Bamboo massage is becoming more popular among therapists and clients. Why use bamboo? It's easier on the therapist, but it's more comfortable on clients than traditional tools. Using warmed bamboo or rattan, the therapist rolls and presses these unusual items on the client's lubricated body.

Live bamboo stocks steamed in essential oils are massaged into the body using a combination of rolling, sliding, kneading, and tapping to relieve and renew stressed muscles. This exotic treatment is not only relaxing but is also very therapeutic. By utilizing the bamboo your massage therapist is able to customize the depth of your massage to suite your personal needs.

I received a bamboo chair massage at the AMTA convention in Atlanta last year. It was suprisingly relaxing and soothing. Nathalie Cecilia teaches Bamboo-Fusion massages and is credentialed to teach in Florida. National CEU approval is pending. You can contact her at Bamboo-Fusion.com. Nathalie will be at the AMTA convention in Cincinnati next week (September 26-28) giving out free demonstations. Stop by and give it a try! She'll be right next to the Ashiatsu booth (we're booth 612).

Ashiatsu Training and Classes

Just before I graduated from college, my car died. Well, more than that. I had to leave it on a country road when it stopped running, only to find one week later that it had been towed because some hillbillies thought it would be fun to ram into the side of it with a pick up truck. Barely driveable, I tried to get it back to school. But while it had been lying on it's side prior to being towed, all the oil had run out of it. So the engine caught on fire, and that was truly the demise of my Datsun B-210 (I loved it, despite it's oxidized paint and holes in the floor boards).

Armed with the practical "Theatre and Film" degree (minor in Business Admin), I had planned to seek my fame and fortune (or at least meager earnings) as the next Steven Spielburg. Yet, I decided that a car was necessary. And that, in turn, required a paying job. So I fell into retail management for a short spell.

I accidentally got a job after a couple of years in restaurant management, and the hours weren't conducive to any type of theatre work. With a new husband and a baby or two, it was looking less and less like I would follow my passion. I really did enjoy many aspects of restaurant management. It was fast paced, I got exercise and ate for free. But the hours were killers, and I was unfulfilled.

My husband was supportive when I told him I wanted to get my Masters' Degree. But in what? After some pondering, I thought marriage counseling would be a good idea. But he tactfully suggested that it probably wasn't the best course of action for me.

It so happened that around that time, he had given me two gift certificates for massage. I was hooked. I asked the LMT where she went to school, what was involved, etc. Next was the research at the library. My husband was suprised that I thought that maybe I could touch people for a living. Holding my breath, I asked my parents what they thought. I really thought that they would think it was weird. They're all for advanced education--Mom has a PhD, and my pop is "ABD" (All But Dissertation). They thought it was a great idea though, so it was all systems go!

I went to SHI (Self Health Incorporated) in Lebanon, OH. It's a little north of Kings' Island, the huge Cincinnati amusement park. Great school, wonderful instructors, cadaver studies included. I graduated in October 1998 and passed my State of Ohio Medical Boards shortly thereafter. I LOVED massage! I still love massage! I hung on to my restaurant job one day a week for a few months but finally went solely into massage in 1999.

Four pregnancies and five babies later, I still love massage. I did hand-on massage for the first two of those pregancies until about a week before my due dates. Ashiatsu saved my career when I was expecting my twins. All my kids (yes, there are seven of them, for those who are trying to count them all) have a wonderful touch and would make great massage therapists. Well, except the youngest, who destroys everything he comes across.  My older children can't wait for me to teach them Ashiatsu.

In July, I came home after an out of town teaching expedition. After having spent hours in airports, on planes and in cars, my back was killing me. My seven year old asked me if I wanted a massage. "YES!" So she told me to lie on the floor, over there by the wall. And she proceeded to walk on my back. Now, that's love!

This is the final portion of Massaging with Sole.

Ruthie Hardee and her team of dedicated instructors currently teach four classes in barefoot massage. I teach on a regular basis in Cincinnati, OH and am currently in Denver, CO, having just taught the introductory course followed by Anterior. I taught in Davenport, IA a couple of weeks ago to some wonderful therapists eager to learn this barefoot massage.

Barefoot Basics are one footed strokes suited for the posterior side of the client's body. Any therapist with grace and coordination can learn these strokes, and she or he learn to shift body weight according to the client's needs. In Anterior/Side-Lying, the massage therapist learns both clinical side lying work as well as a luxurious spa approach to the anterior side of the client's body. The client's eyes are comfortably covered during this anterior massage, and all neck and pectoral work is done with the LMT seated on a stool. Arms and legs are included in the anterior protocol as well.

