To know what Watsu is, it must be experienced.

It has a beginning and an end and it is endless.

Late one summer evening in 1991, I experienced a massage
that led me into a new dimension of awareness.

In the warm pool at Harbin Hot Springs, I was floated, stretched, cradled and massaged
by a friend who was trained in Watsu.  As I relaxed into my friend's hands, one at the back of my head the other under my sacrum, I floated on my back and gazed at the stars. Soon my eyes closed and  my ears sank under the water.
The only noise was my own thoughts and my breath; then there was only my breath.

        In my Watsu session the therapist used my breath rhythm and natural buoyancy to create a sense of weightlessness. Only my face remained above the water as the rest of my body was gently stretched and massaged. 
She used the yielding yet supportive nature of water to create an environment in which the
natural process of physical and emotional surrender evoked my own healing experience. 

 I had gone to Harbin to learn Watsu and ended up studying and practicing
there for three years. During that time I learned that Watsu can shorten the
healing process for both physical and emotional traumas.

 Some of the physical benefits include:
decrease in muscle guarding tension; increase in range of motion; decrease in chronic pain;
improved breathing pattern; and improved posture.

 Watsu is even used at the Timpany Center in San Jose, California, one of the world's most progressive institutions dedicated to helping the disabled. Three of the therapists at Timpany have written about the rehabilitative benefits of Watsu in Harold Dull's book, Watsu, Freeing the Body in Water [Harbin Springs Publishing, April 1993].

In the book, Sunny Mehler states, "At Timpany Center, we see many people who are suffering from
aches and pains of the body and/or mind. Our clientele varies greatly from young children with learning disabilites
to older adults with chronic pain. For these clients, Watsu has been used either alone or in conjunction with
physical therapy treatments with great success."

        One does not have to suffer from any physical problems to enjoy a Watsu.
Simply enjoying a blissful hour in the warm  water can do wonders for a 'tude.

-Lee
watsu reg. Harold Dull