On this page...
- General Information
- Dates & Details
- A Personal Note
General Information
Oda was born in Israel in 1967. After receiving her Law Degree at Tel Aviv University and becoming a licensed lawyer she went on towards a career in Law. At this time some realizations and understandings evolved which were followed by a need to make changes, both in profession and in lifestyle.
The Beginning
Her studies in the field of Oriental and holistic healing arts began in 1991 with a one-year program of Shiatsu, the Japanese bodywork technique based on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). This course would turn out to be the first step of many in a comprehensive journey into the various skills and arts of Oriental Medicine, holistic therapy and personal development.
The following 10 years would be dedicated to long-term comprehensive study programs- 3 years of Shiatsu (Classic, Namikoshi, Masunaga, Zen & Tao styles), and 4 years of TCM (oriental philosophy, acupuncture, herbs), various master workshops with teachers from abroad (USA, Canada, Europe, China and Japan), extensive clinical training and internship in Israel and China and a 3-year teacher-training program.
Teaching and Therapy
The teacher-training program began in the Shiatsu college in 1993 and by 1996 Oda was a certified Shiatsu teacher and teaching full-year Shiatsu programs. As of 1998 she has been an independent teacher in Israel, Europe and Asia, sharing her knowledge, personal experience and understanding, as well as creating courses and workshops for different people with a variety of skills, needs and vocations.
After completing a period of supervised clinical apprenticeship, together with clinical experience in hospitals in China, in 1995 Oda began her clinical practice in Israel as a certified Shiatsu Therapist. This would be complemented in 1998 with the certification as an Oriental Medical Doctor (OMD) in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Since 1998 Oda has been giving treatments in Shiatsu, TCM, Reiki and Integrated Healing wherever she lives, east and west.
Personal Development
Parallel to these main study topics unfolded a path dedicated to personal cultivation and well-being of both body and mind, drawing from the core of the ancient traditions of Yoga, Buddhism, Zen and Taoism. This included a wide range of disciplines for physical and mental training, such as Yoga Asana-Pranayama-Mantra-Kriya, Tai Chi Chuan, Qi Gong, Meditation and Vedic Chanting. India, China, Thailand, Nepal, Burma, Tibet, UK, France and Israel would encompass the geographical locations on this path of self-cultivation.
Reiki and other disciplines based on intuition and energy-work, were integrated into the clinical practice, giving the therapeutic work a more holistic element. Oda began teaching Reiki in the year 2000, creating comprehensive courses which integrated various disciplines in an intensive study program.
Retreat and pilgrimage would be essential elements on the path to acquiring knowledge and understanding. Ashrams, monasteries, temples, meditation centers & the Himalayan mountains would offer perfect opportunities and environments for retreat, to study, receive instruction, reflect, comprehend and integrate teachings and experiences.
The Physical Body
Over the years, based mainly on personal experience, a clear comprehension evolved regarding the advantages and benefits of working on the physical body and developing its many capabilities. Physical activity in general, flexibility, strength and muscle tone, all together were clearly a sound base for a mental state of contentment, joy and well-being.
10 years of classical ballet at a young age led to many other forms of dance and movement (contemporary, modern, folklore, belly-dancing, Latin dance) culminating in the arts of Contact Dance and Improvisation movement, Bio-Danza and Sub-Body dance. Body movement became a tool for feeling and learning about character, personality and inter-personal dynamics.
Sports, gymnastics, sport-instructors course, Pilates technique, Hanna-Yoga-Somatics, yoga asana, western medicine, anatomy and physiology - all these have accumulated into the necessary knowledge for understanding body-mechanics, structural and postural alignment for general health and correct bodywork.
Prompted by the belief that a healthy body is a good starting point towards a healthy mind, together with the phrase that "You are what you eat" and that "The body is the temple that holds the mind", knowledge about Nutrition, Cleansing and Fasting was part of the learning process. Western as well as Oriental techniques were investigated and experimented with to extract personal knowledge in these fields.
...
Dates & Details
Complementary Therapy - Studies & Internships
1991 – 1995: Shiatsu Therapist Diploma (Medi-Cin College of Complementary Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel)
1994 – 1998: TCM - Oriental Medical Doctor Diploma (Medi-Cin College of Complementary Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel)
1992 & 1993: Tao Shiatsu - Master Workshops in Israel with Ryokyo Endo Sensei, founder of the Tao Shiatsu School in Japan and Israel.
