Alexandra Gelny

Alexandra teaches Shiatsu practitioners courses in Austria and assists Suzanne’s courses in Vienna. She also teaches Wellmother Diploma courses in Italy (in Italian) and runs the Midwives courses in the German speaking world and in Italy.

Alexandra has translated Suzanne’s book “Beautiful Birth” into German.

In Vienna, she also offers antenatal and postnatal courses for women and their families.

She runs her own Shiatsu practice in Vienna and accompanies pregnant women and their partners during pregnancy, birth preparation, birth and postnatal recovery, as well as their babies. She also been working a lot with women and couples who are trying to have a baby – supporting natural fertility, as well as accompanying clients who undergo fertility treatments.

Alexandra’s story

It all started when, during my Shiatsu training at ESI (European Shiatsu Institute), I happened to practice with a heavily pregnant woman in a course in 2005. I was simply overwhelmed by the intense resonance of life I felt with the mother and with the baby in the womb. From this day, I wanted to learn more about how to support women and their unborn with Shiatsu in a holistic way, and more about Western and Eastern theory about fertility, pregnancy, birth and beyond…

I started reading and studying on my own first. Then, I came across Wellmother and Suzanne’s approach to maternity work, and this was a wonderful discovery – holistic, profound, resourceful, creative work, and passionate for life and the potential of touch. Learning from and working with Suzanne has been an intense journey of discovery, understanding, reflection and development, which has not only influenced my work, but has also had a profound and important impact on my relationship to motherhood as a whole.

My other passion has always been communication, so it felt natural to want to share my knowledge and experience with others, and I am very happy to have had the chance to become a Well Mother teacher. I enjoy teaching a lot and hope that our Wellmother courses motivate many Shiatsu practitioners and midwives to support mothers and their families.

I am continuously trying to expand and deepen my knowledge in the fields of Western theory (neurosciences, medicine, psychology) as well as Eastern approaches (TCM, extraordinary vessels, Seiki, Seitai, Katsugen Undo, Yoga), and continue to deepen my Shiatsu studies and experiences through workshops with Japanese masters in Europe.

In addition to Shiatsu, I work as a coaching and counselling professional. It is great to be able to complement the holistic bodywork with dialogue and reflection when appropriate – it can often be a valuable support for my clients to gain clarity or develop new perspectives.

My original professional background is in communications, marketing and cultural management, I hold a university degree in international commerce. I have lived in different countries, which enables me to work and teach in German, English and Italian.

I have been the PR spokesperson for the Austrian Shiatsu Foundation since 2017.