The Shinzui Postgraduate program integrates the nature-based wisdom of East Asian medicine with contemporary anatomical knowledge and developments in a range of manual therapies. It combines time-tested treatment methods, such as Shiatsu, Ampuku, and Chi Nei Tsang, with the latest advances in touch-based therapies, including Visceral Osteopathy, Fascia work and CranioSacral therapy, resulting in enhanced clinical efficacy and scope.
Drawing on his many years of experience in clinical practice and teaching, Philippe Vandenabeele set up the Shinzui postgraduate program in 2017. The Shinzui Academy now offers its program as intensive in-person courses supported by its online learning hub.
Alongside its Shinzui training, the Academy also offers separate online courses and international workshops on specific themes.
The Curriculum: Ancient Roots, Modern Integration
What we will learn
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The Traditional Japanese Bodywork Foundations: Master the 30 traditional Ampuku (Abdominal Acupressure) techniques as originally documented in the seminal texts Anma Tebiki (1800) and Ampuku Zukai (1827).
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The Integrative Bridge: Discover how Ampuku forms the structural bedrock of Shinzui, serving as the master key that unifies Visceral Osteopathy, Chi Nei Tsang, Shiatsu, and Zhang Fu Tuina.
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The Diagnostic Compass: Learn to read the underlying root causes of physical distress using the energetic maps of East Asian Medicine.
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The Central Map: Explore the Bagua—the alignment of the eight forces and the Eight Extraordinary Vessels—to decipher complex diagnostic patterns using the Yijing, the Book of Changes.
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Internal Cultivation: Learn specific Qi Gong and meditation techniques informed by the Bagua, forming an essential foundation for the Shinzui practitioner's own presence and touch.
Shinzui 真髄
Bringing the essence of the East Asian bodywork traditions to contemporary
manual therapy practice.
Shinzui is the Japanese term for 'essence’ or ‘core’. It is also the Dharma/Lineage name Philippe Vandenabeele received from his Japanese teacher, carrying the message and intent to stay true to the essence of the East Asian healing traditions while also adapting to the times and cultures in which they are practised.
The essence of the East Asian healing tradition lies in the intricate science of Ki/Qi, which maps the patterns of change and their transformations in a detailed and comprehensive manner. Through its holistic nature, this medicine of change offers practitioners ways to understand, listen to, communicate with, and align themselves with the innate intelligence of the body.
By learning to understand the patterns of nature - of which the human body is an integral part - East Asian medicine provides us with a set of detailed, multi-layered maps of the body’s inner landscape, which can guide practitioners to support clients by addressing a wide range of health conditions.
The same patterns of change, so well mapped by East Asian medicine, align with what pioneers of Cranial and Visceral Osteopathy (such as W.G. Sutherland and J.P. Barral) described as the visceral and cranial rhythms of the body. Their discoveries led to entirely new approaches in manual therapy, by working with these deep body rhythms. The strength of their methodologies lies in their precise, anatomical, and scientific approach. Learning from these developments, the Shinzui Postgraduate program incorporates these rhythms as the ‘Yin and Yang Tides’ of the body.
Another significant evolution that Shinzui program offers is the integration of the Eastern and Western understanding of the influence of gravity on the body’s tissues and structures, and how to work with it.
Shinzui is an integrated way of working with the following major body systems:
- Energetic anatomy: the 3 Dantien, 8 Extraordinary Vessels, 12 organ meridians & 5 transformations, and the 6 greater meridians
- Visceral system: Zang Fu organ network, visceral anatomy, visceral neural and vascular systems
- Cardiovascular system: heart, blood vessels, and mesentery
- Craniosacral and Neural system: brain, skull, spine, spinal fluid, and nerves
- Myofascial system: fascia, muscle chains, diaphragms, and tendons
- Skeletal system: bone structure, postural alignment
The Inner Practices - Stillness in Action
Cultivating and embracing stillness in action is the basis for true mastery of any art, including the art of touch. That is why, in the Shinzui curriculum, we give ample time and space for Inner Cultivation. The Daoist practices - of Meditation, Qi Gong, and especially Nei Gong and Nei Dan - are central to our work.
