Suitable for anyone practising or learning any form of body therapy.

The Australian Shiatsu College is excited to invite Bill Palmer and his wife, Terésa Hadland to Australia one more time. This is possibly the last chance to study with Bill and Terésa in Australia, who have over 50 years experience of Shiatsu. Bill was a pioneer of Movement Therapy and Voicework in the 1980’s and originated Movement Shiatsu, an interactive style of bodywork that is particularly effective in dealing with chronic conditions and disability. The course is suitable for ALL students and practitioners of therapies that work with the body. You do not need to have any prior knowledge of Chinese Medicine or Shiatsu to do the course and people from many disciplines have found it inspiring and relevant to their work and self-development.

The concepts of Ming and Xing form the foundation of ancient Taoist medicine but are not usually mentioned in Shiatsu and Acupuncture training. They correspond to the lessons you can learn from the patterns and problems in your life. In one interpretation, the Ming is seen as the path the spirit has chosen to travel through your life while the Xing is the experience of travelling that heart-path. The old Taoist texts say that working with Qi is not effective if you don’t take account of the Ming and Xing. This is particularly true of working with long-term issues and chronic patterns.

Psychotherapy tends to focus on helping the client to explore themselves in order to integrate the problematic area into the self. In contrast,  most physical and energy therapies focus on identifying and fixing the issue. In general they do not help the client to use it to learn the lesson embodied by the problem. This approach may be appropriate for superficial or short lived issues. However, some problems are etched into the selfhood of the person and are a pointer to a part of them that needs to be explored and integrated rather than eliminated.

Some problems don’t seem to go away because they come from a basic conflict within the person. The person is stuck in a position of fighting with their true nature. The problems often emerge in relationships, in emotional patterns and in physical vulnerabilities.

In Chinese medicine, these issues can be seen as a manifestation of what is called the Ming (命). This is often translated as “Destiny” but it can be seen as describing the agenda of your life rather than a fixed fate. Instead of trying to ‘cure’ these core problems we can learn how to reframe them into opportunities for development of the true self.

The three Families of meridians that are the foundation of Movement Shiatsu can give practical ways of doing this. The combined energy of the Families transform the state of the client from being a victim into an active explorer, taking charge of their life and using their condition to fulfil their potential. Instead of trying to cure or fix problems, they show how to transcend them.

This workshop will explore how to help a client become aware of their Ming/Xing and how to use that awareness to value and learn from their issues. In the process, the uncomfortable symptoms often transform or even disappear but the main result of working in this way is that the client gains meaning in their life and lives with agency rather than being a victim to their problems.

This course looks at how these core problems can be seen as interruptions to natural life processes and how we can use the body to transform them into life lessons. The course will cover the following:

• Understanding the profound meaning of Ming and Xing and how they transform the aim of therapy.
• How to help clients become aware of their core patterns through somatic exploration, voicework and movement.
• Show how to work with emotional patterns through movement and touch
• Use the Gestalt Cycle to understand the types of interruptions to processes
• Show how to use Three Meridian Families to identify and liberate stuck processes
• Learning Inner Qigong and Movement Shiatsu techniques to help liberate these life-processes.

They will also be presenting a workshop on Movement Development and Meridians on Feb 21st – Feb 23rd, 2025 (discount available for enrolment in both workshops)

About the presenters

Bill Palmer is Director of the School for Experiential Education in the UK. He started studying Shiatsu in 1973 and was one of the pioneers of Shiatsu in Europe. He is the originator of Movement Shiatsu, and of the Three Family system of meridian work.  This is an interactive style of bodywork that empowers clients to explore themselves through guided movement and to work on their own energetic patterns rather than depending passively on the therapist to treat them.

It evolved from years of work with children and disability. It has also been inspired by Bill’s study of Body-Mind Centering, Wolfson Voicework and Gestalt Therapy. It is an effective way to work with chronic patterns which are resistant to change. With his wife, Terésa, he teaches postgraduate courses in Movement Shiatsu and Inner Qigong in 10 countries worldwide.

Terésa Hadland has studied Shiatsu since 1980 in the East-West Centre in Edinburgh and London, the Iokai Centre in Japan and with Sonia Moriceau in the UK. For 11 years she taught on the BA in Complementary and Holistic Therapies at Derby University and is now Senior Tutor at the School for Experiential Education. Since 2000 she has coordinated the assessment of teachers for the Shiatsu Society. She now runs two busy practices in the UK and, with Bill Palmer,  co-teaches courses in Inner Qigong and Movement Shiatsu worldwide. Her special interest is in how emotional issues can be resolved through working with the body.

Deposit

$100 non-refundable deposit is required to secure your place.

Refund policy

The deposit of $100 is non-refundable.

Balance refundable if cancellation is given 14 days before workshop commencement.

Location

Ceres Meeting Rooms – Cnr Stuart St & Roberts St, Brunswick East, VIC 3057

Pre-requisite

Shiatsu practitioner, student, bodyworker, or movement therapist.

CPD&E points

21

Should you have any questions about this workshop please contact the college directly.