INTRODUCING ASHIATSU
Ashiatsu is a form of barefoot massage influenced by traditional Chinese and Japanese therapies, which has been adapted and modernised by practitioners operating in Western countries today. Ashiatsu translates as “foot pressure”, and practitioners use their feet to apply pressure to specific pressure points on the recipient’s body. This method is considered to be a particularly efficient way of giving deep tissue massage, and aims to alleviate health problems and help recipients achieve feelings of relaxation and general wellbeing.
History
The barefoot massage techniques used in Ashiatsu are thought to have originated in the 12th century, and began as a practice called Chavutti Thirumal in Kerala, India. Over time, the practice became more popular around the world, and was adapted by the Japanese into the traditional form of Ashiatsu used today. Developing at the same time as many traditional Chinese and Japanese therapies, Ashiatsu shares many of its core principles with Shiatsu, acupressure and Tui na – all of which stem from the instinctive human desire to apply pressure to places on the body that are uncomfortable or painful. Each of these therapies, including Ashiatsu, has developed subtly different ways of exerting pressure to provide pain relief and relaxation.
In more recent times, Ashiatsu has drawn influences from other barefoot massage techniques including barefoot lomi lomi and Swedish massage, and has grown in popularity in Western countries, particularly the USA. Ashiatsu is now viewed as a predominately Western therapy, and practitioners have adapted their practice to suit a modern audience, making some changes to traditional massage techniques and incorporating a contemporary understanding of human physiology.
Techniques
Practitioners perform Ashiatsu by standing on the recipient’s back and using their bare feet to apply pressure to shiatsu points around the body, often using two parallel bars suspended from the ceiling to help distribute their weight as efficiently as possible. Practitioners use a variety of techniques, including stretching, realigning body structure and stimulating pressure points to improve the flow of energy around the body. Some practitioners (particularly those performing more traditional forms of the therapy) may also offer advice on diet, exercise and other aspects of the recipient’s lifestyle outside of the treatment room.
Ashiatsu is considered to be a particularly good medium for performing deep tissue massage, as practitioners can use their entire body weight to apply pressure, and are able to work on broader areas than when using only the hands or fingers. With training, therapists should be able to offer substantial variation in the levels of pressure and techniques used, and to focus on very specific areas if required.
Ashiatsu works on a similar understanding of pressure points to Shiatsu, focussing massage on particular areas of the body. Unlike Shiatsu, however, practitioners do use oils to assist their techniques – as a result, recipients are advised to remove as much clothing as they are comfortable with, in order to get maximum benefit from the session. Sessions can last for anything from half an hour to two hours, during which time the recipient lies face down on a massage table, covered by a thin sheet.
Ashiatsu practitioners are usually required to undergo extensive training before they begin work. This is in order to learn how to perform specific movements with their feet, and also to ensure that they don’t damage the recipient’s back during therapy. Ashiatsu can be used as either a medical or a relaxation-based therapy, and is intended to create a feeling of energy and wellbeing throughout the entire body.
Variations
There are three main forms of Ashiatsu practiced today – traditional Ashiatsu, stool Ashiatsu, and Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy. The traditional method is primarily used to treat specific health problems, using the Chinese understanding of body meridians and pressure points to direct treatment.
Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy (AOBT) was developed by Ruthie Hardee in the 1990s, and focuses on the use of massage for relaxation, rather than medical benefit. Although using the same techniques as traditional Ashiatsu, AOBT is designed to be painless, using a combination of long, broad strokes and shorter, lighter ones to give the recipient a similar sensation as might be experienced during Swedish massage.
Stool Ashiatsu is performed by practitioners who prefer not to use the parallel bars during treatment, or who want to offer treatments at people’s homes. Recipients lie on a mat on the floor, while the practitioner sits on a stool, which can be moved into different positions around the recipient’s body. Stool Ashiatsu does not achieve quite the same level of pressure as when the bars are used and can be more physically challenging for the practitioner, but it is still a very effective way of performing deep tissue techniques.
Mechanism of Action
Ashiatsu follows many of the main principles of traditional Chinese medicine – primarily the idea that the best way to treat a recipient’s health problems is to work on their whole body, facilitating the free flow of energy and bringing about a state of healthy and harmonious balance.
