ASHIATSU PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
Be sure to watch videos below after reading this information. If you take a live class you will be receiving Ashiatsu from another student and myself. If you have any contraindications that prevent you from receiving massage and deep tissue massage you will not be able to take and participate in a live Ashiatsu class. If you are unsure if it will be safe for you to receive Ashiatsu in class please contact me before signing up for a live class.
Strength is not required to perform Ashiatsu massage. In fact, you can perform a full body Ashiatsu massage consisting of beginner, intermediate, and even advanced Ashiatsu strokes with very little physical effort on your part. When performed correctly, you only use the Ashiatsu bars for the balance and support of your movement.
Advanced Ashiatsu strokes do require more upper body strength but strength isn’t actually needed to do the strokes, strength is needed for the safety of your clients. You’re only holding onto the bars or walker for balance and support. To do advanced Ashiatsu Bar strokes you must be able to hold your body weight in the air with your elbows bent at 90° for 15 seconds. This is in case you are doing an advanced stroke on a client and the pressure ends up being to much for them, you can immediately and safely lift your feet off of the client’s body and then safely place them down alongside the client’s body. If you had to do this it would only take a few seconds but being able to hold your weight in the air for 15 seconds ensures that you can do it with ease, making sure your clients are safe. Advanced Ashiatsu Floor strokes also require more strength, but again, only so you have the ability to lift your body weight off of the client in the event that they can’t tolerate the pressure. You use a walker to perform advanced Ashiatsu Floor strokes and must be able to hold your body weight in the air with straight arms on the walker for 15 seconds before performing advanced floor strokes on clients. This will ensure that your clients are safe when you do advanced floor strokes.
I’ve never had to lift my weight off of a client when performing advanced Ashiatsu Bar or Floor strokes. This is because I take my time when increasing the pressure I use with a client so that once I decide to do an advanced stroke, I’m confident that they will tolerate and benefit from the increased pressure. It’s unlikely you’ll ever have to lift your weight off of a client once you begin doing advanced techniques. As you do beginner and intermediate strokes you’re developing and strengthening your Ashiatsu skills which includes your assessment skills to determine if a client will benefit from the added pressure of advanced strokes.
The more you perform Ashiatsu the easier and easier it becomes for you to do. An incredible benefit of Ashiatsu is that the easier it feels for you the better it feels for clients and the better results your clients will experience. Beginner and intermediate strokes are performed with one foot on the table or floor and the other foot massaging the client’s body. With advanced Ashiatsu strokes both of your feet are used to massage the client’s body at the same time or one foot is used while your other foot is held in the air so that all of your body weight is applied through only the one foot on the client’s body.