Watsu&Tantsu&Ai-chi&Aquawellness Workshops in Budapest, Hungary; 19-30 of October
The Watsu Hungary Friendship and the Hungarian Pavilion of Auroville is happy to announce an
amazing experiment, in the land of Hot Springs. Twelve days of deep exploration on Watsu,
Tantsu, Systemic Yoga and Ai-Chi with Ateeka and Gianni de Stefanni. You can attend the full
program, or you can choose any out of the six workshops. Enjoy the beautiful Thermal Bathes
of Budapest, discover the city, taste the delicious Hungarian wine, and get to know the Hun
branch of the water family.
1. Watsu Basic-Aquawellness Basic 25 hours workshop, Course Fee: 240 Euros
19-22.October, 2009
2. Watsu for Pregnant Women 4 hours workshop, Course Fee: 50 Euros
22. October, 2009
3. Systemic Yoga and Tantsu 24 hours workshop, Course Fee: 150 Euros
23-25 October 2009
4. Adapted Watsu 20 hours workshop, Course Fee: 225 Euros
26-28 October 2009
5. Ai-Chi 8 hours workshop, Course Fee: 100 Euros
29 October 2009
6. Watsu for Babies 8 hours workshop, Course Fee: 100 Euros , 30 October 2009 Contact: Bogi:nagybog@yahoo.com, +36302535520 Watsu Basic-Aquawellness Basic
Gianni De Stefani, instructor of Watsu and AquaWellness, has synthetized, in its personal studies, these two
techniques of aquatic bodywork, which are officially recognized. You will learn the bases of how to rock gently a partner at
the surface and under water.
WATSU (WATer shiatSU) is an aquatic bodywork on the surface of the water, developed by the poet Harold Dull in
the 80s, after his return from Japan, where he studied Zen Shiatsu with the Master Masunaga. This courses focuses on the
Basics of Watsu, on how, like in Tai Chi, you can stay grounded in your stance while you float and stretch someone to the
rhythm of your connected breath. You will be led through a simple but complete form. You can take this course to deepen your
meditation, your relationship to water or your connection to others. There will be no pressure to 'learn' the form.
AquaWellness is a form of aquatic bodywork which takes place in a warm water (34°-35°) developed by Kaya
Femerling und Nirvano Martina Schulz 20 years ago. It combines soft stretching, massage, joint release as well as energy and
breath-work above and below the water surface. Our concentration will be on the movements particularly under water.
Especially designed movements allow your whole spine to swing and your energy can flow again. The radius of your joints
movements becomes wider and your whole body can be moved in a playful new way because of its weightlessness in the water.
Chronic physical pain as well as emotional tensions can be released. You will experience a complete new way of healing energy
in the water. It is a journey back to your own origins, into the endless blue depth of your inner ocean.
The course is recognized by WABA and gives you 25 hours of credit. Watsu for Pregnant Women:
In this course we will learn to discover special ways to connect with at least two souls in one body. Also get to know
special movements to prepare for the birth. Systemic Yoga and Tantsu “And Shakti Asked...”Exploration into the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Sutras
At the beginning of the ancient Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Sutras, Shakti, the divine feminine essence of creation asks her
beloved, Shiva . . .
“O Shiva, what is reality? What is this wonder-filled universe?”
And Shiva, the divine essence of transformation responds to his heavenly consort, with 112 tantric meditations for awakening
to the pulse of this very moment. These 112 sutras have been explored for ages by yogis and tantrikas seeking to know the
secrets of the universe.
Each sutra offered by Shiva to Shakti is an invitation into a personal journey. In this retreat, we will step into the
skin of Shakti and experiment with several of these timeless meditations leading towards knowing the essence of “this
wonder-filled universe.”
Opening each inquiry with organic yoga asana, pranayama, nada-yoga (the yoga of divine sound) and creative
visualizations, our moving explorations become meditative open questions that lead us deep into the heart of personal and
collective presence.
Once we have opened the channel of creative flow within our own bodies, we then meet each other with the practice
of Tantsu. Tantsu, the terrestrial sister of Watsu, is a meditation for two people together to experience nurturing contact,
shared breath, containment and deep relaxation. Just as Shiva and Shakti eternally exchange in an inevitable play of opposing
energy to know the union of the opposites, our Tantsu practice also has inquisitive moments of play, exploration, energetic
exchange which all melt into the divine response of shared breath and stillness. In this space of stillness we can access the
potential for vital health, energy and peace of mind. Each moment becomes a rebirth in the eternal creative flow of life.
This workshop open to everyone with a curiosity about the movement of life and the flow of love. No prior yoga or
bodywork experience is required. Those new to Tantric practices will find new and accessible ways to feel peace and ease in
their bodies. Experienced practitioners and teachers will learn how to expand and refresh their existing practice from the
inside out.
This course is valid for 12 hours of Basic Tantsu in the WABA/Tantsu Registry Watsu for special cases: Adapted Watsu
In this course you learn how to apply the usual techniques of Watsu to people with disorders or special
circumstances, whether physical or psychological. Your learn how to use the pool noodle and to work with people which are
particularly rigid or afraid to come in your arms for cultural reasons or because scare of the water. With the traditional
Watsu we learn to create the necessary confidence to allow the person to relax between our arms. In theory, on land and in
water, we learn the indispensable bases about the functioning of the human body, so that we can give a pleasant session to
this special people.
