Monthly Archives: July 2017

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Look ma, no hands! (on massage)

I have raved about Ashiatsu for 15 years. “Save your hands!” I’d cry. “Take a class and learn barefoot massage! Extend your career! Give your clients the deep tissue massage they crave without hurting yourself,” I’d urge.

I don’t do hands-on massage. Ashiatsu barefoot massage is the name of the game.

Last week, a client whom I  haven’t seen in years called me to ask about massage.  “I see on your website you don’t do house calls or hands-on massage anymore,” she started with. Correct. I don’t do hands-on massage, with the exception of the occasional pregnancy massage.

So she scheduled a one-hour barefoot massage at my office for her and one for her husband the following day.

A few days later, she called me back to tell me that she had misplanned, and was there any way I could go to her house downtown (a 25-minute drive) and give her husband a hands-on massage for his birthday?

I don’t do hands-on massage, I protested internally.

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Tuesday TOESday: The magical thing you didn’t know your massage table could do.

Did you know that your portable massage table has many settings and FEETures that work awesome specifically for Barefoot Massage?

floor-massage-table

Fold those legs up underneath the frame and take your massage table to the floor!

Have you ever been sitting at home wishing you could practice some of your barefoot moves on your partner or kids, only to find yourself frustrated about bolstering and the challenge of maintaining cervical alignment?

That massage table is so much more supportive and comfortable than just the floor or a yoga mat!

You lie them down prone and prop some towels under their head. Maybe you place a pillow under their chest so they’re up high enough to breathe and maintain alignment, never really feeling entirely satisfied with the results.

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Whose Ashiatsu photos and videos can you use?

So you’re marketing your barefoot massage biz but haven’t had time to get your photos taken or videos shot. And, man! It’s so expensive. The internet has some amazing ashiatsu photos and videos–they’re online, so you can just use them, right? Wrong! Today we’re going to talk about what you can legally use and what you can’t.

Can I use a photo I found off the internet?

  • Did you ask the photographer for and receive permission? Yes.
  • If the photographer asks for photo credit / website link and YOU DO THAT, yes.
  • Did you screenshot it and figure you could just tell people where it came from? No.
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Technique TOESday: The power of SOLE sisters!

The FasciAshi faculty is lucky to be rooted in a strong network of “Sole Sisters”, as many of us have been friends, colleagues and online buddies for years.  Even though we are all about a half days travel away from one another, we talk almost daily, so when we do get to meet up it’s as if no time has passed at all! With Jeni, and 4 other instructors all in the same place at the same time this week at the Barefoot Massage Summer Camp in San Antonio, we thought we’d make today’s “Tuesday TOESday” tip all about how you can combine forces with another massage therapist friend to grow BOTH of your businesses and careers in Barefoot Massage!

Sole Sisters and FasciAshi Ashi-Friends can help your Ashiatsu business succeed!

…read more by clicking on the “continue reading” link below~

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Think you have to live with pain? Not if my foot has anything to say about it! (Part 2)

In 2006, at a massage convention, I ran into the author of the article that saved my back from pain, Richard Rossiter. I told him that I had been studying his work through his online website, DVDs, and books since discovering the powerful effect Rossiter had on my back. Since my wife, Mickey, was the only person who had worked on me thus far, I asked if I could sample the foot of the master. 

Eager to grant my request, he invited me to hit the floor and proceeded to apply weight with much more authority. It was definitely more difficult to move through the stretches, but the effect was much more profound.

My back felt even better!

A year later, I was a Certified Rossiter Coach, and through continued advanced work on my legs, I experienced the ultimate back pain relief that continues to the writing of this article.

The crazy thing is, nobody ever touched my back.

All Rossiter work (for my situation) was done on the inside of my thighs (adductors). The work was done in less than thirty minutes, and my reward was a back that felt like it did when I was in the prime of my dance career.

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Think you have to live with pain? Not if my foot has anything to say about it! (Part 1)

When people meet me and find out that I’m a manual therapist with a reputation for getting people out of pain very quickly, they want to know what it is I do and how do I do it. To keep it simple, I tell them that my work is nothing more than power stretching and that they should visit my website (DontFearTheFoot.com) to get the full picture on how it works.

This is Chuck. He does not fear the foot.

Here’s where the fun starts. They immediately want to know what does fearing a foot has to do with massage, stretching or getting out of pain?

I spent 20 years of my life professionally stretching, for  I was a professional Broadway dancer for twenty years. And during my professional career, I probably stretched more in a day than most people stretch in a year (or a lifetime for that matter).

My flexibility served me well throughout my dance years and now, with the addition of mobility and stability training, it continues to be my preferred weapon in maintaining a “relatively” pain-free body. now help others in their quest to getting out of pain.

I now help others in their quest to getting out of pain.

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FASCIAnate your Ashiatsu Massage: Part 3

Ashiatsu therapists want to learn more Ashiatsu.

If you are already an experienced Ashiatsu barefoot massage therapist and you share our passion for giving the best massage from your feet possible, then we already know that you know (deep down) that you want to know more!!!

Advancing-Ashiatsu-with-FasciAshi

(Did that make sense?!) It makes sense to us. We’ve felt the craving for more information, just like you are now.  We want you to continue to improve your effectiveness and mindfulness in barefoot massage to help give your clients the healing (and heeling) that they are looking for. #NeverStopLearning is one of our favorite hashtags, and we have FOUR ways for you to do just that!

Today we’ll discuss your opportunity to RETRAIN by attending courses in their entirety.

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Deeper barefoot massage using one foot

If you use your feet like your hands to massage, with intention, then your ashiatsu massage will not only be more therapeutic, but you’ll find your session time fly by faster. Getting specific in your barefoot massage and paying attention to details will make your ashiatsu session stand out from others’.

When I worked at a chiropractor’s office years ago, there were 2 other ashiatsu barefoot therapists there.  Doc told me once that my barefoot massage was way deeper than the others’ – and it had nothing to do with our strength or size.

How could that be?

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Tuesday Toesday – are your heels soft for barefoot massage?

Up until 2002, I was one of those people who walked around barefoot whenever possible. While my feet were prettier looking than Frodo’s, no one would have wanted for me to use them to massage them. My entire life I had struggled with dry, cracked heels that were painful in the winter time and were mildly better in the summer.

That changed when I decided to learn barefoot massage. I got my first pedicure ever. There’s only so much you can do with Hobbit feet, though, I guess. I started wearing shoes instead of sandals and regularly scrubbed my feet with a foot file, testing the softness with my hands.

Miracle of miracles, this all helped to make my feet soft enough for barefoot massage, or so I thought.

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Create your own massage pathway

According to the AMTA industry fact sheet, it is estimated that there are 325,000 to 375,000 massage therapists and massage school students in the United States.*

So, how do we set ourselves apart and stand out from the sea of LMT’s in the field? It’s becoming more and more crucial to do so, as there are not only more massage therapists but also massage chains and franchises popping up everywhere.

If you’re an independent LMT like myself, it’s impossible to compete with a $39 massage from a franchise. Instead of contending with rock bottom rates, try and differentiate in distinct ways.