The Child Who Keeps On Dancing

My journey through movement, Shiatsu, and the Five Elements

by Ori Flomin

I have been dancing for as long as I can remember myself being alive. Some of my earliest memories are of dancing around my parents’ living room to the music my father played through our record player. Either classical music or the songs from West Side Story, I was spinning between the sofa and the coffee table, leaping off furniture with fearless joy, and creating performances for my family and friends. Moving and dancing were just as vital as breathing and eating for me, with the joy that only a child can have. Dance was simply the way my body spoke. It was through dance that I expressed who I am and found my way to connect with the world around me. Dance brought me joy but also helped me through sad times. 

As my love for dance continued, I began training at a local studio and later pursued it more professionally. And eventually my passion led me to New York City - the city where dancers from all over the world come to test their limits and find their voices. Moving to New York opened up a new chapter in my life. I danced professionally as a contemporary dancer, touring internationally and collaborating with remarkable choreographers and artists whose work opened my body and mind in ways I could never imagine. I was living my dream, The Dream that the young boy dancing in his living room couldn’t even imagine.

But as NYC is also a hard city to survive financially, I was struggling with juggling many jobs from babysitting to bartending to teaching. I found enormous fulfillment in my teaching, helping others discover the freedom and depth that dance can offer. But soon enough, as my life was so physically demanding, I realized how much I was pushing my body to its limits. Touring, rehearsing, teaching, picking up odd jobs - I loved it all, but my muscles and joints were not as happy.

It was during this time that I first discovered Shiatsu. What began as an occasional treatment from a friend who was studying Shiatsu and needed people to practice on turned into a discovery that was much more profound. I quickly realized that Shiatsu wasn’t just a physical treatment - it was a doorway into a deeper awareness of myself. After every session, I noticed not only that my body felt lighter and more open, but my mind felt calmer, clearer. My emotional knots seemed to soften, and I could breathe again in places where stress had locked me up.

Curious to understand more, I began studying Shiatsu at the Ohashi Institute. It was there that I encountered a quote from Ohashi that struck me deeply and has stayed with me ever since: “A good Shiatsu treatment is like a well-choreographed dance.” - When the session is continuous and harmonious, it has the most effective results. This idea resonated so strongly with me because it reflected exactly what I had always felt about my dancing - that when we move with awareness, we bring our whole selves into harmony - body, mind, and spirit. Everything fell into place for me, and I knew I had found another passion. 

During my time at the Ohashi Institute, I was fortunate to learn not just from Ohashi himself but also from many wonderful teachers and colleagues I met there, people whose dedication and wisdom continue to inspire and influence my practice to this day.

Through my training, I came to see that Shiatsu and dance are very similar.  They both invite us to feel energy moving through the body, to listen to its flows, and find balance through intentional touch or intentional movement. They remind us that the essence of energy is movement - when we are stagnant, we suffer; when we are in movement, we are in balance, we heal, we are ourselves. 

This understanding expanded even further when I began to recognize the power of the Five Elements, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire, and how they relate to the meridian system in the body. Each element carries qualities that we can embody, both in our daily lives and in our movement practices. The elements offered me a poetic yet practical way to navigate my life on and off the dance floor.

Earth grounds me, rooting me to what supports and nourishes me. When I dance, Earth energy shows up in my connection to the floor - the sense of weight and stability and my body’s relationship to gravity, which allows me to take risks and return safely. In Shiatsu, Earth reminds me to be present for my clients and to offer a solid foundation of care.

Metal teaches me to breathe fully and to release what no longer serves me. Its energy is about letting go, clearing out the clutter in body and mind so that new breath and new inspiration can flow in. When I move, I am aware of my breaths. When I give Shiatsu treatment, I keep my awareness on my client’s breath and how we are connecting through our breathing. -  

Water is about fluidity and adaptability — the capacity to yield, to flow around obstacles instead of pushing through them. In dance, Water appears through continuous movement and feeling the fluidity in my joints. In Shiatsu, it reminds me to meet tension with gentle, persistent pressure that finds its own path, it’s flow. 

Wood symbolizes growth and expansion - the upward surge of new life that pushes through the soil in spring. For me, Wood is the energy of vision and direction, and dedication. It’s what fuels my desire to dance, to learn, to teach, to share what I discover with audiences, whether it’s in a theater or at home with a client.

