Sole therapy: Asian massage performed with feet catches on at new Downtown studio Health Tips

Sole therapy: Asian massage performed with feet catches on at new Downtown studio

During 14 years as a masseuse, Maury Ballenger’s hands have kneaded their way across thousands of bodies.

But these days, the Memphis native walks all over her clients.

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In her newly opened Harbor Town studio, Maury Ballenger Therapeutic Massage, two parallel bars suspended from the ceiling support her petite frame when she steps onto a client’s back for a deep barefoot massage.

Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, the Westernized version of an Eastern tradition, uses deep massage with the feet to relax the body and stimulate the lymphatic system.

Ashiatsu is Japanese for “foot pressure.”

“Women and men love it, but it seems men really appreciate it. I don’t think they usually get that deep massage they’re craving,” she said.

Placing oil on her pedicured feet, Ballenger holds the overhead bars and manipulates her foot and toes across the backs of her clients,

to produce a Swedish massage.

The technique was wildly popular at the Telluride, Colo., resort where she worked for several seasons.

But when she started practicing Ashiatsu in her hometown this year, she wasn’t sure her Memphis clients would go for it.

“I thought they were going to be like, ‘Eww, you’re going to massage me with your feet?’ But they’ve been really receptive,” she said.

One of two certified Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy practitioners in Memphis, Ballenger’s Downtown studio is the first dedicated to barefoot massage.

Ballenger, 45, is legally blind.

“I don’t look blind; I don’t act blind,” she said.

Nevertheless, she can’t drive, and she chose the Harbor Town location because it is an easy neighborhood to navigate.

“I like resorts, and this feels like a resort,” she said.

Ballenger was diagnosed after college with retinitis pigmentosa, which restricts peripheral vision.

The condition creates tunnel vision, as though you’re seeing the world through a straw, she explained.

“Massage has been the best thing I’ve done in terms of vision loss,” said Ballenger, who is able to let her instincts take over.

“You feel where you are, and you transfer that to your feet,” she said.

Ham Smythe IV has been a client of Ballenger’s for nearly five years and is addicted to barefoot massage.

“I like a deep-tissue massage. And your hands are not as strong as your feet,” said Smythe, the president of Premier Transportation Services, Yellow Cab and Checker Cab of Memphis.

“For someone who wants deep tissue, this is the way to go,” he said.

Ballenger has long offered a lengthy menu of services, including Swedish massage, trigger points therapy, sports massage, prenatal massage and aromatherapy.

Still, she wanted something to keep her on her toes, as well as to stretch the longevity of her career.

Largely because of the havoc that massage wreaks on the back and wrists, experts in the field say the average career for a massage therapist is two to seven years.

Therapists doing deep-tissue massages all day take a physical pummeling, said Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy founder Ruthie Piper Hardee.

Approved by the National Certification Board for Massage & Bodywork since 1995, courses in Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy are offered across the country from Ohio to Hawaii.

There are about 5,000 practitioners nationwide.

“I get thank-you cards from people I never met, who would have had to get out of the business,” Hardee said.

The founder’s own physical pain from years as a masseuse encouraged her to create a Westernized version of the barefoot massage that has long been practiced in China and Japan.

Now the technique can be found in many upscale spas and resorts, including the Bellagio Resort and the Canyon Ranch Spa in Las Vegas, as well as Caesar’s Palace on Lake Tahoe.

But Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy isn’t for everyone. Before administering the massage, Ballenger makes sure clients don’t have a heart condition, aren’t pregnant and haven’t had recent facial surgery — including Botox injections.

“It’s a soft, gentle foot,” said Ballenger, who gradually increases the pressure depending on her client’s size and tightness.

“It’s not supposed to be uncomfortable or hurt,” she said.

After a week of her wrists and thumbs furiously unknotting muscles, Ballenger usually feels like she’s been hit by a truck, she said.

But after doing 20 barefoot massages in the first week she opened, she felt completely energized, she said.

“It’s effective and efficient without stress on my body. And the person gets relaxed quicker,” she said.

More Information

What: Maury Ballenger Therapeutic Massage

Where: 113 Harbor Town Square.

Contact information: (901) 729-9575, mauryballenger.com.

Cost: $70 for an hour; $100 for 90 minutes.

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