What it’s like to have an Ashiatsu Massage

Ashiatsu massage is gaining popularity!

By Jillian Follert
Whitby, January 14, 2009

DURHAM

It’s not often -- scratch that, it flat out never happens -- that I am naked while on the job.

But there’s a first time for everything.

In the middle of a recent work day, I abandoned my desk for a morning of indulgent relaxation at the invitation of Julie Moore, a Whitby Shiatsu Therapist who offers a unique therapy called Ashiatsu.

Not to be confused with Shiatsu” -- a type of Japanese massage where pressure is applied with the thumbs, elbows and palms of the hand -- Ashiatsu comes from the Japanese words for “foot” and “pressure” and sees the therapist stand barefoot on the client’s back and perform a series of gliding motions using the weight of their body to achieve a deep compression massage.

It’s considered “the most luxurious massage on the planet” said Ms. Moore, who is one of only a handful of people in Canada fully certified to practice it. “People use it for relaxation or to improve their health or emotional state. It has a lot of benefits”

Originally performed by Buddhist monks, Ashiatsu began appearing on the menu at American spas about 10 years ago under the name Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, a westernized version of the Asian technique.

Ms. Moore’s background includes training with an AOBT instructor in Florida, and learning Shiatsu with a Japanese Master Tetsuro Saito. She combines both in Ashiatsu, focusing on muscles and ligaments and working to harmonize the Qi -- energy flow -- and be conscious of the body’s meridians, the channels through which Qi -- life force -- flows.

Skin on skin contact is key to this treatment, which typically requires the client to be nude -- or at least in their underwear something I hadn’t given much thought to when I asked This Week photographer Jason Liebregts to chronicle my experience.

After a little creative sheet draping, we manage to get some shots deemed appropriate for a family newspaper. Once Jason is off to his next assignment, we got down to business. Julie starts by making sure I’m comfortable and cozy. I lay on my stomach on the massage table, my face peeking through a padded opening with a bowl of pretty shells and steaming citrus-scented essential oil placed strategically beneath it.

Warmed towels, a fuzzy blanket and a heating pad are layered over me, and a heating lamp mounted on the ceiling beams warm light onto my skin. Ms. Moore starts by sitting near my head and using her manicured toes and the pads of her feet to rub my shoulders, which feels similar to a standard massage.

She then hoists herself into a standing position on the massage table and grasps the two wooden bars secured to the ceiling before stepping gingerly onto my back, her cool toes sliding gently across the few drops of oil she has tipped onto my skin.

Sensation is measured on a scale of one to 10, with one being light tough and 10 being “Get off my back!” Ms. Moore says the goal is to start with a Level 2 or 3 to warm up the tissues, and then hover around a Level 6, which should feel like deep pressure and that “hurting in a good way” feeling.

“The amount of weight I put on depends on the size of the person” she tells me. “For a guy that’s 6-4 and 230 pounds, I would stand with both feet, but with a smaller woman I hold my weight back. Sometimes, though, I get a woman with three kids who says ‘Just stand on my back’.”

In my case, I can feel that she’s holding back a lot of her weight, but the pressure is still intense. As she begins to make long, gliding strokes across my legs, back, shoulders and upper arms, my muscles relax and I feel waves of tension leave my body.

At one point my spine cracks and pops. Ms. Moore locates a band of stress and tension in the middle of my back and I feel little sparks of pain as she kneads in with her foot then relief as the muscles loosen.

Forty-five minutes go by in a blur of soft music, ocean sounds, the scent of essential oils and Ms. Moore’s low, soothing voice reminding me to “focus on my breathing” and “let my tension go”.

I’m almost asleep by the time she steps down to cap off the treatment with some shiatsu massage on my head, ears and face, which is intensely relaxing.

After I’m dressed and sipping a cup of ginger tea, I notice a sense of calm and stillness that’s unusual for my Type A personality, and I feel more awake and alert than I did earlier, despite almost drifting off during the massage.

Ms. Moore performs five to six treatments per day and says Ashiatsu helps people with all kinds of ailments, from muscle pain and migraines to digestive problems and chronic pain.

Her guest book, where patients write messages after their experience, indicates the treatments also help people manage emotional pain, grieving and anger.

Typical Ashiatsu sessions run anywhere from 40 minutes to two hours, with costs that vary widely.

In Ms. Moore’s case, 70 minutes will set you back $125.