And Fire is the spark that exists. passion, love, connection. It’s the warmth I feel when I teach, when I place my hands on someone during a Shiatsu session, or when I move across a stage and feel that electric thread connecting me to the audience, the space, and something larger than myself. It’s the passion that made that little child dance his whole life and the inspiration from the people who followed him through it. 

As my understanding of the Five Elements deepened, I began to integrate them into my teaching, not just as abstract ideas, but as qualities we can embody in our movement and daily life. In my workshops, I guide people to experience how grounding like Earth can steady us when life feels chaotic, how Metal can help us let go of what we’re holding onto too so tightly, how Water invites us to move with ease and adaptability, how Wood inspires us to reach forward into growth, and how Fire reminds us to open our hearts and share warmth with others.

Over time, this integration of Shiatsu, dance, and the Five Elements has become the heart of my practice. I now share this work in workshops all over the world — from New York to Europe and beyond — and I am always excited to offer these spaces not only to professional dancers but to anyone interested in reconnecting with their sense of embodied vitality. I’ve made these workshops accessible to everybody by offering more freestyle movement, so you don’t need to be a trained dancer or a Shiatsu practitioner to join. We can all find that joyful sense of movement in our bodies, no matter our background or experience, and we can all embody the qualities of the elements to find balance, healing, and inspiration in daily life.

Soon, August 22-24, 2925, I’ll be leading The Nature Within retreat at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, a beautiful chance to immerse in this practice surrounded by nature. And I am also honored to be part of the upcoming Shiatsu Summit, organized by the Five Light Center and led by Kumiko Kanaya, which will take place on April 17-19, 2025. At the summit, I’ll be sharing my practice of Movement, Shiatsu, and the Five Elements, inviting more people to discover how these pathways of touch and movement can reconnect us to our inner nature and, for Shiatsu practitioners, offer helpful tools to enhance the qualities of the elements through movement. 

Through this path — from dancing in my parents’ living room to the stages of the world to the quiet sanctuary of Shiatsu rooms, studios, and retreat centers I learned that movement is not just what we do with our bodies. Movement is life itself. When we understand how energy flows within us - and when we honor the cycles of nature and life’s vitality, inside and around us - we find a profound sense of connection, healing, and belonging.

When I teach today, I’m not just teaching dance or Shiatsu or yoga. I’m inviting people to remember that we are nature - that when we move, we are in conversation with Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire. We draw strength from the ground, clear space with our breath, flow through life’s challenges with ease, reach toward growth, and share our warmth and light, love and inspiration with the world.

It’s a practice of balance, care, and creativity, and it all begins with what was most natural to me as a child, leaping across the living room: That when we move, we come alive.

Ori Flomin began his journey as a dancer, building an international career as a performer and touring artist. As he navigated the physical demands of dance, he sought holistic approaches to sustain his body and mind, leading him to the transformative practices of Yoga and Shiatsu. This discovery deepened his understanding of the body-mind-spirit connection, shaping a path he has followed for over 25 years.

Ori completed his Shiatsu training at the Ohashi Institute in NYC in 2001 and earned his Yoga teaching certification from Bhava Yoga in 2003. Since then, he has taught Dance, Yoga, and Shiatsu worldwide at renowned dance schools, professional companies, and international festivals. In the U.S., he has been a guest teacher at institutions such as Princeton University, Rutgers, SUNY Purchase, The New School, Barnard College, Sarah Lawrence, and Hofstra. Currently, he is an adjunct professor at NYU Tisch, where he also earned his MFA in Dance in 2018.

Honoring the wisdom and guidance of his teachers, Ori continues to evolve his teaching through ongoing study and personal growth. In response to the rising stress and anxiety following the COVID-19 pandemic, his work has increasingly focused on self-care and the mind-body connection, helping individuals find emotional and physical balance. His movement and Shiatsu workshops have been widely embraced internationally, with successful presentations in Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, and France, both in-person and online.

In his teaching, Ori shares his unique fusion of movement, healing, and somatic awareness, inviting participants to reconnect with their bodies, release tension, and cultivate inner harmony.

“Ori offered well-prepared, rich material with generosity and humility, creating a safe space for shared insights. After five sessions, I felt more in touch with my body than I had in a long time and gained valuable new tools for self-care.” – Megan Williams, Choreographer

“This workshop was informative and pleasurable. My body felt restored, and energy began to flow between me and the environment. Ori’s expertise in Shiatsu and movement made the experience inspiring and deeply healing.” – Workshop Participant