Hado Shiatsu: Exploring the Landscape of Perception

Zen Shiatsu Massage School In Chicago

Hado Shiatsu

Exploring the Landscape of Perception

Hado Shiatsu Applications for Chronic Conditions

An Intensive With Patrizia Stefanini

November 10-15, 2025 Monday-Friday 9am-5:30pm

A 5-day intensive with the incomparable Patrizia Stefanini, Shiatsu Therapist and Quantum Physicist.  Enrollment is limited! 

A rare U.S. intensive with Patrizia Stefanini, Shiatsu Therapist, Ph.D. in Quantum Biophysics, and director of the European Shiatsu Institute. 

Pricing: $1195 by March 3rd, $1395 thereafter

Deposit: $400 due to hold place in class, balance due by June 30th to secure discount.

All hours approved for NCCAOM PDA credit and NCBTMB CEs (35 hours total). 

All hours also count towards CE hours for renewal of IL licenses for acupuncture, massage therapy, physical therapy, nursing, occupational therapy, naprapathy, esthetics and social work.

What is Hado Shiatsu?

In the Japanese tradition, Hado is the innate transforming power of each thing and each living being. The literal translation is “wave–like movement, vibration”.  Hado Shiatsu is the method developed by Patrizia, combining scientific inquiry with the direct experience of life energy.  In Hado Shiatsu we can experience life as a dynamic network of energy and information traveling through organic liquid crystals and inducing biological processes.  Patrizia will present her practical approach and show how it is possible to “whisper to cells” with an appreciation of the dynamics of light and water.

East Asian Medicine describes humans as a blending of Yin and Yang, Water and Fire, held in dynamic interplay.  Patrizia brings a clear scientific narrative that explains how humans are actually a “solar battery”.  Humans store sunlight within the liquid crystal system of the body and use light as a messaging system to build the body and organize all human life activity.  This is a deeper reality of the interplay of Yin and Yang, and is a significant part of why shiatsu has its effects.  In Hado Shiatsu we come to an appreciation that we are transmitting information at the speed of light through our hands, and that our client’s bodies are organizing themselves according to those same vibrational principles.  We can start to envision and enact whole new possibilities in our treatments.

This Workshop: Hado Shiatsu - Exploring the Landscape of Perception

In this class, Patrizia will focus specifically on how these beautiful scientific and energetic principles translate into specific techniques within the Shiatsu session, including new exercises and partner work.  Students can expect to expand their perception and see it translate directly into client results.

What You Will Learn

You will learn specialized observation methods for monitoring the emission of light from a person and how to use that information in our shiatsu assessment.  We will learn to deepen our empathic connection to our receivers through the direct experience of quantum coherence and the liquid crystal state of a person.

You will be better able to recognize the fundamental unity of every cell with each other cell and of every human being with their environment.  You will be ready to help each client relate to beauty inside and outside of themselves.

We hope this experience will leave you with a renewed sense of wonder toward life that will become a natural part of your therapeutic practice!

Participants will learn Hado Shiatsu applications for:

  • Chronic musculoskeletal tension and pain
  • Somato-emotional syndromes
  • Autonomic dysregulation
  • Functional syndromes with no clear organic cause
  • Autoimmune and degenerative disease

Designed for Both New and Returning Students:

Students who have studied with Patrizia in the past can expect to go much deeper with specific clinical applications of the work.  Students who are new to Hado Shiatsu are also welcome, and you will receive an effective immersion in the relevant scientific principles and the ways of perceiving humans as the interplay of water and light.

Hado Shiatsu Applications and Unique Skills

Practical Applications of Hado Shiatsu in Clinical Work

Hado Shiatsu provides practitioners with a refined methodology for addressing a wide range of physical discomforts and functional syndromes by enhancing the quality of perceptual contact and activating the body’s self-regulatory capacities.

