Ashiatsu: A life-changing discovery

By Rebecca Lavoie
NH Mirror Contributor

Jacqui Lawton’s life changed forever when she discovered massage. She was injured in a car accident, and deep-tissue massage was an integral part of her recovery.

Prior to her accident, she had been an insurance agent for 18 years. “Nobody liked me,” she said, “and I absolutely wasn’t where I wanted to be.”

Deep tissue massage helped her to the extent that she decided to change her life altogether. Five years ago she became a licensed massage therapist and opened her own massage practice on the second floor of the The Brick House on South Main Street in Concord.

These days, the 47-year-old from Weare continues to find joy daily in helping the people who walk through her door.

“There’s no greater pleasure for me than relieving someone’s pain, doing the work that takes away their hurt and stress,” she said.

There’s an additional reason for Lawton’s effervescence when talking about her work. There was a time when she thought her dream of healing through massage had come to an end.

“I work primarily on athletes, larger clients with good musculature,” Lawton said, and the deep tissue work required by her clients to relieve pain and maintain their physicality took its toll on her own body.

“I wasn’t listening to what my body was trying to tell me,” she said, “and before I knew it, my joints, my thumbs, my shoulders, were completely shot.”

Lawton closed her practice, renting her space to other therapists and continuing to only see a couple of regular clients.

“Then I discovered Ashiatsu,” she said, “and everything changed.”

Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy is a deep-tissue method where the therapist uses her feet to massage the client.

While it may appear that Lawton is walking on her patients’ backs, it couldn’t be further from what she’s really doing, something she describes on her Web site as a “Healing Dance.”

“It’s a deep compression effleurage, using long, deep, gliding massage strokes,” Lawton said.

The bars suspended above the therapist are used for balance and support, and so the client does not bear the full weight of Lawton’s body during the treatment.

Certification for the Ashiatsu method includes a rigorous test of upper body strength, as it’s required in abundance to perform this technique. Lawton is one of only six Ashiatsu-certified therapists in New Hampshire.

She said her clients, still mostly athletes who require deep work on their long muscles, see tremendous benefit from the Ashiatsu method.

So does Lawton. “I love nothing more than to make people happy, give 110 percent of myself to my clients,” she said. “And now I’ve found a way to continue the work that I love to do most.”

Jacqueline Lawton, LMT, practices at The Brick House at 314 Main St., Concord, and at the New London Inn at 353 Main St., New London. For more information, visit www.jlawton.massagetherapy.com or call 496-1117.