instead I hope, by my own questioning of the nature of theory in Shiatsu, to encourage people to explore more confidently. Inevitably my biases will show and I welcome comments and free exchange of views.
In order further to discourage an intellectual approach, I will deliver the workshop in Italian. My Italian is a little rusty, but I hope that will make it an informal and humorous occasion.

What immediately comes to mind when I think of the topic ‘Shiatsu supports life’ are a person’s strengths and beauty, their true essence and our sources of strength, the resources, that nourish us.
We are usually confronted with a concern in the form of a complaint or a problem: often the reason for a treatment enquiry. Looking behind this is very rewarding. Focussing too much on the ‘problem’ often makes a person shrink, keeps them trapped in this identification with what is ‚not working’. How do we find a way together to get in touch with power and beauty?
What interests me first and foremost: what is this person’s path? Where does he or she want to go? Does this person experience this as a life task? Or rather as a longing, a wish, or to be able to leave something behind? And what is the purpose of these apparent obstacles, such as discomfort or pain? Exploring this path together leads directly to a person’s true nature. And this is different for everyone. How do we get in touch with the actual core of a person’s being? 
First of all, I am interested in this as a facilitator on the process path. This is not interesting or worth pursuing for every client. However, as a therapist, it guides me inwardly and gives me inspiration for the process support. And this requires trust in intuitive guidance and a keen ear for the client’s descriptions and words, as well as training one’s own perception-tools. 
The individual strengths of each person support them on their path through life. Also the inner and outer sources of strength – our resources. How can they be sensed, recognised, touched and supported with Shiatsu? The Five Elements and the Functions of the energetic organs are a constant companion. They explain a lot about a person’s strengths.
I would like to explore these questions in a workshop and/or in an interactive exchange with the other speakers and participants. Especially in a practical way.

Coming back to self is intrinsic to finding your way in the labyrinth of health, beit physical or mental. It is only when we can inhabit our true nature that things come together and make sense enough to make the life that is meant for us. Xing and Ming, as it were.
How and where we touch in Shiatsu transmits an immense range of subtleties. There is technique and Hara of course. A central issue is when your Ki resonates with others´, how it is so heavily influenced by your belief system. When we truly have faith in the other person´s innate capacity to self regulate and to come back to their embodied self, the dialogue in our Shiatsu touch will transmit support to do just that. 
Coming to our practice with a sound level of acceptance and a detachment from specific outcomes can offer an opportunity for the people we accompany to feel seen and connect to life from the safe place that is a fully embodied self, a self that is part of a complex matrix of life experiences and in turn with all other embodied selves. 
In this workshop I will invite you all to explore how you approach a session with a proposal to replace any intentions you might have with awareness and attention. Through the use of some basic embodied mindfulness exercises and simple Clean Language, we will practice a very specific consciousness in the quality of touch. And this should give us a springboard to do some Sei-Ki together, undoubtably with a fair bit of Katsugen, which might be considered to be the very manifestation of our innate ability to self regulate.