Ashiatsu

January 5, 2014 / No Comments

Bless You!

Ashiatsu is a Japanese form of acupressure performed primarily with the practitioner’s feet.  In Japanese language “ashi” means feet, and “atsu” means pressure; pressure is applied using the feet. Acupressure is a low tech, waste free, green and sustainable mode of manual medicine developed in Asia over 5,000 years ago, likely originating in the marma points of Ayurvedic science and developing further in China into acupuncture. Ashiatsu, in the lineage of Shizuko Yamamoto through Edward Spencer, works with the circulation of energy through the body using the points and meridian system of traditional Chinese medicine as a map.

EVENT NOTICE: I will be teaching a beginning level Ashiatsu course April 16-May 28 Saturday 6p-8p with a focus on emotional healing at the National Institute of Naturopathy on Tadiwala Road in Pune, Maharashtra, India. Contact me for registration information. 

Ashiatsu is a floor based body work in which the client, or receiver, lies fully clothed on a futon mat on the floor while the practicioner’s feet make contact with the receiver. Information about the receiver’s state of being is received through the practitioner’s feet, while gravity does much of the work of the form. In a way, the whole body of the practioner is the conduit through which the whole body of the client receives the benefits of ashiatsu. It may feel like embodied effortlessness for both practitioner and receiver.

Dr. Jayshree Chander started studying ashiatsu with Edward Spencer in 1995, immediately after finishing her residency in Family and Community Medicine. Jayshree’s practice is based in the theory that the human body has the capacity to be whole and it’s natural tendency is towards health. People need sufficient time and space, as well as appropriate environment and input to gain balance and remain in harmony. Stress is a major contributing factor to most illnesses. Relief from stress is imperative to increasing resistance and resilience to disease, as well as promoting recovery from injuries and illnesses. As practiced by Jayshree, ashiatsu, in addition to relieving tension in the muscles, aligning the skeletal system, improving circulation, easing the breath, quieting the mind, and recognizing one’s spiritual nature, the receiver enters a profoundly deep state of relaxation that promotes healing originating from the innate resources of the body.