Peter Guy Thompson, L.Ac. is a graduate of Meiji College of Oriental Medicine, and has been sharing the secrets of the Orient in the U.S. since 1979. While interning in Medical School, Peter studied Sōtai Ho from the originator, Dr. Hashimoto of Sendai, Japan.
Sōtai ho is the most effective physical therapy (bodywork) in the world. With its gentle movements in harmony with breath, Peter and the patient adjust the whole bone and muscle system. This allows the energy and blood to flow more smoothly through the body. Totally supporting the beautiful human design to heal itself and doing so in an elevated and speedy fashion. The therapy is like a tune-up and oil change for the human. The therapy is fun, comfortable and the effects are profound and long lasting.
Akiko Thompson studied with Peter and Dr. Hashimoto who developed Sōtai Ho. She has been working alongside Peter for many years at their Acupuncture clinic in Connecticut. Raising a family in the country and far away from medical care, it was necessary to find ways to keep everyone healthy. Dr. Hashimoto advocated self-care exercises for the family. Akiko has developed an easy Sōtai routine that is done in the morning before getting out of bed. It gently moves all the joints in the body, involving the breath, waking up body functions. It is also good for the thyroid and boosts the immune system.
Bob Quinn, DAOM, L.Ac. is a full-time Associate Professor in The School of Classical Chinese Medicine at the National University of Natural Medicine (formerly NCNM, now NUNM) in Portland, OR. He has been in practice since 1998, always with a focus on the combination of gentle manual therapies and subtle Japanese acupuncture styles. He started his study of Sōtai with Stephen Brown in 1999 and has gone on to study extensively with Jeffrey Dann and Peter Thompson. His approach to Sōtai is influenced by the brilliant insights of Milton Trager, MD, Moshe Feldenkrais, Ph.D., F.M. Alexander, Buckminster Fuller, and Zhang Jia Hua. The question of moving Sōtai in an ever-gentler direction is what motivates his continuing research and investigations.
Stephen Brown, L Ac. graduated from Japan Central Acupuncture College in Tokyo in 1983. He is licensed to practice shiatsu, acupuncture, and moxibustion in Japan. He studied qigong and acupuncture in Beijing, PRC for three months early in 1984. He returned to Japan afterward and continued his studies in Sōtai and Zen Shiatsu. In this period Stephen co-authored Chigong for Health with Masaru Takahashi and also translated the texts Sōtai: Balance and Health Through Natural Movement, by Hashimoto Keizo MD and Meridian Exercises, by Masunaga Shizuto.
Stephen began his teaching career in 1985 as an instructor for the International Acupuncture Training Program of Kuretake Institute in Tokyo. He moved to the Seattle area in 1986, where he joined the faculty of the Northwest Institute of Oriental Medicine, and has been teaching and practicing shiatsu and acupuncture around Seattle ever since. Stephen is currently a core faculty member of Seattle Institute of Oriental Medicine, where he teaches shiatsu, Sōtai, Japanese styles of acupuncture and moxibustion and supervises these clinics.
His first translation of a Japanese acupuncture text was Introduction to Meridian Therapy by Shudo Denmei, which was published in 1990. Shudo Denmei has comes to teach in the US ten times since 1992, and Stephen has served as his interpreter every time. He translated Shudo Denmei’s second book, Finding Effective Acupuncture Points, and it was published in 2003. In addition to assisting his teacher, Shudo Denmei, Stephen has interpreted for many prominent acupuncture teachers visiting from Japan. Stephen is a also the founding member of the North American Journal of Oriental Medicine, a journal devoted to traditional Japanese medicine, and has served its assistant editor.
In addition to his expertise in Japanese acupuncture and moxibusion, Stephen is a practitioner and teacher of traditional exercises for health including yoga, taichi, Sōtai, and qigong. Stephen encourages all his students and patients to practice some form of qi exercises because he believes methods of qi cultivation are as important as any healing touch, acupuncture, herbs or other medical intervention. Being a native speaker of Japanese Stephen continues to serve as a conduit for information on healing and self-transformation between Japan and the US.
Jeffrey Dann – Teaching “Sōtai specific” movement for specific 1st rib and upper cervicals and TMJ.
Rande Lucas, BSN, L.Ac. was first introduced to Sotai in 2000, and has been studying extensively with Stephen Brown, Jeffrey Dann and Bob Quinn. Akiko Thompson’s influence for self-care exercises has become a main passion in her personal and professional life allowing her to bring this form of exercise to the world and promote health and longevity. Rande has been in private practice for 17 years in Anchorage, Alaska, after graduating from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in 2000. In addition to practicing Sōtai, she specializes in Japanese Acupuncture with emphasis on Shakuju therapy, meridian therapy, moxibustion and Kampo herbal medicine. Rande works with Sotai.us to spread Hashimoto Sensei’s work in this special technique.