By: Birute (a.k.a. Mala), May 30,2022
During the first week of May, there were beautiful, sunny and warm days. While many people were on vacation in the Netherlands (school holidays), a number of EISA (European Iokai Shiatsu Association) teachers gathered in Amersfoort for the intensive training with Sasaki Sensei. It is such a nice bunch of people from Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy and of course the Netherlands. We began with a three and a half days Meridian Teacher Seminar with around 20 people, followed by 3 days of Diagnosis Teacher Seminar with just 9 of us. It was incredibly inspiring to meet again and study with international colleagues, because the last time we met was in May 2019 in Paris.
You might wonder, what does this training involve? Well… under Sensei supervision we refine our knowledge of oriental medicine, clarify our understanding of meridians and diagnosis, and polish our ability to transfer that knowledge to our students, etc.
Achieving mastery in Oriental medicine is not a simple task because it demands time, dedication, practice and a lot of study. Therefore, the opportunity to have Sensei’s guidance in these matters is invaluable.
Every morning at 9am, we would start with Sensei style Do-In, which included lots of nice partner exercises. Actually, during Do-In it was the only shiatsu like practice we did. Beacuse this time it was all about theory: sitting and listening, understand and digesting, talking and discussing. There were a lot of ‘a-ha’ moments for me personally. We would end our day at 6pm, clean the Kapel (our dojo in Amersfoort) and prepare it for the next day. Some would go to the hotel or dinner, and Tanja and I would take the train back to Amsterdam. The next day we start again.
Ans did a great job arranging the catering for our lunches. We didn’t have to think about where and what to eat. It was a very relaxing 2-hour break with delicious vegetarian meals, sit in the sun a little and have a cup of coffee. Thank you Ans! In keeping with the food theme, after the Meridian seminar we went out to eat at a Moroccan restaurant in Amersfoort. It was 4th of May, Remembrance Day for the fallen in WW2, and we held a two-minute silence at 8 p.m. Being a part of such a moment and in this company was very special. But my personal feelings were a bit mixed because it was the beginning of Soviet occupation in my country.
There is no way to sum up this week in a few sentences. I am still processing it. One thing I can mention is that we have an amazing team. Our international colleagues are always complimenting the Dutch team for organization, skill and that we are solid as a rock (just to mention a few compliments). And how could we not be, we have Tanja and Norbert as a core! Congratulations to our team on organizing this amazing event.
Next year we’ll meet again, this time in Austria.
I am already looking forward to it.
Birute (a.k.a. Mala) Kubiliute
