Watsu®

Aquatic Bodywork has been around since the 1980's and has been spreading rapidly. What all of its several branches have in common is that they are practiced in warm water, such as found in therapy pools, mineral springs and spas. Additionally, each technique is holistic; that is, it acknowledges that a human being is not only physical, but emotional, energetic and spiritual, as well. The three techniques presented here are Watsu, the Healing Dance and WaterDance. 
Watsu is a gentle, nurturing therapy practiced in warm, body-temperature water, combining movement, stretches and cradling. In the early 1980’s Harold Dull began to take the stretches of Zen Shiatsu into the warm water of the pools at Harbin Hot Springs in northern California. What he came to call Watsu (Water Shiatsu in English) is presently practiced worldwide in clinics, hospitals and spas, not only in the US and Canada, but in Japan, Australia, Israel, throughout Europe and now in Brasil, as well. Psychologists, psychiatrists, physical therapists, massage therapists, and lay people are all enthusiastic about the benefits of giving and receiving Watsu. It is for everyone – the very young, adolescents, the elderly, pregnant, athletes and those suffering from simple stress. Watsu is effective in a wide variety of neorologic and orthopedic problems. It’s gentle rocking movements, stretches and nurturing support in the arms of the practitioner convey receivers to the peace and simplicity of their earliest childhood and womb states, allowing physical and emotional blockages to be gently released. Above all, Watsu is deeply relaxing, guided by a philosophy of gentleness, complete acceptance, and unconditional love.

Healing Dance

Healing Dance™ is a powerful and beautiful technique developed by Alexander in 1993, incorporating elements of Watsu, WaterDance, Trager Work, and dance. It consists of four trainings, Basic Healing Dance, Advanced Healing Dance and the two underwater trainings—Above and Below and Shape and Space. The Healing Dance is primarily based on wave movements for the entire body, and also includes quiet embraces, releases, tractions, smooth transitions and massage, all woven together in an unending flow. The guiding philosophy of the work is that movement is the "medicine" and in the experience of "received dance" the healing process in the body is activated. Students learn to create the sensation of lightness and flying, to generate a rhythmic field, to find the various "rhythms of awareness" for clients and even to channel movement. Physical and emotional blockages are resolved in the polarity between freedom and security. Advanced body mechanics are taught to create movements of greater subtlety and sensitivity. As the vocabulary of movements expands students become more confident to improvise and better respond to the needs of the client. Healingdance.org is the official web site of Healing Dance.

WaterDance

WaterDance (also known as WATA and WasserTanzen) is a dynamic movement therapy above and below water. It was developed in 1987 by Peter Schröter and Arjana C. Brunschwiler. The practitioner follows the breath of the receiver, signaling manually before each submerging. The partner wears a noseclip and is guided into the weightless, three-dimensionality of the underwater world. Extensions, stretches, flexions, dolphin-like movements and snake-like rhythms release not only on the physical level, but allow the deepest states of relaxation and meditation to be experienced, sometimes even returning us to memories of the womb. The dive reflex activates and the breath and heart rate slow down. It is a profound therapy, in which time and space lose their meaning. Life and being become a flow. Regression often occurs in which wounds from the past can be effortlessly processed. WaterDance offers us, on the one hand, a strong and powerful therapeutic instrument, and on the other hand, a form of energy work and bodywork. Play, surrender, flow and harmony all combine in a unique manner in the warm water.