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After fifteen years of regular practice of Watsu and ten years of teaching, I asked myself a number of questions regarding how each client reacts while receiving. Some paradoxes became apparent. For example, the type of person stiff and frozen during the session who reveals at the end, “I have never been more relaxed!” Or, another less obvious paradox, the person who receives fluidly all your movements and admits in the end that she never surrendered completely.
How can a person that moves actively during a session come to the conclusion that they received the most relaxing experience? How is it that a receiver who held onto the practitioner the whole time had the impression of an out of body experience?
Being in resonance with the approach of Eastern philosophy and particularly Taoism and having participated in numerous Shiatsu courses with Shinzo Fujimaki, it naturally came to me to use the 5 element theory as a grid to decipher certain behaviors of clients. Over time, I noticed 5 specific patterns revealed by the body’s behavior in the water. Unfolding from this awareness, I created a class called “the Watsu of the 5 elements” where a sequence for each of the 5 types will be presented. In this new class we learn to identify each behavior type and coinciding emotion. This approach allows for the development of a consistent technique addressing each type. It forces us to be curious and to study the behavior of the receiver, rather than judge him or her. It brings us to listen as much as act.
The five aspects, or 5 keys, will allow you to identify, understand, and address the diverse behaviors of the receivers and greatly increase the therapeutic potential of Watsu. In this course, several sequences will be learned which will equip the practitioner to respond to any given situation and provide specific tools for facilitating an optimal experience for the receiver.
A standard sequence, as that of Watsu 1, for example, is not the best fit for some receivers. This is especially true during the beginning of the session or if it is their first time. We learn in Watsu 3, that the savvy practitioner leaves the learned sequence and uses intuition to bring the best comfort and support to the receiver. The practitioner must adapt their tools and "manipulations" to the reactions of the receiver. Understanding the grid of the five aspects of Watsu provides a base and valuable additional tool that feeds the art of the practitioner.
In the “5 aspects of Watsu” we study five approaches to the body in the water; how to talk, encourage and balance the body through a gesture dialogue. Using the language of the body, we will accompany our "patient" to the depths of their being. This is the place where one feels understood, without using words. With the learned sequence, we will balance the emotional being of the recipient so that they can delve into their own deepest nature. It is in this depth that the healing force and happiness find their source.
Georges Amir KüNZLER
watsu@me.com
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