Watsu & Aquatic Bodywork in Ventura County

Experience the transformative power of aquatic healing in warm water therapy sessions designed to restore your body and mind.“I offer Aquatic Bodywork, including Watsu® and Water Release Therapy® (WRT), at a serene pool in Ventura or at your private pool if suitable. With years of training under Diane Feingold, the creator of Water Release Therapy®, and certification in aquatic healing arts, I bring a customized approach to every session, blending water-based techniques with holistic land-based therapies like Myofascial Release and Trigger Point Therapy.

“The sacred water element teaches us that we can have great strength to transform even the tallest mountain while being soft, pliable, and flexible.

- Assembly of First Nations

What is Aquatic Bodywork?

watsu aquatic bodywork and therapy

Aquatic Bodywork combines the principles of Zen Shiatsu, Thai stretches, and therapeutic movement in warm, chest-deep water heated to body temperature (98°F). During a session, you are supported and gently guided through a sequence of flowing, dynamic movements that stretch and relax the body while providing deep physical and emotional healing. Techniques include:

1. Floating and gentle submersion for a womb-like experience.

2. Joint mobilizations and stretching to unblock energy flow, improve flexibility, and enhance movement.

3. Trigger point therapy to release muscle tension and reduce pain.

4. Inversions, quiet stillness and nurturing presence.

This unique therapy uses the buoyancy and hydrostatic properties of water to relieve stress on the body, allowing for deeper relaxation and more effective stretching than land-based methods.

The Eastern philosophy has it that stretches release blockages along the meridians, the channels through which our Qi, or life force, flows. From a Western perspective, stretching increases range of motion, and these effects can be amplified by doing it in warm water.

Aquatic Bodywork is recognized worldwide as one of the most effective forms of aquatic physical therapy, practiced in spas, health centers, and medical clinics in over 90 countries.

Benefits of Aquatic Bodywork

Watsu and its aquatic cousins have more than just novelty relaxation technique value: clinical research over the past two decades has shown a host of benefits.Aquatic Bodywork offers transformative physical, emotional, and mental benefits. Physically, it improves posture, flexibility, and range of motion while easing chronic pain caused by conditions such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, and other neuromuscular disorders. It accelerates recovery from orthopedic injuries, surgeries, and stroke, and reduces pregnancy-related discomfort.

Emotionally, aquatic therapy relieves stress, anxiety, and insomnia while promoting emotional release and helping with trauma recovery, including conditions like PTSD, depression, phobias, and grief. Water treatment promotes a deep state of relaxation with dramatic changes in the autonomic nervous system which regulates the function of our internal organs. 

Mentally, it creates a calming, womb-like environment that encourages mindfulness and self-connection. And I have been privileged to witness and share the experience of some amazing emotional transformations in the warm water!

Watsu has found its application in complex therapy of children and adults with special needs, such as cerebral palsy and autism. The aquatic environment provides a feeling of freedom and confidence for people impeded in their movement on land, and the therapist can accomplish stretches and mobilizations otherwise impossible. 

Whether you’re looking to heal, recover, or simply relax, aquatic bodywork is a powerful way to restore balance and vitality to your body and mind.

Is Aquatic Bodywork Right for You?

You do not have to be a swimmer to enjoy and benefit from Watsu® and Water Release Therapy® . No previous experience is required. In fact, aquatic bodywork helps overcome deeply rooted fear of water. If you are uncomfortable going underwater, this is a great opportunity to release this anxiety, as the gradual immersions are facilitated and carefully guided in a safe environment. It is suitable for all ages and abilities.

Water therapy is more than a simple warm water massage. From floating above the water, if and when ready, after tuning in with your breathing rhythm, you are gently submerged with nose clips.

It enables effortless breathing between air and water, while the buoyancy of warm water creates a nurturing womb-like experience. External sounds are diminished, light is dimmed, internal noise is quieted. It does more than relax and stretch.

The healing properties of water with the practitioner’s support cultivate an atmosphere where you can access positive resources within, reconnect with your own energy, and connect to others.

What’s involved in an Aquatic Bodywork Therapy Session?

An aquatic bodywork session consists of a sequence of graceful and subtle, yet fluid and dynamic movements, guided by a trained practitioner, in chest-deep water heated to body temperature (98°F). Traditional Shiatsu techniques and Thai stretches are applied while floating in warm water.

Oriental stretching is an even older form of therapy than acupuncture. The Eastern philosophy has it that stretches release blockages along the meridians, the channels through which our Qi, or life force, flows. From a Western perspective, stretching increases flexibility and range of motion, and these effects can be amplified by doing it in warm water.

Add to it elements of trigger point work, joint mobilizations, dance, yoga, inversions, quiet stillness and nurturing presence, and one can see how this becomes a profound mind and body healing practice.

Water therapy is more than a simple warm water massage. From floating above the water, if and when ready, after tuning in with your breathing rhythm, you are gently submerged with nose clips. It enables effortless breathing between air and water, while the buoyancy of warm water creates a nurturing womb-like experience. External sounds are diminished, light is dimmed, internal noise is quieted. It does more than relax and stretch. The healing properties of water with the practitioner’s support cultivate an atmosphere where you can access positive resources within, reconnect with your own energy, and connect to others.

Discover the incredible benefits of aquatic healing for yourself. Whether you’re seeking relaxation, recovery, or transformation, I am here to guide you through this one-of-a-kind experience.

Contact me today to schedule your Aquatic Bodywork & Therapy session in Ventura or inquire about outcall services to your private pool. Let the healing power of water work wonders for your body, mind, and soul.

Learn More About the Magic of Water

Water: The Great Mystery
– Documentary

Waters Of Life – Documentary on Aquatic Bodywork

The Power Of Your Intentions:
The Rice Experiment

The Hidden Messages in Water –
a book by Masaru Emoto

“The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness”
- Sakyong Mipham

Blogs

“You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the ocean in a drop”

~-Rumi

Amazing Facts About Water

 ✔️ Water dominates the chemical composition of all organisms. You are 60 to 70% water.

 ✔️ Water is the only natural substance found in all three physical states at temperatures normally found on Earth.

 ✔️ Water reacts to cosmic phenomena: its structure is influenced by the shifts in the Earth’s magnetic field and by explosions on the Sun.

 ✔️ Water is a strong vibrational energy transmitter: it intensifies as it conducts beneficial healing frequencies – from nature, sound, intention and consciousness.

 ✔️ Water as an energy substance was researched by Dr. Masaru Emoto, for 2 decades, and his extraordinary findings are documented in his books.

 ✔️ Water has memory, and it can be a perfect medium for cellular memory healing – limiting beliefs, projections, and emotional wounds.

 ✔️ Memory of water was first brought into the light and studied by the French biochemist and immunologist Jacques Benveniste, but that was 2 centuries after the emergence of the branch of unconventional medicine called Homeopathy that has this water property at its core.

 ✔️ Indigenous cultures have all along honored the water spirit, and it is a common theme in mythology and legends.