Back Walking Massage

Imagine laying face down on the massage table with your head in the hole. The massage therapist is hovering over you and kneading your back muscles with their heels of their feet working on those pressure points in your shoulders and back. It’s not your run-of-the-mill massage, but it is one getting more and more popular because of the large number of benefits it delivers.

There is a centuries-old massage technique growing in popularity in North America, one which gives increased feeling of well-being and stress relief among other benefits. Back Walking, also known as Ashiatsu, is a bare foot massage option for anyone looking for an extremely beneficial and relaxing deep tissue massage. The word Ashiatsu is derived from ‘ashi’, which means foot, and ‘atsu’ which means pressure. This ancient Eastern massage technique involves a trained therapist using their feet to walk gently up and down the back of a client. The therapist uses pressure to manipulate the muscles through long, flowing strokes, pushing, and pulling movements. The therapist’s own body weight helps obtain a deep tissue massage much more penetrating than that performed by the hands and clients quickly feel the benefits of this type of pressure. Controlled pushing, or kneading, of the muscles can loosen even the tightest areas and can free up all the tension for months of relief. With all of this deep tissue talk a person might think it would be painful or distressing, but it’s quite the opposite. The therapist is commonly holding onto a bar positioned above their head to keep a steady and supportive posture and therefore, doesn’t allow for full bodyweight to be applied on the clients back and body. The pressure is controlled and can be eased or elevated depending on the clients needs and it is always focused on the muscles, never pushing on the joints or spine. While the client gets a deep, relaxing massage the therapist can get quite the workout as the movements are gliding and pushing, similar to a slow dance.

There are many exciting benefits from Back Walking, or Ashiatsu, deep tissue massage that will elevate your well-being and work out those problem areas. Some of the benefits include:

• Stress relief by providing deep muscle penetration
• Lymphatic system stimulation to help move waste products from the body
• Improve flexibility by elongating and kneading the deep muscle fibers
• Improves posture by reducing stress in the back and shoulder muscles
• Releases trigger point tensions
• Help alleviate inflammation in the joints and muscles
• Improve overall well-being

Want to help that chronic pain, those stiff joints, and tight muscles then walk out of the ordinary massage zone and let a trained Ashiatsu massage therapist walk on you.