Feel, find and follow, we discuss this often in Tui na/An Mo.

An Qiao means the touching bridge. An is to touch as well as to press.

We touch with our hands, we touch and feel pulses, we touch and feel channels for Ah Shi and Guo. We feel temperature changes, sunken empty hollow places, stiff, bound, stuck places. We feel with our hands and we also feel with our hearts.

Wei Qi expressing as our instinct, our intuition, the morphic field that connects us all to one another and to the all that is.

We feel and this connects us to tangible and subtle sensation and information. We find something that draws us, makes us curious, and if we can remain relaxed and present we can follow that feeling. This is so in practice working with those who come to us for help and also in our lives. If we are quiet, still and grounded we can feel with the clarity of the Heart, we can hear the soft whispers, we can find something here, the treasure of Presence of Peace of Grace, of Love.

Are we not here to follow the path of our Heart?

May the Spring season bring you the courage to feel, find and follow the path of your Heart. Wood births Fire, all things are reborn, all things transform.

The bluebells have returned.

I’m deeply grateful to the Great Dao for opening the doorway for me to launch my Tui na Diploma course here in the UK back in October 2021.  I’m also as deeply grateful to this inaugural group of 10 students who are willing to journey with me and Isabel on this experiential adventure into Tui na land.

This course has been a long time coming! I’ve talked about running my own Tui na Diploma course for many, many moons indeed.

My Online Tui na Course - foundation and core teaching material

The launch of my ‘Advanced Tui na for acupuncturists’ online course in 2020 provided the essential foundation for this and forms the core teaching material. It’s the walking talking version of my book and makes the learning of techniques, foundation routines and the integration of hands and needles way more accessible than any book could I write.

In-person practical component

The in-person practical experiential work of my UK Tui na Diploma consists of 9 parts; a total of 19 days spread over 18 months.  I will teach every class myself with Isabel supporting and assisting me.

Apply now to be on the waitlist for the next intake, beginning Sept 2026

My fourth intake, which will begin in September 2026 is currently full. If you are interested in being on the waitlist for this, let me know. Or if you would like to be part of the following group of 10 students please email me, sarah@sparktheshen.com. If we haven’t had the pleasure of working together before, I would like to have a Zoom conversation with you to get to know you and why you might like to work with me.

Sending love to all my students outside the UK

For my students in Canada the US and Europe, I hope we will meet again soon. Though I have enjoyed working with some of you in the supervision/tutorial online space, I have greatly missed seeing and working with you in person.

My Online Tui na Course

Read about my Online course here: Spark The Shen News/My Online Tui na Course for Acupuncturists - now Live!

Sign up for the Online course here: Teaching/Online Courses & Books

Human seeks freedom

Become the torch and witness

Hold steady your Earth

2022!!! The Yang Water Tiger is upon us!

All of us working the role of the healer in this life, are called to hold the light of the Dao in our Hearts. To become present as often as we can. To be the witness and to hold a place of grounded stability for all those we encounter, whether in the sacred space of the treatment room, or out and about in the world.

As the year progresses, I sense we will need very strong roots and a stable Earth element.

I have personally made the decision to give myself a little more space and time around treatments, to take regular breaks and, if I’m feeling less than optimal then staying at home to recover my Qi. The Yang Water Tiger could push to the surface anything that’s has been lying dormant, repressed, unseen. Anything that has been pushed into the closet, (or in CM terms into a secondary Luo vessel), will roar to be seen, heard, expressed, released.

With so much collective fear and trauma, the need for human connection and touch couldn’t be greater. This is a year when your hands on Tui na skills will come into their own in a powerfully tangible way.  Guiding and smoothing Qi through channels with Tui fa (the underestimated technique). Nourishing, soothing, calming with Mo fa (polishing something precious, aka ‘the golden egg’). Relaxing the nervous system, returning the natural rhythm and movement of Qi with Gun fa. Bringing centred, grounded Presence with Yin style holding. Gathering Qi and moving into the subtle depths with deep Qi Zhen fa. There are so many possibilities. The question is, can we allow ourselves to listen to the Great Dao both in the space and around the person with us in the space? Are we brave enough to listen with our entire being and to follow what arises with full commitment?

A gift of a free guided meditation to honour our human hearts, and to kindle the spark of what is sacred within us all. For alignment, healing and transformation.

Happy 2021! Love, light and healing to us all!

Vimeo Link 

Bandcamp Link (audio only)

Join our mailing list - https://sparktheshen.com/get-in-touch/

(Photo credit - Sergiu Vălenaș on Unsplash)

Winter Solstice Meditation at the time of the great conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. The last time this great conjunction was visible was in 1226!

As above, so below. This is the time to step forward and hold the light. The star in the night sky is a signal that now is the time to focus within on awakening the spark of divinity within our human hearts.

