Jeni Spring is her name, and barefoot massage is her game! If you’ve giggled at pun-ny funny ashiatsu sayings, if you’ve heard of Heeling Sole in San Antonio, if any #2sDayTOESday tips have helped your workday, if you’ve needed inspiration for ashiatsu at events, or if you use an Ashi-Strap in your practice (or have at least seen them in pictures) – then you’ve seen some of the footprints she’s leaving on the massage world. Lets get to know the #BossLady behind the Center for Barefoot Massage!
Your name
Jeni Spring
Pets?
Dogs! Susie the Aussie Shepard / Hound mix has been my BFF and sidekick since Lockdown in 2020. She’s reincarnated from our past doglet, Lily the boy hound doggy. Fred is also pictured and memorialized below: she was my ageless rescued basset hound who was horrible at ashiatsu, but she’d walk all over you.
Jeni Spring, her dogs, her feet, and her hubby
Tell us about your family too.
I chose not to have children, and I met the perfect dude – Mr. Joel Spring, (AKA Vic Vespa if you go by his Roller Derby persona) with the same mindset in high school. We’ve been together since 1998, had a Star Wars wedding in 2001, and we’ve been truckin’ along figuring out adult life ever since.Joel is used to my crazy ideas, because he’s learned that they always work, so he doesn’t fight it anymore.He was in punk/ska bands when we met, and is now the local Roller Derby announcer, a voice on a wrestling podcast, and holds down a pretty important computery job in corporate America that is HIGHLY classified. He’s pretty awesome.I’ve got 2 younger sisters and 1 younger brother, Joel’s got 1 older Bro, and we’ve got 4 rad nephews and 3 cool nieces to spoil and train as our Jedi Apprentices. Life is good.
What did you want to be when you grew up and why?
I wanted to be an astronaut. Or a secret agent spy. Then in middle school I fell into dancing, ballet but mostly modern dance, and that shaped my life from 6th grade until I was about 23. I had planned on attending Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, getting my BFA in Dance, then I figured if I was lucky, I might get picked up by a travelling dance company – otherwise I was gong to choreograph for competitive colorguards in WGI and DCI and be a starving artist.I wasn’t really THAT good at dance, so I’m glad that massage came along and changed all those plans!
Where do you teach?
My training studio is in San Antonio, Texas. The classes are hosted inside my local massage business, Heeling Sole Barefoot Massage.
Jeni Spring and the Heeling Sole Sasquatches
What’s cool about your city (or fun things to do)?
San Antonio is mainly known for the River Walk, the Alamo, and the randomly placed, middle-of-nowhere Sea World. I like the underground caves you can tour on the outskirts of town, and the lakes/rivers to paddle board nearby.The town has really grown since I moved here in 2006: it’s getting a little more influence from the West coast, and the local business scene has kept up with Austin with clever ideas and less pretentiousness. Most importantly, the COFFEE in this town has really gotten fabulous over the last 5 years. As a Seattle-ite, that’s an important thing for me! So skip Starbucks, try my favorite places like Theory Coffee, Whats Brewing and Local Coffee.
Which classes do you teach?
I teach Intermediate, ROM, Advanced, the upcoming Clinical and possibly also the Sports track. I do *occasionally* teach FasciAshi Fundamentals, but usually I’m co-teaching with other FasciAshi Faculty during their instructor training whenever I’m offering this class.
Jeni Spring in her Ashi-Strap, in the foot, & teaching anatomy
How has doing barefoot massage changed your career?
Since barefoot massage has been a part of my ENTIRE career from day #1, I’m gonna switch this question up and tell you how a few little things I’ve done in my career to change Barefoot Massage in the industry.
#1: I started the whole Ashi-Strap thing. I first used it very very early on – like, within 6 months of learning Ashiatsu. My trials and errors over the years with the strap led to an element of effortlessness that I felt needed to be formally incorporated into ashiatsu training. I snuck it into classes I taught prior to The Center for Barefoot Massage’s existence, but FasciAshi has unleashed it’s potential, and is now really dependent on that strap!
#2: Less than 2 years into my massage career, I was hired as a consultant with a Seattle-area spa and created a Barefoot Massage menu to add to their services. I helped coordinate their staff training in Ashiatsu and Fijian Barefoot Massage. This gave a group of LMT’s the opportunity to specialize in barefoot massage, while also still equally massaging with their hands.
A couple of firsts:
#3: I taught the 1st Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage class ever in Europe – hosted in Wiesbaden, Germany in 2009. Before then, no one had taught westernized ashiatsu barefoot work over the pond!
#4: I led the 1st national online webinar for Barefoot Massage, called “the Benefits of Barefoot Massage” with the World Massage Conference in 2011. I didn’t teach any strokes or technique online, so it didn’t break my ethical standards, but it did expose a lot of the massage industry to why and how ashiatsu could help their clients.
