Watsu & Aquatic Bodywork
Few places on earth are as perfect for water therapy as the Big Island in Hawaii, with its combination of clean ocean water and heat from volcanoes, enabling the natural, relaxing and life-transforming warm water ponds.
A relaxing meditation in the soft embrace of warm water, Aquatic Bodywork combines an immersion in the freedom and fluidity of a liquid (dolphin) dance with a deeply nurturing massage, gently stretching mind, body and soul.
Profound and intimate, this journey into the prenatal universe proposes an exhilarating dive into the primordial and spiritual selves and a safely guided introduction to the mesmerizing dolphin world.
Aquatic Bodywork is a gentle form of body therapy performed in warm water, (around 95°F). It combines elements of massage, joint mobilization, shiatsu, stretching and dance. The receiver is continuously supported while being floated, cradled, rocked and massaged. The deeply relaxing effects of warm water and reduced gravity combine to create a bodywork modality with a range of therapeutic benefits on many levels.
Moments of stillness alternate with flowing movements, which free the body in ways impossible on land. The warm water relaxes the muscles and allows the spine, joints and muscles to be manipulated and freed in a way unique to water work. The effects include a very gentle, yet deep stretching and a decrease of muscular and joint restrictions, along with a state of profound relaxation, which encourages the release of stress and tension.
Our aquatic sessions are performed at the large Warm Pond on the Big Island coast, which is a natural mineral spring heated by the volcano.
Lilia Cangemi – Watsu Therapist
Lilia Cangemi is a native of Italy, where she attended six years of Medical School and with a Master’s in Journalism became a publicist specializing in health and medical matters. She is a Licensed Massage Therapist specializing in Lomi Lomi, Deep Tissue, Swedish, Shiatsu, Emotional Freedom Technique, Energy Psychology and Cranial-Sacral. She is a Reiki Master, a Breathwork professional, and is registered with the Worldwide Aquatic Bodywork Association as a Watsu Therapist & Instructor, Healing Dance Therapist and Waterdance Practitioner.
She has created and developed two modalities, Dolphin Dance and Quantum Leap Healing, which she practices and teaches. She loves to integrate healing techniques in an original synthesis aimed at aligning body, heart, mind and spirit, and to share the gift of holistic therapies with clients and students in spa, clinical and private practice.
Lilia understands that sometimes we come to transitions in our life when we feel a silent cry inside, manifesting in the form of physical or psychological pain.
It is at these times of chronic suffering or “breakdown” that an opportunity is presented to reevaluate our choices and the paradigms we based them upon. The “emergency” can then be revealed as an “emergence”, during which the potential for different solutions is discovered and harnessed to suggest new directions and reframe the crisis to a chance for a ‘quantum leap”. For further information please visit www.aquaticdance.com.
A slideshow conceived by Lilia Cangemi, creator of Dolphin Dance, with photography by Trund Andersen, music by Enya, and the participation of Isa Mat and Anthony Dunkley. Copyright 2012 Trund Andersen, Lilia Cangemi.