2026 TaoTouch Retreat in Japan

The TaoTouch Chi Nei Tsang retreats held in 2024 and 2025 ended to great acclaim. And the seeds of healing planted during these retreats are steadily taking root in Japan. Responding to participants’ heartfelt wishes to “please come again next year,” Gilles Marin, Master Practitioner and instructor of TaoTouch Chi Nei Tsang will come back to Japan in 2026.

At the core of TaoTouch Chi Nei Tsang lies the philosophy of Taoism. Tao is “the way” of living in harmony with nature. In this retreat, we learn (and unlearn) this philosophy as wisdom for modern life, embody the principle of “healing” through movements of aikido and Chi Kung, connect with guidance through meditation and dreamwork, and integrate all of this into healing hands.

Overlooking the Shirahama beach, embraced by the mountains,  the environment of VillaShirahama, along with meals rich in flavor using abundant local ingredients, will greatly assist you in opening up, letting go, and taking new steps forward.  We look forward to welcoming you in Japan.

organizer Shizuka

Date

＜Fundamentals of TaoTouch＞
May21：Check in 15:00~
May 22〜26：Fundamentals of TaoTouch
May 27：Check out 10:00

＜Global Body TaoTouch＞
May 28：Check in 15:00~
May29〜June 2：Global Body TaoTouch
June 3：Check out 10:00

Daily Schedule

8:00：Breakfast
*9:00：Morning Chi Kung（from 2nd day of each course）
10:00-13:00：Morning Class
13:00-15:00：Lunch Break
15:00-18:00：Afternoon Class
18:00：Dinner
20:00：Free time/Self-practice
22:00：Bedtime (Silence)

Lodging

Villa SHIRAHAMA
2416-10, Shirahama, Shimoda-shi, Shizuoka-Prefecture
(It takes about 3.5hours from Haneda Airport either by train or car)
https://villa-shirahama.com/

Course Contents

During these courses you will learn:

・Deep understanding of the nature of healing
・Taoist Chi Kung to cultivate your Chi
・Touch that brings healing at a deep level
・Precise and effective techniques for internal organs

☯️ Fundamentals of TaoTouch Chi Nei Tsang ☯️

Learn this revolutionary approach to healing from within! Fundamentals of Chi Nei Tsang is a thorough introduction to Classical Taoist meditations and healing practices. TaoTouch CNT combines internal Chi Kung and deep yet gentle hands-on touch of the internal organs. It benefits physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, disease recovery and prevention, longevity and ultimate life enjoyment.

Learn how to touch non-invasively, with specific techniques to effectively treat common health issues.

By the end of the course, you will be able to perform a basic one-hour Chi Nei Tsang treatment on yourself and others.

Discover why Chi Nei Tsang is the ultimate step for good health, fitness and life enjoyment!

​Course includes a selection of the following, according to the group and Gilles’ current inspirations:

1 – Philosophical Concepts
・TaoTouch Chi Nei Tsang as a true holistic modality
・Healing vs fixing
・What are pains and symptoms?
・What is Chi ?
・What is internal Alchemy?
・Taoist cosmology and the Five Elemental Forces

2 – Chi-Kung and Functional Meditations
・Earth Relationship Chi-Kung
・Bone Breathing – Bone Packing
・Easy Breathing: full diaphragmatic breath
・The 7 levels of individuation of the Microcosmic Orbit
・Golden Fish
・Healing Buddha Palms
・Sunning Exercises
・Sleeping Chi-Kung

3 – Touch
・Touching for inner communication: The Listening Touch
・Touching for guidance: The Power of Gentleness Touch
・Touching for higher consciousness: The Peace Touch

4 – Specific Techniques
・Breath consciousness
・The navel as the hub of the fasciae
・Navel rim feed-back touch
・Differentiating navel rim and navel roots
・Detoxifying the skin
・Abdominal exploration
・Finding the colon
・Enhancing peristaltic movement
・Lateral breath opening – opening the door to emotions
・Opening the Wind Gates
・The pancreas and the 3 Laws of Dietary Hygiene
・Liver treatment – addictions – detoxifying process
・Kidneys and adrenals – assessing for kidney stones
・Listening to the small intestine Insomnia and the stress response
・Caressing the spine from the abdomen CNT on the back (using leg leverage)

In this classes you will learn how to use the healing energy of Chi, precise therapeutic manipulations, and how to deepen your awareness, to help people heal at deep levels.  

