Water dance: one expert shows clients the Watsu way. (Kauai)

Autor: Wentzel, Marty

Publicação: TravelAge West 0041-1973 Feb 21, 2005, v40 i4, p38(2)

The aquatic body treatment called Watsu affects each person differently. Some clients feel like they're flying, and others forget they're in the water. Some people laugh, and others cry. The day I tried it, I felt distinctly like I was participating in a free-form water ballet.
My dance partner, if you will, was Sharron Norton, who practices holistic healing treatments in the sanctuary of her North Shore Kauai retreat, Manawai (power of water).

Clients in need of rejuvenation, relaxation or rehabilitation can't go wrong booking a session with this health-and-wellness guru extraordinaire.

Invented in 1980, Watsu combines not only the words water and shiatsu, but also what they stand for.

On one particular afternoon, Watsu was my treatment of choice. In Norton's backyard, where lush tropical landscaping provides a complete sense of privacy, I waded into a circular swimming pool measuring 4 1/2 feet deep and 16 feet across.

Supported by strategically placed floats and Norton's strong arms, I lay on my back in the warm saltwater and slowly succumbed to gentle pushes, pulls, stretches, swirls and massage. Freed from gravity's pull, my spine relaxed.

Although I had never before met Norton, I felt complete confidence in her ability and knew she wouldn't let go of me. We never spoke during the 1 1/2-hour session. Instead, I listened to the swishing of the water, the beating of my heart and the sound of my breathing.

[Graphic omitted]Later, Norton and I chatted about her craft.

"By moving three-dimensionally in the water. you can feel like you're going back to the womb, or into a deeply meditative state" she said. "Even Type A personalities can relax."

Indeed, Watsu is far more than an ordinary massage, not only for the client, but also for Norton herself.

"It's an emotionally taxing work," she said. "I'm dealing with all the qualities of the water--the buoyancy, the resistance, the weightlessness, the float points. It evokes a huge range of feelings for both of us, taking everything I've ever studied and channeling it into the water."

That's a lot to channel. Norton is acknowledged by her peers around the country as a specialist in a long list of healing and therapeutic treatments including aquatic bodywork, yoga, meditation, tai chi, pilates, massage, reiki (energy healing), kinesiology (muscle testing to identify imbalances), cranial sacral (soft-touch restorative therapy), myofascial release (specialized stretching) and chakra balancing (aligning the body's energy centers), and she has 800 hours of aquatic training.

Leaving behind a thriving massage therapy business in Laguna, Calif., Norton moved to Kauai in 1999.

"This is an ideal place for health-and-wellness work," she said. "It's the mother of all Hawaiian islands. Water plays a key role here, especially the North Shore, which is very wet. The island is very feminine and nurturing, and so is Watsu."

When contacted by potential clients, the intuitive Norton talks with them about the Watsu process and senses what they're looking for during the treatment.

"If someone is drawn to Watsu but they're not sure why, by all means they should try it," she said. "It's their soul calling out for connection."

After our session, I found that the stubborn knots in my shoulders and lower back had eased, as if they had melted away in the Watsu pool. Norton said that even chronic pain can disappear forever with this treatment.

"It's way more effective than a massage, because it taps into the mind, emotions and spirit as well," she said. "Watsu balances not only the muscles but the energy that feeds the muscles. It can change your life."

Norton should know. In May 2002, after a freak fall, she suffered a twisted pelvis and herniated disk. Her doctor told her to get a new profession.

"He said I wouldn't be able to practice massage anymore," she said. "I refused to believe him. Instead, I applied everything I knew about healing to my own body, including getting into the pool and doing Watsu on myself. Today I'm completely fine, better than ever."

It has been weeks since my visit to Manawai, but Norton's magic touch lingers in my body. When I find myself tensing up my shoulders or furrowing my brow, I need only close my eyes, take a deep breath and let my mind wander back to that North Shore Watsu pool, where memories of an aquatic dance drain the tension from my day.

WATSU: THE DETAILS

Manawai

3265B Kalihiwai Road

Kilauea, HI 96754

808-828-0928, 808-652-3261

www.manawai.com

At Manawai, a personal wellness retreat on Kauai's North Shore, Sharron Norton provides a range of health-and-wellness services. A 90-minute Watsu pool session costs $145. Land therapies, including kinesiology, massage and energy healing, last 90 minutes and cost $135 per session. Norton's newest treatment, called Vibe (Vibrational Integration Biophotonic Energizer), is said to send essential energy directly to the body's cells, enhancing overall health. The 10-minute session costs $3.5.

A 20-minute ionic footbath to draw out toxins costs $4.5. Positioning Manawai as a wellness retreat, Norton networks with area bed and breakfasts to provide clients with package deals.

"They can stay on the North Shore for several days and get a series of treatments during their visit," she said. Norton pays travel agents a 10 percent commission.