Even pregnant ladies can have massage! Just not Ashi 🙁
Sharon with the portable bars!
I just wanted to get this out there before I forgot!
The Pool Doctors in Decatur, AL were kind enough to let me come to their business October 25th and set up to provide free massage for their employees and customers. I think there were 6 takers in the short time I was there. We had a lot of fun and plan on doing it again next year. Be ready!
Oh, and I still have to tell you what happened at AMTA National Convention in September, I haven’t forgotten it’s just been crazy busy!
Every so often someone asks if Ashiatsu is safe. They have looked at some pictures or read a description and gotten the idea that experiencing Ashi may be akin to being trampled by a small elephant.
I’m here to assure you that is not so.
Many of my clients have taken to telling their friends and family and actually introducing me as the massage therapist who walks on people. I got tired of correcting folks, it’s a distinction really, so now I just smile and nod yes, that’s me, the lady who walks on people and calls it a funny name.
And while I technically do not walk on people, I do a pretty good impression.
Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy or DeepFeet Bar Therapy was created to deliver deep pressure to the client safely.
So I can say it’s safe all day long, but what do I do to make it safe?
Don’t walk on people
I really do NOT walk on you. I use my foot or feet to glide over and compress the muscles. It’s different from walking because even with two feet my weight is rarely ever fully on the client and I never shift weight from one foot to the other while working.
Use the right tool for the right job
Sometimes it’s not safe to receive Ashi. If you’re pregnant, if you have uncontrolled high blood pressure or uncontrolled diabetes or problems with circulation or recent surgeries, you should not have Ashi. That’s why I ask so many seemingly invasive questions when we first meet.
Also, Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy massage and Ashi-Thai moves are designed to be performed in a certain way. If I’m using the wrong foot to do a particular move, at best, I’m going to get stuck and have to make clumsy adjustments. At worst, I might hurt my client. So there’s a right foot and a wrong foot to use for each move.
No free-stylin’
I use only one foot at a time when working with clients who weight less than 40 lbs. more than I do. No, I’m not going to ask you how much you weigh unless you really need two feet, and you’re really close to the me+40 limit.
Regardless of whether it’s with one foot or two feet, I only perform moves I learned to do the safe way in training.
No goofing around on the table, EVER
This is probably the most dangerous thing an Ashi therapist can do. Goofing around and / or not paying attention to what they are doing is going to result in falling off the table and / or on the client. Neither of which is good for everyone involved.
We are trained specifically on how to move and navigate while on the table with a client. It may look simple and fluid, but it’s not all that intuitive and our instructors spend a lot of time trying to ingrain safe on-the-table habits.
Always be gentle and considerate
I try to never touch or cross the spine while working. Since the pressure is deep by the nature of Ashi, getting too close to the spine could cause a lot of pain or even injury. Also, stepping on or pinching the client’s skin is bad form. As is getting your toes tangled up in their hair. Not good… Oh, and I wash my feet obsessively between clients.
So that’s what I do to keep Ashi safe. I hope these answer your questions about Ashi Safety. If not, please leave a comment and I’ll write about it.
***I should point out that what he’s doing isn’t really perfect in that he’s unsupported. His form is pretty good and his balance is great, but as an adult I would never attempt this because frankly, someone could get killed.
I won’t tell you not to let your kid walk on your back. I think it’s a right of passage myself, but do be aware of the receiver’s physical limitations and the weight of the child. My nephew and I had a good weight difference when this picture was taken, probably about 90 lbs. difference.
But he’s growing and I’m growing older and I can almost guarantee we won’t do this again because our weights will be too close for it to be safe. Not to mention even in this photo, at these weights, one wobble the wrong way could have sent him crashing down into me and there’s at least one of us injured if not both.
But… it was fun anyway and a great memory that we will both have for posterity. I’m glad we got it in electrons 🙂
♥
Harvest Moon Massage is Decatur, Alabama’s Exclusive Provider of Ashi-Thai Massage!
When I wrote back in January about the Thai Yoga Bodywork class I took, Lauren asked about it. She was baffled and had not heard of it so I promised her a more in-depth discussion. I should probably say here that I don’t yet feel qualified to even begin to define what it is.
I can tell you my experience with Thai massage, but I am a novice. Think kindergarten. My sum total of Thai experience is the 24 hours I took with Mukti, described in the link above and the 17 hours of Ashi-Thai I took with Jeni Spring.
Ashi-Thai is a westernized interpretation of Thai massage that is performed on a table with overhead bars for balance, support and stabilization for the therapist as they use their feet and legs to move the client through a series of yoga-like stretches (assisted asanas). There is also an element of compression massage involved with Ashi-Thai.
