What are the advantages of Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy?

And why should I take a barefoot massage training class?

They are numerous for both the massage therapist and the client. For the client who craves deep tissue work, they receive the pressure they need. Unlike traditional hands on massage where the therapist often uses pointy elbows and fingers/thumbs, the round surfaces of the feet are used in Ashiatsu. Many clients assume that a good deep tissue massage is going to hurt. It doesn't with our style of barefoot massage. The client should never feel any discomfort--maybe a "hurts so good," but that's about it!

The well trained Ashiatsu barefoot massage therapist uses parallel wooden bars above the massage table for balance and support, and the client lies comfortably on the massage table. Because gravity is used, it's easier for the therapist to control pressure with his/her body weight (as opposed to having to "force" their weight/pressure upon the client).

I have a video regarding the subject uploading to my Facebook site: www.facebook.com/AffinityMassageStudio.

Check it out! It's totally informal, but it may give you some more ideas!

So you want to learn barefoot massage. Yes? I recommend taking a real life class. I hope you don't think you can really learn from a video or youtube. Do you think you could have learned to be an amazing massage therapist by not doing any hands on? Would you really go to a massage therapist who learned to do massage by reading books, Googling, watching videos?

Of course I'm prejudiced. I have spent thousands of hours doing barefoot massage on clients over the past 10 years. I went through an exacting training program to learn how to do barefoot massage workshop training. And I am very specific about how I teach in class, what is good form, what can be improved on, what kinds of moves are unsafe.

www.ashiatsuworkshops.com has information from an instructor who has been teaching ashiatsu classes for over 8 years. Ashiastu massage is not something to be treated lightly. When it's not done well, you can hurt someone. Or yourself (imagine falling off a table). And those would both not help your massage business!

I had such a great Ashi-Thai Barefoot Massage Class this weekend! 2 of the therapists took their barefoot massage training originally in 2002 (the year I learned ashiatsu barefoot work), one took my massage ceu class just this past June, and the 4th is a barefoot deep tissue massage grad from a couple of years ago.

The Ashi-Thai class is a ball. You learn to use your body weight to do compression and stretching to loosen up the client's body. They wear loose, comfortable fitting clothes. The therapist needs no cream, so it's no fuss, no muss!

If you go to my website at www.AffinityMassages.com, you'll find my class schedule.

www.Deepfeet.com is the founder's site, where you can find locations for Barefoot Bar Massage Training throughout the United States. My studio is located in Cincinnati, OH.

I'll post photos tomorrow of my ashi-thai barefoot massage workshop.

Have you ever had someone walk on your back? Sometimes, it's one of your children. Or maybe your spouse stepped on you when you came home from work with an aching back.

If your massage therapist doesn't "walk on your back", maybe you should ask him/her about taking a class.

Back walking, in my case, actually, is a mis-nomer. When I did a demonstration for massage students one time, a woman told me I looked like I was "skating on the client's back." This is actually a perfect visual for ashiatsu (well, minus the cold and the skates).

The massage therapist using gliding and sweeping movements across the client's body. And one of the reasons you can't learn barefoot massage properly online or from a video or book is because it's vital for the therapist with whom you practice to give you feedback while you work.

So our barefoot massage workshop / training / classes are the perfect place to learn to skate or discover the art of back walking. You can learn Ashiatsu barefoot bar massage in our Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy classes across the United States. Go to deepfeet.com for the nationwide schedule.