#5: My local biz, Heeling Sole, as far as I know, was the 1st barefoot-only multi-therapist clinic in the nation! This means that once I brought on employees in 2011, we set a record when we all completely retired our hands! This pool of experience swirling around in my office as we worked daily with our feets allowed for exponential growth and development of the ‘Sole’s signature style of work, and is now a big part of what the Center for Barefoot Massage teaches today!
#6: Heeling Sole has won a local San Antonio magazine poll for “Best Massage” 7 times – AND I DON’T EVEN USE MY HANDS!!! I am making small steps here in Texas to normalize barefoot work, and create a demand in the community. (And that demand spreads to other therapists in town who are trying to keep up with the requests for ashiatsu from clients, and it follows our clients as they relocate or travel to other places and are in search of a great barefoot massage.) If you build it, they will come.
#7: I led, with 4 of our amazing FasciAshi instructors, the worlds largest barefoot massage class in 2018 at the World Massage Festival! We taught almost 100 LMT’s (93 enrolled) an intro to Myofascial Ashiatsu and Fijian Barefoot Massage in Las Vegas and had a blast!
#8: I was “feetured” this year on our local TV station, and I made sure that 4 styles of barefoot massage were represented in the footage. That’s another record, another “first,” as far as I can tell. Since I am not only working hard to educate the public on what Barefoot Massage is and how it is beneficial to people, I’m also carefully working to make sure that there is a good understanding that not all barefoot massage is “ashiatsu”... that Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage is not the only massage that comes from a professional’s feet. Representation matters.
…and my fave:
#9: I took a big jump out of my safety zone and stood up for what I believe in. Building this whole new approach and lineage of ashiatsu education has been challenging and rewarding – and it’s making waves. I’m tremendously proud of the strides the women of CBM have made with me, how big we’ve grown The Center for Barefoot Massage since 2017, and how much the awareness of the word “Barefoot Massage” in the industry has grown in that time! We are making a difference!
What do you love about teaching barefoot massage?
I do not love spoon-feeding people information: I’ll teach with so much detail and insight, but I want to see them trust the process and respect the work. Show me that you are a self-sufficient, confident, brave Barefoot Massage Therapist who works things out, studies their resources, grows into the work, then comes back with some experience, prepared and hungry to learn more. I always look forward to teaching the mid & upper level classes because the deeper into training a person goes, the more nerdy about it they become.
Other than doing barefoot massage until you die, what would you do when it comes time to retire?
Opening a Tiki Bar on a beach is one of my day dreams, with a sand-floor tiki hut off to the side that would be my massage room. (But I’d probably make it big enough to be a classroom…. Who am I kidding!? I’ll never stop teaching.)
Hobbies?
I like plotting new Guerrilla Marketing ideas, Napping, 5k Paddle Board races, and finding & travelling to Tiki Bars.
Click this picture to hear Jeni teach you something…
Can you drive a stick shift, scooter, motorcycle, boat?
I can drive a stick, and I taught all my friends and husband how to drive a stick. I’ve got a “shifter” scooter, too, which is the equivalent of driving a stick on my little Vespa-lookalike scooter.
Any tips to keep yourself healthy as a massage therapist?
Alone time is my go-to selfcare. Even better if I’m alone at the beach! I try to get on my paddle board often and get my feet in ocean water whenever possible, because the water really helps me focus. Naps in my hammock are always my (rarely achievable) goal. So my tip is to live by the ocean, if you can!
What’s a random thing that most people don’t know about you?
The inspiration to get a tattoo on my foot came after someone told me that I’d never make it in this business with a foot tattoo. (Oh yeah? Watch me.)
What are your favorite foods?
In-N-Out Burger, avocados, cinnamon rolls, and COFFEE!
Where can people schedule an appointment with you?
Where can people find you?
To learn more about Jeni, check out her Instructor page on CBM!
Follow Jeni Spring on social media!🌎Texas Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage Training: Insta🌎Texas Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage Training: Facebook
Jeni Spring in 2003 and 2018
Jeni Spring in the News:Print
- I’ve been mentioned in Massage Magazine a few times contributing to articles and conversations about ashiatsu
- Sa Current
- San Antonio Local Magazine
- Tidbits
- Les Nouvelle Esthetique & Spa Magazine
- Natural Awakenings Magazine # 1
- Natural Awakenings Magazine #2
- International Congress of Esthetics & Spa magazine
TV
Blogs / Podcasts
- Dr Oz
- Podcast on videos
- Podcast on CE Providers
- Journal of Massage Science
- Massage Nerd Show
- Massage Business Blueprint Blog on Farmers Markets
- Massage Business Blueprint Blog on Nailing your Niche
- We Run San Antonio blog
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