Category Archives: Pro tips

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Barefoot Massage Open: Ashi-Challenge 1.3

We are already 2 weeks into the first annual Barefoot Massage Open, a weekly massage challenge for ashiatsu therapists – and we’re about to step into WEEK 3! Are you feeling tough enough continue to challenge the way you massage!? Are you questioning WHY you do what you do during each massage? Put your game face on, cuz your massage game is about to get REAL up in week 3!

Last week we pushed you to use your non-dominant foot continuously for 20 minutes. How did it go?! Are you feeling a little more ambidextrous?

This week we do what your massage instructors have been telling you to do ALL. ALONG. The thing you’ve been afraid to do ALL. THIS. TIME.

Be like Nike: Just Do it.

If you aren’t yet trained in ashiatsu strokes that pertain to this weeks challenge – then use your hands.

BAREFOOT MASSAGE OPEN: FIVE WEEKS – FEB. 22-MARCH 26

1.1- Feb. 22-26 Start the massage at the clients feet #FeetFirst #AshiChallenge1point1

1.2- March 1-5 Use your Non-Dominant Foot for 20 consecutive minutes #GoofyFoot #AshiChallenge1point2

1.3- March 8-12 Scroll down to see this weeks challenge! #GameFace #AshiChallenge1point3

1.4- March 15-19

1.5- March 22-26

 

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Barefoot Massage Open: Ashi-Challenge 1.2

Are you tough enough to challenge the way you massage? Can you question the way you think about WHY you do what you do during each massage? Step up to our 5 week massage challenge that will change your massage game.

Last week we had you start at the clients feet and see how that changes your perspective. How did it go?!

This week gives a shout out to the surfers who lead with the “wrong” foot. Once upon a time, a Disney artist drew Goofy surfing with a different than usual foot forward, and it’s been coined as a common phrase in any board sport like surfing, snowboarding or skateboarding.

The goal is for you to try something new within your massages, contemplate WHY or HOW it works, and then market that aspect to your online community. You are marketing to potential customers, not the massage crowd, so the hidden bonus for you is that over the remaining 4 weeks you can generate new content aimed at your target market with a renewed appreciation for how you do what you do, based on the direct feedback of your existing clients.

BAREFOOT MASSAGE OPEN: FIVE WEEKS – FEB. 22-MARCH 26

1.1- Feb. 22-26 Start the massage at the clients feet #FeetFirst #AshiChallenge1point1

1.2- March 1-5 Scroll down to see this weeks challenge! #GoofyFoot #AshiChallenge1point2

1.3- March 8-12

1.4- March 15-19

1.5- March 22-26

 

Your mission for WEEK 2: should you choose to accept it…

 Spend 20 minutes straight per session massaging ONLY with your non-dominant footr non-dominant foot

The Barefoot Massage Open: a 5 week long challenge for massage therapists

Take note of the following questions while providing your massages this week:

How does this change your focus?

Can you do a WHOLE BODY massage this way!?

Did you feel creative? Frustrated? Have any “WOW” moments?

What differences did you notice within the session – especially when you tried this on regularly scheduled clients?

What did your client(s) notice with this new intention?

Can you convey these realizations within your marketing?

Show your work and tag @CenterForBarefootMassage on Instagram using the hashtags #barefootmassage #AshiChallenge1point2 #AshiChallenge #GoofyFoot

We’ll repost and FEETURE the AshiChallenge post with the most likes/hearts each week.

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Barefoot Massage Open: Ashi-Challenge 1.1

Are you tough enough to challenge the way you massage? Can you question the way you think about WHY you do what you do during each massage? Step up to our 5 week massage challenge that will change your massage game.

barefoot massage open: ashi-challengeTo coincide with the Crossfit Open, a 5 week long worldwide online challenge with a different workout every week, I thought we’d do one of our own!!! Whether you massage with your feet or not, whether you know FasciAshi or not, it doesn’t matter: this Ashi-Challenge is open to every massage therapist! Shake things up, push yourself and try to incorporate the challenge into whatever massage you have on the books – lets see what happens.

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Is Ashiatsu the same as Barefoot Massage?

Is Ashiatsu the same as Barefoot Massage? What is the difference between a Barefoot Massage and a Foot Massage?

WOW! So many questions, and we get them often from our clients as well as from massage therapists. I’m sure you’ve either asked, or have been asked these questions, too. So lets break it down!

Barefoot Massage is a growing specialty in the massage therapy industry where the massage professional utilizes their FEET as tools to give the massage rather than hands. A foot massage is where the clients feet are being massaged through techniques such as Reflexology, Acupressure, Thai Foot Massage, or a general foot rub – like what you may receive from a Nail Technician during a pedicure. A Bear Foot massage is another thing entirely, ha!

Bear-Foot-Massage

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Pure Pro for learning barefoot massage

We at Center for Barefoot Massage are pleased to be partnered with Dianna of Pure Pro. Their deep tissue massage cream is like summer butter, all squishy and melty.

There’s enough glide so you don’t inadvertently wax your client’s back but not too much that you can’t learn myofascial barefoot massage.

Why use cream at all if we’re doing myofascial ashiatsu (AKA FasciAshi)? Check out our post here.

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Give weight, then wait again.

“Give it weight, then wait” to impact the fascia (but really, the nervous system) is a pretty heavy theory that we’ve found to be important to our FasciAshi technique. Addressing the deep fascial bands, navigating the contours of muscle and bone, and applying a great amount of pressure directly to specific tissues creates a form of myofascial release that your hands only WISH they could achieve with such consistency and accuracy. The broad pressure from a Barefoot Massage is a no brainer for deep bodywork. Moving slower, OR NOT AT ALL, helps you get to that “deeper than deep tissue” feeling so many clients are looking for.

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Stretching those hip flexors

Any ashiatsu therapist who loves to do seated work will tell you that you need to make sure you stretch your hip flexors. I personally often can spend 20-30  minutes doing seated work during a 90 minute session (depending on the client’s needs.)

You need to make sure you keep your hip flexors loose in order to do this or you’ll end up walking like Quasimodo.

This move is like your typical runner’s stretch, but it has an added component: the side stretch.

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Tuesday Toesday – using a heating pad to warm feet

This time of the year, many of us are struggling with warm hands and feet when we do our barefoot massage. In fact, I often have a problem in the summertime too when the air conditioning is cranking. Today, we’ve got a cheapo heating pad to the rescue.

Firstly, the directions tell you not to lie on the heating pad, but that’s because the manufacturers don’t want you to fall asleep on one and burn yourself. I’ve had an unlucky client who lost her match with the heating pad this way (at home).

Standing on it is ok because you’re really on there for a short while. Plus, you’re awake. And you can tell if it gets too hot. By that time, you have been happily massaging with those hot feet.

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Eliminate massage sheet squish

We see it all the time when massage therapists are learning barefoot massage in class. They step on each side of the client’s body by the hips. Invariably the sheet pushes the client’s bum down towards the massage table.

It feels just plain weird. And annoying too. Plus, it makes your client aware that you are walking on the table.

They KNOW you are, but they don’t need to FEEL that you are.

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Ashiatsu massage cream

I’ve said for years in class that learning the right amount of lubricant for Ashiatsu is really one of the trickier things to figure out. If you use lotion, it absorbs too quickly. Oil tends to be hard to reapply-I’ve felt it drip on my back from 3 feet up. Gross. And we’ve tested various massage creams too. Some are dry, some are more viscous.

So what’s the best Ashiatsu massage cream?

It’s really very individualized. We’ve found that some therapists want to stick with what they’ve been using for hands-on massage. Sometimes that works, sometimes not so much.