If you would have told me 3 years ago that I would ever write about Shiatsu with such heart-felt appreciation, I would have thought you were out of your mind. (Because Shiatsu, like other things brought from the East, sounded to my ignorant ears like strange idol worship, one of those trendy things that people go after).

In the beginning of the year 2000, I suffered tremendously with shoulder pain. It felt like a pain from hell especially at nights. For many nights I would turn from side to side waking up from the pain. Whatever was out there I tried: physiotherapy, ointments, rubs, arthritic creams, x-rays to my shoulder, and painkillers. I wouldn't say that nothing helped--I did have some relief from the pain--but the whole problem was not resolved. After each pain-free period, the pain returned with a vengeance.

Then, I heard about a Tao Shiatsu practitioner who was reportedly able to "perform miracles". Even if I didn't believe it, I was in a state of having nothing to lose; I made an appointment, lay down on the mat and started asking all kinds of "difficult" questions (being a skeptic by nature). Calmly and pleasantly, my practitioner explained the significant differences between Tao Shiatsu and western medicine. She explained that shiatsu does not treat only the symptoms but the whole being. To make a long story short, I was asked not to take any painkillers during the treatments. And so I didn't. And wonder of wonders! The pain evaporated! I could get a full night's sleep. And then something strange happened to me: anyone who complained to me of pain, I referred them to Tao Shiatsu. I did not become younger and it's not that all my problems disappeared or that I am trouble-free. But I learned that it is possible to heal also by touching specific points without necessarily using medications. I would like to thank my practitioner and also whoever invented shiatsu."