1991 – 1998: Elective Courses and Workshops (Medi-Cin College of Complementary Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel) - Special training in various related subjects of bodywork, nutrition, massage, orthopedics, physiotherapy, energetics, meditation, visualization, relaxation, yoga, martial arts, western medicine, sport injuries and scar treatments, therapist ethics and psychology, clinic management, etc.
1998 – 1999: Clinical Internship in Chinese Herbology (Chengdu University Hospital of TCM, Chengdu, Szechuan, China)
Summer 1997: Clinical Internship in Acupuncture (Guan An Mein Hospital, Beijing, China)
1999 - 2000: Reiki Level 1, 2, & 3, including teaching assistance and apprenticeship (India, Nepal & France)
Body & Mind Cultivation
1991 – 1995: Foundations of Qi Gong (Medi-Cin College of Complementary Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel) - 3-year course
1998 – 2008: Qi Gong and Tai Chi Chuan (China, Nepal, India, Thailand and France) - different teachers and styles, including 5-month retreat for martial arts training at Wu Wei Si Temple (Dali, Yunnan, China)
1991 – 2008: Yoga Asana, Pranayama, Kriyas, Meditation (various disciplines of yoga in Israel, India, and Thailand)
2005 - 2006: Meditation, Intuition & Healing (India, Thailand) - workshops with intuitive healers such as Patrick San Francisco, Nancy Rebecca (USA)
2003 - 2007: Contact Dance & Improvisation, Sub-Body Work, Bio-Danza, Hanna Yoga Somatics (Israel, India, Thailand) - various workshops and courses
2003 - 2007: Nutrition, Fasting & Cleansing (Israel, Thailand, India) - retreats, courses & seminars with experts in these fields, including vegetarian, vegan & raw food diets from western and yogic aspects (Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Nainital, Dr. Nandita Shah in Auroville, Dharma Healing Center in Koh Samui)
1997 – 1998: Classic Belly Dancing (Tel Aviv, Israel) - 1year
1986 : Sport Instructor Course (Wingate Sport Institute, Israel) - 8 weeks intensive
...
A Personal Note...
Above are listed the dry facts of the years that have passed since I decided to make a change in career, lifestyle and life goals. All true, yet lacking the personal story, the inner world of the one who has lived through the years and experiences. Therefore, the following words are the moisture, like dew drops that make the sunlight sparkle through them and give the leaf its freshness, vitality and essence.
Transition
A fast-paced, busy, goal-achieving and success-oriented, intellectual-based city lifestyle and life-attitude gradually gave way to a different rhythm, grounded in elements of awareness and intuition, holistic and nature consciousness, aiming towards real happiness and contentment, and to acquiring an understanding that was lacking. The goal was to find answers, and if not answers, then at least a path towards the right questions.
Being a Student
What had begun as a Shiatsu course "just for fun" became the first of many stages in a gradual transformation. I would become once again a full-time student, this time of holistic and natural therapy. I invested all my time, efforts and energies in this new project, immersing myself completely in my studies and many extra-curricular activities of the school. The school became a second home, or more correct would be to say it became my first home.
3 years of Shiatsu studies lead on to clinical practice and teaching. My curiosity awakened and a desire to know more profoundly the inner workings of Chinese Medicine caused me to pursue an additional 4-year program of TCM. I was very fortunate, for I studied under the guidance of accomplished teachers, some of the pioneers of this field in Israel, and the founders of the school where I was at first a student and later on became part of the teaching staff. My teachers had studied directly from well-known and respected masters of their trade, in Japan, China, USA and Europe. Some still of the older generation, where traditional ways of teaching were still applied.
My Shiatsu teachers had been direct disciples of Japan's two main Shiatsu masters, Namikoshi Sensei (Namikoshi School) and Masunaga Sensei (Zen Shiatsu School), and had returned from Japan to found the school in Israel. Ryokyo Endo Sensei, the founder of Tao Shiatsu, had a special relationship with the school, through one of my teachers. All these forms and other traditional as well as modern disciplines were combined and taught in parallel. As a student I received the best of all worlds. All I had to do was absorb, like a sponge absorbs water.
Holistic Outlook
Beside the main subjects of Shiatsu and Chinese Medicine, there was instruction in complementary subjects such as oriental philosophy, western medicine, martial arts, yoga and meditation. The school professed not only merely to teach a profession, but also to cultivate a holistic attitude towards life, personal well-being and body-mind awareness. The guiding principle was that both mind and body, healthy and balanced, are necessary to a therapist and teacher of natural healing arts, especially if one intends to instruct others on such a path.
