welcome to shima healing
ancient wisdom for modern times
Welcome, and thank you for visiting Shima Healing. SHIMA means ‘Island’ in Japanese, ‘Love’ in Sanskrit and ‘Mother’ in Navajo, Native American. The Shima Healing Institute is a training centre of traditional healing arts on the beautiful and enchanting island of Koh Yao Noi, southern Thailand. The instruction at Shima Healing is focused on imparting unadulterated ancient practices, and empowering students to cultivate and embody the true essence of healing.
The path of a healer is a lifelong one. Completing a course at Shima is only the start of a rewarding journey of dedication and commitment to living in authenticity. The key modalities available at Shima Healing are Tibetan Singing Bowl Therapy, Reiki, and Flow in Stillness. All programs are built upon these foundations of healing. Shima's Vision is to be a beacon of excellence in the spiritual development of individuals and communities.
Our MISSION is...
...to be custodians to an uplifting space that promotes healing and balancing for self-care and cultivating mindfulness through the mediums of sound, energy and Yoga.
...to guide individuals on a path of becoming professional healers and therapists.
...to provide a platform for training and mastery through the practice of service at Shima Healing through the Little Elephant Project, and at our affiliated centres in ASEAN countries.
shima healing modalities
Shima Healing offers trainings and retreats in the following areas:
Ancient Tibetan Singing bowls
The power of the sound healing using ancient Tibetan Singing Bowls is indescribably profound and alters our consciousness for positive transformation. Unique harmonic waves gently and deeply penetrate the body on a cellular level to heal on multiple planes which helps to ease physical pain, and opens the energetic bodies for reorganisation and rebalancing.
Shima Healing is part of a lineage from Nepal that follows an ancient style of Tibetan Singing Bowl therapy, where the Nepali Masters continue to instruct according to aural tradition.
reiki
Rei means "Universal Wisdom or the Higher Power" and Ki means "life force energy". Simply put, Reiki is "spiritually guided universal life force energy" and is available in our living environment to anyone. It is a hands-on natural healing system that restores our physical, mental and emotional into their original state of perfect balance.
While Reiki is spiritual in nature, it is not a religion. There is nothing one must believe in order to learn and use Reiki. Anyone can be a conduit of Reiki energy. The only principle is that it is important to live and act in a way that promotes harmony with others.
flow in stillness™
Flow in Stillness™ is a practice unique to Shima Healing that cultivates mindfulness through movement. It integrates Yoga, Tai-Chi and meditation to allow one to let go from a deep place within. True stillness, is a sense of inner bliss and peace anytime and anywhere, regardless of which activities we are undertaking.
Flow in Stillness™ is an integral part of the Shima Healer Within program. Practitioner students are also encouraged to include this extraordinary self-care modality into their daily practice.
SHIMA Healing FACULTY
Akiko Igarashi – founder and head teacher
Akiko Igarashi is a distinguished teacher of healing. She is a Reiki Instructor, a Qigong practitioner, a Yoga teacher, and a Tibetan Singing Bowl Master. Above all else, Akiko is a dedicated student of life. Her practice of inner stillness and focus began at a young age. Born in Hokkaido, Japan, she was raised in the Eastern tradition of mindful living and the knowing of the interconnectedness of all beings in our existence.
For many years, Akiko chose a corporate life path, yet the practice of cultivating inner wisdom was never far from her heart, or her mind. Akiko walked the pilgrimage route of Camino de Santiago Compostela three times, volunteered in orphanages, and studied healing with teachers in far-off places of Nepal, India and Japan. Through her own journeys, Akiko embodies the understanding that to heal others we must heal ourselves first. This healing of the self comes from a willingness to see, feel and listen to the messages within. And from that point of bliss, greater joy is experienced by giving, and receiving in return. This is the gift Akiko wishes to share with the world through the Shima Healing Institute and its associated projects.
Akiko can be found at the Shima Healing Institute in Thailand facilitating courses, or conducting workshops in Asian countries and Europe in the summer.
When she is not teaching, practicing or traveling, Akiko is rock climbing, composing children’s science fantasy literature, writing calligraphy works, and creating new projects that uplifts communities.
And of course, she makes sure there is always time to just do nothing, and be.
