Massage therapist has a leg up on the rest

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Courtney Miles uses wooden bars to stand on a client s back and perform an ashiatsu massage, a method that originated in the Far East. Photo courtesy of Courtney Miles/Ashi Massage.



Courtney Miles stood in a dim-lit room located at the Shadow Ridge Hotel close to the base of Park City Mountain Resort with her dark grey, curly-haired mini-poodle and Maltese mix rescue dog, Drifter, sitting patiently at her feet.The floating shelves on the wall were lined with white towels and massage oils, and wooden bars hung parallel from each other on the ceiling above the table in the middle of the room.
Miles is a massage therapist specializing in the American version of the "ashiatsu" massage, a method where Miles said she balances using bars that are securely attached to the ceiling and applies very deep yet relaxing pressure with her feet to the client's body.
"It's great, because it's a perfect combination of two of my favorite things: dance and yoga," Miles said. "It's like its own dance, and it really gives clients a good, deep tissue massage."
She has worked at several different hotel spas as a massage therapist, such as Stein Ericksen Lodge and Pebble Beach Resort and Carmel Valley Ranch, both in California. It was "a complete fluke" that kept her in Park City.
"I was about ready to move back to California and had a spot ready for Ashi," Miles said. "Then, one of my friends saw an ad for the space here at Shadow Ridge, and I came and put down cash that day."
According to Miles, there are different versions of the "ashiatsu" method all over the world, and it is called something different in every area it exists. She learned the American method in Las Vegas through a company called "Deep Feet," run by Brenda Blakesley. Miles calls her a "mentor."
Blakesley learned the "ashiatsu" method of massage from a woman named Ruth Hardie who developed the American version.
Miles took her first class with Blakesley 12 years ago, after suffering a very serious illness. A friend took her to a spa for her first professional massage.
"It provided me with so many health benefits that I never thought I could get from just a massage," Miles said. "I was considered terminally ill at the time, and I promised myself that if I made it, I would become a massage therapist."
The benefits Miles received were not only therapeutic physically but emotionally as well, a service she said she offers her clients also. Being like a "counselor in a way" is something Miles said she enjoys.
The massage table her clients can relax on is lined with memory foam, and Drifter's bed lies next to it to greet and welcome clients. Miles rescued Ashi's unofficial mascot from Furburbia after his previous owner physically abused him and left him without a left hind leg.
Miles and Drifter sat on the brown leather couch in the Shadow Ridge lobby as she explained that she also offers an array of different massages: Swedish, Thai, hot stone, cold stone, trigger point, ayurvedic face-lift, ayurvedic scalp, reflexology and maternity.
Her massage parlor, Ashi, offers online booking, enabling a client to schedule an appointment and receive a text confirmation, a reminder and an email. Miles receives all the same notifications to keep her schedule updated.
"I'm not saying I can just fix anything, because I'm not a doctor," Miles said. "But sometimes just getting someone to relax can help them, and if that's how I can help, I will."
Ashi Massage

• 691-4337
• 50 Shadow Ridge Road
• Tuesday Saturday: 2 p.m. until 8 p.m.
• www.ashiparkcity.massagetherapy.com