Advanced Certificate Course in

Aromatic Acupressure & Meridian Massage

with Alan Stuart MIFPA

Aromatic Acupressure and Meridian Massage provides a practical, ‘hands on’ dimension to Oriental Aromatherapy. First developed by the Institute in the 1980’s, Meridian (or Acupressure) Massage is an approach to therapeutic bodywork based on the manual stimulation of the body’s Meridian system — the same network of vital energy channels used in Acupuncture. For anyone who practices massage, this dynamic treatment offers an exciting opportunity to deepen one’s effectiveness as a bodywork professional.

When incorporating the use of carefully selected essential oils, Acupressure Massage becomes Aromatic Acupressure. Aromatic Acupressure refers to the therapeutic application of specific essential oils to the Organ Meridians and Acupoints of Oriental Medicine, and emphasizes the energetic nature of their actions. Alan Stuart draws from many years of experience as a practitioner and teacher of Oriental bodywork and Aromatherapy. The emphasis of his relaxed yet thorough approach to imparting these skills is on helping participants to integrate them into their current treatment style.

There are three main ways in which Aromatic Acupressure may be applied in practice:

1. As part of a full massage treatment: Incorporating the stimulation of acupressure points in the whole-body massage application of essential oils increases the overall effectiveness of the treatment.
2. As part of selective or localized treatment: Where there is insufficient time or space to carry out a full-body massage treatment, a single essence or blend of essential oils – diluted in an oil, ointment or gel base – may be applied to one or several specific Meridians and Acupoints.
3. As part of client self-application: The practitioner, when dispensing a blend of essential oils in a carrier oil or ointment, may demonstrate to the client their daily application on one or more specific Acupoints.

COURSE COMPONENTS

• Bodymind intention – the importance of intuition, trust and energetic sensitivity.
• Integrating traditional Therapeutic Massage and Oriental bodywork techniques.
• The location and functions of the main Meridians or channels; their treatment through Meridian Massage.
• The location and actions of a range of important acupressure points; their correlation and combined usage with a variety of major essential oils through practical techniques of Aromatic Acupressure.
• A brief review of the energetic and psychological properties of several major essential oils as part of their correlation and combined usage with the Acupoints taught.
• Oriental exercises to energize and center oneself in preparation for, and during, treatments.

Entry Requirement
• Entry onto this course requires prior basic training in therapeutic massage.

The course includes detailed printed notes.
An Institute Certificate is issued on completion.

Alan Stuart MIFPA
Course Instructor

Originally a musician, Alan Stuart graduated in Aromatherapy and Therapeutic Massage from ITHMA in 1994. In addition to maintaining a busy professional Aromatherapy practice in London, Alan runs a well-established company that produces blended essential oils for women during pregnancy. He and his wife Juliette hold regular workshops on Aromatherapy in Pregnancy for couples and midwives, while Alan’s courses in Aromatherapy Product Development are a popular feature of our advanced training program.

Alan has played a leading role in teaching Therapeutic Massage to its aromatherapy students. He has worked closely with Carola Beresford-Cooke and Gabriel Mojay in teaching Acupressure Massage at both foundation and advanced levels since 1995. Alan is former Vice-Chairman of the Register of Qualified Aromatherapists (RQA) and has served as a Council member of the International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists (IFPA).

LOCATIONS, DATES AND FEES

Location: Regent's College, Regent's Park, London NW1.
Dates: Saturday & Sunday, May 16-17 and June 6-7, 2009 (2 weekends).
Times: 10 am to 5 pm daily.
Course Fee: £295 incl VAT, payable through a deposit of £95 on booking, followed by the balance of £200 on the first day of the course.
Tel: 01638 741296 for further info, or to make a debit/credit card booking.

Accommodation: For overnight accommodation near Regent's College, our course venue, we recommend that students visit the following website featuring several reasonably-priced small hotels:
www.hotels-london-hotel.com/hotels/marylebone/cheap