Today’s Barefoot Massage Training Instructor spotlight is Sharon, our multi-faceted hoola hooping, pirating, ukelele playing instructor, who is a whiz at creating pickled concoctions.

Your name:

Sharon Bryant (no, I’m not related to Bear Bryant, that we know of…)

Pets?

Maddie and Gypsy, my precious rescued fur babies (dogs). Gypsy is our little girl, a black lab mix that is around 8 years old. She came to us so frightened we had to adopt another dog to break through her fear of EVERYTHING.

After an entire year working with her, she still couldn’t take a treat from my hand. Maddie is our big girl. We adopted her from the pound where she’d been incarcerated for half of her short little life (she was about 6 months old). She was on the list for euthanization and we sprung her literally two days before it was her time. She is now around 6.5 years old. She’s a boxer, German shepherd, rottweiler mix and is an awesome dog. They are both ROTTEN.

Tell us about your family too!

I live with a retired police sergeant and high school math teacher. Together we care for her mom who has Alzheimer’s and dream of someday being able to travel the world!

What did you want to be when you grew up and why?

I wanted to be a ballerina, then a doctor, then a nurse, then I got squeamish, and ended up becoming a rocket scientist for about 25 years. I always wanted to do something that helped people. Engineering was definitely not satisfying that need and I spent a lot of time fighting burnout. It took until I was 37 to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up and finally got myself to massage school.

Where do you teach?

I teach in Decatur, AL at the Alabama Barefoot Massage Training Center.

What most people don’t realize is that Decatur is within a very reasonable driving distance of Birmingham, AL, Nashville, Memphis and Chatanooga, TN as well as Atlanta, GA,

What’s cool about your city?

Alabama hosts the most biodiverse eco-systems in the entire United States and Decatur has a lot of outdoor activities for people to enjoy them. Wheeler Wildlife Refuge is less than 5 minutes from the training center where you can walk and see lots of birds, native flora, and be near the water. We are also very close to Point Mallard Park and Bankhead National Forest. The Cook’s Museum of Natural History recently opened as well.

We have many social activities like Third Friday uptown where people take to the streets and enjoy live music and art. We have a burgeoning art community here driven by the first organized Mardi Gras celebrations in North Alabama.

The Carnegie Visual Arts Center is free most of the time and even if you’re not into the art that’s on display there the building itself is worth the visit. We have all your standard chain restaurants and many popular local eateries with something for everyone. And if you can’t find it in Decatur, we are just across the river from Huntsville and Madison and if you can’t find it there, you’re not going to find what you’re looking for!

Which classes do you teach?

Currently teaching Fundamentals with Fijian and HotAshi on the roster for later this year and next.

Barefoot Massage Training instructor Sharon Bryant teaching Fijian barefoot floor massage

How has doing barefoot massage changed your career?

Barefoot massage literally gave me the ability to earn enough income to quit my job in the defense industry. I took my first barefoot class within a year of graduating from massage school and worked part-time doing massage for 7 years before taking the plunge into full-time massage therapy.

If I had been doing hands-on massage for the last 11 years I probably would not be doing massage now. Barefoot massage allows me to work all day and not hurt when I’m finished. I also have plenty of energy left at the end of the day so I can spend time nourishing my family and my soul.

What do you love about teaching barefoot massage?

The thing I love most about teaching barefoot massage is knowing that my students can go out into their communities and make a huge difference in the health and lives of everyone they touch.

On my classroom walls, I have a poster for each state where my students traveled from. I have each of them sign their names on their state so we have a visual representation of all the communities that are being touched and enriched by barefoot massage.

Other than doing barefoot massage until you die, what would you do when it comes time to retire?

Travel, play more music, make more art…but really, just do more barefoot massage, on a beach somewhere warm!

Hobbies?

Playing the ukulele, Zentangle when I have time, and I enjoy making/growing things in my kitchen or garden that normal people just buy at the store.

The Dread Pirate Bryant

I dress up like a pirate a few times a year and play with my friends on Crewe O’ Ye Crooked Goat! I’m not normal…that’s a hobby too, right?

Can you drive a stick shift, scooter, motorcycle, boat? 

I learned to drive in my dad’s lap in his 1960-something powder-blue Volkswagen Beetle so it’s a given I drive a stick shift. My mom’s car was a 1970-something Volkswagen Van so I was just doomed.

Now I find it weird to drive a car that isn’t a stick (or a Volkswagen). I used to be able to drive a tractor when I was about 6, but I’m not sure I remember how anymore. My Pap-Paw built and raced go-carts competitively so I drove A LOT of go-carts when I was a kid. I got banned from riding my brother’s Big Wheel and skateboards cause I kept hurting myself.

Any tips to keep yourself healthy as a massage therapist?

Just MOVE!

It doesn’t really matter what you do, just keep moving. Get your hands (and feet) dirty on a regular basis. Eat well, sleep well, practice gratitude, and seek out joy where ever you are in life and the world. Also, experience something or someplace new regularly to keep your brain nimble and happy.

What’s a random thing that most people don’t know about you?

I can play an obscene number of instruments (6 fluently, several more as a hack).

What are your favorite foods?

Right now I’m seriously addicted to these dehydrated sweet potato slices we get at the Asian food market, chocolate, coffee with heavy cream, herbal teas, and I have this Jerk Chicken recipe that will knock your socks off!

Where have you been published?

✓ I’m quoted in CBM’s blog about Ashiatsu Marketing.

✓ Here’s my biz blog: http://www.harvestmoonmassage.com/blog/

✓ Here’s a list of publications: http://www.harvestmoonmassage.com/press-releases/ It looks like a couple of these links are pointing to pages that no longer exist. That’s a shame too. 😕

✓ I also tried to start a podcast a while back, but I haven’t had the time or energy to devote to it in a long time… You can find it HERE or through this link.

Where can people schedule an appointment with you?

Come visit me at Harvest Moon Massage Therapy!

Where can people find you online?

🌎You can learn barefoot massage and find my training website here at Alabama Barefoot Massage.

🌎And of course on CBM’s website!

Social media 

🌎 Facebook: Harvest Moon

🌎 Facebook: Alabama Barefoot Massage Training Center

🌎 Insta: Alabama Barefoot Massage

Sharon’s official bio:

People often ask me why I decided to become a massage therapist. The answer is complicated.

The colorful story I tell starts with, “One day, I just got mad…,” and while it is true that I became overwhelmed and discouraged with the position I held for 23 years, there’s more to the story. Hopefully here, I can put some of it down for you.

I became a massage therapist because I wanted to take a more active role in helping people.

As a child, I wanted to be a doctor. Then I decided to be a nurse. One day I woke up and had lost the ability to look at my brothers’ skinned elbows and knees without fainting. I knew my medical career was over before it began.

I looked around and discovered a talent in math and after earning a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Jacksonville State University moved to Huntsville, Alabama to become an engineer. Seventeen years later a door closed, a window opened and I discovered an opportunity to help people in a way that excited me the way wanting to be a doctor and nurse had when I was a child.

In 2008, I graduated from Calhoun Community College among the first group of massage therapists the school trained. While in school, an instructor introduced me to barefoot massage and it fascinated me. In early 2009, I found barefoot massage and began training. I am currently a fully certified barefoot massage therapist and loving every minute of it. I have also spent a lot of time and effort extending my training (barefoot and traditional) beyond barefoot.

The work I do with my clients is important and profound. Some days I don’t know who benefits more, them or me.

I think it’s safe to say that I achieved my goal of helping people in a more direct way. My new goal is to help even more people by introducing them to the healing power of massage.