Prerequisites: Watsu 2 or Watsu 1 with almost 100 hours of others learning classes in aquatic bodywork
The course is recognized by Waba with credit of 25 hours. AI-CHI AQUATIC TAI-CHI
Ai Chi was created at the beginning of the ‘90s by Jun Konno, former coach of the japanese olimpic swim team; today
he is the president of ‘Aqua Dinamics Institute’ in Yokohama. Ai Chi is an art, made of soft, calm movements in warm water –
35° C- not more than 1.20 m high, resembling the dancing motions of Tai Chi. The complete ‘choreography’ is a sequence of 19
‘kata’ or ‘forms’, each one repeated 3 times, and it takes from half to about 1 hour to practice.
Harmonious movements draw round shapes like that of a circle, following the rythm of breath, and slowly they
transform us: our body gets calm, and our mind gets ‘switched on’, tuning into a subtle awareness to everything moving
‘outside’ of us-the ‘doing’ of water and our body adjusting to it, finding a new balance, and ‘inside’ of ourselves-sensations,
emotions, feelings. First of all, we learn to put together forms and movements, then to synchronyze them with our breath
pattern, and finally we repeat them over and over, ‘til we start the real ‘dance’, that will take us flowing and reach the land of
serenity. A japanese saying goes: ‘the branches of the willow will never break, not even under the weight of snow! –While the
strong and stiff branches are going to break. Ai Chi develops flexible body and flexible psyche, so they are not going to
‘break’.
One peculiar thing about it: ‘Ai’ is a japanese hydeogram whose meaning is ‘Love’. Ai Chi is then a practice of
compassion and love towards ourselves, nature as a whole, and others. Jun explains that it is distinct from Watsu; ‘Eastern
people love delicate and inner originated motions; Watsu, though very popular in Japan, requires a ‘closness’ between giver and
receiver, many Japanese people feel uncomfortable with: AiChi practice can be the first step, then, to feel ok with the
intimacy Watsu requires’.
Ai Chi combines the benefits of Tai Chi-harmonizing body & mind, tonifying Chi (life-energy)- with those of
stretching muscles & meridians. It is easy, fun, and relaxing: movements are performed, slowly, in no-stop, soft, and circular
motion, to make best use of and save life-energy, to calm mind & enhance focus. Watsu for Baby
Watsu for baby is a beautiful and spontaneous way of living the first childhood and it refers to all those which would
like to share the joy of the water with their own child.
In this course we will learn to discover that -in water- the emotions that arise from a spontaneous movement, opens
extraordinary borders and allow us to live in the present, here and now, simply listening to the breath of the child, both
supported by the strength of the water. Through some exercises from Tantsu and Ai-Chi, we learn to listen to ourselves and
to the baby we hold in our arms. We work on the dynamism and the anatomical valuation of the child. We will learn the
possible transfers of the sequence of Watsu in order to expand it in creative way.
Dr. Riccardo Palumbo - thanks to the collaboration of the teacher Gianni De Stefani - has been able to develop this
new massage, which became an argument of a thesis and now a formation course in order to bring Watsu in the babies world.
Prerequisites: Watsu 1 , Watsu Basic-Aquawellness Basic, or having a degree to work with the babies in the water
The course is recognized by WABA and gives you 8 hours of credit. ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS
ATEEKA:
With over 20 years of extensive background in traditional
yoga studies and practice, Ateeka has arrived at a way of sharing
yoga that is immediate and fluid and experiential. Her teachings
reflect and encourage only the innate intelligence of the biosystem
Ateeka continues to explore the bridge between
traditional yoga studies and modern somatic approaches.
She is a Registered Yoga Teacher, member of the
International Yoga Therapists Association and founding director
of an internationally recognized Yoga Teacher Training program.
Her background includes extensive practice and teacher training
in Ashtanga, Iyengar, Integral and Kundalini Yoga and Continuum
Movement.
She has produced a best-selling Yoga instructional video “Yoga With Ateeka” which is has been
translated and distributed in English, Mandarin Chinese, Italian and Spanish. She has also produced 5
instructional audio CD’s available in “Divine Yoga Flow”, “Moon Cycle Yoga” and “Bliss”.
Ateeka has recently co-authored with Harold Dull and Fabrizio Dalle Piane, the new book,
TANTSU: A YOGA OF THE HEART and is a TANTSU presenter.
She is also an artist expressing life's fluid movements through paintings, poetry and talismans. GIANNI DE STEFANI:
I synthesize my own personal program which includes different techniques such as: Eutonie in
the water, Aqua Wellness, Watsu, Woga (yoga in the water), aquaticwork for pregnant women. I’m the
founder of the Institute of Watsu and Aquawellness India. My aim is to spread all over the world this
beautiful water work in accordance with the human needs.
• Swiss swimming and Aquafitness instructor •
Sport teacher instructor •
Studies in physiotherapy •
Swim teacher for babies •
Trainer of Aqua Wellness •
Trainer of Watsu basic, Watsu 1, Watsu 2
Meditation for Watsu, Adapted Watsu, Ai-Chi, Watsu for babies •
Trainer Anatomy for Aquatic Bodyworker •
Certified Aquatic Bodyworker •
Tantsu and Ayurvedic Marmas Massage •
Swiss Olympic Certified Adult Pedagogical Teacher |
Watsu Tanfolyamok
