And then, by the time you hit forty, your medical file has become quite the novel.
You’ve hung up your ice skates. Your tennis racket is on the verge of becoming a dust collector. Migraine, ACNES (nerve pain in the abdomen), injury after injury. Wobble, wobble. Not fun. A friend suggested shiatsu. “There’s a good one in IJburg,” she said.
IJburg? 020? Yeah, no thanks.
So I googled “shiatsu Rotterdam” and landed on shiatsurotterdam.nl. Looked professional and trustworthy. Booked an appointment online and biked to Katendrecht. I rang the bell, and a tall man with glasses opened the door.
“Go ahead and undress.”
“All the way?”
Almost all the way.
Okay… Trusting soul that I am, I did it. I lay down on a red mat and was decently covered with a red towel. Eyes closed, and he began. Pressing, squeezing, pulling.
“If I press here, you’ll feel warmth in your groin and knee.”
If you say so — I felt nothing, but tried really hard to feel something.
Soft music in the background, and we chatted now and then about this and that.
Of course, I wanted to know who was poking me and why he was doing what he was doing.
“You’re breathing wrong and way too stuck in your head.”
Back, legs, shoulders, toes, belly. OUCH!
The nerve causing my abdominal pain was tackled, and I nearly sank through the floor in agony.
He finished with warm hands on my forehead and a gentle “there you go.”
I left the place feeling wrecked.
An hour later, I broke out in a sweat — during an important meeting with a brand-new client, no less.
I kept my cool, but was tempted to drive straight to my surgeon and have that nerve cut immediately.
A day later, other parts of my body started feeling much better.
A few treatments later, the nerve pain had been reduced to a minor nuisance that flares up occasionally. No scalpel needed anymore.
Now, over a year later, even the migraines are more manageable — as long as I steer clear of red wine.
Last attack was five months ago, and the intensity has eased.
My knee is much better.
Still no ice skating, but I now bike up and down the Erasmus Bridge pain-free and without gasping for air.
I do that ride regularly — about once a month for a check-up, and twice a week for kickboxing training.
Because yes, Louis also asked if I wanted to try kickboxing.
Me? A girl (uh?) with pearl earrings from Hillegersberg?
Well… why not?
You might be a hidden talent at something you’ve never tried.
That part turned out to be wildly optimistic (I had my suspicions), but together with a fun, kind group of all shapes and sizes — from a 210 cm, 115 kg giant and a skinny opera singer to a 14-year-old power girl — we get thoroughly worked over by Louis.
It’s not the hands and techniques of this shiatsu king that heal you:
you’re responsible for your own well-being, 24/7.
Shiatsu supports and has made me more aware of my own body.
I can now feel how everything is connected — from crown to big toe and back.
That you can create connections, warm up places in your body with your thoughts, and more.
Bit by bit, I’m growing stronger — physically and mentally.
My skates are still tucked away in grease, my tennis racket looks at me questioningly…
Who knows.