Traditional Chinese medicine holds that energy (qi, or Ki in Japan) is constantly flowing around the body along meridian lines - keeping people healthy, energised and balanced. When this energy becomes blocked, it can lead to feelings of pain or bad health.
Ashiatsu practitioners use their feet to apply pressure to sensitive points along the meridian lines, which causes blockages to dissolve, and allows energy to flow freely once again. When all blockages have been removed, the body is returned to a state of balance, unaffected by pain or ill health.
Modern forms of Ashiatsu have also incorporated the contemporary Western approach to medicine, and base treatments on an understanding of anatomy and physiology, working to relieve areas of muscular tension in order to relax the recipient and help reduce the impact of stress-related disorders.
Influences
Contemporary Ashiatsu has been influenced by a range of other barefoot massage techniques, including barefoot lomi lomi, Chavutti Thirumal and Swedish massage.
Chavutti Thirumal is thought to be the first example of barefoot massage. Originating in India, practitioners use a hanging rope to balance themselves as they perform sets of movements, mainly using the heels and insteps, to realign muscles and bones.
Barefoot lomi lomi massage is a variation on the Hawaiian practice of lomi lomi, combining long strokes from head to toe with music and breathing techniques, helping the recipient to experience a feeling of complete relaxation. Barefoot lomi lomi practitioners do not use poles or ropes for balance, although some may use sticks and staffs during treatment.
Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy has also been influenced by contemporary Swedish massage – particularly the focus on relaxation and gentle, sweeping movements. All of these disciplines, along with the principles of Shiatsu and traditional Chinese medicine, have been incorporated into Ashiatsu and adapted by modern practitioners to create the treatment that is practiced today.
Benefits
Traditional Ashiatsu can be used to both treat medical conditions, and to provide a general feeling of good health and relief from both physical and mental tension.
General benefits include better circulation and a boosted immune system, increased energy levels and immune system, and feelings of good health and wellbeing on a day-to-day basis.
More specifically, muscular problems including back pain, headaches and problems with the hips, legs and neck can all be treated using Ashiatsu. Some recipients report feeling as though they have experienced a physical work out, usually akin to something like yoga, after treatment. It is also a great method of stress relief and can have a positive effect on stress-related health problems.
History
The barefoot massage techniques used in Ashiatsu are thought to have originated in the 12th century, and began as a practice called Chavutti Thirumal in Kerala, India. Over time, the practice became more popular around the world, and was adapted by the Japanese into the traditional form of Ashiatsu used today. Developing at the same time as many traditional Chinese and Japanese therapies, Ashiatsu shares many of its core principles with Shiatsu, acupressure and Tui na – all of which stem from the instinctive human desire to apply pressure to places on the body that are uncomfortable or painful. Each of these therapies, including Ashiatsu, has developed subtly different ways of exerting pressure to provide pain relief and relaxation.
In more recent times, Ashiatsu has drawn influences from other barefoot massage techniques including barefoot lomi lomi and Swedish massage, and has grown in popularity in Western countries, particularly the USA. Ashiatsu is now viewed as a predominately Western therapy, and practitioners have adapted their practice to suit a modern audience, making some changes to traditional massage techniques and incorporating a contemporary understanding of human physiology.
Techniques
Practitioners perform Ashiatsu by standing on the recipient’s back and using their bare feet to apply pressure to shiatsu points around the body, often using two parallel bars suspended from the ceiling to help distribute their weight as efficiently as possible. Practitioners use a variety of techniques, including stretching, realigning body structure and stimulating pressure points to improve the flow of energy around the body. Some practitioners (particularly those performing more traditional forms of the therapy) may also offer advice on diet, exercise and other aspects of the recipient’s lifestyle outside of the treatment room.
Ashiatsu is considered to be a particularly good medium for performing deep tissue massage, as practitioners can use their entire body weight to apply pressure, and are able to work on broader areas than when using only the hands or fingers. With training, therapists should be able to offer substantial variation in the levels of pressure and techniques used, and to focus on very specific areas if required.
