“In 3 days, we’ll teach you to intuitively use your feet like you do your hands.”  This is true, but there’s more to learning barefoot massage than that.

Sometimes we get therapists who look ridiculously amazing when they are in their barefoot massage training  class for the first time. Sometimes they have a dance or ice skating background, and other times they just look fluid because that’s how they move.

Sadly, I’ve often seen that those who look super graceful on day 1 look pretty much the same when they come back for an advanced class 6 months or a year later.

On the other hand, some therapists really struggle. They get frustrated because their feet don’t cooperate or perhaps because they can’t palpate yet. Or maybe they have a hard time because they can’t regulate their pressure.

If they stop there at day 3 in our student clinic and give up, their class was pretty much pointless (other than at least they got their massage CE’s).

It’s the therapists who sometimes struggle in class but are determined to be amazing who realize that the class is an event, but practicing is a VEHICLE to get them to where they need to go.

We aren’t all beautiful when we learn barefoot massage. I was one of those people who truly wanted to be amazing, who NEEDED to be excellent, because I knew my career was on the line. After 3.5 years of hands on massage, I knew I was hitting the end of my massage lifespan.

And yet, I’m the person who still hits my head while closing the door of the car I’ve had 8 years and missteps on stairs I’ve been treading for almost 18.

So it’s not like I’m graceful in real life.

What makes the difference between those who really want to be good and those who are naturally good is that the former is more invested in being better. It’s easy to become complacent if you’re doing well. And unless your clients have gotten barefoot massage from someone else, they probably think you’re doing ok.

As long as you don’t clock them on the head or step on any bones, they think it’s a nice massage.

But it can be so much better if you take that vehicle, the words of wisdom, and travel a path you’ve not yet been.

If you’ve been following our blog, you know that we’ve been giving Ashi Challenges. Why?

Because sometimes we all need to mix something up. The challenge recently was to massage with your “Goofy Foot” for 20 minutes. (That’s your non-dominant foot.)

Other than when I was using 2 feet, I did an entire 90-minute session with my left foot.

What I learned:

• I got more creative with my moves

• some things worked just fine when I tried something new

• some things were terrible for my body mechanics

• I discovered new ways to access muscles in a different way

• it was a good reminder of why we teach body mechanics that work for the therapist

You see, this challenge was an incentive for me to take another ride into creativity. And that’s what we ask of all of you. The more you practice and get inventive / creative, the more your vehicle gets its oil change.

Once you have a good concept of your pressure and the moves, practice getting more fluid.

• How can you glide off with one foot and on with another?

• If you start with the “wrong” foot, can you transition it into another stroke?

• Try something new and check in with your client and see how they like it.

• Hold and sink (“weight and wait”) and see how that affects the tissue as well as the amount of relaxation the client has.

• Try moving more gracefully on the table with fewer steps.

Your vehicle can be a Mercedes, which is a comfortable and smooth ride, or it can be a Kia–perfectly fine for the job at hand but not the most comfortable or fun.

Which do you want to be?

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