A Monthly Series of Advanced Classes for Shiatsu Therapists
Going Deeper
The Going Deeper Class Series consists of one 6 or 12-hour class approximately once per month, designed to specifically meet the needs of advanced students, open only to graduates or advanced students of Zen Shiatsu Chicago or other Asian Bodywork Therapy schools It is recommended that current students complete at least Zen Shiatsu IV before taking Going Deeper classes, but some classes have earlier prerequisites, check the class descriptions!
In these classes, you can Go Deeper with your teachers. These classes give instructors the opportunity to share their very specific refinements of shiatsu practice, in ways that are beyond the scope of our main licensure-track training. We also explore advanced communication and qi cultivation skills!
Zen Shiatsu Chicago graduates may inquire at 847-864-1130 about our Student For Life subscription program, covering these and almost all other CE classes for $95/month.
Saturday September 12, 9am-4pm – Seated Shiatsu Part Two: Treating the Channels, Energizing the Limbs // Taught by Arlette Greer
In this floor-based workshop, we’ll learn how to treat the primary channels with our clients in seated position. We’ll review how to support clients with your body or over an exercise ball, how to position their body in order to access the channels, and how to creatively incorporate knees and elbows into your treatment. We will amplify our effectiveness by focusing on the healthy function of each channel as we treat.
Saturday September 26, 9am-6pm – A Gentle Nervous System Bodywork Approach // Taught by Justin Zelinski
This class introduces a bodywork approach designed to support sensitive, easily overwhelmed, or chronically overextended nervous systems. Rather than focusing on correcting structure, increasing flexibility, or forcing relaxation, the work emphasizes reducing demand on the nervous system through practitioner self-regulation, cultivated presence, and learning to participate with the experience that is already unfolding rather than imposing a predetermined outcome.The approach is particularly relevant for people experiencing chronic stress, sensory sensitivity, or other conditions where excessive stimulation can sometimes be counterproductive.
In this approach, the word gentle does not refer to how light the pressure is. Gentle refers to the quality of interaction. Touch may range from subtle to substantial depending on the person, but it is offered in a way that is non-forcing, attentive, and intended to feel manageable and not overwhelming. Rather than trying to make change happen, practitioners learn to reduce demand within the interaction, allowing the body time and space to respond in its own way. The focus is not on fixing the body, but on supporting the body’s natural capacity for self-organization.
Saturday October 3, 9am-4pm – Cultivating Expansive Touch // Taught by Arlette Greer
Prerequisite: Current enrollment in, or completion of, Student Clinic 1
In this workshop, we’ll explore what it means to maintain a receptive, meditative awareness. We’ll notice where we are holding unnecessary physical and mental contraction, we’ll experiment with how to release the unnecessary and to use focused awareness to achieve an expansive touch.
In expanding our body and mind, we model for clients at the level of the nervous system what is possible for them. By maintaining a receptive, meditative awareness we will notice more quickly when and how our clients are responding to our work. Put them together and achieve quick, deeply integrative, and lasting results with ease.
Sat/Sun October 10-11, 12pm-5pm – Advanced Hara Skillset // Taught by Grandmother WinterJade Forest
Assessing and interpreting the diagnostic messages of the Hara is the essence of effective treatment for Zen Shiatsu practitioners. And then, be sure to apply special treatment techniques to this most sensitive and responsive area of the body.
Day 1:
Treatment touch vs. diagnostic touch
How to find areas of pain and comfort
Five new treatment techniques for the Hara
Exact location of diagnostic areas and meridians
Day 2:
Assessment with 2-handed palpation
Assessment with off-the-body palpation
Application of new skills to common complaints like: Low back pain, constipation, insomnia, and anxiety
Mon Nov 16, 10am-5pm – 20,000 Leagues Under the Qi // Taught by Nathan Torrence
Prerequisite: Currently enrolled in or having completed Zen Shiatsu II
Dive deeper into the essence of Zen Shiatsu that makes it elegant, powerful and beautiful. In this course we will review and refine Zen Shiatsu’s most basic techniques, which can be honed year after year to become more potent and versatile. We will delve into the “Five Principles” and how they make your movement effortless, spontaneous, and unique to you.
Masunaga’s fourth principle “two-handed connectedness” was originally “concentration,” meaning every ounce of your being is concentrated into each moment of giving shiatsu. Your intuition and sensitivity pique and you begin to respond spontaneously to what is really happening in your client moment-to-moment. In my experience students are naturally pulled into “concentration” through the refinement done in this course.
To bring forward your spontaneity and authenticity we will practice Katsugen. Katsugen is a cleansing practice that comes from Shinto, the indigenous spirituality of Japan. Sometimes referred to as “soul polishing,” Katsugen shakes off anything that is not-you, leaving behind a clearer version of yourself that is more sensitive and more responsive — in this case, more responsive to your client and your spirit’s desire to help them.
Because the Five Principles can and should be perpetually refined and explored, it is encouraged to repeat this course as many times as you wish.