What is unique about this program? | Who is it for? | Certification Process | Course Requirements  | Course Descriptions | Therapy Providers

Fluid Presence™ is a new generation of warm-water therapy, which integrates the best of what Aquatic Bodywork has to offer with a therapeutic holistic approach to individually tailoring sessions to address each client’s unique lifestyle and needs.

Fluid Presence™ Warm-Water Holistic therapy is a modality, which is oriented to health, unity, and the totality of our Being. Healing is a dynamic process inviting restoration of and entrainment to our intrinsic wholeness. When anything presents itself in our lives to be “made whole,” all aspects of our existence, our whole person wants to be included. The alchemy of witnessing and allowing what is actually so, whether in sacred silence or through engaged inquiry invites physical, emotional, mental and spiritual integration. Through the power of unconditional, shared Presence and the deep relaxation that being held in warm water evokes, the capacity for self-healing is activated.

Fluid Presence™ Warm-Water Holistic Therapy is a medium for sharing the language of the Soul; a silent transmission from Being to Being and heart to heart. Through our willingness to enter into the intimacy of being in the unknown together, we touch into the sacred alive in us all.

What is unique about this program?

Fluid Presence™ describes a therapeutic modality in warm water and applies to a way of Being. Fluid Presence™ Providers learn to deeply trust the healing field, which we are privileged to be a part of. Witnessing awareness and compassionate presence support activation of the healing source within. Fluid Presence™ Providers learn to perceive and behold with awe and reverence the subtleties of pure life-force energy and potency and to trust the perfect timing and unfolding of a greater intelligence.

In the Fluid Presence™ Provider program we learn about empowering others with awareness and understanding so that they can continue to explore whatever “themes” they bring into the sessions and in their daily lives independent of the water or us. We trust the innate wisdom of each individual and provide the space for it to reveal itself through sensitive listening and reflecting both verbally and non-verbally. We are not concerned with “fixing” anyone nor do we believe that anyone is “broken.” We orient to the intrinsic wholeness that is already present.

A continuous current throughout the Fluid Presence™ Provider training are the Presence of Being™ essentials  of Emptiness, Awareness and Love. Students learn to experience and reference a bodily felt-sense of the mid-line as “Neutral,” which is a disposition of Open, Grounded, Empty-Full, Spacious, Aware, Pristine Presence. Providers learn to cultivate a quality of ease with “not-knowing” and to trust what happens in shared awareness and conscious connected touch.

Fluid Presence™ approaches learning as a transmission teaching, which is spontaneously revealed within our shared intention in the group field. We learn to become an Accessory Presence shining Awareness and Love as an empty vessel. We learn to relax into “not knowing” with an open, engaged curiosity, which allows us to attune to another. This creates the foundation for allowing us to be available to the healing environment. From this place, we are constantly surprised at how, as we rest in the Unified Field, we quite naturally become the oracle of another’s inner knowing. We don’t have to know what we will say and how we will react. This is a great relief to discover and opens us to trust that we can respond appropriately in the moment.

We enter the water as though it is a sacred temple and approach each session as a prayerful meditation. Our arms are offered as the water’s arms and like clear mirrors we reflect the “motion present” with the utmost attentiveness.

Throughout the Fluid Presence™ training, we trust that the water teaches us in a way that is multidimensional and unlike the way we have been conditioned to accumulate information with our minds. With this modality, we learn as much with our heart and body as we do with our brain. We learn in the realm of silence, under the radar of what is cognitive, thus we are not always tracking in a linear fashion. “Learning the water” shows us that we can become comfortable and have faith in the domain of “not knowing.” We trust that we are learning through an internal relaxation; physically, mentally and emotionally, which can then manifest externally.