We are called to ground and connect ourselves to Gaia as her energy and consciousness raises and to breathe and vision in the light frequencies of the great cosmic sun, the light of the great dove and to align ourselves to Rukha D’Koodsha (Holy Spirit/Breath) Malkoota D’Shmeya (Queendom of Heaven).

If you can, do this mediation every day for the next 10 days (from today, 21st December 2020).

We are connected to one another keepers of the light!

Vimeo Link

Join our mailing list - https://sparktheshen.com/get-in-touch/

(Photo credit - Greg Rakozy on Unsplash)

Hello to all my students on the Advanced Tui na Programme! I hope you’ve been enjoying the course. We held a 1 hour live webinar exclusively for you on Tuesday 10th November at 11am PDT, 7pm GMT, 8pm Europe. This was recorded and is available for any of my Advanced Tui na Programme students on your PRCO Dashboard.

SPECIAL TOPIC - Tech Neck!
It seems that we have a new syndrome folks - Tech Neck! Or even worse - I have heard the expression 'Vulture Neck!' People are spending unhealthy periods of time on their devices these days. The issues arising for us humans from all this technology interaction are only just beginning to reveal themselves.

Staring at our screens, what happens to our eyes? What happens to the Tai Yang and Yang Ming channel sinews, the Du and Ren Mai? What happens to our Heart Qi and the Blood mansion as we are exposed to almost continual electromagnetic frequencies? Frozen postures, collapsed chests, poor breathing, jaw clenching. I see an increase in neck shoulder and spine problems, headaches, dizziness, insomnia, breathing difficulties and emotional stress. How as practitioners can we help those who come to us and how can we help ourselves? This will be the focus for our discussion in this class.

I also took you through a meditation to open the Blood Mansion from within.

Thank you for joining me!

It was my pleasure to give a webinar yesterday on 'Anchoring the Spirit, Integrating Tui na in the Treatment of Anxiety' for the British Acupuncture Council Members as part of their 'Let's talk about Anxiety' campaign.

Webinar Link

Anchoring the Spirit, Integrating Tui na in the Treatment of Anxiety

What is anxiety? A place of anticipated future insecurity, a projection from the now moment into a future that is unsafe. A lack of trust in the Dao, in ourselves. A fear of not being able to 'control' the world around us but nevertheless, desperately fighting to do so. A place where Qi is scattered, ascended, too quick, where we've lost our sense of stability and connection to Gaia. The Fire element becomes erratic and the Qi burns. The Earth element attempts to digest and process far too much data.  More fear based Yi thought forms are created and circle around and around which consequently manifest more feelings of anxiety and fear. When we're grounded, connected to the great Yin Mother Gaia, when we are centred in our own bellies and our breath is calm  and deep, when are aligned to our hearts and to the divine Dao is it possible to remain in a state of anxiety?

It was my pleasure to talk to Todd N. Howard, (President of Pacific Rim College in British Columbia) recently about all things Chinese Medicine. This was Todd's flattering write up!

“Sarah Pritchard is one of the most well known and respected teachers of Tui Na in the West. She has written two books on the subject, created multiple collegiate Tui Na programs, and is the creator and principle teacher of arguably the world’s foremost online Tui Na course for practitioners known as “Advanced Tui Na” offered exclusively through Pacific Rim College Online.

Yet Sarah is so much more than what these accolades might suggest and fortunately makes rich, enjoyable conversation. We cover many topics here including the impact that acting has had on her career, life-guiding philosophies of Taoism, the art of Qi Gong, and the complementary health centre that she founded two decades ago. We also have a fascinating discussion on how Sarah uses voice and energy vibration to help clients heal.

After years of giving back through helping others in her clinic and through her teaching, Sarah is now most excited, through her online courses, to empower others to use Tui Na to activate their own inner healers and to help children. She is currently planning self-help programs and courses to be released through PRCOnline. Stay tuned to the end of this podcast for a special promo code to watch for free her Qi Gong course on time-tested techniques to fortify and calm the body, very practical teaching for the world at this time.

Sarah has been a lecturer at Pacific Rim College for many years and is the senior lecturer and Tui Na course coordinator at the City College of Acupuncture in London. She is a gifted practitioner and teacher and hopefully in this episode pushes on many points of inspiration for you. Please enjoy this very stimulating conversation with Sarah Pritchard.”

Podcast Link - #21 Sarah Pritchard on Tui Na, Taoism, and the Healing Power of Sound

Episode  Links:

sparktheshen.com

Sarah’s courses and program at PRCOnline

Free Qi Gong Five Element Protection Exercise with promo code at end of podcast

Tui na: A Manual of Chinese Massage Therapy by Sarah Pritchard

Chinese Massage Manual by Sarah Pritchard

Eckhart Tolle

Dr. Joe Dispenza

Learning Links:

School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine at PRC

Faculties and Programs page at PRC

Thank you for joining me!