I find intense pleasure in being creative and connecting with people on a profound level in the water. I love witnessing the transformation of people during sessions. Clients have gained better flexibility, deeper states of relaxation and increased contact with their inner selves.
How hydrotherapy recipients describe their therapy session:
Nurturing, healing and safe.
Free-flowing in space.
Massage performed in the water.
Like swimming in the ocean.
All muscles lose and liberated.
Reborn and reconnected to self.
Inspirational and transformational.
The water therapy with Helena was absolutely wonderful. Enjoyed every moment of surrendering into the water and the gentle movement guided by Helena. Highly recommended her therapy.
- Gail Bennett -
Hydrotherapy availability:
Mondays 07:15-10:15 at SEN Spa
Thursdays 11:00-17:00 at Akasha Holistic Wellbeing
Fridays 07:15-10:15 at SEN Spa
Hydrotherapy includes Aquatic Bodywork, Floatation Therapy and Aquatic Contact Improvisation Dance.
Bookings and Locations:
Akasha Holistic Wellbeing
Treatment: Thursdays 11:00-17:00
Address: Café Hotel Royal, 50 Regent St, London W1B 5HG
Aquatic Bodywork is also known as Watsu. Watsu is an evolution of Zen Shiatsu, which takes the massage practice in warm water. It was established as a therapeutic practice in 1980 by Harold Dull in California.
People can experience the sessions as being profoundly relaxing. The immersive experience in the water gently supports your movement and takes you to the limits of your flexibility. It has been described as a guided meditation in the water, which can take people on a journey.
An Aquatic Bodywork session consists of a sequence of graceful, subtle, yet fluid and dynamic movements guided by a trained practitioner. You will be floating in chest deep water of a heated pool.
After floating on the surface, when you are ready and tuned in with your breathing rhythm, you are gently submerged. You will access 360 degrees of complete freedom, without the constraint of gravity.
Aquatic Bodywork combines the powerful therapeutic benefits of weightlessness in warm water with fluid movements, gentle stretches, rotations and massage. In water, our body weight is reduced, this allows a skilled therapist to float you effortlessly, subtly amplifying your movements, and assisting in releasing rigidity and stiffness.
Clinical research over the past two decades has shown a host of benefits. These include improved posture, reduced back pain, relaxed muscles, mobilised joints, deepened breathing, lowered stress and decreased anxiety.
Aquatic Bodywork is often recommended for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and sports rehabilitation. Pregnant women, overweight people or people with reduced mobility have also benefited.
The hydrostatic properties of the water, or the pressure the aquatic medium exerts on a body, have been shown to help increase superficial circulation and lymphatic function, reducing swelling and pain sensation.
You do not have to be a swimmer to participate in or benefit from hydrotherapy. No previous experience is required. In fact, Aquatic Bodywork has been shown to help overcome deeply rooted fears of water by carefully guiding into a safe environment. It is suitable for all ages and abilities.
"Imagine floating in warm water, free from the constraints of gravity, bathing in silence."
Your body floats unrestricted and expresses what it remembers in a slow, delicate dance. Your thoughts slow down as you float in silence submerged in warm water and supported by the therapists’ arms and floatation aids. People often experience a form of meditative relaxation, mental well-being and regeneration.
Floating alone on the water's surface, people often experience a more comfortable and deeply relaxed state. People can access a state of being, rather than doing.
"You feel like you are floating within an ocean or feeling safe and free, experiencing a limitless space."
The therapy has been shown to enable pregnant women to become aware of their bodies and to release tensions. It also can help couples to establish gentle contact with their baby in a womb.
I have wanted to try Watsu since I first found out about it. My great-aunt who I was very close to did it regularly in Miami, Florida. The idea of being guided while floating in body-temperature water seemed like something I’d really enjoy.
I now have watsu sessions with Helena a few times a month. It is an extraordinary experience - to be weightless and supported in the water. Helena has a very special way about her and I feel supported physically, emotionally and spiritually. I have been able to achieve greater levels of relaxation and trust. Most recently I have been able to go completely underwater in the final stages of the session. Watsu is a truly marvellous and special experience. It is unlike any other modality I have ever tried.
- Peter Miller -
Aquatic Contact Improvisation
A new form of contemporary dance in the water called Aquatic Contact Improvisation (ACI) can contain many different states, aspects and patterns. It was inspired by Contact Improvisation Dance, founded by Steve Paxton in 1980 in California.
It is an improvised dance using aerial reality, freedom, fluid movement and bodily experience in the warm water combined with conscious breathing which can take you into different states and aspects.
The intention of ACI practice is to raise emotional awareness, opening and expanding our consciousness to experience life more fully, focusing on deepening our sensitivity and perception of our inner and outer environments.
Learn to bring attention to the centre of your body and soft limbs underlying movement principles of the human development process of movement, emotional intelligence, embodied awareness, and release of physical and emotional stress, buried deep within from early childhood.
Your dance can be experimental, playful, embodied, energetic and meditative. You will be supported moving with shared weight, physical sensation and deep listening, which require special attention. Express your vision and sensitivity to listen to your dance and the water's momentum.
The dance form takes place in the heated pool on 1 to 1 basis and in groups.
