Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy

What is ashiatsu massage?

Ashiatsu massage is a barefoot massage technique that has been performed for thousands of years, with roots in Asia and India. However, the type of ashiatsu massage commonly performed in clinics today is actually a Westernized adaptation of the massage style known as ashiatsu oriental bar therapy. A massage therapist Ruthie Hardee from Colorado devised the style in 1995. She remembered seeing forms of ashiatsu while traveling abroad, so she created her own treatment based on what she saw and her years as a licensed massage therapist.

Not long after being licensed I saw a photo of Ashiatsu on the cover of Massage and Bodywork magazine and I knew right then I wanted to learn it.  Soon after seeing this, I went down to Tampa to meet the founder Ruthie Hardee to take one of her first classes. Back then it was only taught in Tampa or at her home in Boulder, Colorado. I was one of the first to learn  in Tampa and a lot of the class was in the other therapist’s back yard. There you know she was just starting. It was great and Ruthie and I had a nice connection.  I was pretty well set up by then and we talked a lot her coimng to Portland to teach a class and a year later I helped her do that.  I was the first to bring this to Maine and I am now one of many thousands worldwide. I was asked to appear on News 8 WMTW, WGME 13 and have been featured in the Casco Bay Weekly.  Ashiatsu truly is the most  luxurious massage on the planet & is enjoyable to men and women of all ages.

During my sessions, I often do Ashiatsu and cupping together as they truely compliment each other. I like to tell my clients, welcome to a warm room and a warm table with relaxing music.  Lie down comfortably and take a long deep breath. Something unique and amazing is coming your way.

Cupping therapy/Vacuum Manual Therapy

Cupping has been around for thousands of years and in the past few it has been seen and better regonized as truely therapeutic. Suction from cupping draws fluid into the treated area. This suction force expands and breaks open tiny blood vessels (capillaries) under the skin. Your body treats the cupping area like an injury. It sends more blood to the area to stimulate the natural healing process. Some people theorize that cupping clears the pores and releases toxins.

In a a cupping session, I like to say I am vacuuming your back and hips and  you usually get an amazing feel with a sensation that works so well you often see lasting change especially with more treatments. Cupping has a sedating effect on the nervous system, and many people find it profoundly relaxing. After a cupping treatment, you usually get sense of relief, muscular release, lightness, pleasant tingling, and freedom from pain and with increase in flexibility and muscular control. Contracted, tense and painful muscle tissue will soften quickly after just a few minutes. Cupping and ashiatsu truly compliment each other.

Swedish Massage

5 Basic Strokes of Swedish massage

Swedish Massage is a mix of styles, and I don’t like to focus on just one but rather a mix. No two clients are ever alike and that is the same with the session and the approach I like to take.

Effleurage – This technique is the long gliding and stroking motion of the hands over the body. This helps reduce tension in the muscles and can fluctuate between light and medium pressures.

Petrissage – This technique is used to help get deeper into the muscles and knead them. The knuckles and thumbs are primarily used in this technique to prep the muscles.

Friction – In this technique, heat is produced using friction and then applied to the body. Your massage therapist will rub his or her hands together very quickly to produce heat and then place it on your muscles to help warm them.

Tapotement – This is perhaps the most popular stroke associated with Swedish massage and is characterized by fast tapping, drumming, patting or hacking of the clients body with the therapist’s hands, soft fists or finger tips.

Vibration – The heel of the hand is used, but fingertips may also be used. This motion is a back and forth motion on the body and will help loosen and relax your muscles. The hands are used to help shake your muscles.

Hot Lava Stone Therapy:

Hot Stones used in massage have been around for a VERY long time–with evidence of stones being used for healing purposes dating back before written history. Ancient civilizations believed that hot stones were beneficial for cleansing the body, relaxing the heart, grounding the soul and soothing the mind.

Hot Lava Stones, used in conjuction with both Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy and classic Swedish Massage, will be sure to melt away your pain and stress. This exotic treatment involves the placement of heated polished lava stones on pressure and chakra points, while the application of oil on stones is applied to the skin. Your body blanketed in warmth with aromatic oils will encourage deep relaxation.

Massage Medicine • 22 Monument Square, room 402 • Portland, ME 04101

maureen@massagemedicine.com • 207-650-9979