''The calmer you feel, the calmer others are with you. The more stable you feel, the more stable others feel with you. The safer you feel, the safer others feel with you''  Rebecca Campbell

 About me: 

My name is Martine Ricard, I am originally from France. I studied in Paris and worked 5 years in corporate industry. Some years after my wedding, me and my family lived 6 years in Germany. Then, we moved to The Netherlands in 2007 and since then we are living here.

 After my separation in 2016 with my husband, I searched a new orientation to my life, after caring so many years to my children I decided to do something meaningful for me, that resonates more with who I am. I was inspired to be more connected with my body and feelings and helping others to get more in tune with their own body and emotions too. This way I came "in touch" with an open day of shiatsu. For a very long time, I was interested in natural healing methods to support my own wellbeing and those of people living around me. 

Finally, in 2017, I started a 4 year course at the Shiatsu school Den Haag (CSMBK) and get recognized by the Japan Shiatsu College in 2018 with a certification of Namikoshi Shiatsu Europa. 

I handed later on in my thesis in June 2023. 

I received for 6 years monthly master classes from our Japanese teacher Yoshinori Miyashita who is giving insights on shiatsu therapy for the last 40 years in our school located in the Hague. This has tremendously built how I give a shiatsu therapy whereby consistency is a key point in our practice. 

The fundamental teaching of our school is based on the philosophy of the founder of Namikoshi Shiatsu, Master Tokujiro Namikoshi from Japan. This means that I treat and can alleviate different kinds of symptoms by following specific energetic lines on the body which alleviate pain and muscles stiffness such as:

• stiffness and tension in the neck, shoulders
• back pain
• menopausal symptoms, pelvic tightness
• chronic headaches, migraines
•  lumbar disc herniation: in complement with your usual analgesics treatment, shiatsu therapy can contribute to increase quality of life.  Shiatsu therapy may controls factors that amplify the pain of a lumbar disc herniation, including reflex muscle tonus, sympathetic nervous system agitation, and psychologic stress due to the acute pain, (Ryo Sasaki from Journal of Shiatsu Society of Japan).

• abdominal tension/pain 
• digestive discomfort
• constipation, low digestive process
• sleep disturbances
• stress and anxiety

In 2022, I followed extra courses with the master therapist, Junichiro Tamori  in Haarlem, Netherlands.
As part of my thesis, I am specialized in the menopausal symptoms by women and men. I treated three clients for four months throughout 10 sessions and the results were that all their symptoms experienced such as hot flashes, headaches, muscle stiffness, fatigue and general unease decreased around 60%. If you wish to read the content of my final research:  click here.