The advanced class of Deepfeet 2 teaches the massage therapist to use his or her entire body weight in two footed posterior strokes which are well suited for larger clients who really need or enjoy deep tissue massage. Therapists need good upper arm and core strength to give this wonderful two footed massage. And finally, the Fusion-Blend is considered to be the final mastery of all the posterior strokes, and it may be taken after Deepfeet 2.

As author Toby Osborne says, "Of course, whether you try Ashiatsu because you want to recharge your chi or relax your body, barefoot massage has an illustrious past that's worth celebrating."

If you're interested in trying Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy (otherwise known as AOBT),  Hardee's website Deepfeet.com  has a therapist locator service for all the states with certified Ashiatsu therapists. Not all AOBT therapists choose to list on the site, but you can always contact Ruthie at Ruthie@deepfeet.com if you can't find a certified Ashiatsu therapist in your area.

Have a group of therapists in your area needing to learn Ashiatsu? Please contact me at fredettemassage@fuse.net.

Please read the previous days' blogs for parts one and two of Massaging with Sole!

"What I like about barefoot massage," says fan Scot Voss of Cincinnati, "is that it's so much softer than regular massage. I don't have to worry about pointy elbows and fingers. It's really deep and relaxing all at the same time."

In fact, many spas throughout the country list Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy on their menu. Canyon Ranch health spas offer this style of barefoot massage in their locations in Tuscon, AZ, Lenox, MA, onboard the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship and at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. Ashiatsu can also be found at prestigious massage spas such as Urban Oasis in Chicago.  The Insider's Guide "Best of the Rockies"  lists Ashiatsu massage at Park Hyatt Beaver Creek as one of the "Most Memorable."

Sports enthusiasts who require deep work are typically harder for massage therapists to work on because of their muscle density. But by using gravity assisted effleurage, trained therapists can save some energy, reduce fatigue and save their wrists by performing this style of barefoot effleurage. In fact, the September/October 2007 issue of Luxury Spa Finder list Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy as their "ultimate skier's massage."

Part 4, the last portion about our wonderful barefoot massage, is coming tomorrow! (Why is called "gamma"? It's the last letter in the Greek alphabet).

Please see yesterday's blog for the first part of this article.

While other forms of ashiatsu take into consideration breathing patterns, chi, and other energetic work, AOBT focuses on muscle and bone. Many orthopedic surgeons, chiropractors and physicians are fans of Hardee's style of barefoot massage. As Dr. Eric Dieffenbaugher, owner of Progressive Chiropractic Health and Wellness in Fairfield, OH says, "Ashiatsu is a wonderful adjunct to chiropratic car, in particular in regards to patients with lumbar disc problems because of it's deep compression and ability to traction out the spine."

This Western style of barefoot massage can be very deep but can also be modified for those who don't like as much pressure. While contraindicated for such clients as those who have uncontrolled blood pressure, women who are pregnant or are trying to conceive, and those on heavy blood thinners, this massage treatment can be very helpful for those clients with chronic low back pain. It's known to help improve posture, relieve pain and yet do it in a gentle but deep fashion.

Part 3 (aka "gamma") is coming tomorrow!

PART 1

Affectionately  coined as "the deepest most luxurious massage on the planet," Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy allows the massage therapist to use gravity instead of sheer muscle strength. Using cleaned, sanitized and soft feet, she or he is able by using body weight to press, sweep and swirl along muscles to give broad, fluid movements.

Ruthie Hardee, founder of Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy (AOBT), had seen various types of barefoot massage as a child while traveling with her missionary parents. She witnessed different styles of barefoot massage in Manila, Africa and the Indies.

Although many of the roots of Ashiatsu are Eastern ("ashi" means "foot, while "atsu" translates as "pressure"), therapists in the United States use a distinctly different style of barefoot massage. Traditional barefoot shiatsu is done through clothing on a mat. With Chavutti Thirummal, performed in Indiafor over 1000 years, the therapist typically uses a rope tied end to end and glides along the completely undraped client. Other forms of barefoot massage massage require props for balance such as chairs, poles a single bar, bamboo rods and even chains.

Hardee, however, wanted her style of massage to be luxurious and comfortable for both the client as well as the therapist. Hence, the system of parallel wooden bars placed over the massage table. The therapist is able to use the bars overhead for balance while she or he glides gracefully over the client's lubricated skin.

More tomorrow!

I studied Latin and Greek in high school. As my children are learning both in their grade, middle and high schools, I thought I'd bone up on my Greek alphabet. Hence, the "alpha, beta, gamma, omega". No, omega's not the 4th letter, it's the last. I thought it would be fitting for the last section of the article. Much more interesting than just parts 1-4, methinks!

