Massage

Natural Awakenings Article

Ashiatsu /

Natural Awakenings Article - September 2010
The September 2010 edition of Natural Awakenings for the Tennessee Valley hit the news stands within the last few days. I found out when I arrived at my office Thursday afternoon. Several copies had been delivered to the waiting area and Miss Cathy was waiting for me with the news.

Happy dances ensued as she told me how nice it was and I tried to find it in the magazine. For the record my article is on page 12, but it took a long time to find because I was so excited.

And now, without further ado, here is the link to the PDF scan (it takes several moments to load, sorry about that) that I made of the actual magazine article. If you’re interested in a copy of the magazine (they’re free) and you’re in the Tennessee Valley area just visit your local health food store or contact Natural Awakenings directly.

Enjoy! And thanks for visiting!

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AOBT and the AMA

Ashiatsu /

If you’re here looking for information on Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy and its recognition by the American Medical Association, then you’re in the right place.

Let me start off by clearing something up. The American Medical Association does not recognize massage as a medical modality, therefore, it does not recognize Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy.

If you were to Google Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy and AMA or American Medical Association you will find numerous websites claiming that AOBT is indeed recognized by the AMA. You can find magazine articles with the same claim if you look hard. One of which actually appears in the Digital Lounge on the Deep Feet website. How could so many people believe this when it’s simply not true?

Well, there’s a simple explanation and I want to tell you so you don’t make the same mistake I did. It was a typo. Way back when, someone published something which was supposed to read, “recognized by the AMTA,” but instead read, “recognized by the AMA”. You can see how this impressive typo quickly took root.

Recently when asked to write an article on AOBT I pulled out the AMA gun to include and then realized I needed to do a bit of fact checking. I was confused when some publications / websites listed AMA and others didn’t so I fired off an email to a couple of instructors and Ruthie Hardee, the founder of AOBT.

This resulted in a personal phone call from Ruthie where we discussed my questions about AMA. Well, mostly she discussed and I sorta freaked out because OMG I’m talking to Ruthie Hardee, the founder of AOBT! Squeeeeee!!!

Anyway, I wanted to put this out there so perhaps other people designing their brochures or writing articles on AOBT don’t make the same mistake.

I should go, I have about a thousand brochures that need to be touched with correction tape!

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Ashi-Thai Surprise

Ashi-Thai /

I had written a while ago about scheduling an Ashi-Thai training for September of this year. Two weeks ago when I started making concrete plans to go to San Antonio, TX for that training we discovered that the class was probably not going to make. The instructor and I decided it would be best for me to transfer into the August training class in Dallas.

So after a lot of hastily done research a ticket was purchased, a car was reserved, and I’m driving to Birmingham to hop a flight this afternoon.

I’ll be back Thursday and I’ll be looking for bodies to practice on. If you’re interested, give me a call.

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Out Standing In His Field

Ashiatsu /

Do you remember that old joke about the farmer? I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.

Recently I was asked to write an article about Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy for our local Natural Awakenings magazine.

At first I got excited, then I got nervous, then I got so excited I made myself sick. It was not pretty. Eventually I got over the nerves and got on with it. I finished the article this morning and though I think it’s pretty good I’m back to being nervous. The thought of attaching it to an email and pressing send has me in a cold sweat.

I am alternately nervous that they won’t publish it and then that they will. What if it’s not good enough? Rejection stings. But what if it is and they publish it? Pressure.

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I Love The Internet, And This Is Why…

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I am an avid blog follower. I also enjoy writing which is why I choose to blog as my main interface for Harvest Moon with the internet.

As such, quite a while back I found a blog about fitness and nutrition and added it to my Bloglines, “Massage Blog” folder as more articles than not were of interest and I gleaned information I could use in my massage practice.

This morning I noticed a new article had been posted. It was on the knee and ligaments in the knee and how each different ligament experiences damage. It was focused and succinct and quite possibly the best overall description I’ve ever read of the ligament configuration and ligament function of the knee joint. You can read the article here, if you care to.

I wish my textbooks had been written as well as this lone article. Even though her focus is definitely not massage, but injury, this macro-style would have saved hours of flipping through books and internet searches trying to learn the specifics of the knee.

And this, my friends, is why I love the internet. A chic from Australia who knows a thing or two about knee injury can put her knowledge online and halfway around the world a chic from the U.S. can learn a thing or two from it. Where else are we going to get that kind of collaboration?

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AOBT Demo

Ashiatsu /

This is a beautiful video of Mary-Claire Fredette (my AOBT instructor) at the World Massage Festival demonstrating AOBT. I love the thumbs up from the client at the end! Perfect commentary.

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Funny You Should Ask

Ashi-Thai /

I received a phone call a few days ago from a gentleman in Auburn, AL. He was looking for a Thai massage therapist in the Decatur area and had found this website from an internet search.

Funny that he should call and ask for Thai massage specifically as I’ve been kicking around the possibility of taking Ashi-Thai in September. There has been much waffling and back and forth trying to make the decision. Can I afford it? Am I going overboard with the Ashi / CEUs? Will it sell in my area?

So the phone call prompted me to make the decision. I’ve contacted the instructor and will be traveling to San Antonio, TX in September to be trained in Ashi-Thai. I’m excited about learning and integrating the new skill set into my practice. I’m also quite excited at the prospect of being stretched for two days.

It’s also great to know that the website is working. And it’s always a pleasure talking to and educating someone about AOBT.

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Sports Massage?

Massage /

When I was in massage school, I never felt like I’d ever be a sports massage therapist. It just didn’t feel right to me, probably because I had never been athletic. My instructors would talk about how you had to know massage and specialize in a particular sport to become a good sports massage therapist. It just didn’t interest me.

In my head I would think that if I worked with athletes, I would treat them as any other client who presented with aches and pains. Identify the ache or the pain and work accordingly. It was simple, in my mind.

Of course, recently I have learned how to be a coxswain, taken a Learn to Row class with Rocket City Rowing Club and spent this year’s summer vacation learning to scull at Calm Waters Rowing camp. You might say that I’ve become a novice athlete.

Last weekend I found myself working with a client who sweep rows competitively. She was having lumbar region issues that manifested mostly while she was sitting in the boat and felt kinked up when she wasn’t in the boat. While working I began asking her questions about when and where she felt the pain. Before I realized it I was asking very specific question about during what phase of her rowing stroke she was feeling the pain.

That’s when it hit me. This is what my instructors were talking about when they talked about understanding the sport and its biomechanical peculiarities.

I certainly didn’t set out to become a sports massage therapist when I began this odyssey of learning to row. Mostly I did it to appease friends who were rowing and needed a short person to steer the boat. The learning to sweep row was a necessity at becoming a better coxswain and an attempt to get healthier. In the process though, I found something that I really enjoy doing, I’ve made new friends, gained new clients, dropped some weight, and gotten healthier.

And, unwittingly, I have also become a sports massage therapist who specializes in the sport of rowing. Who knew?

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