massage treatments & courses rooted in meditation & traditional medicine
Integrative Bodywork Ireland
Integrative Bodywork Ireland, founded by Erica Bhavani and Susan Keogh, is an offering of hands-on, practical and immersive practitioner trainings in massage/bodywork that bridges knowledge from a multidisciplinary and multicultural landscape of healing practices. It is a comprehensive system that works with the body in a way that supports others in their entire being.
Integrative bodywork is both an art and a science. Our offerings weave together knowledge from Thai yoga massage, myofascial and somatic therapy, principles of physiotherapy and osteopathy, along with other systems of Eastern and indigenous energy and healing medicine.
We draw on a wide range of disciplines from our own personal practice and studies, including evolving research from movement and neuro science and traditional, spiritual practices such as meditation and cultivating presence.
As we consider the body and Being as a whole, we know that multiple approaches offer different perspectives to help us understand what it is we are touching beneath our hands when doing bodywork. We use western knowledge to give us practical and physical understanding, while more ancient traditions and spiritual practices help us learn beyond the limits of our rational mind, including the reverence in the miracle and incomprehensible complexity of our existence and being.
“It is impossible to touch the body without accessing the whole person.”
We kindly offer and invite a teaching of bodywork by thus attuning to our actual experiencing of the body’s intelligence, and the magic that can happen when we let the theory and belief systems step out of the way. With a strong focus on quality of touch, listening, sensitivity and presence, we teach how to stay embodied, how to listen and how to feel and communicate with the being you are touching, through hands and heart.
This type of bodywork supports us to inhabit our natural selves and inspires creativity and innovation in our practice. Practitioners at all levels will gain valuable tools and perspectives they can put to immediate use. The inspiration for the trainings is rooted in the depth of what we have received in our own journeys as professional practitioners, with over 30 years of experience combined, and a deep passion to share.
Erica has been practicing various healing modalities for over 12 years. She found a real connection with Thai Yoga Massage as a practical way to share healing with others and as a personal spiritual practice. Certified through the Sunshine Network in 2015, she runs her private practice in Lisbon, Portugal since 2017. Her influences have shifted into Osteo-thai, Cranialsacral therapy and energy work, recently completing a 3 year studies with her teachers in shamanism. Erica believes the greatest learning comes from experience, and supports her students to find the magic and mysticism of our Being and being alive through hands-on practice and how to touch and be touched.
Susan is a lisenced physiotherapist, movement educator, dancer, myofascial therapist, Thai yoga bodyworker and a life long student of meditation, yoga, Chinese medicine and chi gong. Her working life as a therapist now spans over 30 years of blending the wisdom and experience received through her own practice, clients, students and the inspiration drawn from studying with incredible teachers and traditions of bodywork.
Nigel Hanlon has been practicing Thai yoga massage for over six years since 2017. He has done over 10 International trainings in Thai Yoga and Osteo-thai massage, as well as studies in myofacial systems and subtle energy on the body. Nigel shares his passion for bodywork and healing through a big open heart and welcoming nature.
