New Ashiatsu pictures

New Ashiatsu pictures and layout on on my website, www.AffinityMassages.com. See our group of lovely massage therapists from Cincinnati, southern Kentucky and Point Pleasant Beach, NJ.

For some reason, this blog is not allowing me to post photos today. So I'll just tell you who our new Ashiatsu grads are! Kathy Spalding, Sandy Wright, Megan Rice, Marjorie Blair, Linda Leigh Edwards and Linda Warga.

They made our Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy guest clients very happy with their barefoot massage!

Learn deep tissue massage

People are starting to sign up for our October Cincinnati, OH Ashiatsu class! Register at www.affinitymassages.com.

Advanced ashiatsu classes

I still have a couple of spaces left in our Advanced Ashiatsu deepfeet 2 class here in Cincinnati in October. You must be a certified grad of Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy in order to take the classes.

Class schedule is posted on www.affinitymassages.com.

Continuing Ed Ad

I just sent out an email campaign for all my classes, including Ashi-Thai (it's new), Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, advanced ashiatsu classes and finally (whew!) Bamboo-fusion.

To find out more about the classes and see videos for ashiatsu, ashi-thai and bamboo massage, go to www.affinitymassages.com/videos.

You can email me at fredettemassage@fuse.net to get on the mailing list.

Ashi-Thai demo

Doing Ashi-Thai demonstration at lunchtime for the Ashiatsu therapists today. We're on day 4. They're getting a little tired! But a good "wow, I've worked out!" tired...

They can take advanced ashiatsu classes in October. Register online at www.affinitymassages.com/register_now1.

Ashi-Thai video on my website

Interested in finding out a little bit about Ashi-Thai? Check out my website.

I also have short clips about Ashiatsu and Bamboo-fusion there.

Advanced Ashiatsu classes

Deepfeet 2 and Fusion-Blend have officially been blended together as one class. Certified grads of Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy can learn how to truly give the deepest most luxurious massage on the planet to their clients.

Register and pay online now! Check out www.affinitymassages.com/register_now1 to pay with either credit card or Paypal.

Ashiatsu and pregnancy

Here I am showing Adrianne in Birmingham, AL some fancy footwork this past weekend.

See my belly? I'm 22 weeks (5+ months) pregnant here and have no problems doing Ashiatsu, getting on the table or teaching.

Ashiatsu is a great way to keep in shape during pregnancy! When I was expecting twins, my clients loved the additional pressure they got as a direct results of my weight, and I only gained 25 pounds.

With my last baby, I gained about 20 lbs and worked up until a couple of days before I was due.

And the babies were all above average size, with the twins being 6 lbs each (that's 12 lbs of baby!) and the single baby being 8 lbs, 12 oz.

Can Men Ashi You?

Can men do Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, or is the modality confined to small therapists?

Any capable massage therapist with a sense of grace and balance can learn ashiatsu. We used to have a 135 lb weight limit when 2 footed (full body weight) strokes were taught in the beginners class. We discovered that many able therapists weighing over that amount were excluded from our program. It's best to do 2 footed ashiatsu strokes on clients who weigh at least 70 lbs more than the therapist.

So we broke the classes up, and now in Barefoot Basics, the one footed beginners class, flexible therapists of any weight and age are welcome to join us. I currently have one student in class who is 62, and I also have a man who is 200 lbs.

So yes, men can learn Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, and so can petite women. It doesn't matter if you're 20 (with a massage license, though!) or if you're considered "senior." If you've got the guts to learn a new, fun, possibly life changing skill, come join our class!

More information can be found at www.ashiatsuworkshops.com

Massaging a lot?

Tired of icing your forearms and wrists?

Treat yourself to an Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy workshops and learn how to give your clients the deep tissue work they crave without hurting yourself! Our Barefoot Basics class will teach you all the moves you need to get started. For some ashiatsu therapists, they don't even need to learn more than that! You'll learn 45 minutes worth of ashiatsu using overhead bars for balance. Your new skills as an ashiatsu therapist will surely wow your clients!

Check out www.ashiatsuworkshops.com/class_schedule for our Cincinnati, OH course schedule. Our next class is January 24-26, 2008 with Anterior/Side-Lying Ashiatsu on January 25. Please check it out!

Ashiatsu for the holidays

What more could a massage therapist ask for than to learn a new modality that may just save his or her career? Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy classes in Cincinnati (www.Ashiatsuworkshops.com) still have 2 spaces available in our December 7-9 class. Or, if you've already learned the posterior strokes, sign up to learn the luxurious Anterior and clinical Side-lying moves!

No matter which class(es) you decide to take, Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy will literally have you massaging way above other deep tissue therapists!

Ashiatsu in Birmingham, AL

I'm excited to announce that it looks like we'll be offering Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy Barefoot Basics in Birmingham, AL hopefully sometime in February. Still ironing out the wrinkles. Anyone who's interested in taking the class, please check out my website, http://www.ashiatsuworkshops.com/ for info on class.

You can also contact me 513-238-0970 or at fredettemassage@fuse.net. Looking forward to meeting some of you southern therapists!

Shiatsu or Ashiatsu?

Today a client of mine told me about an interesting converstion she had with someone she knows relatively well. The client, whom we'll call Susie, has been receiving Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy on a regular basis for 5 or 6 years. She gets barefoot massage about once every other week, and it is very helpful in her pain management of an injury sustained at work.

This friend, "Larry," insisted that there was no such thing as "ashiatsu" and maintained that Susie was really getting Shiatsu treatments. No amount of arguing could convinve Larry that Susie was really getting Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy. Since it wasn't listed in his shiatsu book that he showed her, in his mind, it didn't exist.

Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy is relatively new, at least in terms of how long traditional shiatsu has been around. Ruthie Hardee has been teaching our form of Ashiatsu since 1995, a mere 12 years. In comparison to the thousands of years shiatsu has been performed in India, Thailand and Asia, it's not been long.

Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy is, however, growing rapidly in popularity in the United States. So for clients such as Susie, they're happy with their form of Ashiatsu, no matter what it's called.

http://www.ashiatsuworkshops.com/ has information on classes.

Ashiatsu Class--Satisfaction Guaranteed

Why take the Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy classes? You've got nothing to lose, but lots to gain. If you are not completely satisfied with your experience in Barefoot Basics after the first day of class, I will happily give you 100% of you tuition back.

I have never had to refund anyone's money since I've been teaching (over 3 years). Satisfation guaranteed, for sure! My website www.ashiatsuworkshops.com shows lots of pictures, ashiatsu faqs and class descriptions, etc.

Ashiatsu Workshops Website Revamped

Ashiatsu training has never been easier to find. Take a look at my revamped website, http://www.ashiatsuworkshops.com/ for loads of information about classes in barefoot massage. Included is our 100% satisfaction guarantee that after the first day of training in ashiatsu, you 'll receive your money refunded in full if not pleased wtih the program. That's how certain I am of the quality of our professional training program.

Off to Denver next week to teach Ashiatsu at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Don't forget, I've got portable Hardee-Ashiatsu bars and will travel to teach groups of therapists in your location!

Ashiatsu-the great holiday gift to yourself...

As the leaves are finally changing colors here in the Midwest, the temperatures beginning to drop, people are starting to think of upcoming holidays. Halloween is just next week already, Thanksgiving next month, Christmas and Hanukkah arriving in December.

As the upcoming holidays bring much joy in many ways, many people begin to feel a tad stressed. Or really whacked out of joint, even. The smart consumer who realizes that massage is a great stress reliever will begin booking massage appointments, perhaps quite a few of them. It's great for their body and soul, not to mention the happy massage therapist's pocketbook. It's this time of year the massage therapists really begin to feel the strain of performing lots of deep tissue massages. We tend to not want to turn away our hurting clientele, even when we feel pain ourselves. LMTs ice their hands and wrists, offer it up, and hope for the best.

Now is a great time for those therapists who only do hands on massage to learn the revitalizing skills of Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy. Using your feet to caress your clients deep knots and tight muscles is a much easier way than massaging with your hands and arms. I am offering my last Ashiatsu training class of the year, Barefoot Basics and Anterior/Side-Lying, in December for those therapists who need to revive themselves before the end of the year. Check out www.ashiatsuworkshops.com/classes_schedule for more info and dates.

Now's the time to treat yourself to the best holiday gift-recieve your CEUs, get a couple of days of deep tissue massage, learn how to give the "deepest most luxurious massage on the planet!"

Ashiatsu training at your site

Want to learn Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy but can't come to Cincinnati? Gather together a group of therapists, 6-8, and I will come to your location.

I will provide all the portable ashiatsu bars, stools, manuals and products for you to purchase if you wish (cool ashi shirts, instructional and promotional DVDs). I will even provide massage cream!

Call 513-238-0970 or email me at fredettemassage@fuse.net to find out more. Or you can log on to www.ashiatsuworkshops.com to find out more.

Ashiatsu Instruction-Register online!

Effective today, www.Ashiatsuworkshops.com is pleased to announce the addition of registering for your barefoot massage training class online! You can pay by credit card through PayPal's secure transaction.

Baby keeping you up? Too much caffeine? Sign up for Barefoot Basics or Anterior/Side-Lying classes any time of day or night. If you pay for Ashiatsu Barefoot Basics in full, you'll receive a FREE cool official ashi wear shirt!

Our next Barefoot Basics training workshop is December 7-9, and Anterior/Side-Lying is December 10. Hope to see you there!

Ashiatsu and the therapist's size

When I learned Ashiatsu, if a therapist was over 5'7" or weighed over 135 lbs, they needed to have excellent upper body strength. Some therapists I've spoken with have expressed concern that their weight or height would be an issue if training in Ashiatsu.

Originally, both female and male massage therapists who were instructed in Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy learned both one footed and two footed strokes in Ruthie Hardee's class. Some LMTs simply did not need to perform two footed strokes because their clients were not significantly larger than they, or because they could work sufficiently deeply using just one bare foot on a client at a time.

Hardee wisely divided this class into two classes, which are now known as Barefoot Basics, the one footed posterior strokes, and Deepfeet II, two footed posterior strokes. Now therapists can decide if they want to train in the advanced class. Upper body and core strength are definitely needed to massage with two feet. Many students of my advanced classes have mentioned after class that they underestimated the amount of upper body strength necessary.

I have taught both slight therapists as well as men and women massage therapists who weigh 200+ pounds. Those larger therapists may find that they never need to take the two footed strokes class, but those that do choose to take it simply need to be able to do chin ups and military pushups prior to the start of class.

Ashiatsu Instruction

Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy classes are small and fun with loads of individualized instruction. Keeping the class size to 8 students enables the instructor to really spend time with each student. The therapists are able to observe, receive and give each of the strokes learned in class.

The small class size enables each student to soak in the ashiatsu information we delve into during class, whether it be the history of barefoot massage, strokes, etc. Each AOBT instructor explains the strokes thoroughly, demonstrates and helps the students physically do the stroke if need be.

For more information, check out www.AshiatsuWorkshops.com