Go with the flow

Jan Redwood is not your typical headmistress. And it's not just the nose stud that sets her apart. She doesn't hand out homework, her students don't need to be academic to succeed and her office is not an office at all. She took over the Yorkshire School of Shiatsu in August and is preparing to run her first course on October 25. The school, which was previously based in Leeds, is now housed in her Heworth Road home and classes are to be held in the hall of nearby Heworth Primary School.

Running a school, even an alternative school where pens and pencils have been replaced by massage and manipulation, is an ambitious idea. Particularly when you consider that just six years ago, Jan could not even get out of bed.

"I was doing a degree in countryside management at Bishop Burton College when I was struck down by chronic fatigue," says the 40-year-old mum-of-five. "The illness completely stopped me in my tracks.

"If I did anything remotely physical, such as a bit of gardening, I had to spend two or three days in bed recovering. In the end I didn't get out of bed for three months."

Her partner, Graham, already an enthusiastic shiatsu practitioner, showed her a leaflet for a foundation course at the Yorkshire School. It sparked her interest and, more importantly, tempted her out from under the duvet.

"I needed something I could be passionate about," she says. "I had always been interested in alternative therapies, but I had never had the time to study them before. I realised it could only do me good."

If you are unfamiliar with shiatsu, it is a deeply relaxing Japanese healing art concerned with the free flow of ki - vital energy - through the body. A shiatsu practitioner uses a variety of techniques, depending on your state of health, the symptoms you are experiencing, your constitution and general energy levels to remedy any imbalances.

These techniques include gentle holding, pressing with palms, thumbs, fingers, elbows, knees and feet on the energy channels and, where appropriate, more dynamic rotations and stretches.

Jan signed up for a foundation course; a short, but intensive shiatsu taster that takes place over three weekends. After completing the course, students are not qualified to practice on the public but they do have sufficient skills to lay their hands on their nearest and dearest.

"On the second day of the course I remember thinking 'this is for me, this is what I want to do'," she explains. "After that Graham and I both signed up for a year-long course. Unfortunately we were in different classes, so we didn't actually see a lot of each other for the next 12 months."

At first, a weekend's study would leave her exhausted. She would retire to bed on Sunday night and not emerge again until Tuesday morning. But by the end of the year, she felt 100 per cent better.

"I don't want to sound religious about it, but it really felt like a calling," she said. "Nothing, not even my illness, could stop me. Shiatsu was something I wanted to do passionately.

"It acted as a great psychological crutch, there is no doubt about it, but it also provided me with exercise and access to some all-important healing. Giving shiatsu is as healing as receiving it."

In the end, Jan decided a year wasn't long enough and opted for the complete three-year course, which takes in all manner of disciplines including anatomy, physiology, pathology and traditional Chinese medicine. This also gave her plenty of time to hone her sensitivity to meridian vibrations.

"Meridians are the energy pathways that travel throughout the body," she says. "Each is related to a specific organ and vibrates at its own level, which experienced practitioners can easily identify. It's a sensation in your fingertips, but it's something more than that. You just sense it."

She set up her own practice in the third year of the course when her twins, now two-and-a-half, were just five months old.

When the course ended, she continued to see clients and decided to try her hand at teaching as an assistant at the Yorkshire School.

"I absolutely loved it," she says. "I had always wanted to teach, but I didn't want to be stuck in a classroom teaching teenagers the same things year in and year out. Teaching shiatsu is not like that. It is constantly developing, and there is always something new to learn and teach."

When the school itself came up for grabs, Jan couldn't resist the challenge. She took over on August 1 and transferred the business to her York office (or the living room, as it is more commonly known).

Her first foundation course will be held on October 25 (£185 for three weekends of tuition) and she is aiming to start year-long courses at the beginning of 2005.

"Taking over a business is quite scary, but I'm sure it's going to work," says Jan. "I have got the energy and the enthusiasm to make it a success. I am still learning myself. Honestly, once you start, you just can't stop."

The beauty of shiatsu is that anyone can do it. According to Jan, all you need to join one of her courses is a pencil and a bit of enthusiasm.

"If you are willing to learn, you will learn," she says. "And the best thing about it is that you have to learn to keep yourself healthy before you turn to the health of others. Shiatsu teaches you to leave your own problems behind so you don't pass them on to your client.

"It's not about bottling your troubles up though, it's about recognising them, letting them go and moving on."

And Jan really knows what she is talking about when it comes to moving on. After all, she has managed to move on from hibernation to headmistress in just six years.

For more information or to book a place on a Yorkshire School of Shiatsu foundation course, phone Jan Redwood on 01904 430579 or email her at janredwood@hotmail.com

Updated: 09:20 Tuesday, October 14, 2003