I remember to this day what one of my best (and kinda weird) massages was!
The night before I decided I wanted to book a massage. And like many of you, I went straight to Google and looked up massage places near me. I saw this one gal had an opening for a 90 minute DeepFeet Massage. And if you know me, you know I have slight ADHD and Dyslexia and my brain glanced over the fact that this was an Ashiatsu massage. I had honestly assumed Deepfeet was a form of reflexology, and my brain went: "hmm...yeah, my feet kinda hurt!"
(Mind you I was already a massage therapist for over a year at this point)
I had gotten to the office way too early, so I decided to walk around the Food Coop for a bit and get an idea of what to make for dinner.
After 20 minutes of walking around aimlessly, I got to the building. This was an office building full of lawyers, accountants and other professionals. I could hear a couple arguing with what I assumed to be a divorce lawyer (ouch!). A very kind lady greeted me and walked me to her room which had a massage table, an oil painting of a dog, and a canopy-like frame around the table. At this point I still had no clue what was going on, I was just happy to be there!
This woman explained that she got trained by DeepFeet, but I still had no understanding of what it was, and she left the room saying "I am going to go wash my feet and my hands and I will be right back!"
I remembered thinking "hmm... that's odd...oh well!" and continued to get on the table.
She came back and immediately said "Alexa, play Classical Violin" and intense violin music turned on. I felt like in the movies where the main character prepares for battle.
She then took a paint brush (like what you use for your living room walls) and proceeded to paint my body with oil and eucalyptus essential oil. I honestly thought this was hilarious and ticklish at the same time, but I hid my laughter and tried to take my relaxing breaths. I was not prepared for her to use her feet to administer massage techniques (even after all the signs, I was oblivious). In school we had never talked about Ashiatsu, and at my job I only remember hearing about one therapist that used bars. I was blissfully ignorant to what Ashiatsu was. Well, this lady did Ashiatsu. And there I was, getting a 90 minute session of a modality that I had no clue that existed until that day.
(Ashiatsu is a modality using overhead bars to give deep pressure with the therapists feet.)
And let me tell you: It. Was. Amazing! Foot pressure was broad, deep, smooth and effective for relieving my shoulder tightness. When the massage was over I felt almost high and blissed out. I went back to that Food Coop to buy my dinner and I felt like a new woman, floating down the aisles!
Now I have recently taken an Ashiatsu course, and I am so excited to share this beautiful modality with everyone!