This means that we embrace the water as our Sensei, a master teacher, which is continuously offering us opportunities to discover more about each other and ourselves. Our conditioning is cleansed in the embrace of meeting ourselves as we are and this then naturally extends to our clients. We honor that learning and growing go together is part of the process. We trust what the currents of the water and our inner wisdom bring into our awareness and we trust where it takes us. Even and perhaps especially when it may be uncomfortable. We begin to experience more gratitude simply being present with WHAT IS, no matter what it is!

Dear Shantam, I’d like to use this opportunity to express my endless gratitude for the week we spent together. I don’t think I’ve ever learned anything new so easily, so obviously, so naturally. . . I remember thinking to myself “well, it’s been 3 days out of 5 and it’s really great being in the water, sharing our meals and talk…but aren’t we supposed to be in the middle of an intensive new skills acquisition process?”

Then, there was the 5th day… and all of a sudden, small fragments came together all by themselves into this captivating flowing dance… quiet, peaceful, comforting, caring. . . . Where was “I” when we learned it all?! Where was “I” when…I learned it all?!

It’s as if you dissolved all there is to know about Fluid Presence™ in the warm waters of the pool and just let us absorb it through the pores…and so we did!!

It truly remarkable to deliver something this complex and sophisticated with the degree of grace, softness and fluidity that you offer. . . still resonating all over, Ilya Pogreb

Dear Shantam, I feel gratitude towards your being and style of teaching. Something that is coming through — the feeling that everything is okay, and being reminded of what is important; the experience of listening to the breath, and being honest with what wants to happen, is still seeping and settling, and moving.

I’m exited about being here with this information traveling — the way it can be passed around the world, through bodies embodying — and feel blessed to be part of this. In gratitude, Tal Shibi

Who is it for?

The Fluid Presence™ Provider training is perfect for anyone who would like to learn or deepen his or her understanding of a therapeutic, holistic approach to warm-water therapy and cultivate a fluid way of being in the world. This path would be a match for anyone who regards embodied mindfulness as a spiritual path and appreciates the body as a portal to Awakening. The Fluid Presence™ modality resonates with those practicing Massage Therapy, Feldenkrais®, Biodynamic & Visionary Craniosacral, Body Centered Psychology, Movement Arts (Body-Mind Centering, Continuum, 5 Rhythms etc.), Hanna Somatics, Trager, the Diamond Approach, Oriental Arts (Tai Chi, Chi Gung, Aikido, Acupuncture etc.), Meditation and many, many more. Truly, anyone with a genuine interest in cultivating consciousness with connected touch would find kindred spirits in a supportive environment.

It is recommended that potential students already have some experience in the healing arts, however  “license to touch” requirements may be simultaneously pursued at a certified school. Currently the “license to touch” requirements vary from place to place. 

What is the Fluid Presence™ Provider Certification process?

The Fluid Presence™ Provider program is a 250-hour program made up of five, 50-hour modules. The first three levels, Fluid Presence™ Foundation, Presence of Being™ and Fluid Presence™ 1 can be attended without an application. Besides providing a powerful foundation, these courses are meant to give tools to those whom already have an existing practice. Generally, after taking any one of those 3 courses, students have a sense of whether or not this is a path they wish to pursue. To continue on after Fluid Presence 1, an application is required. It is also preferred and highly recommended that students attend at least the introductory module of Biodynamic Craniosacral. This is offered as The Alchemy of Conscious Touch with Ajaya Sommers.

Course Requirements

Fluid Presence™ Provider Course Descriptions

Fluid Presence™ Foundation

This course is open to beginners as well as seasoned professionals looking to refine technique,  body mechanics and learn new principles.

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Serves as a prerequisite for Presence of Being™, Fluid Presence™ 1 and WaterDance™ 1

Fluid Presence™ Foundation provides a solid foundation for warm-water therapy particularly in preparation for Fluid Presence™ & WaterDance™ as well as other modalities. “Learning the Water” is regarded as a non-linear, multi-dimensional, transmission process therefore students are given time for learning to unfold in a spacious way which nurtures absorption and integration. Body mechanics unique to the water and basic frameworks are offered from which we explore the stability and simultaneous invisibility of the giver in various “Water Holding” positions.

