Kristidormer

Take an hour to relax and rejuvenate your mind and body. Regular massage improves circulation, moves toxins, soothes and loosens tight muscles and reduces muscular tension.

Therapeutic and relaxing massageBringing to you some of the most relaxing and deep treatments

Remedial

Deep massage focussing on trigger points

Swedish

Relaxing and destressing

Hot stone

Soothing to tight and aching muscles

Aroma Soother

Soothing massage with blended aromatherapy oils

Ashiastu – New to Australia

One of the deepest yet most relaxing massage treatments. Excellent for lower back pain and sciatica. Using over head bars for support the massage is given by the feet. The strokes are very soft and flowing, yet deep.

ASHIATSU THERAPY-SOLE HEALING

Everyone loves a massage, in this day and age with increasingly busy lives and untold stress, massage is just what the doctor ordered. We must take time to relax and destress from the rigours of everyday life. Most Australians do just that and indulge in frequent massage. Although, sometimes, for thicker set people, dancers, athletes, sports people and heavy gym goers a regular massage may be just not deep enough. However, Ashiatsu is one the deepest massage treatments now available.

Similar techniques to Ashiatsu have been used for over 3,000 years in Eastern countries such as India, Thialand, China and the Philippines. However, the props used for balancing are slightly different in these countries - some use chairs, bamboo rods, ropes or balance on their own on mats on the floor. The strokes used in these countries are literally what you would call ‘walking on backs’. They work more with the chi or prana known as life energy or life force that is talked about a lot in yoga. The therapist follows the flow of the yin meridians (up from earth) and the yang meridians(down from the heavens). The treatment works on meridians in the body to bring about healing and correct the flow of prana. In ancient times it was seen more as a healing art and bought about a zen experience in the client.

However. Aahiatsu, developed by Ruthie Hardee in America, is definitely not just ‘walking on backs’. Ashi means foot and atsu means pressure. Hardee has developed her own strokes using the feet to create an amazingly deep, yet relaxing massage. The therapist uses over head bars for balance.

The longer and more correct definition of this treatment, as quoted by the founder, Ruthie Hardee, is “a bare foot massage technique using compression effleurage gliding over the body”. Gravitational force is combined with centrifugal and centripetal movement to bring about a structural change in chronic soft tissue damage. Correct application will provide deep relaxation and stimulate the lymphatic system of the body. The therapist uses overhead bars for support and balance and lubricant is applied.

Ashiatusu combines elements of several different styles including traditional Thai Massage, Bare Foot Shiatsu and Keralite Foot Massage. Many of the strokes are similar to those of Swedish Massage using hands yet when the stokes are performed by the feet they are just a little deeper enabling kinks and knots in the muscles to be ironed out completely.

Gliding foot compressions, known as effleurages on points up and down the spine and named Ashi 1 to Ashi 8, create a pump and pull pumping effect on the intervertebral disc space and relieves irritations on the spinal nerve caused by inflammation. These strokes, known as butterfly strokes, release muscle tension as the therapists glides up and down these points on the back. For this reason Ashiatsu is great for people who experience lower back pain and sciatica.

Prior to commencement of the treatment, the therapist’s feet are cleansed in hot water with oils. Soft music with a beat is played and the treatment begins. The first 15 minutes of the treatment is called the ‘seated routine’ where the therapist sits and massages with their feet to warm up the major muscle groups of the back such as rhomboid scapulars, the deltoid, the occipitals and latissimus dorsi. By this stage the back is warmed up and the therapist stands and continues using one foot at a time adding more pressure. Eventually the therapist uses two feet while hanging onto the bar to continue the rest of the treatment. Aashiatu is a full body treatment which includes the back, the back of the legs and the anterior side as well the front of the legs, the arms, shoulders and neck.

This treatment is deep and amazing and hits all major muscle groups. It is definitely a great massage for athletes, sports people, dancers and thicker set and muscly people. However, the therapist can adapt and use just one foot on more petite clients or hold more body weight into the bars on smaller people.

There are contraindications for this treatment as in any form of therapy. Ashiatsu would not be suitable for anyone who is pregnant, has had breast implants within the previous nine months, has lesions on the skin, has had recent eye surgery, has thrombosis, aneurysm, hernia, high blood pressure, has a pace maker, is taking heavy blood thinning medication, has a fracture, osteoporosis or has had any recent surgeries such as knee surgery, varicose veins or cancer.

The Ashiatsu treatment was developed in America by Ruthie Hardee in Denver Colorado in 1995. Ruthie’s parents were missionary doctors and she spent a lot of her child hood in Asia. The first time she saw this ancient modality she was 13 years old. She remembers seeing a woman in Phillipines holding onto bars and walking on a mans back. Over the years in Asia Ruthie Hardee was very inspired by this ancient modality.

Ruthie became a massage therapist but later in life, suffering from scoliosis, bending over clients became painful for her and she just wasn’t able to give deep enough massages for her clients so she decided to practice what she had seen as a child. After years of research and playing around with strokes, Ruthie developed the treatment that is now known as Ashiatsu which has been accredited and approved by the Health and Body Works Organisation in America. She now dedicates her life to teaching Ashiatsu to therapists throughout America.

I was working as a nutritionist and massage therapist on the Queen Mary 2 for three years. Some days I would do 10 massages a day. A colleague, already trained in Ashiatsu, suggested we learn how to do it as it would save our hands and allow us to give deeper massages. . Seven of the team were picked to learn this great modality. I had the pleasure of meeting Ruthie Hardee and was trained by her in Ashiatsu I fell in love with the treatment and so did my clients. At the conclusion of my time on the Queen Mary 2 I flew to Denver, Colorado to do further studies with Ruthie Hardee and was able to achieve the highest standard of elite training in advanced levels of Ashiatsu oriental bar therapy. I now reside in Sydney, Australia where I am so happy to share this massage modality - which really is a healing art.

I can be contacted by email: kristidormer65@hotmail.com or
0410 645 043, or 9212 5533 at Sydney Health Clinic Surry Hills