Applications include:

  • Chronic musculoskeletal tension and pain: Through improved perceptual accuracy and modulation of pressure, practitioners can engage the client’s nervous system in a state of deeper regulation, facilitating the release of long-held tension and improving mobility.
  • Somato-emotional syndromes: The work on the perceptual field supports emotional integration, particularly in cases where emotional stress manifests as physical symptoms (e.g., digestive issues, tension headaches, chronic fatigue).
  • Autonomic dysregulation: By working with the tempo and rhythm of contact, Hado Shiatsu helps balance sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, making it effective in conditions such as insomnia, anxiety, or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
  • Functional syndromes with no clear organic cause: Hado Shiatsu addresses the informational dimension of the body — subtle signals often missed in standard clinical assessments — and can support people with medically unexplained symptoms by restoring coherence in the body’s vibrational field.
  • Postural and energetic imbalance: Through the lens of Masunaga’s meridian system, practitioners are able to track compensatory patterns and support a return to functional alignment and energetic equilibrium.Rather than focusing on symptom suppression, Hado Shiatsu fosters the emergence of new systemic patterns through relational touch, enhancing resilience and vitality in a way that is tailored to each individual’s unique constitution and life context.
  • Hado Shiatsu is especially beneficial in cases involving autoimmune and degenerative diseases. These conditions often challenge the body’s self-regulation and coherence, making it essential to engage with the system in a way that is both respectful and deeply supportive.In autoimmune diseases—such as multiple sclerosis or fibromyalgia—the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its own tissues, creating a state of internal conflict and dysregulation. The gentle yet profound touch characteristic of Hado Shiatsu offers a form of non-invasive support that does not overwhelm the system. Instead, it facilitates a process of inner listening and integration, helping the individual reconnect with their own capacity for regulation and healing. This approach aligns with the idea that, beyond symptoms, there is a deep intelligence in the body that can be reawakened and supported.

    In the case of degenerative diseases, including complex conditions such as cancer, the therapeutic objective of Hado Shiatsu is not to “fight” the disease, but to resonate with the body’s current state, however altered it may be. Through the Hado approach, the practitioner seeks to enter into a phase resonance with the organism—essentially tuning into the body’s unique vibrational signature in the present moment. This resonance can help re-establish a sense of inner order that has been disrupted by the chaotic phase patterns introduced by cancerous processes. While it may not cure the disease, this process can restore coherence, improve quality of life, and create the conditions for greater vitality and clarity, even in the face of profound physiological change.

Unique Skills of a Hado Shiatsu Practitioner:

Perceptual Sensitivity
Hado practitioners develop a highly refined tactile and spatial awareness, enabling them to perceive subtle changes in the client’s tissue quality, energetic flow, and relational tone. This sensitivity allows for accurate and timely responses without imposing mechanical interventions.

Field Awareness and Resonance
Rather than focusing solely on localized symptoms, Hado Shiatsu works with the informational field shared between practitioner and receiver. Practitioners cultivate the ability to attune to this field and respond through resonance — a process of mutual regulation and energetic coherence.

Embodied Presence
Central to the Hado approach is the capacity to be fully present — physically, emotionally, and cognitively — during each phase of the treatment. This presence acts as a regulatory signal in itself, allowing the receiver’s system to feel safe, seen, and supported in reorganizing.

Listening Through Touch (Uketoru)
Hado practitioners embody uketoru, the Japanese concept of “receiving” through touch. This is not a passive listening but an active, non-invasive mode of engagement that respects the timing, needs, and internal logic of the client’s system.

Temporal Modulation
The ability to modulate not only pressure, but tempo, rhythm, and timing of contact is essential. Hado Shiatsu uses time as a dimension of care, adjusting the pace to match the receiver’s physiological and energetic state, thus optimizing the intervention

Energetic Discrimination
Practitioners learn to distinguish between different qualities of Ki (vital energy), such as stagnation, deficiency, or excess, and to intervene in ways that facilitate flow without forcing change. This requires a subtle “listening” through both hands and body posture.

Scientific Integration
While deeply rooted in Eastern philosophy and traditional meridian theory, Hado practitioners are also informed by modern scientific perspectives, including quantum field dynamics, systems theory, and neurophysiology, enriching their clinical reasoning and adaptability.

These unique competencies enable Hado Shiatsu practitioners to engage with complex, multilayered conditions — physical, emotional, or energetic — in a deeply respectful and effective way.

How To Register

Deposit and Registration:

$400 deposit by June 30 holds early pricing, the remainder is due by August 31. Early Pricing: $1195 total Regular Pricing: $1395 total

How To Register:

  • Course registrations must be received by 5pm the day before the start of class.
  • If you are not ready to pay, you can still add your name to the interest list. Your space will not be permanently held until payment is made.
  • To pay by phone, call 847-864-1130
  • To pay online, check the box next to the associated start date below and  select the “NEXT STEPS ” button. By prepaying you agree to our registration policies.

Register For Hado Shiatsu - Human Systems as Quantum Systems Course: