Ashiatsu Massage
“…the deepest of deep tissue massages…”
Everyone should try to experience this.
This is one of my favourite massages to perform, and my favourite style of massage to receive. This, and the treatments I invented myself, are my speciality. 👣
“Ashi” means foot and “atsu” means pressure in Japanese - and this is a type of Deep Tissue Massage using techniques that originated in Japan. It is performed using my bare feet. It is not the same as walking massages that you might have had before - it is more like dance. My feet sweep, push, tread and glide.
Ashiatsu’s gravity fuelled approach, which is powered also with my core strength, enables this Massage to deliver roughly 3x deeper pressure than a traditional Deep Tissue Massage can deliver. It feels forceful in application. However, because it uses the cushions of my feet, the sensation of pressure is diffused.
The result is a very deep yet relaxing massage that stretches and elongates your muscles: wherever you feel the stretch, that is where your muscle will relax and grow.
This style is very good for athletes, so if you are looking for a Sports Massage : try this.
My Studio
I am setting up my own solo Ashiatsu Studio in Westbourne Grove (Notting Hill) in the Autumn of 2024. It is difficult to find a good Ashiatsu Therapist in London, in my experience, and I want to change that.
My Equipment
For this massage I use a gel made from Nori seaweed that I bought from Japanese artisans : it feels light, cooling on hot days and it will make your skin clear and glowing. While I am a mobile therapist, I will bring to your place a bamboo pole, a bamboo frame and silk, coloured ribbons, which enable me to flow over your body. I will also bring a padded mat that I brought back from Japan.
Feet > Hands, Sometimes 👣
I love to carry out this kind of Massage because, due to my anatomy, I am unable to transmit as much power as some through my hands… But I can do so with my feet :) My background in ballet means that I can navigate around the body with intentionality and precision… applying forceful or gentle pressure into the planes and slopes of the body.
Delicate Footwork
This style of massage more than any other (apart from advanced Informed Palpation), needs practitioners to have perfected their understanding of human anatomy. Also to be sensitive and highly controlled with their feet - as well as flexible with the rest of their body - as many positions are used and so balance is essential.
Method
The Ashiatsu Massage uses deep compression effleurage strokes applied with my feet in gliding, kneading, palpating, treading, slipping (which creates an important stretch for the glutes) and pushing motions. With hamstrings and glutes, I will tread repeatedly on the muscle, using my heels to go into the deepest layers of muscle. I am told it feels pleasurable when I slide all the way down the back, over the glutes, and stretch the hips by pushing my feet into the floor as they lose contact with your body. I also love to use Ashiatsu to stretch out the shoulder-blades and to remove stubborn adhesions in the upper back. A foot or hand massage - carried out with feet 👣 - is also heavenly and medically effective.
I will be able to continually regulate the pressure of your massage by balancing using a hard surface and my own equipment (some practitioners use overhead bars, but I do not find this desirable).
I can target many more angles of your muscles and general body with this technique. My feet have as much sensitivity and control as my hands 👣
Ashiatsu Massage helps to release adhesions and tension that are deepest within the body, so people tend to feel a lot freer and looser after one session.
Compression
Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage introduces Compression.
Compression Massage squeezes the entire body from above and below. This Deep Compression is not painful, it feels pleasant. It benefits your circulation and creates a soft structural integration that realigns the body. Mild skeletal adjustments can occur during a course of sessions.
Afterwards you will feel, as one client described it, “tall, flexible and stretched”, rather than “small, hunched and rock hard”.
Benefits
Like all massages, Ashiatsu provides deep relaxation while stimulating the circulatory and lymphatic systems of the body. It oxygenates you. Here are some of the other benefits:
❉ Overall Posture Improves
Ashiatsu strokes help elongate the spine by lengthening muscles that have become shortened and compressed. This aids in effective pain relief and improves posture. Ashiatsu helps the lower back by fixing any muscular imbalances. Additionally, these long targeted strokes stimulate the lymphatic system which stimulates detoxification and circulation. Overall, Ashiatsu produces a marked improvement in posture and range of movement.
❉ Reduces Chronic Pain
Deep Tissue Massage has extensive benefits for most conditions that cause pain - but advocates of Ashiatsu say that it takes what regular Deep Tissue Massage does for pain to a new level. The increased circulation that results from Ashiatsu Massage frees nerves while pumping oxygen through the blood stream, assisting the treated area. It manipulates the deepest layers of soft tissue, relieving muscle tension by loosening tight muscles. Adhesions and tight connective tissues can create significant discomfort: the compressive strokes of Ashiatsu loosen adhesions and it releases the connective tissues. Alignments go back into place.
❉ Improves Flexibility
The long gravity-assisted strokes broaden and lengthen muscle fibres. Stretching the tissues in two different directions is beneficial for the body. This motion improves and restores flexibility. Scar tissue and adhesions from past injuries, stress and over-use injuries are broken up. For instance, Ashiatsu is effective at stretching the iliotibial band, a thick band of tissue on the lateral leg that runs from the hip to the knee, that often creates pain in runners.
❉ Deepest Deep Tissue Massage Possible!
No other massage technique is deeper than Ashiatsu. Traditional Deep Tissue Massage employs hands, fists, forearms and elbows. A nice benefit of Ashiatsu massage is that it feels so deep but so gentle. There is no damage to superficial tissues and blood vessels.
❉ Emotional Release and Stress Reduction
This type of massage creates an extremely deep state of relaxation. In turn, it relieves stress. Ashiatsu Massage reduces cortisol levels. It has a positive effect on diastolic blood pressure.
❉ The Effects Last!
The whole body benefits from the broad and deep compressive strokes of Ashiatsu, and your muscles will feel sore afterwards: but in a positive way, as though you have just worked out.
Who should choose Ashiatsu Massage?
This massage is very popular with people who love the sensation of deep pressure. But I recommend it for almost everyone, and will try to incorporate at least some Ashiatsu into every massage.
The pressure need not be too deep as I will always be able to control it.
Once you experience it, you will understand why I recommend it.
It is particularly good for:
▸ Athletes and those who play Sports and go to the Gym.
▸ People who wish to experience the “high” and emotional rush and release of deep pressure and compression.
▸ People who experience back and shoulder pain, or tension in the thighs, glutes and calves (perhaps following sport). If this is you, we will discuss your pain and tension beforehand.
▸ Beginners! It is suitable even if you have never had a Massage before! :)
▸ Those with dense muscles and a thick skeleton.
▸ People who love Yoga, as Ashiatsu is excellent for boosting flexibility and stretching your muscles.
▸ People who have been sedentary for a while and wish to do some mild muscular work before returning to the Gym.
▸ Ashiatsu can be helpful for people who suffer from chronic neck and back pain, and conditions such as scoliosis, bulging and herniated disks, sciatica or degenerative disc disease. But we will need to
✖︎ I don’t recommend this for some senior citizens or for those who want only the most gentle pressure.