Natural Awakenings Article

Ashiatsu /

Natural Awakenings Article - September 2010
The September 2010 edition of Natural Awakenings for the Tennessee Valley hit the news stands within the last few days. I found out when I arrived at my office Thursday afternoon. Several copies had been delivered to the waiting area and Miss Cathy was waiting for me with the news.

Happy dances ensued as she told me how nice it was and I tried to find it in the magazine. For the record my article is on page 12, but it took a long time to find because I was so excited.

And now, without further ado, here is the link to the PDF scan (it takes several moments to load, sorry about that) that I made of the actual magazine article. If you’re interested in a copy of the magazine (they’re free) and you’re in the Tennessee Valley area just visit your local health food store or contact Natural Awakenings directly.

Enjoy! And thanks for visiting!

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AOBT and the AMA

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If you’re here looking for information on Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy and its recognition by the American Medical Association, then you’re in the right place.

Let me start off by clearing something up. The American Medical Association does not recognize massage as a medical modality, therefore, it does not recognize Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy.

If you were to Google Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy and AMA or American Medical Association you will find numerous websites claiming that AOBT is indeed recognized by the AMA. You can find magazine articles with the same claim if you look hard. One of which actually appears in the Digital Lounge on the Deep Feet website. How could so many people believe this when it’s simply not true?

Well, there’s a simple explanation and I want to tell you so you don’t make the same mistake I did. It was a typo. Way back when, someone published something which was supposed to read, “recognized by the AMTA,” but instead read, “recognized by the AMA”. You can see how this impressive typo quickly took root.

Recently when asked to write an article on AOBT I pulled out the AMA gun to include and then realized I needed to do a bit of fact checking. I was confused when some publications / websites listed AMA and others didn’t so I fired off an email to a couple of instructors and Ruthie Hardee, the founder of AOBT.

This resulted in a personal phone call from Ruthie where we discussed my questions about AMA. Well, mostly she discussed and I sorta freaked out because OMG I’m talking to Ruthie Hardee, the founder of AOBT! Squeeeeee!!!

Anyway, I wanted to put this out there so perhaps other people designing their brochures or writing articles on AOBT don’t make the same mistake.

I should go, I have about a thousand brochures that need to be touched with correction tape!

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Ashi-Thai Surprise

Ashi-Thai /

I had written a while ago about scheduling an Ashi-Thai training for September of this year. Two weeks ago when I started making concrete plans to go to San Antonio, TX for that training we discovered that the class was probably not going to make. The instructor and I decided it would be best for me to transfer into the August training class in Dallas.

So after a lot of hastily done research a ticket was purchased, a car was reserved, and I’m driving to Birmingham to hop a flight this afternoon.

I’ll be back Thursday and I’ll be looking for bodies to practice on. If you’re interested, give me a call.

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Simple and Free Stress Relief

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Years ago, when I was learning yoga, my instructor started the very first class by teaching us to breathe. Up to that point, I thought I already knew how to breathe. By the end of the breathing exercises he attempted to teach me that night, I realized I hadn’t been breathing properly for years.

Stress causes many people to develop a shallow breathing pattern. This isn’t surprising when you think about how we gasp or pant after being frightened, injured or experiencing an emotional shock. If our bodies automatically shorten the breathing pattern during acute stress events then it only makes sense that chronic stress would have a similar, if lesser, effect.

Ayurvedic wisdom tells us that breathing deeply can help combat stress. Common sense tells us that if stress shortens our breathing pattern, then lengthening the breathing pattern (breathing deeply) should relieve stress.

Does it work? I think it does. During especially stressful times, I find myself falling back into the rhythm of those breathing exercises my yoga instructor taught me all those many years ago. Try it and see for yourself.

First, get comfortable. I like savasana or corpse pose, if you’re familiar with yoga, but any comfortable position on your back will do. Place both hands on your belly. Breathe in and out through your nose. For a while just observe your breath, don’t try to change it.

After a few breaths getting to know your pattern, breathe in through your nose and draw the breath down into your belly. You should feel your belly expanding under your hands. When you’re full, hold your breath for a moment, then exhale through your nose. As you continue, begin counting slowly as you inhale and exhale. Match the length of the inhale to the length of the exhale.

At first, this exercise may be difficult. It may be unsettling or uncomfortable. Give yourself time to adjust. Relax, and keep breathing. As you continue this practice and get familiar with how it makes you feel you’ll be able to take it with you to the office, on the roadways, or anywhere you experience stress.

Namaste!

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Out Standing In His Field

Ashiatsu /

Do you remember that old joke about the farmer? I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.

Recently I was asked to write an article about Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy for our local Natural Awakenings magazine.

At first I got excited, then I got nervous, then I got so excited I made myself sick. It was not pretty. Eventually I got over the nerves and got on with it. I finished the article this morning and though I think it’s pretty good I’m back to being nervous. The thought of attaching it to an email and pressing send has me in a cold sweat.

I am alternately nervous that they won’t publish it and then that they will. What if it’s not good enough? Rejection stings. But what if it is and they publish it? Pressure.

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It’s Just A Pain In The Neck

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I woke up yesterday morning with a crick in my neck. They happen occasionally. Fortunately, less often now than in the past.

One of the advantages of massage school for me was learning how to stretch and strengthen the muscles that are typically involved in a neck crick.

Most cricks are actually aggravated trigger points in the muscles of the back that cause referred pain and tightness experienced in the neck. I found that strengthening my back cut down significantly on repeated incidents of cricks. I was experiencing severe cricks two to three times a month.

This crick though, it was different. So I turned to the internet to see if I could find some relief as all my standard tricks weren’t working.

I found this interesting article by Barbara Benagh over on Yoga Journal. And while interesting, wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. Fortunately she wrote another article which includes an exercise list with photos.

I tried almost all of these exercises last night. The crick is somewhat better, but still here. I’ll be trying them again. It’s been a while since I’ve been on the mat. It felt good.

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I Love The Internet, And This Is Why…

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I am an avid blog follower. I also enjoy writing which is why I choose to blog as my main interface for Harvest Moon with the internet.

As such, quite a while back I found a blog about fitness and nutrition and added it to my Bloglines, “Massage Blog” folder as more articles than not were of interest and I gleaned information I could use in my massage practice.

This morning I noticed a new article had been posted. It was on the knee and ligaments in the knee and how each different ligament experiences damage. It was focused and succinct and quite possibly the best overall description I’ve ever read of the ligament configuration and ligament function of the knee joint. You can read the article here, if you care to.

I wish my textbooks had been written as well as this lone article. Even though her focus is definitely not massage, but injury, this macro-style would have saved hours of flipping through books and internet searches trying to learn the specifics of the knee.

And this, my friends, is why I love the internet. A chic from Australia who knows a thing or two about knee injury can put her knowledge online and halfway around the world a chic from the U.S. can learn a thing or two from it. Where else are we going to get that kind of collaboration?

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