Any ashiatsu therapist who loves to do seated work will tell you that you need to make sure you stretch your hip flexors. I personally often can spend 20-30  minutes doing seated work during a 90 minute session (depending on the client’s needs.)

You need to make sure you keep your hip flexors loose in order to do this or you’ll end up walking like Quasimodo.

This move is like your typical runner’s stretch, but it has an added component: the side stretch.

(You can scroll down to see the video of the ashiatsu hip flexor stretch if you don’t feel like reading.)

Once you get yourself into a lunge position (making sure you keep your knee above your front foot to avoid injury), you should feel a stretch in your back leg.

You can either keep your back leg straighter or bend it further toward the floor.

Now stretch your torso laterally to the same side as your back leg. So if your left leg is forward, stretch your torso to the right.

And if you screw up the sides, no worries. You’ll just stretch different muscles. It’s nice to change it up sometimes.

Depending on your space you have available, you can simply lunge-walk and add the stretch in. If you don’t have much space, simply face one direction to stretch one leg and the other direction to do the other leg.

Doing this hip flexor stretch with added movement is a great way to keep your hips more flexible so you can enjoy a long and healthy ashiatsu career.

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Tuesdays we post tips for massage therapists and for those who have learned barefoot massage.