In 2016, Kim contacted the Cancer League Chartres, France, to offer Shiatsu treatments. Mrs. Claude Eschmann, the Vice President (now President) was delighted to welcome Kim into the team.
The League organizes many activities for cancer patients, including one conviviality afternoon per week, involving about 10, mostly female patients. During these sessions, various therapists offer healthcare and self-care, including reflexology, sophrology, facials and Shiatsu. Other sessions involved nutrition, psychology, musical therapy, photography, adapted physical activity, crafts, jazz dance and Do In.
In the Spotlight
Kim Heider Pivoly
kim.jives@orange.fr
www.sante-shiatsu-kim.com
Kim Heider Pivoly was born in 1955 in Canton, Ohio, USA, and moved to France in 1981. Her early career was in international marketing and sales. She discovered Shiatsu in 2011, and became a licensed therapist in 2014, certified by the National Federation of Shiatsu.
She earned the title of Spécialiste en Shiatsu in January of 2017, from the Professional Syndicate of Shiatsu (SPS). She also obtained a University Diploma, from the University of Orleans, in December 2020, the only college program of its kind in France. She has been a licensed Do In teacher since July 2021.
She began working as a volunteer with the Cancer League in Chartres in 2016, and continues to support them to this day. In 2017, she worked as a volunteer in the gastroenterology department of the local hospital, for half a year.
Foreword
Kim danced with the Canton School of Ballet for 10 years in her youth, and has not stopped dancing since. She believes that any controlled movement of the body is a form of dance, and essential for health.
In addition to her private practice, she gives a highly appreciated weekly Do In class at her local community centre. Do In is the perfect vehicle for people to learn about their bodies, their breathing, their posture, movement, auto-massage and how to help themselves become stronger:
“Of course, we all know how beneficial Shiatsu treatments are, but we also need to teach people that they can have a great influence on their health by taking just a few minutes each day to concentrate on their own bodies. Through Do In, the women I teach have learned they can take action to relieve their most common difficulties: nausea, insomnia, fatigue, depression, headaches and joint pain, to name just a few.”
In 2016, Kim contacted her local hospital. Although it took nearly a year for the hospital to open up to the idea, thanks to the doctor there, she was able to attend one afternoon per week for 6 months. She worked as a volunteer in the gastroenterology department with 30 beds. There was no room set aside for Shiatsu, so the afternoon was spent checking on each patient, talking and listening, massaging legs and feet, or their back, arms and hands for a few minutes. It turned out to be a truly enriching experience, and the patients were always very grateful for the attention.
Postface
In 2019, thanks to a collaboration between the SPS and the University of Orleans, a one-year program was created for established Shiatsu practitioners. The objective was to bridge the gap between Shiatsu and modern medicine. The classes were held one week per month, there were only 9 students, and Kim was one of them.
The instructors were department heads from the University Hospital, as well as Shiatsu teachers. The curriculum was intense: rheumatology, psychiatry, neurology, cancerology, geriatrics, gastroenterology, inflammatory disease and physical therapy.
All of the doctors taking part were interested in knowing more about Shiatsu and East Asian medicine, but it was Dr. Eric Lespessailles, Director of Rheumatology, who really championed the initiative. One of his objectives was to facilitate a serious medical study that would demonstrate the benefits of Shiatsu. Thanks to the joint efforts of Dr Lespessailles and the SPS, there is now an on-going clinical study of ankylosing spondylitis, a type of arthritis involving inflammation in the joints and ligaments of the spine.
“It turned out to be a truly enriching experience, and the patients were always very grateful for the attention.”
KIM HEIDER PIVOLI