Remember: Half the time you will be receiving Chi Nei Tsang too! 🙂

“The key to the healing process is awareness. Healing is ruled by spirit;
spirit means guidance and being connected with our reason for being alive.“
Gilles Marin

 

☯️ Global Body Attitude TaoTouch Chi Nei Tsang ☯️ 

The goal of this higher level Chi Nei Tsang class is actually to get deeper, into the structural aspect of health issues. This course trains you to work with your clients who have manifested symptoms on all levels. Addressing the inner meanings of such symptoms in all their aspects simultaneously, at the metabolic, emotional and structural levels, allowing a complete healing process to take place.

Course includes a selection of the following, according to the group and the instructor’s current inspirations:

・Adjust the alignment of the spine, shoulders and pelvis relative to the internal organs
・The distinct personalities of each rib and vertebra!
・Prevent and correct the patterns of tensions which can bring on chronic conditions such as asthma, headaches, heart attacks, hiatal hernias and strokes
・Help the body get rid of gallstones and prevent recurrence
・Combine the visceral, structural and emotional aspects of a treatment
・Origins of cancer and other systemic diseases
・How the external structure is dependent of the internal structure of the viscera and metabolism
・How the internal structure of the viscera is dependent of the breath
・About breath as the bridge of communication between physical structure, metabolism and emotions
・The Winds concept
・How to approach traumas and sexual abuse victims
・Sunning Meditations
・Heaven & Earth QiGong
・Advanced work on the navel and fascia
・Looking for patterns, from function to meaning
・The pattern of anxiety and hiatal hernia
・The breath pattern that gives hammer toes
・The pattern that gives gallstones
・The Three Burners
・How to work on a prolapsed bladder and uterus
・Advanced CNT on the back
・Psoas and iliacus release
・Working with the female issues endometriosis, fibroids, menstrual cramps and pelvic pains
・Central Winds that give heart attacks
・Winds that give strokes
・Liver Winds

“Everyone studying Chi Nei Tsang will eventually be able to deliver it
according to their own personality and understanding.
What’s important is not the techniques
but the principles of healing from which these techniques originated.”
Gilles Marin

Practitioner Certification

This class counts towards CNTI practitioner certification.
45 CEUs for NCBTMB are available this course.

【Instructor】

Gilles Marin

“There is no intelligence required for healing. To heal, we don’t need to be intelligent, we don’t need to be good, and we don’t need to deserve it. Healing is pure grace. To heal, we do need honesty.  We need to be true to ourselves.  We need to be able to admit that we have feelings we wish we didn’t have. We need to own these feelings so we can outgrow them, and so we can mature as human beings.”

CREDENTIALS

・Director of the Chi Nei Tsang Institute, California
・Founding Director – School of TaoTouch, California
・Co-directeur de  l’institut de Chi Nei Tsang – Nice, France
・Universal Healing Tao and Chi Nei Tsang Senior Instructor
・Author – Healing From Within with Chi Nei Tsang | Five Elements, Six Conditions: A Taoist Approach to Emotional Healing, Psychology, and Internal Alchemy | Healing Buddha Palms Chi Kung
・Author/Speaker – Healing From Within – guided meditation audio series – available as CDs or audio downloads

BIOGRAPHY

Gilles Marin is the Founder and Director of the Chi Nei Tsang Institute and TaoTouch® in Northern California. Gilles has studied and practiced massage therapy since 1976. Born in the south of France, he received his degree in Philosophy of Education and afterwards studied with Aikido Master Andre Noquet, then in his seventies and President of the European Aikido Federation.  Master Noquet taught traditional healing methods such as kuatsu, shiatsu and jin shin jyutsu which he studied in Japan in the 1950’s with legendary martial arts master and peace activist Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido.

Gilles moved to the United States in 1980, where he received his Black Belt in Aikido and became a student of Tai Chi Chuan under Martin Inn. During this period, he studied the principles and theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine with Dr. Stephen T. Chang, completing a program of study which included Chi-Kung or Vital Energy Cultivation, Classical Chinese Herb Formulas, Principles of Acupuncture, Taoist Sexology, the I-Ching or the art of consulting oracles and reading augurs, and Feng-Shui, the ancient Chinese art of geomancy.

He began his professional practice and teaching massage therapy in 1982. In the spring of 1983 Gilles stumbled upon one of Master Mantak Chia’s lectures on Taoist disciplines, beginning his involvement with Master Chia’s International Healing Tao System that has lasted to this day. Gilles is certified by Master Chia to teach the International Healing Tao System and Chi Nei Tsang.

