There is something in the essence of a practice. At the core is something precious, true and fundamental. We all have it. But you probably don’t know what it is, and you won’t until many years down the road of pursuing the work.
Curious that what is of essence, what is at the core of our work, is hidden from us.
It’s a journey of discovery to that which is the north star of how we work as an expression of who we are.
In this conversation with Philippe Vandenabelle we explore the “book we read again and again,” the aspects of our work that are essential to how we practice that slowly emerges over time.
Listen into this conversation on how practitioner development is a kind of ripening, the gift of being connected to people from a different time, and how the challenges in our work are exactly what we need to discover more about the essential core from which we work.
In This Conversation We Discuss:
- The felt sense of discovering meridians
- With bodywork you don’t need a precise diagnosis to start
- How Philippe’s early experience in his father’s barbershop shaped his understanding of touch
- The process of discovering meridians rather than memorizing them
- Communicating stillness and presence through touch
- The balance between knowledge and the art of not knowing
- Using hara diagnosis to find subtleties in the body
- Translating old Japanese texts and the challenges of preserving tradition
- The essence of simplicity in bodywork practices
- Applying pressure from the center (hara) for effective treatments
- How different cultural practices influence shiatsu techniques
- Philippe’s journey of rediscovering shiatsu through his time in Japan
- The gift of being with people from a completely different time
- Teaching shiatsu and helping students embody the practice
- Discovering our way of working
- Trust and rapport in practitioner-patient relationships
- Personal insights into whiplash
- Navigating complexity and coming back to the essence of healing
Communication is at the core of Bodywork. As an ‘Art of Touch’, Bodywork is about making connections and allowing a dialogue to emerge between practitioner and receiver through the medium of touch.
Philippe Vandenabeele
From an early age, I have been fascinated by Eastern culture, lifestyles, and bodywork. I first traveled through Asia in my early twenties, where I encountered Shiatsu.
Fascinated by the positive effects on my health and overall well-being, I studied Western and Eastern approaches to bodywork. With more than 30 years of clinical and teaching practice and continued study, I developed the Shinzui Method postgraduate program, my unique approach to manual therapy.
My home is in Fukuoka, southern Japan, where I give treatments in my practice, which I share with my wife, Hiroko. We also have our school in Fukuoka and welcome students from Japan and abroad. We love to share our lifelong passion for bodywork in our treatments and courses.
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