These informational fields are stimulated through touch, technique, intention, empathy, and energetic input. Healing naturally follows, bringing new energy, movement, blood, and consciousness into the hidden parts of the body or mind and releasing corresponding blockages. The deeply relaxing effect allows for healing on all levels, including the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies.
Zen Shiatsu is energy medicine at the deepest level, working directly with the life force, thereby enabling that profound healing of body, mind, and soul. This leads to the tremendously effective healing of many common ailments and illnesses as well as chronic and degenerative diseases such as back pain, IBS, constipation, Crohn’s disease, asthma, skin problems, bloating, insomnia, period pains, headaches, stress, anxiety, and even arthritis and cancer.
The course follows the European Shiatsu Federation’s core syllabus and is based on a hands-on, experiential understanding of diagnosis and treatment, with pure theory making up 20% of each day's program. This unique program is taught by Gerry Rixen, who brings his 35 years of practice and teaching of Shiatsu, TCM, yoga, and martial arts to the course. Graduates obtain the following certification with each module.
- Exercises: yoga, Meridian stretching, meditation, or relaxation
- Principles of touch or sensitivity to Qi and positive connection to receivers' Qi
- Continuity and fluency of movement or mental and physical concentration
- Techniques: Shiatsu in prone, supine, side, and sitting positions
- Contra-indications or accurate location of the classical meridians
- Chinese organ and meridian functions
- Anatomy and physiology (part one) or palpation and diagnosis
- Location and function of 110 common acu-or pressure points
- LU: 1,5,7,9,11
- LI: 1,4,10,11,15,20
- ST: 1,3,9,17,25,30,36,40,44,45
- SP: 1,3,6,9,10,15,20,21
- HT: 1,3,7,9
- SI: 1,3,9,10,11,19
- BL: 1,2,10,11,13,14,15,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,25,27,28,36,40, 57,60,67
- KI: 1,3,6,7,10,16,27
- PE: 1,3,6,7,8,9
- TH: 1,4,5,10,14,23
- GB: 1,12,14,20,21,24,25,30,34,40,41,44
- LV: 1,3,4,5,8,13,14
- GV: 1,2,4,14,16,20,26
- CV: 3,4,5,6,8,12,14,17,24
Materials
This course will provide the yoga teacher training manual.
Evaluation procedure and grading criteria
- Students will be required to have completed all the set assignments by the end of the course
- Students will be expected to show proficiency and improvement in their own asana practice, teaching, and understanding, including:
- a) Anatomy and physiology
- b) Evaluation and treatment procedures
- c) Three case histories
- Students will be expected to show proficiency and improvement in their own asana practice, teaching, and understanding
- The practical evaluation is based on continual assessment and students are expected to complete a minimum of 90% of contact hours
Attendance
Trainees should attend a minimum of 90% of the course. Should trainees miss more than this minimum, they will need to agree with the teacher which modules to retake. SYM reserves the right to charge additional fees for these catch-up modules.
What style of yoga does SYM teach?
SYM teaches Hatha yoga broadly based on the Sivananda and Iyengar yoga methods. Sym teaches an energetic approach to yoga, really feeling the postures and tapping into their unique healing potentials. Sym practices flow, but more emphasis is placed on steadiness in the posture with the correct alignment of physical and energetic bodies and mindset within poses. This requires them to be slower in their practice to truly feel and understand the tremendous therapeutic effects of the asana.
Example of the daily schedule
- 08:00 - 09:30 Yoga or do-in, meditation, and relaxation
- 09:30 - 10:00 Break; breakfast (self catering)
- 10:00 - 12:30 Shiatsu: practice
- 12:30 - 15:30 Lunch (self-catering) and break
- 15:30 - 17:15 Theory
- 17:15 - 17:30 Break
- 17:30 - 19:30 Shiatsu: practice
- 19:30 Free time and dinner (self-catering)
Note
This is an example of the daily schedule. Please note that times may change slightly due to season and location. The course will be taught in English.
Important note
Students are required to purchase 'Shiatsu Theory and Practice, 3rd edition' by Carola Beresford-Cooke.