Our FasciAshi Range of Motion (ROM) class is where stretch therapy meets ashiatsu massage. There is a growing presence of ‘stretch providers’ in the massage therapy, yoga and personal trainer industries, possibly due to the evolving understanding of the properties of fascia. The public is noticing more and more that a movement practice of some kind is essential to a healthy body – and some are turning to their massage therapists for help.

The human population is becoming more and more sedentary.

The leading cause of disability is musculoskeletal pain, and over 80% of acute and chronic injuries are caused by the body not moving properly. (I should know, I just spent a day on the couch writing this blog post!!) One goal of stretch therapy and movement re-education is to make the client more aware of their habits of movement and more comfortable in his or her body with less compensation.

We all need varying movement to maintain healthy tissue hydration, regeneration, and repair. Motion is lotion, no matter what lifestyle you live. The smooth moves we teach in the FasciAshi ROM class could be just the thing that your clients are ACHING to try!

So other than a buzzword, what is stretch therapy exactly?

I think the word “s-t-r-e-t-c-h” as we know it isn’t always intended literally. The public’s idea of stretching varies.

Creating MOVEMENT is more of the concept behind stretch therapy.

This is part of why we named the course Range of Motion – as we are working to create a change in our clients’ movement. (Be it an increase in ROM, or even just an enhanced fluidity and sense of ease to their daily movements.)

There are many theories that encompass all the ideas on how to create movement between layers of the fascia or maintain its sponginess. That’s right, there’s more than one way to be stretched!

What we teach in our ROM class is not ~just~ about the assisted passive range of motion where “we do yoga to you.”

That is possible of course, and it’s probably what your clients are expecting. “Do it for me while I take a nap.”  That sounds so nice right now! I know our overstimulated and overstressed minds and bodies deserve a rest, (and you can actually ~easily~ adapt the work to this vibe – read this!) but we are also aiming to teach you how to use different styles of stretching to encourage the client’s participation and awareness within each action. Many times the stretch will be enhanced with their muscle activation – which can lend itself to movement re-education.

(…But it means they gotta WORK!)

The myofascial stretch therapy component:

As our industries roll with the new waves of massage and fascial research, as new findings break down old beliefs and open new thought processes, this ROM class listens to new information and applies it to a kind of movement therapy using stretches along the same fascial lines we follow in our myofascial ashiatsu massages. Not a stretch routine, not Thai massage… just movement that creates a palpable stretch felt deep across the body.

Our brains and nervous system have NeuroMuscular (and researchers are finding NeuroMyoFascial) patterns of movement that are malleable – vulnerable – influenceable – reprogrammable. To create a change in soft tissue, though, it has to be taught and reinforced over and over again.

…your fascia is smart enough to perceive, react and adapt to movement, force, stress… it’s not just along for the ride holding space.

Fascial research studies have shown that 20% of our proprioceptors are myelinated nerve endings within joints and muscles. Prior to the rebirth of fascial studies within the last 11 years, manual therapists believed that percentage to be much higher, and we were stuck on the idea that muscles hold more power to a stretch.

Turns out – the all-encompassing fascial web of our bodies, rooted within every cell, holds more nerve receptors than we thought! 80% of all nerve endings, now known as “interstitial nerve receptors,” have been found throughout the fascia and in multiple layers of all connective tissue. What that means is, your fascia is smart enough to perceive, react and adapt to the movement, force, stress... it’s not just along for the ride holding space.

So how can the FasciAshi Range of Motion class help?

Using Passive, Active and Resisted Range of Motion stretch therapy techniques, this myofascial barefoot massage technique allows the Massage Therapist to stand on a massage table and maneuver the client’s limbs with their feet. We use our legs and bodies as leverage to create a stretch that impacts muscle and fascia or to use as a force of resistance during movements while using the other foot to keep the rest of the client’s body in a neutral position (like in the photo above).

A FasciAshi practitioner can maintain their own balance and apply their strength to assist these movements as they are holding onto overhead bars and/or wrapped within our support strap for support on varying planes.

This helps a practitioner effortlessly dish out consistent pressure and leverage while providing deep point holds, or long fascial stretches.

Armed with multiple approaches to passive, active and resisted ways to “stretch” your clients, you will be able to pick and chose the theory that works most effectively for any of the movements taught in class or figured out between you and your client individually.

In our ROM class, Massage Therapists will learn:

• Stretch Therapy theories including Static Stretching, Facilitated Positional Release, Strain/Counterstrain, Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation, Pin & Stretch, as well as passive and active dynamic stretching along fascial lines

• How to work 3-dimensionally with your clients joints, and palpate end ranges

• How to add compressions to prevent compensation in movements

• Appropriate practitioner biomechanics for best use of leverage and gravity while using FasciAshi equipment (overhead bars, support strap, and massage table)

• How to seamlessly manipulate the client’s body through passive and assisted range of motions for a stretch

• How to cue clients to actively create their own movements under resistance or pressure for stability

Ready to sign up?

You need to have taken a 16-24 hour beginner’s barefoot massage course (ideally, our Fundamentals). Find when and where the FasciAshi Range of Motion, (ROM) class is offered by our Center for Barefoot Massage team of instructors across the nation: check the schedule here.