Ana Beatriz Almeida

I am a Brazilian-born bodywork practitioner based in London, with over 20 years of experience in shiatsu. I began practising at 18, when I learned shiatsu as part of my Butoh training with Sankai Juku in Brazil and France. In Butoh, care for the body was inseparable from the discipline of movement, and that understanding still shapes everything I do: the body is something to listen to, not something to control.

In 2008 I trained in bioenergetics with the Sociedade Brasileira de Bioenergética, which deepened my work with breath, posture and grounding, and my attention to the ways tension and emotion are held in the body. Breath has since become central to my practice, both within shiatsu and as a technique in its own right.

After 13 years of Butoh, I developed Ngomku, an active meditation and body practice rooted in the death rites of the Recôncavo Baiano in Brazil. Ngomku applies the traditional knowledge of these rites to the body, working with non-verbal expression and altered states of physical perception. Its name means, in essence, "moving the energy of death".

Together, shiatsu, breathwork, bioenergetics and Ngomku form an approach that is slow, attentive and grounded: a space to rest, release tension, and reconnect with your own body and breath.

Practising shiatsu since 2005 (over 20 years), first learned as part of Butoh training with Sankai Juku in Brazil and France

Training in bioenergetics with the Brazilian Society of Bioenergetics (Sociedade Brasileira de Bioenergética), Brazil, 2008

Performance and movement practice within my wider artistic work, which spans performance, photography, painting and installation

My approach comes from Butoh’s understanding of the body as something to listen to rather than control. In a shiatsu session I work through the clothed body using pressure, stretching and stillness, following what the body shows me rather than a fixed routine. Bioenergetics informs how I attend to breath, posture and grounding, and how emotion and tension are held physically.

My approach comes from Butoh’s understanding of the body as something to listen to rather than control. In a shiatsu session I work through the clothed body using pressure, stretching and stillness, following what the body shows me rather than a fixed routine. Bioenergetics informs how I attend to breath, posture and grounding, and how emotion and tension are held physically.

Each session begins with a short conversation about how you are and what you’d like from our time together. Sessions last 60-30 min and take place at the person’s place. I work at your pace, check in throughout, and you are always free to pause or change anything. My practice is complementary and doesn’t replace medical or psychological care.