Trauma & Happiness | through the lens of Sei-Ki

If you are reading this, you are probably a touch-therapist or interested in this area. You will know, firsthand, that all trauma, from deliberate abuse to ‘minor’ upsets, shows up in concrete distortion and compromised breathing. We are well-qualified to agree with Bessel Van Der Kolk that, The Body Keeps the Score.[1]

Working with others we also come to see that it is essential to work with our own trauma if we are to develop into practitioners who can offer real help to a variety of people.

But, with so much recent focus on trauma, we might find ourselves asking about the other side pain. How can we live a fulfilling life, embracing pleasure and joy even while we are burdened with trauma in our bodies, hearts and minds?

In Shiatsu, Namikoshi talked of ‘mother’s touch’ and Masunaga of ‘touch with love’ as the way to meet discomfort. The founder of Sei-Ki, Kishi Akinobu, spoke of resonance and the importance of simple human touch. What all of them recognised is that, when we are met with understanding that is devoid of judgement, when we are touched with acceptance and nothing is expected in return, then trauma naturally comes to the surface and dissolves; we find we are breathing again.

But the simple is hard to achieve. It involves letting go of what we think we know, through disciplined surrender. It insists we hone our skill-in-touch, tekiatsu.

Sei-Ki is philosophy in action. It is a practical acknowledgement that trauma is the human condition, yet not what defines us. Sei-Ki soothes and questions, opens and dissolves, restoring our appetite for life.

Sei-Ki is inherently trauma-sensitive, before we knew the term. In these three days, we will touch on what it might mean to live with and through our wounds, fulfilled and joyful. We will do this by developing sensitivity, exploring our connection to universal mind through spontaneous movement andhow to become a skilled practitioner of touch.

In this workshop you will practice the basics of Sei-Ki. Since The Way of Touch is always beginners mind, this will be valuable to old and new students alike. You will be invited to explore trauma through this lens and supported in approaching this area with more confidence.

Dr Alice Whieldon is an experienced Sei-Ki presenter, co-author of Sei-Ki: Life in Resonance with Kishi Akinobu. She is the author of Clearing: the Key to Mindfulness Mastery and a trainer in this counselling-style work that is a perfect companion to Sei-Ki. She has further degrees in Theology and Feminist Philosophy and Spirituality and taught at degree level in the Humanities for many years. She combines skill-in-touch with a precise understanding of trauma and its effects through the lenses of Sei-Ki and Clearing, to deliver holistic workshops for practitioners in all the touch arts as well as anyone interested in self-exploration and healing through Sei-Ki in particular.

Alice is the Director of Sei-Ki Hub which she founded in 2024 with two colleagues, Alexandra Gelny and Maria Kokori, to bring The Way of Touch to a wider audience and foster community and exchange.

This workshop will include:

• Demonstrations of Sei-Ki, the Way of Touch as training in observational ability
• Practice in developing greater skill in touch: working with fellow students under guidance
• Talks and discussion about how we can understand trauma in this work including Q&A
• Exploration of joy and pleasure as the other side of trauma and integral to touch work
• Working with receptivity as a way back to the body from dissociated states and gentle human contact as the most natural, heart-warming response in easing distress

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[1] Van Der Kolk, 2014, Viking