Rebecca May Shiatsu

17/09/2025

A return to the mat after a break for a couple of weeks in the desert.

Musings on touch, this important bridge in communication.
So direct, and every time a doorway.
What cannot be spoken is heard.
What cannot be spoken is heard anyway.
Every way.

Here in Melbourne, we are well into our stammering spring.
Go gently with the body.
Eat lighter meals, make use of the longer days to move more and be outside.
Put your whole face into that fence loaded with jasmine blooms and breathe in deeply.
Continue to sleep long, let go into dreaming of what could be.

If your body sings for something more, treatment times are available for the rest of September and October:
Friday 19/9 11am
Saturday 20/9 11am & 2pm
Friday 26/9 11 am & 2pm
Saturday 27/9 10am, 1pm & 3pm

Friday 3/10 2pm
Saturday 4/10 3pm
Friday 10/10 11am & 2pm
Saturday 11/10 10am, 1pm & 3pm
Friday 31/10 11am & 2pm

Bodywork, cupping, guasha, moxibustion.
ie big body loving.

🤍

03/07/2025

Middle winter dreaming.
Keeping warm and embracing stillness.
With little moments of silliness within.
(And much moxibustion!)

Sessions available for July:
Saturday 5th 11am & 2pm
Friday 11th 10am, 2pm, 4pm
Saturday 12th 10am, 1pm, 3pm
Friday 18th 10am, 2pm, 4pm
Friday 25th 10am, 2pm, 4pm
Saturday 26th 10am, 1pm, 3pm

Text or call to book in.

🖤

21/06/2025

This documentary is called Surviving Progress.
It's from 2011, though the content is just as relevant today.
Well worth watching while it's still online.

Surviving Progress explores the dangerous paradox at the heart of modern civilization: what we call "progress" might actually be leading us toward collapse. ...

11/06/2025

The absolute privilege of treating family.
Love you sissie x x

Sessions available for June:
Friday 13th 2pm & 4pm
Saturday 14th 10am
Friday 20th 10am & 3:30pm
Saturday 21st 10am
Friday 27th 10am & 3pm
Saturday 28th 11am & 2pm

Bodywork, cupping/guasha, moxibustion.
Immune system loving.
Warmth and rest.

🤍

26/04/2025

Post-session wind-down.
Being back on the mat these days is beyond glorious.
The joy is real.

The lingering warmth of summer feels to have finally give out and we begin to fold inwards for the last of autumn’s cooling.
A perfect time to check in with the body;
to quieten the mind;
to bolster the spirit.
A perfect time for shiatsu.

Current practice days are Thurs-Fri-Sat in the home clinic space, Thornbury.

🤍

20/04/2025

Some excellent and long-awaited news - Shiatsu & Oriental Therapies will soon have private health rebates reinstated 👏🏼

It's a beautiful and affirming piece of news, to have this bodywork practice I love be recognised as providing sound therapeutic benefit.

As when health rebates were available for this modality previously, not all insurers will offer rebates.
Check your policy to see if shiatsu is listed, and if so, take advantage!

A Historic Moment for Shiatsu in Australia!
Dear Students, Graduates, and Shiatsu Community,
We are thrilled to announce that Shiatsu therapy will be reinstated under private health insurance coverage following the acceptance of recommendations from the recent Natural Therapies Review.
This decision formally recognizes Shiatsu's value in supporting Australians' health and wellbeing and validates the rigorous training standards at the Australian Shiatsu College.
The review, led by Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd AO and supported by the NHMRC, found sufficient evidence to include Shiatsu in private health insurance benefits. The government has accepted these recommendations and is working on timely re-inclusion.
While this doesn't guarantee all insurers will cover Shiatsu, it lifts regulatory barriers, opening important doors for practitioners and clients.
As Australia's leading Shiatsu education provider, we are committed to maintaining high training standards. This development enhances recognition of our qualifications and career opportunities for graduates.
For students, this means entering a profession with improved recognition and broader client access. For graduates, it offers new possibilities for practice growth and client support.
The Australian Shiatsu College will work closely with professional associations like STAA and ATMS to ensure clear pathways for those with older qualifications to upgrade and reinstate association membership, enabling them to receive provider numbers.
We thank every association, practitioner, and advocate who contributed to this outcome. This milestone belongs to our entire community.
This marks the start of an exciting new chapter for Shiatsu in Australia.
---
Official Government Announcement -https://www.markbutler.net.au/news/media-releases/yf7nvwdw52bzu2sirzmk27pmdmw609

23/03/2025

This past year has been larger than most.
So much learning.