Thai massage is different and more. Traditional Thai is performed on a floor mat. Like Ashi-Thai the client is moved through a series of yoga-like asanas except the therapist is now using hands, arms, body, legs and feet to accomplish the stretches and compressions. That’s pretty much where the similarities end. There is a spiritual element of traditional Thai that is best captured by the beginning of a Thai Yoga Massage, called Puja Position. Puja Position allows the therapist to ground and open themselves while the client relaxes thus opening a line of communication. It’s all very esoteric and visceral and somewhat unbelievable until you feel it happen. So traditional Thai is about physical healing (the massage part), spiritual connection (for therapist and client, with each other, but perhaps also with their higher power or the universe in general), and the aesthetic of yoga. It should be beautiful when “performed”.
So what does it buy you? Looser muscles, decompressed joints, better localized blood flow in the areas being worked, relaxation, spiritual rejuvenation, etc. I think every Thai session is different and I think every person walks away with a different experience. It’s sorta like yoga in that respect.
I suppose I could go on and on and on, but that won’t give you any better sense of what I’m talking about so in the spirit of a picture is worth a thousand words I’ve embedded a video for you. I’ve chosen this one because the ladies in the video are two of my lovely Gray Bear sisters who I began my Thai Yoga Bodywork odyssey with. Charlene Gaffney (the therapist) is quite a bit more experienced at Thai Yoga Massage than I am. Stephany Fair (the receiver) is a yoga whiz and Thai practitioner as well. And when you get to the acrobatic part of this video just remember that I said they’re more experienced than I am and that I’m still in kindergarten (so I don’t know how to do nor will I attempt any of that fancy break your head stuff).
So I’m sure if you follow along at all over on my Facebook page you already know that I’ve been in Nashville the last couple of days for a class. I had been considering and pondering and planning for quite a while about this class and then it just sort of fell into my lap.
I drove up Friday morning giving myself an extra hour of drive time which was a good thing. Have you ever driven in Nashville rush hour traffic? Yikes!
Fijian Barefoot Massage
The class was Fijian Barefoot Massage with Lolita Knight. I have been curious about this modality for a while. I wanted to try a different kind of barefoot massage to see how it compares to Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy. And I have to say it was quite different. Similarities, of course, but interesting new ways to use the feet to get in there with the pressure.
And Fijian is similar to Ashi-Thai in that the client stays clothed, which is a plus if you’re working in public spaces. And it’s portable. Very easily portable. Essentially all you need is the floor (or ground if you’re outside). A thai-style mat would up the comfort level, but is not necessary if you’re in a real pinch.
I learned so much at this class and met so many interesting people that I’m still somewhat overwhelmed trying to process and integrate it all.
Meanwhile I have to tell you about the highlight of the entire trip because it is bizarre and surprising and made my day. We were mid-way to lunchtime and had been working for a while. I was chatting with my practice partner. Obviously I told her I was an AOBT and she was asking me some questions about it. Apparently she had been researching Ashi classes and was unsure of which organization to go with. Then she specifically asked about one of the copycat knock off providers and I was launching into my spiel about why she should choose Deepfeet.com when I heard a tiny voice from across the room say, “I teach for them.”
It stopped me in my tracks. For a moment I wasn’t sure how to interpret that statement. You work for the knock off? You work for Ruthie at Deepfeet.com? I looked and there was this face that I recognized, but didn’t know and suddenly a name was flying out of my mouth and there was laughing and squealing and there across the room were two of my Ashi sisters. We all knew each other from our Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy Facebook Group, but didn’t know we were going to be in the same class. I spent the rest of the day hyper aware of where they were and what they were doing as we worked. Then we went to dinner together and had a fabulous time. That poor TGI Fridays in the Opry Mills Mall may never be the same.
Overall I had a great time learning Fijian and then later the luxury add-on Soft Touch Island Massage and getting to share it with my Ashi sisters made it all even better.
Harvest Moon Massage is Decatur, Alabama’s Exclusive Provider of Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, Ashi-Thai and Bamboo-Fusion Massage
Lately I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the portability of my Ashi massages. And I’m happy to say that, yes, I can come to your location. In early 2011 I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase a set of Hardee-Ashiatsu Portable Bars.
I have the ability to travel with my portables for different events. To date I have had been able to use them at several outdoor 5Ks and occasionally I throw them up on my front porch just to play with them. I am always searching for more opportunities to travel with my bars. I enjoy introducing the public to Ashiatsu. The adult reactions range from sheer boredom to fascination. The kids are so much fun and will gather just to watch and wait for the opportunity to jump on the table. And yes, I work on kids, but mostly it’s just a simple stretch and they get a tickle if they want it. The adults are a little harder to get on the table, but once they do they are so glad they did.
Portables aren’t really appropriate for just one or two massages unless you’re willing to pay an outrageous set up fee. What they are appropriate for is events or conventions or office functions or anything really where people gather who would like a massage therapist on hand.
The following video features my lovely Ashi-Thai instructor, Jeni Spring, assembling a set of portable bars. I find it highly entertaining as she is really much taller in person than on the video. Her sense of style cracks me up and you can really see her personality coming through starting around minute 3:30 and continuing on until the end. Enjoy!
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