Shiatsu Shin Tai
Innovative Bodywork for the Awakening Practitioner
“I am re-entering practice after a break for parenting. It’s wonderful to be inspired again in this beautiful practice of shiatsu, which is at once so simple, yet so deep and complete. I feel so grateful to be able to access your teaching online!”
Olivia Cheng, Shiatsu Practitioner; Perth, Australia
“The way Saul delivers information in classes works so well for me. I get the feeling that I not only can hear and see him but also ‘absorb’ information he is transmitting on a broad band of different levels.”
Alena Karchevsky, Shiatsu Practitioner; Colorado, USA
Shiatsu: A Special Kind of Touch
Shiatsu is an ancient form of therapeutic bodywork that uses pressure, stretching and structural manipulations to balance energy (also called ki or chi). The ability to perceive and move chi is the key to creating positive and reliable results.
Shiatsu uses touch to accomplish this and the touch we use is unique. It is not the touch of a friend, family member or lover, but touch that is applied therapeutically, touch that is designed to facilitate the flow of life force through the body and energy system. Touch that’s applied with care and skill is a potent gift.
In shiatsu we focus on applying a type of touch that mimics the pressure in the womb. We listen to the response of the body to know what pressure is just the right amount to stimulate growth and development. Too much can shut it down, too little doesn’t have enough impact to generate change.
Pressing on a tsubo, stretching someone’s shoulder or adjusting a vertebra without paying any attention to the boundaries and response of the receiver is not going to create much positive shift in the body. But to apply pressure and then listen, wait and respond with awareness - that’s a recipe for freedom.
Shin Tai: An Evolution of Shiatsu
Shin Tai means ‘source body’ or ‘light body.’ It is an evolving form of shiatsu developed by Saul Goodman over the last 40 years which focuses on the treatment of the primary information system of the body: the governing vessel and conception vessel meridians. By using a unique synthesis of structural, fascia, meridian, and chakra technique, shin tai practitioners stimulate and balance the flow of energy in the physical and vibrational layers of the body.
Shiatsu/Shin Tai is for bodywork practitioners who want to expand their treatments beyond the boundaries of traditional shiatsu. Whether you do massage, shiatsu, craniosacral, chiropractic, physical therapy, or another modality of hands-on healing, the shin tai approach can increase the effectiveness of techniques that you already use, and also add new ones to your repertoire.
Elevate your skills, your practice & your life
Upcoming Classes
Explore our upcoming events to study in-person:
Online Courses - Begin Now!
Get started now with our online learning classroom to learn whenever you want from wherever you are. Click the links below to access our array of easy-to-use courses in:
Expand the effects of your present techniques
Give fulfilling & creative treatments
Build a thriving practice
Thousands of people all over the world have used our classes to bring more fulfillment and inspiration into their healing practices. They report that they achieve efficient, powerful results. They find fulfillment in helping others increase health and emotional well-being in a natural way. Rather than acting as a healer who changes things that are 'wrong', they instead facilitate the flow of life force so that the body can increase its own natural healing capacity.
Shin Tai Course Curriculum
Our classes are help practitioners expand their knowledge and learn new skills. This is key to being a creative, inspired bodyworker who gives effective and empowering treatments. Using your hands with competence and creativity will help you help your clients and build a thriving practice.
You can learn a little Shin Tai to integrate into your present practice, or go through the entire curriculum. To explore our courses, click the ‘+’ symbol next to each title for details.
For the current schedule of classes and online study options, please see the ‘Upcoming Classes’ and ‘Online Courses’ sections above.
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In this 6 day immersion class, delve into a unique system of evaluation and treatment for Governing Vessel, the central energy flow of the body. Governing Vessel is the first energy current which develops after conception. It serves to govern the development of the other meridians, chakras, organs and the rest of the body's physiology.
The spine itself is the material manifestation of governing vessel energy. By working with the spine through a certain perceptual awareness, you will learn new ways to diagnosis and treat that touch the core potential of a person. This work activates the ability to not only heal, but develop and evolve.
This course is also offered in our online classroom.
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This 5 day fundamental Shin Tai course develops a treatment protocol for Conception Vessel through working with the hara and hip structure. Learn how to give a powerful, transformative hara treatment that will improve every client's condition.
A healthy hara/conception vessel flow is vital for a person’s physical well-being, as well as their ability to manifest dreams, images, and intentions within the life system. Gain a new perspective of working with the hara and provide a potent opportunity to increase the physical, emotional and spiritual vitality in those you touch.
Part of this course is also offered in our online classroom.
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Learn a unique self-treatment to adjust your spine, pelvic structure, ribcage and cranial bones in this 1 day class. Using a step-by-step process, you’ll discover how to stimulate alignment at multiple layers of your being for greater ease, energy and insight into your body and your life.
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Offer your clients a gentle yet penetrating treatment for promoting spinal alignment. This 1 day class gives you the tools to evaluate, release and passively align vertebrae using the cranial sutures.
