…and how it came that today I connect water, dance and art with each other

As an integrative clinical art and creativity therapist I have been accompanying people in times of crisis for more than 19 years. My role in creative therapies is to support patients’ processes of perception, expression and awareness. In group courses I encourage people to express themselves authentically and in a non-verbal way using various creative media in their healing process. My work is based on mutual respect and the development of the patients individual potential in their interactions. This opens up spaces for creative impulses and inspirational dynamics in the group. My aim is to promote personal development.

More than 15 years ago I discovered Aquatic Bodywork. Since then, I have been fascinated by the voice of water as a way of listening to the human body and mind in the moving silence of this element. In the weightlessness of the warm water I feel its carrying shelter giving quality in the interplay with a call for free movements into the space of the flowing feather-light resistance. I particularly appreciate the variety of movement and massage offers from WasserShiatsu (WATSU), WasserTanzen (WATA) and Healing Dance. This practical experience, acquired over many years, forms the basis of my work today. It enables me more and more to follow the very own impulses and needs of my clients for touch and freedom, peace and movement.

As an observant and creative artist, I am fascinated by forms and colours that appear in moving water surfaces.  During and after my design studies I dedicated myself intensively to portrait and nude painting. With the material clay I researched possibilities to capture the human shape in its moving forms of expression. My sailing trips across the oceans were followed by artistic works and exhibitions on the subject of ‘water’ in painting, ceramics, photography and film.

Today it is my art-therapeutic and artistic concern to explore the magic of moving bodies in the water.

Water is like music to me and lets me find my own rhythm. In the water I feel my vitality and gain new strength.

I would be happy to share my love of water with you.

Continue reading “about me”

What is Aquatic Bodywork?

In the last 3 decades 3 directions of bodywork in 35 degrees Celsius warm water have developed and established themselves worldwide. These take place as individual treatment. The water therapist trained by teachers from the German-speaking IAKA (Institute for Aquatic Bodywork) and the worldwide WABA (Worldwide Aquatic Bodywork Association) is called a’practitioner’. In its original form, a treatment in water is called a ‘WATSU session’ and usually lasts one hour. 

WATSU – WaterShiatsu

“WATSU” is the abbreviation for “Water Shiatsu” and was developed in 1980 by Harold Dull in California. It is a body therapeutic application in the chest deep 35 degrees Celsius warm water for health promotion in the individual treatment. Healthy and sick people find in a session of Aquatic Bodywork for one hour the possibility to enter a deep relaxation. Therapists’ massage offers relax tissues and muscles while the water supports the joints and carries the weight of the body. The own flow of movement is stimulated and a shared rhythmic dance is created in the weightlessness of the water. The nourishing space in the treatment unfolds its effect in the flow of movements. In the interplay between movement and silence, the client’s mind finds peace and emotions can be felt.

WATA – WaterDance

“WATA” is the name for “WasserTanzen” and was developed at the same time as WATSU by Arjana Brunschwiler and Aman Schröter in Europe. This water dance combines dynamic movements on and below the water surface. The new underwater experience space ties in with our own history. The primordial trust finds its way back into our consciousness as a felt experience and body remembrance. In the dives the successful communication in the breathing accompaniment is a prerequisite for a trustful cooperation in the flow of the emerging WaterDance. Your own breath deepens during the treatment, the natural diving reflex is activated, a free space of amazing possibilities opens up. The ‘Absolute Space’ in the weightlessness of water provides a space for movement that invites in all directions. Without the felt contact to the ground or to the air, the sense of space and time dissolve for a moment.

Healing Dance

“Healing Dance” is the third form of Aquatic Bodywork. It was developed by a dancer and body therapist named Alexander George on the basis of WATSU and WATA. The range of movements is geared to the anatomical conditions of the clients in connection with an aesthetic feeling for dance movements. In Healing Dance, in addition to the calming, quiet moments, there are very expansive dance sequences above and below the surface. The pool becomes a dance room, the water becomes a screen, the client becomes a dancer who is danced and dances herself. The aesthetics of rhythmic movements in waves, spirals and eights in the flow of water make Healing Dance an art form that stimulates freedom and discovery, as well as play and experimentation.

For whom is Aquatic Bodywork

Continue reading “Aquatic Bodywork”

Your life flows like a river. If you look at it deeper, you will see that everything changes in every moment.”

Drukpa Rinpoche

Aquatic Bodywork in the individual treatment

World WATSU Week

Aquatic Bodywork in the private pool in Viersen

The beautiful pool in Viersen offers a quiet and private atmosphere with optimal water temperatures. In a booked session you have the possibility to dive a full hour in body warm water into a deep relaxation. Your body weight is carried by the buoyancy of the water and by my supporting hands. Your muscles and connective tissue are stretched and massaged, your joints and your spine gently loosened. In the water you can feel the flow in the up and down waves. Silence can be experienced and there is time to find inner peace and a deep relaxation. Benefit from the weightlessness of the water in the treatment to let go of tensions and experience lightness.

How do I book an Aquatic Bodywork session?

You can ask for a session at the following times:
Mondays between 9:00 and 22.00,
Tuesdays and Fridays between 17:00 and 22:00
Please contact me via the contact form if you would like to make an appointment, or give me a call.

What does it cost?

An Aquatic Bodywork Session with WATSU-, WATA-, and Healing Dance elements costs 75 €. The pool rent is 25 € per person for 90 – 120 minutes. It includes 30-60 minutes to talk, to shower and change clothes. One hour is reserved for your session in the water.

What kind of Aquatic Bodywork is good for me?

In a talk before your session will start you got the opportunity to communicate your wishes, thoughts and feelings to give a first orientation belonging to your needs. In a feedback during or after the session it is possible to share experiences.

What should I think about when booking a session?

If you suffer from chronic diseases, consult your doctor for the desired treatment in warm water of 35 degrees Celsius.
Aquatic bodywork can lead to deep sensations that take time to integrate. It is helpful to take some hours of relaxation at home after the session to let the valuable experiences in the water take effect.
Book on days or evenings when you no longer have appointments that make great demands on you. Even when you come out of the water completely relaxed, the time of tracking is very valuable for a long-lasting effect of deep relaxation and new experiences.
It is possible to rest in the winter garden next to the pool area on a couch, if you do not have the last booking on this day.

What do I bring into the pool?

Swimwear, bath shoes, shower soap, shampoo, towel, water to drink (no glass bottle)

Where can I find the Private Pool?

Address:

Family Veerman, Friedrich-Naumann-Weg 7, 41747 Viersen

Please note that the pool can only be entered through the garden gate from the backside of the series of houses. The footpath from where you reach the garden entrance leads along the field in front of the water tower and can also be entered from Dülkenerstr.  between the house numbers 170 and 198. Before entering, ring the bell on the garden gate. The entrance to the changing room is on the left side of the building. Please enter the pool area at the time arranged.