Gioacchino Allasia: a way to transform the disease

Gioacchino Allasia, operator and teacher of Shiatsu and Craniosacral, expert in Macrobiotics, writer, after so much teaching has learned, through a serious illness faced and finally overcome, how and where to find the strength to transform the difficult moments that life offers. 

A journey, both human and professional, which began in 1979

I started in 1979 when I was an electrical worker at Fiat Mirafiori in Turin, moving from the company canteen to macrobiotics , a small, big change that opened a new path towards a life full of countless experiences.

I would like to point out that although I have written several books, I do not consider myself a writer. I would say that writing is a talent that I cultivate for myself and I find it a simple and effective means of communication to reach many people that otherwise I would not have the opportunity to meet.

How have you moved, over the years, between shiatsu, macrobiotic, craniosacral?

I started with macrobiotics , like many in that historical period, because I was physically and psychologically ill. The work in the factory, the disappointments, even then, for politics, the union and also other emotional disappointments and here the ground was ready to take the big step.

Only now do I realize that it is the small changes that bring about big breakthroughs . Let’s say that macrobiotics, not only understood as nutrition but also as a philosophy of life, literally saved me from dangerous situations.

At that time, after Avvocato Agnelli sent home 25,000 employees in 1982, I was so excited to study and deepen Macrobiotics that I decided to go to Boston to follow master Michio Kushi, world leader in the discipline.
I attended the Institute he directed and among the subjects there was also Shiatsu .

On my return to Italy, I moved to Florence to work at the east / west macrobiotic center, I started practicing shiatsu exclusively to pay for subsistence expenses. Therefore I can say that it was not I who sought Shiatsu but it was Shiatsu that sought me .

After a few years of practice and in-depth study, I realized that I was inclined to work on the body and I decided to devote myself more and more to this research.

From Shiatsu I got to Craniosacral in 1989when I invited for the first time to Italy what was later my great teacher for years, Rex Lassalle, osteopath, chiropractor and expert in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Shiatsu.

Since then, the study and practice of this wonderful art of listening has completely absorbed me , becoming my main occupation with the advent of Biodynamics. I can say that Macrobiotics, Shiatsu and Craniosacral are closely linked by a thread of precise continuity. 

Back to life: between healthcare and integrated medicine

” The Way of Return to Life – Healing in Italy between Health and Integrated Medicine ” (Edizioni Infinito) tells the experience of the sudden and unexpected serious neurological disease contracted in May 2013.

From one day to the next I found myself paralyzed , with dire prospects that could lead me to quadriplegia and, at worst, to death.

It was a real ordeal but in the end, thanks to the extraordinary help of so many wonderful people, it turned into an incredible opportunity for growth that followed the recovery.

Coming out positively from what happened, I thought I’d write about it, involving the two doctors who saved my life.The book talks about unease, about health, about how the integration of knowledge is the only real way to go if you want to face the disease with good hopes of succeeding, about a beautiful friendship between me and the two doctors.

Then there is a comparison between the disciplines of well-being and official science and finally, in the second part of the book, I deal with the theme of death, the pain that a serious illness brings with it and the rebirth that can only happen if it is love. unconditional to prevail.

Kintsugi – the pain that helps

” Kintsugi – The pain that helps – Suffering and difficulties as a way of transformation ” (Macrolibrarsi) is the next book and takes its cue from the previous story to deal with the theme of resilience , that is the capacity inherent in each of us to transform a discomfort, even great, in an opportunity to restart, to forge our path to new life.

I have realized that in the course of my existence I have often had to face great difficulties and I have always come out strengthened in some way, although I have obviously suffered.

I have put together my experiences as a man and as an operator on the body, the teachings received from many Masters, myths and archetypes.

I started from the theme of the five emotional wounds that Lise Barbou (an affirmed French psychologist and writer) described in her fascinating works and I combined short extracts of biographies related to well-known personalities who, from great wounds suffered, found their way to come true.

I strongly believe in the use of the mythological figure and for this reason the heart of the book deals with the theme of emotional wounds: abandonment, rejection, betrayal, humiliation and injustice.  

In the book, then, I gave a lot of space to important themes strictly connected to my work, Craniosacral Biodynamics: how to orient yourself towards trauma, how to use stones, crystals and Bach flowers to help situations of profound difficulty.

The experience of the disease and how I miraculously came out of it taught me so many things and consequently I was inspired to treasure it in writing this book.

Kintsugi is the Japanese term to define the art of repairing broken ceramics with the most noble and precious metal: gold, or resilience.

From the cracks that are created new breaches of light arise , new opportunities that life offers us and the pouring of gold to heal the cracks symbolically confirms this.

Could you summarize what your “imprint” as a teacher and operator is?

I have always been curious to listen to anyone I have in front of me and to learn from. Speaking specifically of my work, in some periods I applied more direct methods to the body (manipulations, adjustments, deep pressures), in others I preferred a simple meditative listening with increasingly light touches.

