Cari Johnson Pelava has spent the past 25 years pursuing the art of body-mind-spirit integration. After earning a degree in exercise and dance physiology in 1983, she went on to receive advanced certification in Shiatsu Anma from the Shiatsu Massage School of California one year later, and she has been in private practice ever since. During 1990, Johnson Pelava lived and studied in Japan where she received in-depth training in Shiatsu, Anma, and Jikyo Jutsu. She founded the Minnesota Center for Shiatsu Study in 1992 and served as director until February 2001, when MCSS joined with NLSMT to become CenterPoint; she is now president. Johnson Pelava was instrumental in forming the official state chapter of the AOBTA in Minnesota.