AMANDA LING – Facilitator & Senior Apprentice
Amanda Ling Amanda Ling is a gifted musician and DJ who specialises in producing sounds for healing. She is also a music educator and a Consultant-in-Training in tidying in the KonMari Method™. Additionally, Amanda is an Ancient Singing Bowl practitioner and an apprentice at Shima Healing.
A true embodiment of the heart of Shima Healing, Amanda is dedicated to bringing authentic healing traditions to the modern world. She has worked closely with Akiko to hone her knowledge and skills of sound healing.
Even though this journey of apprenticeship was unplanned, Amanda grew and developed as a healer and an individual in ways she never dreamt of. She is committed to supporting and guiding in compassion, all individuals who come through Shima Healing for learning, or for healing. Along with Akiko, Amanda co-facilitates workshops mainly in Singapore.
As a practitioner, Amanda shares her dedication through the art of Ancient singing bowls and personal development programs. She wishes to empower all she touches to live their best life, through alignment of their Body, Mind, and Spirit. Amanda currently resides in Singapore.
view the Shima Team Qualifications in detail
philanthropy
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Two of the central pillars at Shima Healing are service and community. The activities and services offered at our Dojo and by our global partners are true to these pillars. It is our belief that by giving, we receive. And by receiving, one is gifting the giver the opportunity to share his or her inner light. We are honoured and humbled to have the opportunity to work with every single one of you and with our communities.
The Shima Giving initiative is an embracive global programme where local and global partners work hand-in-hand to uplift individuals who are seeking to grow and thrive. This is an extension of Akiko’s personal work with the orphanages in Nepal which began more than a decade ago. The key activity at the Shima Dojo is the Little Elephant Project.
Photos taken at Ban Tha Khao School and at the Shima Healing Dojo
The seed for growing and learning with children and teens was first planted in 2009, during Akiko’s time at the Nepal Angels Home, an orphanage in Kathmandu. The name Little Elephant represents passing on of healing wisdom to the next generation. Elephants are highly intelligent creatures which are also the symbol of Thailand. In ancient Himalayan beliefs, the elephant god Ganesha is the remover of obstacles from our souls. The word “Little”in the name represents offspring, and expresses the essence of the Little Elephant project, which is to nurture the next generations to be custodians of ancient healing wisdoms.
The birthing of the Little Elephant Project (LEP) came with the arrival of Akiko Igarashi on the island of Koh Yao Noi in 2010. Since then, the local community on the island has received holistic healing when they are in need, experienced yoga in the village school, participated in village clean-up campaigns led by Shima Healing, as well as gifted toys and snacks annually on Children’s Day.
Photos taken 2010 at the 'Nepal Angels Home' in Nepal
if you would like to make a donation for the Little Elephant Project please contact us via our email address.
OTHER Projects - past, present and future:
Thailand
Ani Art Academies: This is a non-profit organization which provides intensive multi-year art education to aspiring artists. It is wholly funded by Ani Villas, a luxury resort on Koh Yao Noi. Shima Healing, through LEP, and Ani Villas collaborated in raising funds for the 2017 Children’s Day which were used to purchase toys for children in need and also fixing school facilities (since 2017).
Hold The Space: In collaboration with Hold The Space from South Africa, Shima Healing offers a series of Tibetan Singing Bowl concerts to raise funds for orphanages on Phuket (since 2018).
Sang Foundation: We were invited to offer Singing Bowl concert to their charity events both in Bangkok and Hua Hin. Also, we did fund raising event to donate for their initiative. (since 2020)
In addition, we as Little Elephant project have been helping our community and villagers and continue offering charity events to do fund raising.
Singapore
Over The Rainbow: This is a project that promotes mental wellness for youth. Shima Healing and its students are regular volunteers at this project, offering free Tibetan Singing Bowl concerts to assist to raise funds (since 2013).
Universe of Sound Festival: The UoS Festival is a nonprofit event starting in 2018, conceptualized to allow participants to experience the transformative effects of sound and music at the deepest level and facilitate the understanding of sound as a healing and wellness-inducing modality.
Asia-wide
Festival du feminin®: Shima Healing presented Singing Bowl concerts at these empowering and transformational workshops and gatherings for women by women (BKK, Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur since 2017).
Romania
SPER: The Romanian Experiential Psychotherapy Society, SPER Institute. 'Sper' means 'hope' in Romanian. Shima Healing collaborated with SPER on various occasions to raise funds for the publication of a book dealing with the healing and counselling of children who have experienced abuse, and to purchase toys (2015, 2017)