Today, after years of practice, I am more and more convinced that in the delicacy of the contact, together with the presence, there are enormous possibilities of transformation and harmonization of the organism on which I work.

I often use to say that those like me who follow this path of work must have, like a good craftsman , a well-stocked box of tools ready when needed according to specific needs.

I like to wander, to have more and more opportunities for interaction with students and recipients .

Is the place where the teaching takes place and, even more so, the “taking care”, the stimulus for healing, important?

I was director, as well as founder, of the Shiatsu-Ki school in Florence for 14 years, professor of Craniosacral at the Master of Integrated Medicine at the University of Siena and currently teaches courses at the Lama Zong Khapa Institute in Pomaia : different places, it is true.

These are situations from my experience as a teacher that have spanned the course of the years with different methods and contents.

The Shiatsu school was a wonderful experience made up of meetings, events, seminars, guests, moments of great expansion with the opening of various locations, all lived in the name of creativity and commitment in order to offer a benefit to the next one. I have been lucky enough to work almost always in aesthetically and energetically very beautiful places and this has certainly helped me.

In particular, in recent years, teaching in the splendid setting of the Lama Zong Khapa Institute in Pomaia has made me understand that the place where you work is certainly important.for the purposes of the quality of the work, but also in less than optimal situations, I considerably increased my baggage, so it was still useful. 

Teaching at the University is something completely different from everything else. The premises are to say the least unsuitable for certain disciplines and you have to know how to adapt but with a little imagination and a lot of patience you can get great results there too.

The important thing is to have a clear motivation in wanting to transmit teachings to those who come to learn. 

How do you think traditional healthcare and bio-natural disciplines can continue to dialogue?

Political experience ( Gioacchino Allasia was the creator of the Tuscan regional law, first in Italy, which institutionally recognized the Bio-Natural Disciplines and member of the Board of Directors of the Regional Health Agency from 2006 to 2011 – ed )

it was very particular , instructive, tiring, full of great satisfactions and accompanied, as it should be, also by big disappointments.

I decided to get involved again in politics after so many years when in 2003 I saw my father die in a hospital for a case of medical malpractice. He had been a politician with positions of deputy mayor and councilor at the local level, so I had the urge to give my contributionto leave a trace and make sure that the strong discomfort immediately offered opportunities for people to be able to heal themselves in natural, non-violent ways that are more suited to our essence as human beings. 

I joined the Green movement with my friend and great innovator of the natural world Fabio Roggiolani; we created the first regional law in Italy which asked to clear the DBNs in order to finally bring them to an official role that recognized their existence . 
We have promoted events, conferences, debates, projects financed in favor of the weakest sections of the population through the use of DBNs.

All these incredible actions have never been done in the past and I am really proud and happy about that.After the approval, in 2005, of the regional law on DBN, the doors were opened for another important realization: the regional law on Complementary Medicines ( Acupuncture , Homeopathy and Homotoxicology ) which subsequently made it possible to open the first Italian hospital of Integrated Medicine in Pitigliano (Gr) .

Also in this case the theme of resilience returns to the surface , from a great discomfort, the death of my father, the conditions were created to make important creations.

What is your suggestion for striving for full self-awareness, in health and in illness?

I am convinced that each of us, especially if a wellness operator, has the specific duty to invest time and resources on himself in order to improve his level of conscience more and more.

Physically, those who carry out this profession must learn to feel good, to dedicate time, to take care of themselves, to know when it is time to stop and rest .

Being in contact with pain and discomfort or but also with those who require simple treatments against stress, takes away a lot of positive energy and it must be understood that this is absolutely not a job like any other.

After many years of experience I can say thatnot everyone is inclined to make these beautiful disciplines their main profession .
It is certainly no coincidence that the majority of operators have another activity and carry out wellness practices in their spare time .

Certainly knowing that in our country there are thousands of people who deal with Shiatsu, Yoga, Tai C’hi, Craniosacral Biodynamics, Plantar Reflexology and many other disciplines, is an absolute index of the desire of many to give benefit to others. 

As time goes by I have to recognize that personally I am increasingly attracted to a minimalist way of life, made up of slowness, contemplation, quality of life understood as a real daily confrontation with nature, spaces to meditate and obviously help contributions to people who require a hand.

I hate the spasmodic search for consent more and more, I love marketing very little, the desire to proselytize and unfortunately I see that many colleagues live, with all due respect, of course, with these prerogatives.

I firmly believe that those who live with the DBN should treasure the teachings of full and rigorous respect that the same disciplines show us in their essence .

Craniosacral Biodynamics for example teaches us that the intelligence of the body and of Natureit is much greater than our mental intelligence. Our wonderful planet every day sends us clear and unequivocal signals of the limit reached.

If we do not catch them and if, above all, our rulers do not catch them, then we will have to prepare ourselves for a very difficult future for the survival of the Earth that we will leave to our children .