I was introduced to Tao Shiatsu about two years ago by chance. I was interested in learning how to make tofu and someone told me that there was a shiatsu practitioner that used to make tofu. I decided to go ask about tofu and get a "massage" while I was there.

I was no stranger to massage therapy. I had been using different types of massage for years to treat what had recently been diagnosed as a moderately bulging disc in my lower back. My back problem was over twenty years old and recently it had changed. The right side of my back would go into spasm and at times I would not be able to tie my shoes. A doctor even commented that I appeared to have scoliosis, a condition that no one had suggested before. It was the muscles pulling my spine to the right. I had been to numerous physical therapists over the years and was given exercises to do that didn't seem to help.

My first Tao Shiatsu treatment was different from anything I had ever felt. The practitioner found a spot in my back that no one had ever found before. I decided to continue treatment (I don't consider it a massage anymore) for a few weeks.

A few days after my second or third treatment I again felt something that I had never felt before, pain in my right hip, and the next day my right knee and to my surprise my back felt much better. I could drive the long distances that my work as a salesman required without pain! Now after having received treatments off and on (when I was in town) over 2 years I have no more back pain. I don’t know exactly what my disc is doing; if it is bulging I don’t feel it.

I understand that compassion is the most important emotion in my life. When I feel pain I check my emotional state, I know they are related. Tao Shiatsu has changed my perception of pain. There are ample reasons to feel pain in this world of injustice and anger. I pray for compassion for all living things. I am very grateful for the role that Tao Shiatsu has had in this realization.