Altai Massage™ Practitioner Training Course 2016
Healing starts from the Heart
Learn the art of Altai Massage Therapy with the founder of the Altai Massage™ System Virve Viigand.
Altai Massage™ is a system of bodywork with its roots in the shamanic healing traditions of the Altai mountain region of Siberia. It is a flowing, rhythmic, deep massage practice that incorporates the intuitive and body reading skills of the practitioner to bring about clearing and transformation through the layers of ones being.
This level I practitioner training course will run for 3 weekends (Friday eve to Sunday eve) over 6 months beginning in January 2016, with an advanced course offered later in the year for those who wish to take ther training further. This is an exciting opportunity to train in Altai Massage™, with Virve Viigand the creator and founder of this system. This course is being offered in Kent for the first time, and Daniela Broder will be assisting on the training.
About Altai Massage:
Altai Massage is a unique experience that uses the power of Mother Nature to take you on a journey. On this intimate journey the practitioner works with joints, structure and emotional release of stresses to help the body rediscover the space within by releasing areas of blockages and tension.
Its therapeutic effect is to lift the body and mind to a state of greater clarity, bringing forth new awareness and new ways of living, standing, walking and moving. It is a way of re-educating yourself to experience life in a way that is free, open and expansive with an ease and effortless sense of continuity.
Altai Massage therapy builds on theories similar to those of other modalities, and yet is unique among bodywork techniques. Many massage trainers begin demonstrating strokes without providing a base of fundamental theory. This can lead to unimaginative and rote strokes performed without an understanding of the essentials of how a therapist should use their energy properly, avoid injuries, and most importantly, develop a sensitive and effective touch.
Though relatively unknown in the Western world, the basic techniques of Altai Massage have been practiced in the Altai region for thousands of years. The philosophical aspects of Altai Massage are diverse yet penetrating and reflect the collective wisdom and knowledge of many indigenous traditions of the Altai region of central Eurasia. It has developed from the therapeutic use of touch within the ancient folk medicine of this area, located just north of the Russian borders with Kazakhstan, China, and Mongolia.
Altai Massage has been influenced by the ancient healing practices of shamans in this area and shares much of its philosophy with that of Chinese Medicine and the Tibetan and Oriental healing arts of Tai Chi and Yoga. These traditional practices each stress the importance of natural balance, emphasising the connection between the natural world and its intrinsic order, and how this needs to be reflected in the human body, which itself is part of that natural order.
The Altai Massage therapist is encouraged to use powerful visualisations of natural elements to integrate change and movement within the body that is being massaged. It is about transformation, awakening the senses and aligning to the natural rhythms. Altai Massage combines a gentle approach with a deep touch, a range of motion, acupressure, reflexology, energy work and stretching. It invites communication and is as pleasurable for the giver as it is for the receiver, becoming an interchange of energies that is sometimes a catalyst for life change.
The work is very rhythmic and meditative, enabling both the client and practitioner to voyage together into deeper realms of consciousness. Just as the shaman communes and integrates natural healing as they weave the natural energy forces under their control, so the massage therapist learns to work within a deeply focused and meditative state. As in the ancient shamanic dance, the therapist allows movement, breath and technique to flow, like a forest stream racing through its environment between still rock pools.
The body is composed of at least 70% water and an important aspect of the therapist's practice is to facilitate a constant flow within this aqueous medium that mirrors the natural cycles of tidal flow in the oceans. Areas of tension within the body are like dams we have subconsciously built to protect ourselves, which hold pools of water that can become stagnant. By releasing the blockages, the stagnation can be washed away as the energetic essence is replenished and encouraged to continue circulating and cleansing the skeletal and musculature areas.
An equivalent in Nature is the spring's source flowing from the mountain stream to the river and eventually to the ocean, bringing a fresh and pure input to all parts that are touched by its passage. The therapist integrates energetic stimulation and healing flow as an impulse to regenerate, restructure and replenish the recipient's own energetic system. It is the aqueous environment that itself is restructured at a molecular level and thus invites itself to be a purer and freer medium for the body's energy flow.
The experience of an Altai Massage is like emerging into the light air after bathing in the cool water of an Altai mountain lake. It is about transformation, awakening the senses and working with nature. It is also about communication and is as pleasurable for the giver as it is for the receiver, as it involves an exchange of energy. Our body's communication system works very well, and we can benefit from listening closely to the important messages it holds.
About the Training:
Based on shamanic wisdom handed down through generations, participants will benefit from a fascinating and experiential induction into the many ways of using and working with intuitive sensitivity and observation alongside using hands as communicators and receptors towards healing.
The art of listening through touch is one of the prime aspects in Altai Massage. Participants will be encouraged to develop their own skill in this.