The following comments have been provided by Dr. Eric Dieffenbaugher, a chiropractor and owner of Progressive Chiropractic Health and Wellness in Fairfield, OH.

I've been treating patients for eight years and have seen thousands of patients with all types of conditions. The chronic, deep tissue conditions are the hardest ones to get resolved. Since we started using Barefoot masage in our office, we have had some breakthroughs with some of our chronic pain patients that no other type of massage have been able to accomplish.

I currently have five licensed massage therapists at my office who utilize many different types of massage in their treatment of patients, but the Barefoot Massage is the most requested type of massage.

I receive regular massages from all of my therapists, but I choose the barefoot massage when I am experiencing the deep, chronic types of aches and pains.

Traditional Eastern massages include the treatment of the human body, mind and spirit, which also includes the energy field, and brings the body to a more aware "life" by pressure or manipulation. Based on traditional oriental medicine principles, the therapist assesses the energetic system. Oriental bodywork balances the energetic system for the purpose of treating the human body, emotions, mind, energy field and spirit for the promotion, maintenance and restoration of health. Below is just a very small sampling of these types of therapies and massage.

Shiatsu is Japanese for "finger pressure," but it's much more than acupressure. It is a combination of different techniques including pressing, hooking, sweeping, shaking, rotating, grasping, vibration, patting, plucking, lifting, pinching, rolling, brushing and walking on the client's back, legs and feet. Shiatsu strengthens the immune system, and if practiced consistently, becomes preventive health care. Unlike FasciAshi barefoot massage, where the client lies on a massage table, is undressed (and draped), and the therapist uses lotion, the shiatsu client typically lies on a mat. The therapist uses finger and barefeet or stockinged feet through the client's clothes.

Shiatsu is a Japanese healing art deeply rooted in the philosophy and practices of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Incorporating the therapeutic massage of Japan, shiatsu is a balance, a dance, between the practitioner and client, in which the healing power of both build upon each other to clear and balance the vital life force known as Qi.

Macrobiotic Shiatsu

Founded by Shizuko Yamamoto, Microbiotic Shiatsu supports a natural lifestyle and heightened instincts for improving health. Assessments are through visual, verbal and touch techniques including pulses and the Five Transformations. Treatment involves non invasive touch and pressure using hand and barefoot techniques along with stretches. This helps to facilitate the flow of Qi and to strengthen the body and mind. Dietary guidance, medicinal plant food, breathing and postural rebalancing are included.

Shiatsu/Anma Therapy

Shiatsu/Anma Therapy utilizes a unique blending of two of the most popular oriental bodywork forms practiced in Japan. Dr.. Keneko introduced traditional Anma massage therapy based on the energetic system of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and the neuromusculoskeletal system. Ampaku, abdominal massage therapy, is another foundation of Anma massage therapy in his school.

Traditional Thai Massage

Nuad Bo Rarn is the traditional Thai Medical Massage. Thai massage is based upon an integration of Indian Buddhist medicine and TCM. Thai massage utilizes hand techniques and a unique approach to passive movement. The therapist stretches the client in order to open up the energy passages and releases chronic tension in the body. Traditional Thai massage incorporates a spiritual dimension in it's gentle and focused approach to Eastern bodywork.

Tuina

Another method on Chinese bodywork, Tuina utilizes soft tissue manipulation, acupressure and structural realignment methods to treat a wide variety of musculoskeletal and internal organ disorders. Tuina also utilizes the use of external herbal medicines and therapeutic exercises.

Chavutti Thirummal

This information and photo are taken from Prabhat Menon's website, Panchendriya. Kerala in South India is mostly known for beautiful beaches and magnificent backwaters. But Kerala is also the home of the traditional medicine Ayurveda, the ancient martial art Kalarippayatt and the classical dance Kathakali. Chavutti Thirummal, the Keralite massage with the foot, is an inseparable part of these traditions.

This a unique whole body massage using massage using the feet instead of the hands. The therapist holds a rope and gives massage with the feet, the feet moving in several patterns all over the body. After applying healing oils, the therapist uses body weight to work on the energy lines focusing on muscle and bone alignment. This restores elasticity and flexibility. Massage is done mainly with the instep of the foot, at times using the toes and heels.

Chuvutti Thirummal is a delicate balancing act with the rope and requires tremendous  coordination, concentration and physical power. Chuvutti Thirummal is done on a firm, supportive mat on the floor. The client has to be bare bodied.