Gilles holds a degree in Philosophy of Education. He served as the Technical Editor for Master Chia’s book: Chi Nei Tsang, Internal Organs Chi Massage released in 1990 by Healing Tao Press. He is author of Healing from Within With Chi Nei Tsang released in January 2000 by North Atlantic Books and Five Elements Six Conditions: A Taoist Approach Emotional Healing, Psychology, and Internal Alchemy, published in 2006 by North Atlantic Books.  You can find them here.

​He is currently releasing a new ebook series Biology of Consciousness: One Mind, Five Intelligences with accompanying online classes.

Gilles was born in France on Bastille Day, July 14th, and is a Fire Monkey in Chinese Astrolog

【Translator】

Kentaro Goto
▪️Founder and Director of Tao Nest (Tao Touch Therapist School)
▪️Yoga Instructor
▪️English-Japanese translator
▪️Musician

Kentaro has started his career in healing arts since 2014. In 2019, he started studying under Gilles Marin and currently has become one of the assistants as well as the translator of his seminar in Japan. Kentaro teaches Tao Touch CNT and Thai Massage in a way people can learn not only healing techniques with the philosophy behind but also daily exercise to train themselves with classical Hatha Yoga. With his wife, he is working on a project to build a place of Tao where people can honestly face themselves, where real healing can happen, and where each person can bloom as a full potential human being. instagram: @tao_touch_kentaro / @tao_nest

【Organizer】

Shizuka Tsuchiya
▪️TaoTouch CNT Practitioner
▪️TaoTouch Instructor

In 2002, I received my first chi nei Tsang at Tao Garden in Thailand, which changed the direction of my life and led me to bodywork. In 2009 became a certified instructor of Universal Healing Tao System. While continuing Chi-Kung and meditation practice at Tao Garden, I heard Gilles’ name thousands of times from the  senior instructors so visited him to California in 2012. Since then, I have continued to study with Gilles. TaoTouch teaches “Life”, that helps me grow as a person. And it is a joy to share the precious teaching with my clients and students. School website: Tao of Life instagram @shizuka_taooflife email  shizbelly@gmail.com

Please email Us With Questions

 

【Chefs】

Naoca Harada (Culinary Artist) 🌱chef for Fundamentals I operate a catering business under the trade name naocacoan in Minamiizu, Shizuoka Prefecture. I grow vegetables and rice using natural farming methods, collect wild herbs and fruit trees, make salt using seawater and hot spring water, prepare traditional Japanese seasonings, and create meals brimming with the bounty of the earth.

 

Yu Goto (Tao Nest) 🌱chef for Global Body Vegetarian Chef / Tao Touch Chi Nei Tsang Therapist /Tao Nest Director / Yoga TTC Graduate Developed an interest in mind and body from her teens, eventually turning to food after exploring bodywork. Studied cooking at Brown’s Field in Isumi City, Chiba Prefecture. Currently exploring the potential of food for healing, incorporating Ayurveda and Yin-Yang Five Elements theory. Aspires to be a medium connecting the earth and people through food.

☯️ Fundamentals or Global Body
(participate in either course)

◎ Course Fee（Japanese translation fee included)
¥297,000
¥264,000 (←early bird by March 5th)  

⚠️The following fees will be charged in addition to the course fee.

◎ Lodging expense
¥48,000（for 6nights)
Rooms are shared by 2-3 guests in either Western-style or Japanese-style rooms. Rooms are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis according to your request. Please understand that we may not be able to accommodate your preference. (Only one single room is available: ¥66,000/tax included)

Details of the rooms can be found here
▷VillaShirahama

◎Meals
¥30,000
Dinner of the check in day
3 meals during the 5days course
Breakfast of the check out day

☯️ Fundamentals and Global Body
(participate both courses)

◎Course Fee（Japanese translation fee included)
🌟 In 2026, there’s a ¥33,000 discount for participating in both courses!!

¥594,000  → ¥561,000
¥528,000  → ¥495,000 (←early bird by March 5th)

⚠️The following fees will be charged in addition to the course fee.

◎Lodging expense
¥96,000 (for 12 nights) + ¥5,000 for the one night between courses.
Rooms are shared by 2-3 people in either Western-style or Japanese-style rooms. Participants will generally stay in the same room from the Basic Course. However, due to changes in participants, you may occasionally be asked to move rooms. We appreciate your understanding.

