MICHAEL VERTOLLI TAKES LIVING EARTH ONLINE
In January 2012, Living Earth School of Herbalism began accepting registrations for the first two classes in its new online distance learning format. "Healing with Herbs" and "Introductory Lecture for the Herbal Field Studies" are the first two classroom courses to be converted to this format, with more to follow during the coming year. "It's great to finally have the technology to offer these courses to people who couldn’t work around the particular timing or location of the classroom courses," herbalist and program director Michael Vertolli said. "More importantly, we have been able to do it without compromising the quality of the courses." Students will no longer be bound by former scheduling constraints, as the online versions of these courses can be undertaken at any time and completed at the student's personal pace. Anyone interested in embarking on a career in herbalism should know that more than half of the Traditional Herbalist program will be available online as well. The remaining advanced portion of the program will be offered as a series of intensive workshops, instead of weekly classes, as they used to be given. For more info, visit http://www.livingearthschool.ca.
IN THE WORKS: CANADIAN SHIATSU FEDERATION
This past December, the Canadian Shiatsu therapy community quietly celebrated its 40th birthday with a historic meeting in Toronto. About 70 practitioners met at City Hall to find common ground and discuss ways of uniting Canadian Shiatsu professionals under a single banner, an effort that began more than a year ago. Present for the meeting was Ted (Tetsuro) Saito, the man who first brought Shiatsu to Canada from Japan in 1971. Kensen Saito, founder of the Tokyo Shiatsu Academy, and Kaz Kamiya, founder of the Shiatsu School of Canada, were also there. The people who helped make Shiatsu a household word in Canada are now set to create a Shiatsu federation which would serve as an umbrella body encompassing existing entities such as the Zen Shiatsu Society, the Japanese Shiatsu and Holistic Medicine Society of Canada, the Shiatsu Diffusion Society of Canada, the Shiatsu Society of Ontario, the Shiatsu Therapy Association of Ontario and the Shiatsu Therapists Alliance.
Despite the great strides the industry has made in the past four decades, Shiatsu practitioners still face many problems. Shiatsu is unregulated in Ontario and Canada, with six separate associations offering different training programs. These associations have been fiercely competitive with one another, and as a result, have failed to advocate successfully for the profession. In the summer of 2010, the Ontario government moved to shutter all schools not approved by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. Several smaller schools without the funds required to register with the province closed, despite the fact they offered excellent training. With only two schools remaining, the number of Shiatsu graduates declined to a trickle, endangering the profession as a whole. The objective of the new federation will be to promote and advocate for Shiatsu therapy as a viable choice in Canadian health care, while offering further education to members.
For more information, contact Timothy Phillips at (416) 850-6241, or email: clinic@ healingonthedanforth.com.
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