Explore the multiple dimensions of alignment and how to prepare the body for non-force structural adjustment. Using unique assessment and technique, we then learn how to adjust the cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebra as well as the sacroiliac joint.
Proprioceptive preparation will be a tool we use to alter perception, making it possible to effectively apply this sensitive, gentle structural work.
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In this 6 day course intensive we delve into a unique system of treatment for the central channel of the body, with a focus on the meninges.
The central channel is a circuit of life force that moves along the pathway of the spinal cord. It directly affects the functioning of the meninges, the spine, the central nervous system, the Governing Vessel meridian, the chakras, and the craniosacral fluid.
Using non-force techniques, practitioners learn to identify and work with six distinct stages of stress to release and reintegrate trapped energy. Release of these meningal stress patterns helps to improve a myriad of physical problems along with increasing emotional, mental and spiritual health.
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This 8 day course covers structural assessment and passive correction techniques for the hip structure, sacrum, and vertebrae. Having this comprehensive body of work to offer those you touch is an invaluable addition to your practice.
The skeletal structure is the most densely manifested aspect of the physiology. Making changes at this level of the body reverberates out through the glands, organs and energetic layers of the whole system with particularly deep effects on the hormonal and kidney energy. Acquire the capacity to evaluate and work with the structure in an effective, safe way while coordinating the synthesis between structure and energy in the body.
We consider these tools a necessary part of every bodyworker’s skill set. This work can be integrated with therapeutic massage, shiatsu, craniosacral, and other forms of hands-on bodywork.
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This 4 day Shin Tai course teaches practitioners to evaluate and unlock specific stress patterns held along the central channel of the body. Advanced Central Channel takes the unique and powerful system of central channel to the next level.
The material in this class goes more deeply into abstract/non-linear information & technique. We will be expanding each of the six stress stages, working with anterior contacts, and opening up a whole new level of adjustments with cranial suture work. In order to facilitate these skills, coursework includes advanced proprioceptive journeys that enable greater freedom and perception.
The Core of Shin Tai: Governing Vessel & the Spine and Conception Vessel & the Hara
The two core courses of shin tai study are Governing Vessel & the Spine and Conception Vessel & the Hara. They are taught in 5 or 6 day modules that incorporate theory and technique in a practical and creative protocol. These courses give you the tools to facilitate a new level of freedom and power in those you touch.
The governing vessel (GV) and the conception vessel (CV) are the regulators of the 12 other meridians. Together, they form the most primitive part of the energy system, and can be considered to be the core information system of the body. Until now, no other bodywork modality has addressed manual treatment of this system. Shin Tai offers this in a comprehensive, precise, and highly effective protocol.
“The most exceptional feature of these two meridians [GV and CV] is that they regulate the flow of energy in all the regular meridians.”
— Shizuto Masunaga
Shiatsu is a path of self realization and service.
In order to become a skilled practitioner, a person needs to go through a process of not just learning technique and theory, but clearing, balancing and strengthening themself. Developing a depth of awareness and knowledge fosters the capacity to listen and respond effectively to those who are seeking support in their wellness. The practice then becomes a reflection of a practitioner’s own condition. The practice itself becomes a vehicle for health and transformation for not only those who come for treatment, but for the practitioner themself.
“Thank you both for adding to the joy of my life and work.”
I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to be taking your online classes. Many thanks to Lynn for her patience in getting me up and running and kudos to Saul for the concise, measured, and clear written commentary and demonstrations. The patient and listening energy you embody in all of it is transmitted and I feel inspired in the watching and the reading.
I have been practicing for 25 years—yoga therapy, shiatsu, traditional Thai massage, Trager, CST, and structural integration. Thank you both for adding to the joy of my life and work.
— Jenny Wolffe; Iowa, USA
“Shin Tai has made my work go to a depth I never thought was possible.”
I'm in love with ShinTai. It has made my work go to a depth I never thought was possible and keeps it interesting with every client. It has enriched my life and made it worthwhile to be on this planet. Even when I take new courses on fascia or sound therapy, I am always astounded at the fact that Saul taught this information 30 years ago. I'm grateful every day, with every client, that my path led me to Saul's classes.
— Hilde Niewenhuijsen, shin tai & massage therapist, USA
“I worked a lot less for much greater results.”
After going through all of the shoulder/thoracic material I used it immediately with my client. The results were remarkable: tension dispersed, knotted tenderness gone, and headache released. I worked a lot less with greater results. My focus on the flow of my client’s energy was also clearer to me!
— Patty Alderfer, shin tai & massage therapist, USA
“The efficiency of this work suprises me all the time.”
I like this work very much and have been practicing for over 20 years. The efficiency of it surprises me all the time as a professional bodyworker and Shin Tai teacher.
— Hermann Grobbauer, Shin Tai Instructor, Switzerland