This page will give you information about the relaxing therapies available at El i si Therapies. Benefits of these therapies, especially when included regularly into your life, include:

• improved health
• increased energy
• agility & flexibility
• loosens & strengthens joints & muscles
• controls weight
• rejuvenates Body, Mind & Spirit
• reduces stress
• improves concentration & intuitive abilities
• controls emotions.

Whether you choose to join in a class or have a therapy session, the El i si experience will leave you feeling very relaxed & balanced.

QIGONG

A QiGong class at El i si Therapies is easy to follow with the emphasis on relaxing into the moves rather than concentrating on correct technique.

There are two important rules:

1- if it hurts, don’t do it!
2- SMILE.

If for any reason the moves are too difficult, visualising yourself doing the moves is actually very beneficial. Classes are suitable for most people although, as with any form of exercise, medical advice should be sought if you have any health problems.

Qi Gong (chee kung) is an ancient Chinese form of exercise. It is very gentle yet extremely powerful.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is based on the theory, many thousands of years old, that if the meridians or energy pathways are not kept free of blockages then dis-ease will follow. Think of it as a traffic jam. If there is a hold up then there becomes a backlog of very frustrated traffic which then tries to find other routes, usually causing mayhem elsewhere.

Doing QiGong for several months has made me much stronger mentally. ~ Sandy I can’t physically do the moves so I sit in a chair & visualise myself doing them. ~ Janet I wasn’t sleeping so went to QiGong & for the next 3 nights I slept 8 hours. I went the following week & again slept 8 hours for the next 3 nights. I feel so energised & centred after a class. I am now a devotee of QiGong. ~ Wendy

If our Qi or Life-Force Energy becomes stagnant then disruption elsewhere will be the result. So a TCM Practitioner will try to follow the symptoms back to the cause instead of trying to alleviate the symptoms as we do in Western Medicine.

Regular practise of QiGong is the Chinese equivalent of 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away'. It is also used to clear blockages once they’ve occurred before they cause dis-ease elsewhere.

There are several forms of QiGong & E li si Therapies offers TAI CHI QIGONG SHIBASHI which is excellent for routine maintenance as well as recovery. This is the form Lisa used in her recovery from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

It is also a great way to start to regain fitness if you’ve been inactive for some time.

Classes are broken into 3 stages & are held several times a week.

Stage 1 INTERNAL MASSAGE
This is a series of very gentle warm up exercises focussing on awareness of movement.

Stage 2 EIGHT PIECES OF BROCADE
These gentle stretching moves open up the meridians or energy channels & increase circulation. There is a short period of stillness after each set of moves with the awareness being brought back to the breath.

Stage 3 SHIBASHI
These gentle moves flow on from each other & end in a short standing meditation focussing on the breath. We follow this with a beautiful guided relaxation which may be done sitting or lying.

GUIGEN QIGONG is also offered at E li si Therapies. Lisa went to Beijing in April 2006 with Simon Blow (www.simonblowqigong.com) to study this form with Dr Xu (www.guigen.com.cn) who created it. It is an important part of patient treatment at the Beijing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) hospital.

This is a more powerful form than Shibashi & works on the Five Element Theory that underpins TCM. There is a series of moves for each of the Five Elements of Fire, Earth, Metal, Water & Wood. Each of these elements has particular meridians associated with it & the moves work specifically on these.

This form is taught at a beautiful workshop with regular weekly classes to maintain your health. It can also be taught individually as part of a healing programme.

Classes are 1 hour long.

REIKI

A Reiki session at El i si Therapies involves relaxing in a big reclining chair in our beautiful therapy room listening to relaxing music. Most of the work is done around the head area & sometimes the shoulders. Occasionally other parts of the body may be worked on as necessary. Crystals may be used to help the healing process & sometimes Chakra Balancing or breath work is included.

Reiki is an ancient Japanese form of energy healing rediscovered by Dr Mikao Usui towards the end of the nineteenth century.

Energy healing is a skill that anyone can learn. It is only a lack of awareness that holds us back.

Awareness comes through exercise such as QiGong or Tai Chi or through repeated stillness or meditation. Simply relax & take a few deep breaths, sit or stand & rub your hands together briskly for a few moments & then pull your hands a few centimetres apart. Imagine that you have a small balloon between your hands. Now gently squeeze your imaginary balloon & release. Repeat this several times. After regular practise you may start to feel heat or tingling in your hands or maybe some gentle resistance as though you were holding a real balloon. Eventually you’ll be able to feel the Qi without rubbing your hands together.

Reiki is just one form of energy healing & there are several types of Reiki. Usui & Siechem are two of the more common ones. Attunements are given to Reiki students to clear the energy which enables the energy to pass through more freely. Each attunement increases the voltage, as it were!

