Our Accredited Qigong Instructors

Phil teaches  one-to-one, Groups both at his centre “The Place to Pause and Breathe” in central Scotland and online.

Phil is also a mindfulness teacher, having trained through Skillful Minds. He has also undertaken Youth Mindfulness training in their kid’s programme, and is qualified to teach this to 7-11 year olds.

Phil started his path of meditation – Energy work after being introduced to it by his martial arts instructor JF Yamaue, who is also a Shaolin priest, over 35 years ago.

Phil is also our treatment provider, he’s a Reiki Master and also offers Acupressure and TFT/EFT – otherwise known as Tapping.

After having a couple of different teachers, I found Des Lawton and found his way of teaching to be the most instructive and beneficial. I really appreciated the understanding, knowledge and the subtlety of movement that he brought to the art of Qiqong and have been training with him ever since.

I have taught Qiqong in cancer care in the UK, classes in Thailand, Australia and South Africa and during meditation retreats on Holy Isle off Arran, Scotland. I have also taught one-to-one to people in the UK, both in their own homes and/or mine, as well as online.

As someone in my early 70s I feel Qiqong is a great way for me to maintain mobility and improve balance. 

Please feel free to contact me by email or through my website if I can be of any help.

This reinforces my desire to share what I have learned from Des, who teaches with integrity, deep understanding and knowledge, curiosity, passion and humour. 

I learn quite ‘visually’ so enjoy trying to draw my Qi Gong experiences, as well as concocting diagrams to help explain the exercises. 

I have worked over the years with a mobile clinic in various countries, on the road and at festivals. This has included working in community and environmental groups, outdoor education and Artists Collectives. 

I currently Practice in Dumfries and Galloway. 

As a Therapeutic Masseur and Clinical Aromatherapist – having begun my training with an Applied Kinesiologist in 1990. 

A bodywork session might include the use of essential oils, various forms of physical massage techniques, myofascial release, stretching and strengthening exercises, energetic techniques, Cupping, Moxibustion and Kinesiotape as appropriate to the person’s needs. 

As a Medical Herbalist – I began my apprenticeship in London in 1996, got my PostGrad Diploma from the Scottish School of Herbal Medicine in 2002; and taught there from 2005-2010. It was a unique course focusing on energetic as well as Western Herbal Medicine, covering Humoral, TCM and Ayurvedic Medicine. I have also trained in Endobiogenic Medicine and have a BSc in Ecology from the University of East Anglia. 

My Herbal ‘Lineage’ is very similar to the transfer of knowledge in Qi Gong. You have to walk the talk. I was taught to meet each herb I work with. Get to know it, taste it, work out what it does; lived experience to back up the academic learning. Then share the knowledge. 

I’m a member of FHT, Independent Herbalists, Clann (Scottish Herbalists Peer Support Collective) and the Endobiogenic Medicine Society.

As a Qi Gong instructor: My journey with the San Bao School began in 2016.  I have an ongoing ‘drop in’ class running weekly in Kirkcudbright for any level, Standing and Seated. Other classes and workshops need to be pre-booked. Feel free to get in touch for details.

In addition to practicing Shibashi Qigong, I am a Reiki Master/Teacher offering in person reiki treatments. I started my reiki journey just before the pandemic, and it has been a wonderful element to my life. I love sharing the energy with others. I am also qualified to teach reiki. If this of interest, please contact me to be added to my waiting list for my upcoming sessions.

Alongside my other interests, I am a qualified life coach, with a special interest in supporting busy people to grow and flourish in their personal and professional lives. I am an internal coach for colleagues in the college where I work (alongside my main role supporting lecturers to gain their teaching qualifications). I am delighted to provide my services for coaching sessions for external clients too. I am a member of the International Coaching Federation and adhere to the code of ethics. If desired, coaching can be combined with reiki and/or qi gong exercises, to help support an individual’s growth and wellbeing.  

Kind regards,

Susan

I specialise in:

Shiatsu (Japanese massage), Qigong, Shōnishin (non-invasive Japanese Acupuncture), Reiki, the Samurai-Programme for Children and Adults, and Meditation.

After taking my high school graduation, I went to England as an Au-pair for one year. Afterwards, I studied Anglistics, sociology and Spanish at the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz (Germany), graduating in 2003. During this period of time, I worked with two communications agencies.

When my sons were born, my interests shifted completely: Henceforth, I concentrated on  strengthening the special needs of children as well as their holistic development. In this context, Shiatsu was so promising and convincing to me with regard to its influence in human health in general, as well as child development in particular, that I decided to become a Shiatsu practicioner. After a three-year apprenticeship at aceki e.V. (education academy, certified by the land Hesse, Germany) and graduated successfully in adult treatment in spring 2011 specialising in Shiatsu for babies and children and Shiatsu during pregnancy. Since then, I have been working with clients – great and small – also during special times in their lives. My enthusiasm keeps growing steadily.

From 2010, I worked at a nursery (Evangelische Kindertagesstätte Bierstadt, Germany) conducting aceki•KinderShiatsu® courses working with groups of about eight children. Later, I started working at the “Hebammerei” in Wiesbaden – a midwifery – conducting parent-child-courses for babies and toddlers as well as offering treatments for pregnant women. I have been working there until 2014 to later return in 2022.

In 2014, worked at a physiotherapeutic practice in Massenheim, the therapeuticum rhein-main (Massenheim, Germany). During this period, I became a certified Trainer of the Samurai-Programme; an effective training programme for children at the kindergarten and at school, up to adults, and seniors. It benefits health and encourages age appropriate development, personal safety and responsibility through touch, movement and awareness training.  From 2015 to 2016, I conducted aceki•BabyShiatsu®-courses at the Klinikum Höchst (Frankfurt, Germany). 

During this period,  I was offered an apprenticeship as a Shiatsu teacher in adult education  involving courses at Developmental Shiatsu, at the academy I where had graduated as a Shiatsu practitioner to support the team, so that I finally became a Shiatsu teacher in 2018, the training following GSD (Gesellschaft für Shiatsu in Deutschland) standards.

From April 2017 to November 2019, I’ve been working as a supervisor to the participants of the Certificate course at the Steinbeishochschule Berlin (Germany) in the discipline of Shōnishin-Acupuncturist and Facilitator to Baby- and Child Development at aceki e.V.

Since 2019 I am a Shōnishin Acupuncturist.

In the years 2020 to 2022 – in order to further develop my skills and knowledge during the pandemic – I have qualified in Therapeutic Qigong, Qigong for Sleep Problems, Qigong for Relieving Chronic Back Pain, Qigong for Anxiety and Depression, as well as my favourite: Des Lawton’s Shibashi Qigong Instructor Course at SanBaoSchool, where I learned a lot more about Qigong than in any other training. Thank you, Des!

Further training involved Sotai (a gentle form of movement treatment correcting structural imbalances through whole-body movements synchronised with breathing, aiming at balancing the body), Makko Ho exercises as well as a Meditation Practitioner/- Teacher Certification. Moreover, I completed a Reiki Master/- Teacher training successfully and took various courses in Sound Therapy, just to please me.

I speak German and English. – So, that’s me.

Warm wishes and kind regards,

Susanne Pitruzzella