Suzanne Yates

Suzanne teaches on many of the courses and teaches in French, Italian and Spanish, as well as English. Other courses are with translations.

As well as her teaching, she continues to work with individual clients, both male and female, primarily with massage and shiatsu, including exercise and breath work, from her clinics in Bristol and the South of France.  She also offers zoom consultations.

If you want more information about her individual sessions please visit her practice page on this website.

Suzanne Yates is an acclaimed international therapist, teacher, researcher and innovator. A published author and expert in the field of pre and postnatal shiatsu and bodywork, she has taught doctors, midwives, nurses, shiatsu therapists and massage practitioners to work with mothers and babies over the past 30 + years.

Through supporting pregnant women to be more connected with their body’s wisdom, she discovered the power of the Extraordinary Vessels of Chinese medicine to access deeply held memories. She also became aware of how much the maternity period affects us all, whether as mothers or babies, for the rest of our lives. She is now working on a book about our lives from conception to death and how we can change our past through working with the Vessels!

She collaborates with her daughter Rosa (yoga teacher and massage therapist) to support anyone to become more fully embodied and present at any stage of their life cycle. Touch and movement (Qi gong/yoga) based practices, along with visualisations, can empower us to transform stuck and disconnected patterns within our body, releasing its potential and enabling us to better connect not only with ourselves, but with each other and our world.

Suzanne’s story

“Even though it has been over 40 years since I discovered shiatsu (what is shiatsu), and massage, I am still amazed by the power and simplicity of touch. It reaffirms for me how important it is to not lose the traditional wisdom of our ancestors, and, especially in this high tech world, to be able to tune into our bodies and work with our own healing power.

I had just finished a degree in modern languages at Bristol University (1983), and wanted to be a writer. However, I had also been ill with a kidney infection and felt I needed to look after my body. I had already explored massage, counselling, yoga and meditation and shiatsu seemed to bring them altogether.

After my first class in shiatsu, I began to realise all the different aspects of myself I had been neglecting. It led me to a voyage of self discovery which continues to this day.I am still in awe of the immense power and relevance of traditional Chinese medicine, the theoretical base for shiatsu.

My journey deepened when I became pregnant for the first time in 1989, with my daughter Rosa Lia. I was saddened by the fear based approach to pregnancy and birth as I felt very connected to all the changes going on and enjoyed being pregnant, giving birth and getting to know my new baby. As there was no training in maternity massage or shiatsu I went to study in the US while pregnant, with Elizabeth Noble obstetric physiotherapist and pioneer of exercise in pregnancy in America.

I started teaching my first Wellmother classes in 1990, taking baby Rosa along with me for the postnatal exercise and baby shiatsu. These classes were weekly antenatal and postnatal exercise classes which included a mix of shiatsu and yoga-based stretches, breathing and some shiatsu and massage techniques. I was still teaching all these when I became pregnant with my son Bram in 1995 so he became my new model!

During Rosa’s birth my partner, a yoga teacher, used shiatsu and massage techniques and I had a wonderful home birth.  This inspired us to run birth preparation workshops based on shiatsu, massage and yoga. These were very popular. Obstetricians, GP’s and midwives attended my classes and were impressed by the effectiveness of shiatsu and touch. They encouraged me to develop birth preparation and support work for midwives. The first Wellmother courses for professionals were born in 1998 when I taught my first class at St Michael’s hospital in Bristol.

I am still in awe of the impact of our time in the womb on the whole of the rest of our lives and the importance of working with women in the maternity period for me is not just about supporting women but in supporting the baby at the beginning of their life. While a lot of my work is with women during the maternity period, I find working with my students and other non pregnant clients, the experience of pregnancy and birth is always relevant.

My passion is in integrating eastern and western approaches to provide holistic maternity care and collaborating with relevant health professionals to do this. While I value all my formal training, I continue to learn  from my students, my colleagues, the women I work with and through on-going study and research. I especially value the continued learning from parenting my own two children Bram and Rosa, who were the original inspiration for Wellmother. “

Suzanne’s qualifications

Suzanne holds diplomas in shiatsu and therapeutic and sports massage (APNT with Sheila Kean, Maitri Foundation and Proactive Training). She is a teacher level Fellow of the Shiatsu Society (FwSS).

Her main shiatsu teacher was Sonia Moriceau at the Healing Education Centre, where Suzanne studied from 1984 -88 and then assisted Sonia for several years. Suzanne also holds a postgraduate certificate in teaching (PGCE) and has trained in antenatal and postpartum exercise with Elizabeth Noble (Boston, USA). She continues to deepen her shiatsu studies with Japanese masters in Europe and attending other relevant workshops. Recently she has been working with the ideas of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (Body Mind Centring) both with Bonnie and Linda Hartley and Cherionna Menzam Sills. She also did the “Warrior of Wisdom” training with Anand at Sattva in India, integrating kriya and yoga.

Suzanne served on the National Health Service Maternity Services Liaison Committee from 1995-2000 and was involved with a practice audit on shiatsu for post-term pregnancy at her local maternity unit in Bristol, published in 2005.  She also has a degree in modern languages (French and Italian), from Bristol University.