Wish everyone a very happy & a prosperous New year. Let the year have a growth on water works all over the world. I have been posting on this blog after a very long time. Some changes have happened & some changes are yet to happen. I still do not have a pool to work on, this year I am focusing on getting a pool for offering therapy & sessions. hope it works out. In the mean time, a Group in facebook has been started for all people working in water in India. Aquatic Therapy Network of India, it has a logo launched on Jan 15th. Wish & Hope that aquatic body works grow in India.

Ireno Was always there clicking pictures, but unfortunately could not get pictures from him this time. Will upload the few as he would permit capturing our time together. The group in all three days were amazing.

Ai Chi, Woga & Watsu for babies

Going Back to Pondycherry was a great relief in itself. I knew I would be away from all the hassles of life & be with only water & learn new many applications. And also to be just with myself & some introspection. It indeed give me all that after my visit.
Meeting Jun Konno was interesting & knowing from him the idea of Ai Chi was even interesting. After initial introductions, Jun spoke on how Ai chi came into existence. It was inspiring to hear how the concepts sometimes take shape with an act of serving a purpose & then metamorphosises into the purpose itself.
We started with basic moves on land & went on till we became clear with all the 19 katas /moves that were to be done in water. I felt even doing it in land also should have a benefit on core muslces as i could feel the change in my body alignment. We did the work on land almost till evening & just when I was thinking We may not go into water after all Jun told it was time to get into water.
I was missing the warm water all these days, It was just like being back home. We did all the 19 moves in the water & I felt a great sense of freshness seeping in. With the work on land I was feeling tired but it wore out once I was in water. It was great day. The second day went on learning the finer bits of Moves & doing it more correctly. We did a lot of practice & I felt confident by the second day I would remember all the moves. Later It was followed by Ai Chi Ne, an acitivity done by two people together. This was fun as well as quite effective in stretching. Two days passed by very quickly. But it gave a plethora of ideas to involve Ai Chi to my patients. It proved to be a very clinically useful tool for me. (the present edition of comprehensive aquatic therapy has a chapter on clinical applications of Ai Chi by Johan Lambeck & Ann Bommer)It was a pleasure to meet Jun Konno.

This was followed by WOGA, i.e. Doing yoga in water. It was also very effective in bringing about most of the stretches on the upper part of the body as well trunk & also the lower extremities. My clinical mind was running along to see how it could be adapted for my clients. Though Gianni was specifying it is for aquawellness I could not stop myself from thinking the clinical applications it could have to my clients. The evening was followed by some great time with lila & some dolphin dance. It simply was awesome. Woga left me with options of adapting it to my clients in water.

Watsu for babies was fun fun & fun, We did some basic sequence with dolls in water & discussed the possible issues babies have in water. At the end of the day we had babies of different age groups from 4 months to 1& 1/2 years. It was beautiful to see babies enjoying, few crying, few laughing & a moment of silence. It was a moment to cherish for me.

Pondycherry was, as it always would be. A great Experience & memorable one too. Looking forward now for Tantsu & other few courses to complete my Watsu Program.

I will be off for Ai Chi Instructor Training program with Jun Konno next week, along with WATSU for Babies... Looking forward fot the experience :- )

Am Uploading some videos which was shot a long time ago of the cases I was treating. please share your comments. Of course the child responded very well in water but unfortunately could not document the carry over effects on land.

As you can see, the child was more attentive, focused and able show a generalized increase in tone. he was even able to initiate stepping pattern in the water

Am making some changes to the blog & soon will be adding some literature on aquatic therapy. Will also try to put some videos of work going on here & also the pics of some workshops done by various groups where I was being invited as a resource person.
Am still trying to understand the ways about the blogging, hopefully will make it more worthwhile to take a look.
At the same time please send me your suggestions to my mail id prashanth_c_g@yahoo.com on the elements that would help me to make the blog more appealing.

WATSU 3 with Harold Dull

A memorable experience of life time in WATSU 3. Yes that is how i will describe it. listening to the founder & experiencing watsu from his own hands was enriching & touching. He is such a gentleman with clear idea where his concept has to go.
The week was a creative challenge after watsu 2 which was full of sequence but challenging. Watsu 3 had lot of moves that can be used to go from one position to another & enabling our creativity to take shape.
The whole dimension of Watsu Changed at this level. It developed to a more meaningful, beautiful way for two people to be in synchrony, harmony, understanding, compassionate and attentive to what the reciever wants rather than what giver wants to give. It made me realise myself how much I needed this, as I love being creative. Being empathetic with people by profession it just allowed me blend with the philosophy of watsu. For first time when i did the free flow, I ended up frustrated as I could not get what i intended to get. As I listened to my teachers Harold, Gianni, Xavier it all came to me, it is not about what I want to give but What the body in my hands needs.
This is where i realized I needed to listen, listen to the body of the reciever & also mine to see how it can develop into a poetry in water. Wow !! after that I enjoyed the session. To add a pinch of sugar, Gianni arranged for a night session of watsu free flow. This was magical. Really... The pool calm & serene, lit around with reflected lights, water reflecting red blue green colors with in pool lights, surrounded by darkness & quiteness, with an invited violinist playing a soothing, touching note.... did not realize how we spent two hours giving & recieving the session. It was wonderful experience for me. I should say this as all would not prefer to have music while giving sessions.
Next day I recieved a session from Xavier, this was blended with surface & underwater. This did stir a lot of emotions in me & when I opened my eyes after the session, I wanted to be like that forever...
After recieving a brief watsu session from Harold, the experience became complete.