SEED UK Programme


2023-24 Programme

In 2023-24 we are dividing the programme two parts:
1) a residential intensive that focuses on personal development and awareness of Qi
2) a series of six half-day online masterclasses which demonstrate the techniques and principles of Movement Shiatsu in a way that can be incorporated into your work.
Participants who are already qualified practitioners may qualify for our respected Postgraduate Certificate in Movement Shiatsu

RESIDENTIAL INTENSIVE Near Glastonbury, UK
7-12th April 2024 (See Application Form)


This course focuses on “Working with the Ming” and learning to directly sense and explore the Qi functions of East Asian medicine. We will be using Inner Qigong and Somatic Exploration to learn to sense and embody our energy – particularly those shadow parts which have been squashed or hidden in the process of life. We will also explore the unique techniques of Movement Shiatsu for helping these buried areas to wake up and start to integrate with the rest of ourselves.

If you are interested in applying for the residential, please fill out our application form.

SIX ONLINE BITE-SIZED MASTERCLASSES ON MOVEMENT SHIATSU 2023
Saturdays & Wednesdays 9-12 UK time: Sept 30th, Oct 11th, 28th, Nov 8th, 25th, Dec 6th

A series of six half-day online masterclasses that cover the whole body and which demonstrate the techniques and principles of Movement Shiatsu in a way that can be incorporated into your work. The classes will be recorded so that if you need to miss some you can complete the series in your own time.


See details and apply


Our normal programme will recommence in 2025 consisting of:

WORDS & HANDS
Working with the Tai Yin and Yang Ming

Since humans are social creatures, we are concerned with pleasing and copying other people. In the process, we can lose contact with what our own body wants. Many illnesses and injuries are caused by not listening to our body and forcing it to do something that it has not ‘agreed to’. In other words, the “Inner Community” of bones. muscles, organs and cells is ruled by an autocratic mind rather than being a democracy.

The workshop will show how to help each member of the inner community to have a voice, to know what it needs and how to create clear boundaries. This approach makes Shiatsu more interactive and exploratory. Helping a client to listen to each part of their body empowers them to be an equal partner in the therapy rather than passively relying on the therapist’s expertise.

The course will be a journey of self-discovery as well as showing new ways of working with clients. It will:

FASCIA, BODY MEMORY & TRAUMA
Integrating the Body and Resolving internal conflict with Shao Yang and Jue Yin

Emotional and developmental issues are often ‘stored’ in the body and can be liberated and processed through the body directly without having to re-experience the original pain. Many physical issues are the result of compensation for the immobilised area and the release of the trauma can frequently resolve chronic physical conditions too.

Trauma develops when a person has an experience with which they are unable to cope. The person goes into shock, desensitizing and immobilizing parts of the body in order to reduce the intensity of the feelings and sensations. This is a normal healing process if the experience can be slowly integrated, But often the shock becomes fixed and the fascia and muscles solidify around the immobilised area.

The result is that parts of the body are buried and held in unconsciousness, out of which come unwanted feelings, panic attacks, muscular tensions and feelings of unease and stress. Physically, the movements and posture are distorted to avoid moving the buried area and this can lead to physical problems.

We find that it is necessary for the client to become an active explorer and experimenter in their own bodies so that the fixed patterns start to loosen and the trauma can start to come out of its prison and integrate with the rest of the body-mind.

In the course, we will show you :

  • how to work with the Fascia to gently and safely help the hidden area to re-connect
  • how bring the inner organs in that area into awareness and how to help them to initiate movement. and express themselves ‘in the first person’
  • how to help a client process trauma through movement without getting caught up in the historical story.
  • how to use the Six Forms of Touch to help the client’s body and mind to re-integrate
  • how to practice Inner Qigong and to teach basic Qigong to the client to strengthen their energy and create a safe space for the trauma to be processed.

Read an Article


THE JOY DIVISIONS: ALIGNING BODY AND MIND
Working with the Shao Yin and Tai Yang

Doing body therapies is not only about fixing problems, particularly if the condition is chronic. In chronic situations, it is easy to become dispirited and feel like a victim. In this workshop we will show how to use movement, bodywork and voice to focus on a person’s positive life-energy rather than on their problems. This approach touches the spirit and empowers the  client. 

We will show techniques for contacting the deepest structures in the body, the inner organs and the skeleton, and through these to activate the Shao Yin and Tai Yang channels. The Shao Yin connects the Kidney meridian to the Heart and provides a pathway for primal life energy to revitalise the body and light up  the person’s life. Joy is the emotion you feel when you are in touch with your core spirit, which is why Bill calls the Shao Yin the Joy Division.  The Tai Yang joins the Bladder to the Small Intestine and creates a clear channel for our authentic energy to be expressed in our actions without being squashed by social pressure. 

In a way, working with these energies gives the deepest healing, because they show us how to be authentic and enjoy life even when we have difficulty

To read an article about this work, click here



INNER QIGONG & SOMATIC EXPLORATION RETREAT

This will be a retreat which you can do at home, guided by regular online sessions. Our aim is for renewal of energy, letting go of the past year, developing resilience and finding peace. In content, we will take you through all three series of Inner Qigong and show how to integrate them into a single practice.

Each day we will lead  three or four live online sessions. We will provide a suggested timetable for the retreat built around these live sessions. In between them we will give you some prerecorded guided movement meditations which are designed to give you a deep experience of particular aspects of the body relevant to the qigong on that day.

Read more about Inner Qigong here


Students who book for at least three modules will also get free access to the self-study courses in Experiential Anatomy .

Venue: The Rise, Whittox Lane, Frome, BA11 3BY

To apply: Application Form