August 2001
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Watsu
Massage–Awilix Retreat and Massage Center, Northfield, Minnesota
So what's Watsu?
CHRISTINE VENO
IT WAS IN 1987 when I was first turned on to a non-profit retreat and workshop center
called Harbin Hot Springs. Located a half hour up in the hills above Calistoga, California,
Harbin Hot Springs is simply a beautiful place to be with 1,160 acres of undeveloped
hills with miles of trails and land to roam around on. And then there's the water.
Large soaking pools. These pools are sanctuaries that encourage silent meditation
and quiet togetherness. There are redwood sun decks everywhere that welcome sunning,
soaking, and swimming, with or without swimsuits.
It was in that first of many visits to Harbin that I witnessed Watsu® (WATer
shiatSU) being given in the warm pool (about 95 degrees). It was a beautiful thing——the
Watsu practitioner was working with a woman, floating her in the warm water with
her head in the crook of one arm and her knees in the other arm. She was floated,
turned, stretched, cradled, and massaged. The look of bliss on her face was enough
to tell me how incredibly loving and nurturing Watsu was. Well, it wasn’t long that
I–like most people who come to Harbin–began being floated and floating others in
that warm pool. I found that both giving and receiving Watsu was a spiritual experience–healing
for body and soul!
I later learned that Watsu was created by Harold Dull, director of The School of
Shiatsu and Massage at Harbin, about 20 years ago. It is now practiced and taught
worldwide. For the next couple of years I went to Harbin every chance I had. I lived
in the Bay area at the time and went to Harbin to spend time in the pools there.
In 1989, I quit my job and went on a sabbatical to Harbin where I lived in my tent
for two months and took my first formal training in Watsu. It was just a weekend
intro class, but I was hooked right away! After a couple months back in Berkeley,
I started my massage training at the Body Electric. I took to this work like a fish
to water. I continued my massage work for a couple of years there in the East Bay,
but I couldn’t figure out how I could do Watsu without being at Harbin; after all,
that is where the warm pool was!
A few years later I moved to Arizona and eventually got out of the bodywork business,
which at the same time put me farther and farther away from my spiritual practices.
Then in 1993, I moved to Minnesota (don’t ask!). I floundered around here for a few
years when I started connecting spiritually again (thanks to a supportive spiritual
community at Lake Harriet Community Church). As I connected once again to my spirituality,
my bodywork started to surface (no surprise there, huh?). My dream since that fateful
day at Harbin so many years ago was to practice Watsu, but there are no year-round
warm pools in Minnesota, right? I started following the path laid out in front of
me, step by step. Before I knew it, my partner and I had moved to Northfield and
I had a 10’ Redwood Hot Tub. “Awilix Retreat and Massage Center” was born, and I
can now practice Watsu every day through every beautiful season.
Watsu is as beautiful to give as it is to receive. It remains one of my favorite
healing modalities. In Watsu your ears are under the water, so you do not hear any
sounds, except perhaps your own breath. You really become one with the water–it is
hard to know where your body ends and the water begins. You are floated, stretched,
and massaged in the most nurturing way. I cannot say it any better than Watsu instructor
Andrew Yavelow: “One characteristic that makes Watsu stand out from massage and so
many other forms of bodywork is that it gives you the opportunity to go beyond the
physical. Because when the body relaxes so deeply–as it can in the warm weightlessness
of Watsu–the mind can cease its chatter. And when the body and mind are quiet, what
you’re left with is the fundamental essence of your being. Your soul. Your spirit.
The real you.”
So check it out for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.
Christine Veno is a certified massage therapist and has practiced a variety of
massage therapies over the past 12 years. Christine received certification at Body
Electric, with additional instruction at the McKinnon Institute in Berkeley, California;
Lomi Lomi, Minneapolis; Student of Watsu & Ortho-Bionomy(. Contact her at Awilix
Retreat & Massage Center, 507-645-1645, email
, or visit her website.
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2001 Twin Cities WELLNESS newspaper.
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