Energetic models

Aquatic Bodywork actively and consciously works with the meridian system to balance out imbalances and disturbances in the flow of energy and strengthen self-regulation. The principles used refer to the legacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) (Ni, 2011), from which Japanese Shiatsu also grew (van den Berg, 2005). Due to its development by the Shiatsu therapist Harold Dull, WATSU is anchored in the philosophy of the Line of Shizuto Masunaga, which was also known in the West as Zen Shiatsu and in particular uses stretches to harmonise the meridians (Masunaga & Ohashi, 2004; Masunaga, 2000). Other energetic explanatory models such as the Chakra theory also found their way into the world view of Aquatic Bodywork (Dale, 2009).