Ashiatsu works on a similar understanding of pressure points to Shiatsu, focussing massage on particular areas of the body. Unlike Shiatsu, however, practitioners do use oils to assist their techniques – as a result, recipients are advised to remove as much clothing as they are comfortable with, in order to get maximum benefit from the session. Sessions can last for anything from half an hour to two hours, during which time the recipient lies face down on a massage table, covered by a thin sheet.
Ashiatsu practitioners are usually required to undergo extensive training before they begin work. This is in order to learn how to perform specific movements with their feet, and also to ensure that they don’t damage the recipient’s back during therapy. Ashiatsu can be used as either a medical or a relaxation-based therapy, and is intended to create a feeling of energy and wellbeing throughout the entire body.
Variations
There are three main forms of Ashiatsu practiced today – traditional Ashiatsu, stool Ashiatsu, and Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy. The traditional method is primarily used to treat specific health problems, using the Chinese understanding of body meridians and pressure points to direct treatment.
Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy (AOBT) was developed by Ruthie Hardee in the 1990s, and focuses on the use of massage for relaxation, rather than medical benefit. Although using the same techniques as traditional Ashiatsu, AOBT is designed to be painless, using a combination of long, broad strokes and shorter, lighter ones to give the recipient a similar sensation as might be experienced during Swedish massage.
Stool Ashiatsu is performed by practitioners who prefer not to use the parallel bars during treatment, or who want to offer treatments at people’s homes. Recipients lie on a mat on the floor, while the practitioner sits on a stool, which can be moved into different positions around the recipient’s body. Stool Ashiatsu does not achieve quite the same level of pressure as when the bars are used and can be more physically challenging for the practitioner, but it is still a very effective way of performing deep tissue techniques.
Mechanism of Action
Ashiatsu follows many of the main principles of traditional Chinese medicine – primarily the idea that the best way to treat a recipient’s health problems is to work on their whole body, facilitating the free flow of energy and bringing about a state of healthy and harmonious balance.
Traditional Chinese medicine holds that energy (qi, or Ki in Japan) is constantly flowing around the body along meridian lines - keeping people healthy, energised and balanced. When this energy becomes blocked, it can lead to feelings of pain or bad health.
Ashiatsu practitioners use their feet to apply pressure to sensitive points along the meridian lines, which causes blockages to dissolve, and allows energy to flow freely once again. When all blockages have been removed, the body is returned to a state of balance, unaffected by pain or ill health.
Modern forms of Ashiatsu have also incorporated the contemporary Western approach to medicine, and base treatments on an understanding of anatomy and physiology, working to relieve areas of muscular tension in order to relax the recipient and help reduce the impact of stress-related disorders.
Influences
Contemporary Ashiatsu has been influenced by a range of other barefoot massage techniques, including barefoot lomi lomi, Chavutti Thirumal and Swedish massage.
Chavutti Thirumal is thought to be the first example of barefoot massage. Originating in India, practitioners use a hanging rope to balance themselves as they perform sets of movements, mainly using the heels and insteps, to realign muscles and bones.
Barefoot lomi lomi massage is a variation on the Hawaiian practice of lomi lomi, combining long strokes from head to toe with music and breathing techniques, helping the recipient to experience a feeling of complete relaxation. Barefoot lomi lomi practitioners do not use poles or ropes for balance, although some may use sticks and staffs during treatment.
Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy has also been influenced by contemporary Swedish massage – particularly the focus on relaxation and gentle, sweeping movements. All of these disciplines, along with the principles of Shiatsu and traditional Chinese medicine, have been incorporated into Ashiatsu and adapted by modern practitioners to create the treatment that is practiced today.
Benefits
Traditional Ashiatsu can be used to both treat medical conditions, and to provide a general feeling of good health and relief from both physical and mental tension.
General benefits include better circulation and a boosted immune system, increased energy levels and immune system, and feelings of good health and wellbeing on a day-to-day basis.
More specifically, muscular problems including back pain, headaches and problems with the hips, legs and neck can all be treated using Ashiatsu. Some recipients report feeling as though they have experienced a physical work out, usually akin to something like yoga, after treatment. It is also a great method of stress relief and can have a positive effect on stress-related health problems.
Created as part of a series of informative articles on different massage techniques for a private client in 2017.