Can you briefly introduce yourself?

Hello, my name is Frédéric Duribreux. I was born and raised in Ostend, a city at the Belgian coast. I still live there, at a walking distance from the North Sea, a great source of inspiration for meditation, my martial body-work and shiatsu.  I practice regularly karate and kiko at the sea-side. I even do shiatsu-massages on the beach on demand, when the weather allows for it. I teach shiatsu for several years in Ostend and Brussels. I am a kiko teacher as well.

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What are you particularly looking forward to in connection with the congress?

First of all, I want to mention how grateful I am being invited to participate at the congress. It will be an honor to teach with those teachers, who I respect very much. It will also be a great joy to me being able to share this moment with you. It is indeed a privileged occasion to deepen joyfully the work on oneself and with the other. I very much am looking forward to these 4 days of encounter, union and sharing in serenity, with a good Ki.

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How do you relate to the congress title / theme “Mirror of being - developing the inner attitude”?

Shiatsu is a way, a ‘do’, through which one discovers one’s own full consciousness. The name of my dojo in Ostend is called ‘Kokai’, which means: mirroring oneself in the sea. Shiatsu makes it possible to mirror yourself in the other as you would mirror yourself in the sea. It concerns a meditation with 2 persons. It’s a discovery of yourself through the other person and, the other way around, it can create the possibility to mirror the other in yourself. Shiatsu is a non-verbal and open exchange between 2 persons.

In my practice, shiatsu has helped me to feel and to sense. Sometimes we feel things that are hard to comprehend, and we don’t know why we feel them. With every touch shiatsu brings us back to the present. That is why shiatsu helps us to comprehend what we are feeling and why it is so interesting being a sensible being. Or put differently, shiatsu helps us accepting to live fully in the here and now. A good body posture and a good mental attitude are essential, if you want to let this exchange with the other person succeed and tune in to him/her. As practitioners we can work on and cultivate our posture, our concentration and our openness to the receiver. These are the things we are going to explore in the course of the congress.

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Where/How do you see your contribution to this congress?

I see the congress first and for all as a moment of exchange for practitioners as well as for therapists. I’m looking forward to share with you corporal exercises and meditation that are essential for practicing self-care. Kiko and meditation help to cultivate and maintain the body and mind in good shape. By these practices, we will be preparing our body in a simple but effective way to give and receive a shiatsu massage. They are derived from my martial arts experience. They allow us to connect with our partner, while being grounded. Following this, we will be working on a shiatsu massage that opens the body on different levels by applying different techniques.

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I thank you for your attention. I am very much looking forward to meet you at the congress.

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