The Water Journey… 

Known affectionately as “Michael Watsu”, Michael is a Watsu therapist and a teacher of the Healing Dance form of aquatic bodywork.  He approaches the therapy as an art form, and each session is an intuitive dance unfolding deeper connection with oneself.    

A pioneer of aquatic bodywork in Asia Pacific, Michael resides in Bali and teaches internationally.

In 1995 Michael first experienced aquatic bodywork and discovered a quality of presence and peace he had never known.  It was "love-at-first-float" and one of the early experiences that propelled him into a journey of self-discovery. He found what was to become a life-long passion for healing arts, yoga and meditation that has since taken around the world to develop himself and share with others.

The Meditation Journey…

What began as a wish to “see the world” became a journey of self-discovery when Michael started to experience yoga while teaching English in Granada Spain. Struggling with anxiety, insomnia, and chronic fatigue, Yoga quickly began to transform his health and experience of the world dramatically, and he felt he had no choice to leave for India in 1998 with a one-way ticket.  Searching for a teacher he eventually found the teachings of Swami Satyananda and spent the better part of his 3 years in India at the Bihar School of Yoga Ashram.  In this traditional setting he experienced Yoga as a way of life. Through and beyond the asana postures, pranayama breathing, and meditation he began to live the spirit of the yoga tradition— a cultivation of self-awareness, service, and devotion.

When he left the ashram and returned to the outside world, he realised that he had gained a rare degree of resilience, adaptability, contentment, and calm.   The experience of India had given him many gifts, including a deep appreciation and reverence for life, a degree of mindfulness, the ability to regulate his nervous system and relax deeply at any time, and a subtle and energetic awareness which he continued to cultivate.

When he began teaching in 2000 he found his teaching was met with enthusiasm and he began to teach widely in private homes and retreats in Southeast Asia, Europe, and later in Australia and Bali.

The Offering…

In the last 20 years, his foundation in yoga and healing arts has found him leading sessions ranging from massage, yoga, optimal breathing, relaxation, meditation, mindfulness, transformational breathwork, self-acupressure, ecstatic dance, chi nei tsang abdominal massage, energy healing, authentic relating, authentic communication, tantra/couples work, kirtan, and aquatic bodywork.

Now, after decades of study, practice and teaching of yoga and healing arts, he leads courses, trainings and transformational retreats to answer the question—

How can we cultivate peace and joy in ourselves, and how can we share that with the world?