In Fluid Presence™ Foundation, we explore the art of breath connection, detecting, supporting and encouraging the breath through attunement with our receiver. We cultivate confidence with the technique as well as developing trust, connection and intuition as the foundation for all warm water therapy modalities and the art of submerging. This course also emphasizes communication skills for establishing rapport and cultivating the openness and innocence of “beginner’s mind.”

Support will be given to encourage beginners as well as seasoned practitioners to learn technique while attending to their receiver in an open, fluid, spontaneous, attentive and caring manner.

Students can expect to explore

• Water Body Mechanics
• Water-Holding Positions
• “Sweet Spot” Between Stability & Invisibility
• Introduction to Sensing Energy
• Energetic Boundaries
• The Art of Breath Connection
• Playful Exploration of Submerging and Emerging
• Introduction to Equanimous Communication
• Introduction to Giving From “Neutral”
• Meditative Self-Inquiry

Presence of Being™

Prerequisite Possibilites: Fluid Presence™ Foundation, Watsu®, WaterDance™, Healing Dance, WaterBreath Way Weekend, Mentoring or Instructor permission. Presence of Being™ Intake Form is required.

Presence of Being™ is...Read more

Presence of Being™ is a warm-water therapy course in which we explore the water’s magical way of providing a nurturing environment for Self-discovery. Using the gentle quality of the warm water as the medium and our willingness to be Present as the catalyst, we will discover what happens when we are devoted to truly being with ourselves. In fully allowing rather than resisting what is, and offering unconditional acceptance to whatever reveals itself we discover a vast well-spring of peace within. This embodied recognition then naturally becomes a compassionate invitation that we extend to others.

On the part of the provider, this requires a repeated willingness to meet our own edges, to become aware of whatever belief systems are in place for us and to discover what motivates us as therapists. In Presence of Being™ we stabilize our orientation as pure awareness and remember our fluency as a sensorial perceptual Being. Through experiential investigation with loving kindness and sensitivity we welcome all aspects of ourselves and honor the innocence behind our coping mechanisms. We thus liberate where we have become fixated to a conceptual map over a perceptual map. We entrain to the warm water environment as an invitation to explore our essential nature and to discover the inherent Grace that reveals itself when we meet each other there.

Whether you are relatively new to warm water therapy or have been practicing for years, this course is meant to assist you in deepening your connection with Self and others.

To support the exploration of what happens when we focus awareness without agenda we may employ:

• The Healing Power of Unconditional Presence
• Self Inquiry & Meditation
• The Art of Conscious Touch & Breath Connection
• Establishing Rapport
• Equanimous Communication Skills
• Ethics of Warm-Water Holistic Therapy
• Becoming an Extension of the Water
• Awareness Exercises
• Embodied “Neutral”
• Breath as the Portal to Presence

Those whom are already Aquatic Bodyworkers can expect to expand the scope of their practice. Generally, participants attend Presence of Being™ to reconnect with the lived experience and wonder of being present with themselves, others and Life.

For current practitioners, this course can also be ideal to explore

• Recurring intimacy issues which would like to be investigated in a safe container
• Feeling fear or performance anxiety when meeting a new client.
• Refinement of communication skills.
• Learning to navigate unexpected situations.
• Not taking things so personally.
• Burnout or boredom with their practice and are looking for the key to finding the magic again.

 Sincere intentions, honesty and the willingness to be open are the key!

Fluid Presence™ 1

Prerequisite: Fluid Presence™ Foundation (or equivalent), Presence of Being™ or Instructor permission.