Each student on the course receives a Visual Guide to the techniques used in Altai Massage with both group and individual demonstration. Individual practical training will help mould these to your style, your personality, and the needs of your clients so that you may express your own unique creativity while deepening your practice. We study body positioning and strategies for effective release of tension, as well as how to read the body and interpret, or translate, the "body story". As you become familiar with the sequences, you'll experience the integration of precise positions and postures to create a cumulative impact.
Altai Massage technique uses developed massaging movements performed in a particular sequence. Some use very deep pressure with effective use of the body to protect your hands and your back. You will be taught how to use your fingers, knuckles, fists, forearms, and elbows to work tissues with maximum efficiency and a minimum of effort.
The philosophical aspects of Altai Massage reflect the shamanic wisdom that comes with the study of the natural world and the profound sense of unity within all elements that make up the practice. Altai Massage affords not only physical well being but also, through its integration of mind-body balancing, the potential for releasing patterning and blocks that have previously hindered spiritual and psychological growth.
After studying the main program we explore ways to devise your own approach for addressing the healing needs for common complaints and injuries. These include specific treatment suggestions such as stretching and strengthening protocols suitable for your clients to use at home.
The aim of this course is not just to teach a series of techniques but, more importantly, the therapeutic vision beyond. Massage is one of man's oldest forms of healing and can never be underestimated. We created this course with the aim to help practitioners relearn the art of touch and use it to develop the gift of communication. This is an opportunity to get back in touch with the deep reality of being a physical, living being and explore the development of the full human potential. Altai Massage offers the possibility to turn your life into an entirely new sense of being alive.
Practitioner Course Content
This 6 month training program covers the foundational and practitioner level training in Altai Massage™. Each weekend will review and expand upon the previous months work, refining and deepening your awareness and skills. In between classes, students will be asked to complete a number of case studies and integrate the work.
Example of course structure:
Friday:
6pm-9pm – Introduction
Saturday:
8.00 – 9.00am – Optional yoga class with Daniela
09.00 - 13.30 - History/Philosophy, Demonstration & Practice
13.30 - 14.30 - Lunch
14.30 – 18.00 - Massage Sequence Demonstration, Hands-on Massage Practice
Sunday:
8.00 – 9.00am – Optional yoga class with Daniela
09.00 - 13.30 - Hands-on Massage Practice
13.30 - 14.30 - Lunch
14.30 - 18.00 - The Art of Touch, Hands-on Massage Practice
Qualification:
This is a foundation level practitioner training course for Altai Massage™. It will train you in the basic techniques and a unique approach to touch, and enable you to offer Altai Massage professionally. In between weekends, there will be practice sessions and case studies that you will be required to complete, and also to expand upon your training by reflecting upon the teachings and studying further into topics.
Upon completion of the 3 weekends, you will receive a certificate, certifying you as a first level practitioner of Altai Massage™. You will also be required to have, or take a course in anatomy and physiology, and upon completion you will be able to get full insurance to practice professionally. If you are already a registered therapist or practitioner of holistic therapies, you be able to add your Altai Massage qualification on to your current insurance as an extra therapy.
There are a number of good and inexpensive courses that you can take online or at a local college. This is a very good online ITEC certified course that we recommend: https://www.anatomyandphysiologyonline.com/
Later in 2016 we will run an advanced training which will go deeper into the Altai Massage and the aspects of body reading and the deeper healing work of Altai Massage Therapy. This will be open to anyone who has completed the first course and wishes to take their training further.
Venue:
The course is being held in a beautiful Grade 2 listed 17th century timber barn on the border of Kent and East Sussex. The barn is set in the grounds of a traditional oast house surrounded by woodlands and open land. It is an ideal setting to enable a deeper connection with the work and with the living spirit of Nature.
For those who are travelling from a distance and wish to stay over night, there is accommodation available in the barn and the oast house next door.
There are kitchen facilities and we will be making lunch to share, and you are also welcome to bring your own meals, or something to share.
Northiam is situated in between Tenterden, Rye and Battle.. It is 1 hr 45 min drive from London and 1 hr 15 min from Brighton, and easily acessible by train. Nearest train station is Robertsbridge and then a short taxi ride to the barn.
Dates:
22nd – 24th January 2016
11th – 13th March 2016
8th - 10th April 2016
Investment:
Reciprocity for the full course is £570 which includes all training, manuals and certification.
Payment can be made as full payment upon booking, or 2 instalments of £285 - first payment upon booking, and the balance by the 13th November
For accomodation:
£40 per night - £80 per person per weekend. We will need to know in advance if you plan to stay over, so please let me know upon booking.
You will be responsible for completing an anatomy and physiology course independently, which can be done at any time. (You will need to have completed it in order to take the advanced course).
Contact:
If you have any questions, or to book your place, contact Daniela: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 07475 749967
We look forward to sharing this transformational journey with you