Foreword

WHEN TARA ASKED ME to write a foreword to her book, written with her mother, I did not hesitate. I have known both authors for a very long time; in fact, Tara was conceived in my apartment! Her mother, Cathy Thompson, studied Ohashiatsu with me at the Ohashi Institute, which at that time, in 1982, was called the Shiatsu Education Center of America, at 52 West 55th Street, in Manhattan. I remember Cathy well for the intensity of her study. She always sat in the very front, staring at me with her piercing eyes. While at the institute she began dating Tara’s father, Michal Pober, from the former Czechoslovakia, who was also my student. One summer we went up to our vacation house in Kinderhook, New York, and they asked to stay in our Upper West Side apartment. Nine months later, Tara was born. So I have known her since she was in the womb.

Tara began studying with me herself in the fall of 2012 and has been studying with me ever since. So the book that you have in front of you is the result of two generations of commitment and study. You will find many exercises within. In my own many years of practice I have found that “treatment is exercise given by the therapist; exercise is self-treatment.” The Thompson Method gives you tools you can use to give your own treatment to yourself. Please approach the exercises the way that you would want a therapist to approach you, with openness and compassion..

I am so happy to see my students publishing with Inner Traditions, which has a long history of publishing excellent books, especially in the field of holistic health. Mr. Ehud Sperling, the owner, started at the Samuel Weiser bookstore in Greenwich Village and has dedicated his entire life to publishing.

I heartily recommend this work to those who work with the body or who are interested in healing and caring for themselves. It is a pleasure to see my students grow and expand the world of bodywork.

OHASHI

In Japanese, the name “Ohashi” means “big bridge,” the perfect name for someone who has devoted his life to bringing Eastern modes of healing to the West. Ohashi lectures and teaches internationally and is the author of six books, which have been translated into eight languages, and eleven videos on his technique. In 2007, he was honored with a Cultural Bridge Award in recognition of popularizing the Japanese therapy of shiatsu in the United States and Europe.