The soothing sound of Indian sitar music swings through the small swimming pool – accompanied by the soft gurgle of the water. Without taking her eyes off Katharina, Sibylle Schütz gently guides the young woman’s body, which is floating in the water, through the pool. The therapist holds and supports, stretches and massages, loosens and strokes with careful, flowing movements, while Katharina devotes herself to the choreography of her healer with her eyes closed.
After the one-hour treatment in the 35-degree water, Katharina says she feels light and free. As if the water had literally drained and washed all the stress out of her. She searches for words to describe the feeling of security she felt – Sibylle Schütz smiles knowingly while she shakes a few drops of water from her blond curls. The 51-year-old body therapist knows the mixture of emotion and enthusiasm when her clients drift into deep relaxation and then feel reborn. “For me, that’s always the nicest compliment,” she says, “and also the deeper meaning of a Watsu session: being relaxed and relaxed.”
Water Shiatsu, or Watsu for short, is a form of hydrotherapy that is still little known to us and was developed by the American Harold Dull in the 1980s. The Shiatsu master moved the Asian treatment method, in which the body’s energy channels are activated by finger pressure massages, to the water without further ado. On the one hand, because the buoyancy takes weight and thus allows movements that would be impossible on dry land. On the other hand, because you can switch off in the warm water – just like in a bathtub. “The wonderful thing about Watsu is that mental worries take a back seat. This also helps to release physical blockages more easily. Breathing becomes deeper, the lymph flow improves and the blood circulation in the muscles, connective tissue and skin stimulated,” explains Sibylle Schütz, letting her beautiful, slender hands tell the story with many gestures.
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Let yourself fall into weightlessness
The Munich-based theater studies graduate experienced first-hand how holistically healing warm water therapy is. “I was not in good health at some stages of my life. And I was always looking for something to strengthen me,” she says thoughtfully, and a small wrinkle digs into her forehead at the memory. “Because I’m very curious and have always been interested in body therapies, personality development and esoteric trends, I tried out quite a few things. From the much ridiculed silk painting self-discovery course in Tuscany to bioenergetics to the Five Tibetans,” she continues. However, there was no reverberation – until she took a Watsu introductory course in 2000: “Carried by the therapist’s arms, I floated in the warm water and knew: this is it!
Stretch, stretch, massage the body
Parallel to the job, she completed a two-year training course at the Institute for Aquatic Bodywork in Freiburg. “I learned everything I needed to know about anatomy and medical principles, about shiatsu, working in the water and with clients,” she says, emphasizing how important it is to empathize with others. “Only if I find out in the preliminary talk where the weak points are and what is important to the client can I specifically address them in the water.”
Because the client and therapist get very close to each other with Watsu and it requires a willingness to let go, Sibylle Schütz works with floats and pool noodles at the beginning of the hour. These two buoyancy aids allow the client to get used to the floating and passive feeling in the water in the “warm-up phase” without much physical contact. “Through this relaxation, confidence slowly builds and I can start with the actual therapy: straightening, stretching, massaging and guiding the body through the water in my arms.”
What’s behind it?
Sibylle Schütz has been working as a therapist for around eight years. In addition to Watsu, she also offers classic Shiatsu as well as rebalancing and Tibetan massages in a center for bodywork in Munich: “I gradually completed the training until I felt ready to take the leap daring to be self-employed.” Because she also wants to do “a little something for her head” and maintain her network that has grown over the years, she also does some press work. However, her heart beats for Watsu, “because I think it’s great how good other people feel afterwards”. And she also benefits from it: “During a treatment, I notice every time how I calm down, even if I was so hectic beforehand.” For Sibylle Schütz, Watsu is “the most beautiful thing in the world” and always again a gift again.