Since my final graduation in 1998 I have walked on my own the path of self-development and search for answers, for truth. This path carried me to different places, teachers and experiences. Reiki became an integral part of my life and practice after a very intensive learning period. Meditation, Yoga, Qi Gong and Tai Chi Chuan - all had their place and time of intensive learning and practicing and becoming integrated into a routine practice. Some disciplines came and went, some stayed in part and some were embraced more and more. It is an individual, personal and gradual path, and I learned with time that each one must find it by themselves.
A healthy body and balanced mind – this has been the guiding principle all these years, sown in those first years, cultivated over time and blossomed under the guidance and instruction of teachers in different parts of the world. For passing on this precious wisdom I am forever grateful to all my teachers. It is what I too offer to those whom I cross paths with, be it in the classroom, the dojo, the therapy session and anywhere else we may meet.
Being a Teacher
I have always enjoyed teaching, and have been part of various instructional activities before becoming a Shiatsu teacher. It is a sincere pleasure and honor to have the opportunity to share and pass on knowledge and experience, especially when it may assist others on their own paths of self-understanding and healing.
Intensives
Since the year 2000 I have been teaching mostly in the form of intensive courses and workshops, where participants have the advantage of a constant, focused learning environment that maximizes the learning potential, due to the presence of a safe, familiar and supportive space which gives much room for an individual learning process to manifest, with minimum distraction. Intensives also afford an ideal opportunity to immediately put into practice what has been learned and receive direct feedback and answers to questions. There is a chance for integration of the subject matter together with a direct feeling born out of the personal experience.
Retreats
On many occasions, courses have been on retreat, usually surrounded by beautiful and inspiring natural surroundings. Being on retreat raises the level of focus and the potential for learning due to the element of seclusion from daily activities and distractions, and the constant attention to the learning experience. The added ingredient of a serene and natural environment energizes and revitalizes the body and calms the mind, thus enhancing the quality of life in general and this case the process of learning and assimilating.
Retreat also generates a sense of intimacy and family-like atmosphere among course participants, giving a space for opening up and relaxing into a dynamic of mutual supportive and enjoyment. This opens innumerable possibilities as an individual and as group. Getting away from it all is a rare opportunity to allow other aspects of ourselves to present themselves and be examined. It is a unique situation where many things can happen in a safe and comfortable environment.
Being a Therapist
in the healing process I consider all aspects of the person - physical, mental and emotional. The goal is to harmonize and strengthen the energies, raise awareness and consciousness in such a way that the patient can be an active participant in the healing process, with the support and guidance of the chosen therapy. The intention is to achieve maximum independent personal healing with minimal external support. In the end, only we can truly heal ourselves, true healing comes from within. I was instructed that the role of a therapist is one of a facilitator, a guide, a temporary support - to be abandoned and discarded once the work is done. I respectfully follow my teachers' guidance and my personal experience finds it beneficial and correct.
The Essence
The way I work stems from a perspective of searching - searching for the essence of any given technique or discipline, looking at its depths, and not being satisfied with external form. By so doing I can find what it has that can enhance the quality of life. In the same token, it is not enough to know what is the disharmony or imbalance. It is essential to clearly comprehend the root causes and related dynamics, to see the process one is going through and to define precisely what action needs to be undertaken.
Our organism is a composite of body and mind, an intricate interaction of physical, mental and emotional elements. For the practical purpose of choosing the appropriate tools and techniques, it is essential to know what is of the body and what is of the mind, and not to confuse between the two. There is much benefit in drawing on a variety of techniques, tools and disciplines, according to the matter at hand, all under a common holistic approach in regards to health and the healing process.
If to describe in words the principles at work in the form as well as the content I apply in teaching and therapy, one could use the following - intuition, feeling, awareness, energy, sensing, heart-based, compassion, selflessness, attentive consideration, inter-connectedness, individual attention, guidance, feedback, integration, holistic, maximum potential, gradual transformation.
Last Words
My experience until now shows that true and complete healing, as the acquirement of true wisdom, is done by our own inner will and aptitude. Anything else, be it a technique or a person, is merely temporary external assistance and guidance, which is at times necessary and beneficial, but can not do all the work for us. I see myself as one in such a position, in the context of the healing arts, where I can offer my support and guidance. I honor and respect each person's free will to heal themselves and to walk their path towards wisdom as they chose.
I love what I do and I do what I love, and may it always be like this. As I wish this for myself I wish it for all.