About love.
Love for the body.
Love for the body as a house for the soul.

About acceptance.
Accepting ourselves.
Accepting ourselves for how we are in this moment.

This moment.
A return to sweet a festival called PANAMA in Tasmania.
Fresh and familiar faces; each body a story and a marvel.

Chlesea, Cassandra, Amalia, Pete, Hannah, Michelle, Robin, Kishka, Tye, Amy, Mary, Kate, Caz, Aedan, Alice, Chris, Ross, Ronny, Veroty, Penny, Nic, Matthew, Alison, Ben, Clancy, Michael and Ali.

Every set of eyes that opened after our sessions were windows to some wordless space beyond.

Thank you for letting me take you there.

🤍

16/03/2024

PANAMA

The gravelly cries of black cockatoos overhead. Bumblebees touring the tent during treatments. Lizards in the loo.
And all of you.

Jenner, Pete, Rachel, Kate, Kaz, Tye, Mary, Amy, Sam, Chris, Will, Marie, Tim, Charlotte, Mike, Heather, Evan, Allysha Joy, Verity, Penny, Rick, Emile, Nic, Cate, Selina, Jason and Ryan.

My heart bursts at the memory of the trust; the way each of your bodies were given over so beautifully. Joy, relief, revelation. Where would we be without tears? Where would we be without each other?

Always an honour.

Til next year x

15/11/2023

“And I want to tell people that healing isn’t about completion.
And it isn’t about lightness.
It’s about the mixing bowl where nothing is rejected.
Everything is included.”

Written and read by Sophie Strand live at at Amanda Palmer's O+ Festival Benefit at The Old Dutch Church in Kingston, NY, August 13, 2022. Accompanying live ...

13/11/2023

The weekend that was.
Eleven bodies.
Eleven stories.
Strength, sorrow, so much joy.
Thanks to the life livers and lovers of nipaluna/Hobart for having me as guest and guide.
Next visit to these southern lands will be in early March next year for a festival called PANAMA
Until then 🤍

05/11/2023

After several false starts and date reshuffles, I’m so happy to be treating from this beautiful space in South Hobart next weekend.

This happening has come purely from the love borne of a festival called PANAMA and the glorious patrons who return to the shiatsu stall for a session year after year.

Treatments will be taking place November 10-12, there are currently still a few spots available on the Saturday and Sunday.

If you’re a Taswegian in need of bodywork or know of one that is, sing out.

🩵

19/03/2023

Dearest PANAMA.

Together again, at last.

It seems like we are watching each other grow older and more in love with our lives than the last time we met, and all the times before.
This time, along with the stories of our love, we shared the gravity and the grist of living. We lifted the magic festival cloak that would have us appear forever dewy-faced and immortal, to show that death had left a mark on us all.
The choices, the challenges, the changes and that unbreakable thread of hope that holds it all together…we were all right there for it, right there with it.

We held each other close.

We held each other’s gaze and did not waver.

(I am never more seen than in the eyes of those that rise from the mat after each session given.)

To Celeste, Nichola, Chelsea, Pete, Angela, Victor, JB, Rick, Phoebe, Tye, Sarah, Ian, Anne, Rachel, Nic, Stewart, Amy, Mary, Jess, Ali, Penny, Claire, Jamie, Michael, Peter, Penny, Margy and Bella - my gratitude knows no bounds.

Blessings for a festival called PANAMA

See you next year x