A Reiki treatment is simply a transfer of energy, a bit like the cable (practitioner) transferring electricity (Ki or Qi) from the socket (source) to the appliance (client).

It is deeply relaxing & helps clear energy blockages, allowing the body to heal itself. It is done fully clothed (both the client & the practitioner!) & the practitioner may place their hands on the body or just above, in the auric field.

It is particularly good for stress & often helps when faced with difficult decisions as it helps to clear the mind.

E li si Therapies offers individual appointments for Reiki sessions or Reiki tuition in a workshop environment.

A session is generally 1 hour but may last from 40 minutes to 2.5 hours.

WU TAO– The Dancing Way

A Wu Tao class at El i si Therapies will have you laughing & enjoying the beautiful dances as we again focus on relaxing into the moves rather than concentrating on getting the moves right, hence the laughter!

We start gently warming up the body by waking up the meridians & then move through each of the dances in turn. The dances provide a complete workout, starting gently, becoming more energetic & then cooling down. We finish each class with the relaxing Deep Peace guided meditation & Tibetan Singing Bowls.

Wu Tao (pronounced Woo Dow) www.wutaodance.com is a beautiful way to get fit &find inner peace. It is relatively new & originates from ballet but incorporates the same philosophies as QiGong (link).

It is a series of dances that represents each of the Five Elements, a crucial theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), working on the meridian system.

Each dance works the meridians associated with the element it represents. Each dance will gently stretch you, physically, emotionally & spiritually as you lose yourself in the beautiful music, especially composed for Wu Tao.

Meditation in motion.

It is currently taught in a beautiful one day workshop which may challenge you but will ultimately leave you with a feeling we call DEEP PEACE. Once you have attended a workshop there are regular classes that will leave you feeling relaxed & refreshed.

NLP

NLP is a way of taking our thought processes (which are often learned in childhood) & re-programming them to be more useful to us as a adults. It is used widely by top athletes, in business & also in Life Coaching.

It can be used to help phobias, change habits or destructive patterns & goal setting. It can be helpful in relationships, both personal & working. Offered as individual sessions or workshops.

Very effective when used during a Reiki session.

REFLEXOLOGY

A Reflexology session at El i si Therapies starts with a foot spa & aromatic salt scrub. The feet are gently dried & you lie back as the chair reclines while listening to relaxing music. Each foot is massaged starting at the toes & working across the sole one foot to the other down to the heels & then down the top of the feet. The therapist may spend longer working on any area that feels blocked.

Reflexology is a way of treating the body through massaging the feet. Each part of the feet corresponds to a part of the body so massaging any given point will have an effect on the relevant part of the body. This is particularly good for back problems where direct manipulation through massage is too painful. It is also good for people who are not comfortable with massage.

This relaxing treatment lasts for approximately 1 hour.

MASSAGE

A massage at El i si Therapies is loosely based on Swedish massage which is a very relaxing form of massage. It is an ideal therapy for stress management. Massage uses manipulation of the muscles with the hands which relaxes the muscles, releasing tension.

A therapy session lasts approximately 1 hour. Bliss!

HOT STONE MASSAGE

As with most therapies practiced at El i si Therapies, Hot Stone Massage is an ancient therapy that has recently been revived. It has been used by the Indians, Chinese, Indonesians & Native Americans for over 3000 years.

Hot Stone Massage combines thermotherapy (heat) with massage to increase the circulation & calm the nervous system. The Hot stones are heated by immersing them in hot water & are then placed on various points on the body creating a comforting feeling of warmth & security. The masseur then massages the body with hot stones. The heat allows for better absorption of therapeutic oils leaving the skin hydrated & relaxes the muscles so that a deeper effect is achieved than by massage alone.

Hot stone massage is good for back aches & pain, poor circulation, osteoarthritis & arthritic pain, stress, anxiety & tension, and depression. The use of Healing Crystals may be incorporated into the Hot Stone Massage.

A session will last for 1.5 – 2 hrs. More Bliss!

Indian Head Massage
Also known as Champissage, champi meaning head.

It has been used for over 4000 years in India & was considered to be part of the daily routine. Barbers in India perform it as part of their service. It is an invigorating & uplifting therapy working on the scalp, back, shoulders, neck & face.

Firm, rhythmic strokes are used incorporating Pressure Points. It may be incorporated with Indian Scalp Treatment using special oils. Regular treatment may help relieve eyestrain, insomnia, migraine & stiff neck. It may also relax & tone the facial muscles & stimulate & nourish the hair & scalp. This is believed to help prevent baldness.

An Indian Head Massage session will last for approximately 30 minutes.