Fluid Presence 1 builds upon...Read more

Fluid Presence 1 builds upon the foundation of Fluid Presence™ Foundation and Presence of Being™. In this course, we expand on the art of dialog with clients before and after the water-holding portion of the session. We continue to deepen trust in our intuitive role in the therapeutic relationship. Verbal and nonverbal reflection skills will be practiced and refined along with the direct experience of giving from “neutral”. A series of sub-aquatic “frameworks” are presented which allow for greater accuracy within the above and underwater holding positions. This furthers the giver’s proficiency and confidence to simultaneously transmit security and stability along with fluidity and freedom. Students learn to energetically connect, feel and follow what is happening on all levels. Students expand upon what they have already learned about maintaining tonal match and increase their capacity for remaining open and being a supportive presence.  This course equips students to better navigate the non-ordinary states of consciousness so accessible in the warm-water holistic therapy environment.

Students can expect to explore:

• Expansion of Body Mechanics & Surface Holding Positions
• Underwater Holding “Frameworks”
• Sensing, Feeling, Tracking & Following Energy
• Energetic Boundaries
• Refinement of the Art of Breath Connection in Relation to Submerging and Emerging
• Refinement of Communication Skills
• Giving from “Neutral”
• Meditative Self-Inquiry
• Refinement of “Sweet Spot” Between Stability & Invisibility

Fluid Presence™ 2

Prerequisites: Fluid Presence™ 1, Application & Review process, “Demonstration of Proficiency” Session

In Fluid Presence™ 2, students are expected...Read more

In Fluid Presence™ 2, students are expected to be at a level of proficiency, which allows them to fluently synthesize all that has been learned in previous classes. In this course, they will learn to more deeply support the varied, unique and sometimes complex states that often occur in warm-water holistic therapy. Students will learn additional advanced frameworks to enhance their capacity to meet and support such situations both verbally and non-verbally. Soft inner-outer, mid-line disposition is reinforced to allow fluid, whole-body movement, engagement and mirroring of our receiver through the water. At this level, we also reinforce the orientation of “neutral” in practice, sensitively feeling and skillfully responding to the energy and motion present while allowing the “Breath of Life” to guide the session.

Students can expect to explore:

• Refinement of Body Mechanics & Water-Holding Positions
• Additional Underwater-Holding “Frameworks”
• Sensing, Feeling, Tracking & Following Energy: Stillness to Engaged Dynamic
• Deepening Breath Connection Skills
• Seamless Submerging & Emerging
• Refinement of Communication Skills: Reflecting, Inquiring & Guiding
• How “Neutral” Dances
• Meditative Self-Inquiry

Fluid Presence™ 3

Prerequisite: Successful completion of Fluid Presence™ 2

In Fluid Presence™ 3, we open the door to...Read more

In Fluid Presence™ 3, we open the door to the possibility of now dialoging during the session in a way that remains agenda free. We learn to take all of our cues from the receiver and any dialog that we initiate is offered as an open ended question that the receiver can choose to explore or not. We learn to gain permission and trust in the therapeutic relationship to establish a practice that provides a space for clients to explore and liberate ongoing themes, patterns, beliefs, trauma and fear. We will learn the art of completing a session with client dialog to explore whether there are ways of bringing what was experienced in the water onto the land. This could take the form of a guided meditation, body-centered mindfulness, exercises and more.  We learn to support the client to come into true contact with and trust their innate wisdom as an endless resource to access their own wholeness.

Students can expect to explore:
• Refinement of Communication Skills: Reflecting, Inquiring & Guided Meditative Inquiry
• Refinement of Dialog Before, During & After the Session
• Refinement of Body Mechanics & Water-Holding Positions
• Additional Underwater-Holding “Frameworks”
• Refinement of Sensing, Feeling, Tracking & Following Energy: Stillness to Engaged Dynamic
• Deepening Capacity to Enter the Mystery and Spontaneously Navigate the Present Moment
• Intuitive Confidence
• The Art of Integration, Completion, Segue Suggestions & Practices

Ambassadors of the Water ~ Fluid Presence™ Warm-Water Holistic Therapy Providers & Instructors