Planet Shiatsu

Officially a shiatsu practitioner

2008-07-23T08:41:28+00:00

I have just received my letter confirming that I have passed all the elements of the professional practitioners course from the Shiatsu College, Brighton. I am now a fully qualified shiatsu practitioner.

The three years have flown by and it is somewhat surprising to find myself fully trained and registered to advertise myself to the general public. The course was tough both academically and emotionally and I have undoubtedly changed as a person.

Next stage is to get my practise up and running and embark on my post-graduate year. Everyday is now a challenge with new skills to learn. I am really enjoying life and have a lot to thank shiatsu for.

What do you want from shiatsu?

2008-07-18T08:56:39+00:00

I am a pain at Christmas and birthdays. “What would you like?” ask my family. “Nothing”, or “anything” are usually my replies as I just don’t like to make demands on other people. I am just happy to receive anything at all.

But now I find myself in this world of self-employment trying to kick start my shiatsu practise. “What do you want to achieve?” asks a tutor at a business skills course. “What do you want from us?” ask the other members of my networking group. Suddenly “nothing” or “anything” are not good enough.

I am learning the hard way that to build your practise from scratch one has to have clear goals in mind. It is vital to be confident enough to seek the resources to achieve those goals. It all comes down to how you value yourself and practise. If one wants to earn a living from shiatsu it is important to know how much you want to earn, set your prices accordingly and not be embarrassed to tell clients what you charge.

Surprisingly people are as suspicious of low prices as they are of high ones - another lesson I have learned the hard way. If you quote too low then it appears you are not a serious practitioner. If you want to get into workplaces then business people want to know you know how to value your product and expect to pay the market rate.

Set yourself a clear vision and mark out the steps that will get you there. Value your own shiatsu because if you don’t nobody else will.

separate but equal

2008-07-15T03:30:45+00:00

I haven't had very good perspective these last six months. I've been confusing my clinical development with the development of my business. It's becoming clear that in order for me to track both they have to be separate.

Seiki

2008-07-14T19:51:30+00:00

I’m currently in my postgraduate year after fully qualifying last year as a Shiatsu Practitioner, continuing to develop myself in my practice and working towards receiving a full MRSS accreditation with the Shiatsu Society (http://www.shiatsusociety.org/public/index.shtml). I’m currently a registered graduate practitioner with them.

With this in mind I attended a weekend workshop on Seiki taught by Sensei Akinobu Kishi. Kishi develped “Seiki Soho, a new method of healing - a synthesis of all his life’s work experience and research. He came to realise the Ki (energy) in the human body, like the Ki in nature, has its own self-rebalancing movement. Sometimes, due to individual, social and cultural habits, the the body’s tendency to correct itself, becomes stagnant and we experience disease. Instead of trying to change the client’s condition, the Seiki practitioner supports the self-correcting tendency of the client’s body. In Seiki, after recognition of the signs where the energy is trying to re-balance itself, sensitive touch is applied to key points, allowing the natural adjustment to take its own momentum.” (http://www.lifehealingarts.org/html/KishiBiog.htm).

It was a wonderful experience and I feel priviliged to have been taught by Kishi and his wife Kyoko and to have been able to experience a treatment from Kishi.

I felt amazing after the treatment, my whole body, especially my spine felt lighter and open.

The group dynamics were fantastic and I met some really lovely people, thanks to everyone involved for a really special weekend.

You can see an overview of a treatment being given by Kishi here: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=18977223

Here’s details of a course in Switzerland later in the year: http://www.kientalerhof.ch/cms01/index.php?option=com_calendar&task=details&id=66219&Itemid=99999999&lang=en_GB

You can read more about Kishi and Seiki here:

Trace