Details of the rooms can be found here
▷VillaShirahama

◎Meals
¥60,000
Dinner of the check in day
3 meals during the both course days
Breakfast of the check out day

🈹 Discounts given in multiple ways!!
① Early Bird
（price refer to the above.)
② Enrolling in Both Courses
（price refer to the above.)
③ Friend Referral Bonus
Refer someone new to us and if they sign up, you can have cash back ¥20,000

🌟Please transfer the course fee to the bank account.
Registering for “WISE” saves you on fees.
https://wise.com/help/articles/2977959/how-do-i-send-money-with-wise
We will let you know the Bank Account in the Registration Form.

🌟Lodging and meals fees must be paid upon arrival.

Registration

Application Process

① Registration (with Google Form)
Click the registration button → Fill in the required information in the registration form and submit your application. (Provisional registration)
⇓
② You will receive a confirmation email from the organizer.
⇓
③ Payment of Participation Fee
Please pay the participation fee within 10 days of receiving the confirmation email. (⚠️The early bird deadline is March 5, 2026.
⇓
④ Registration Confirmation
Your reservation will be confirmed once payment is verified.
⇓
⑤ Join the Social Media Group
We will create SNS group to share updates, announcements, and provide necessary support leading up to the retreat. This group will remain active during and after the retreat period.

Minimum Numbers of Participants

10 participants

Capacity

20 participants

Application Deadline

Early bird registration: March 5, 2026
Regular registration: Once capacity (20 participants) is reached

Cancellation Policy

＊ 90 days prior to the event date: 50% of the participation fee
＊ 60 days prior to the event date: 100% of the participation fee.

Registration

Testimonials

While techniques are important, I truly felt firsthand that taking care of myself and allowing myself to be healed is even more crucial. It became a valuable opportunity to ask myself: Am I listening to my own voice? Am I in harmony? I spent the most wonderful five days and I feel so grateful to this retreat.

What matters is not “what to do” or “where and how to touch,” but rather “what mindset to adopt,” “what gaze to offer,” “how to listen deeply,” and fundamentally, “how to be”—this is what I experienced.

By carefully listening to my inner voice, healing occurs naturally. I learned that there’s no need to try to control anything —all that’s required is simply to listen deeply.

I gained a deeper perspective on what it means to live as a human being in this world. Gilles’ unwavering responses, existence, and way of answering any questions was truly impressive. His  belief in healing, his approach, and his way of engaging with people.

The pleasant season and natural surroundings, the wonderful people, and the chance to absorb Gille’s teachings with all five senses—listening to the roosters crow while the wind blew through the hall. When I recall the most memorable events in my life, this retreat will undoubtedly come to mind.

FAQ

Q：Can I participate even if I am a beginner?
A：Yes, even beginners can participate in the basic course. (The second week is limited to those who have taken the first week.) This course is a training course, but it is also a time for self-healing, and at the end of the course, you can give a session to yourself, your family, and those around you. It is also programmed to do this. Please feel free to participate.

Q：How can I access the venue, Villa Shirahama?
A：The station to get off at is Izukyu Shimoda Station. A variety of lines run, from slow trains to luxury trains. You can enjoy the feeling of traveling, or choose the mode of transportation that suits your purpose and budget. Click here for the reference site.

Q：Can I get there by car?
A：Yes, there are parking spaces for about 8 cars.However, if you enter the mountain road from the main road, the road becomes narrow so depending on the size of your car, you may not be able to pass through some area. If you would like more information, please contact organizer Shizuka.

There is also a bus that can be accessed from Izukyu Shimoda Station, but it takes about 15 minutes to climb a mountain path from the bus stop, so if you have large suitcases or luggage, we recommend sharing a taxi (taxi fare is about ¥2,500)

Q：How is Villa Shirahama’s room allocation?
A：Generally, we will prepare your desired room on a first-come, first-served basis, but we may not be able to accommodate your request. If there are special requests (health-related) or other considerations that require adjustments, please let us know. You can see the room details here.

Q：What are the meals like?
A：It will be a vegetarian meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) using locally grown vegetables. If you have any food allergies, please let us know when you apply.

Q：How about drinking water?
A：There is a water purifier on the premises of Villa Shirahama, so please bring your own water bottle.

Q：Can I do laundry during the retreat?
A：Yes, both washing machines and dryers can be rented.

Q：What kind of clothes should I bring?
A：After the May holidays, you can spend the day in Izu wearing only short sleeves, but it can get cold in the morning and evening if it rains, so please bring warm outerwear such as jacket or sweatshirt.

【Message from Gilles】

I truly feel that Japan and all of you are wonderful and I am very happy to be able to visit again this time. I want to help you enjoy life even more than you do now and share that joy with your loved ones through TaoTouch.

Registration

Interview Video (2023/2024)