Since stepping on the scene in 2017, our mission has been to teach evidence based techniques through feet-on, in-person training. We are standing on the shoulders of westernized ashiatsu barefoot work that first broke into the American massage industry in the mid-1990’s. Our roots actually trace back to 2003 when our owner and co-founder Jeni Spring began evolving the typical deep Swedish style of westernized ashiatsu massage into the modern myofascial FasciAshi approach we teach today… starting with the innovation of her Ashi-Strap. We even popularized the term ‘Barefoot Massage’ over these years to intentionally step away from the cultural appropriation issues surrounding the western use of words like “ashiatsu,” and we make continual conscious efforts to normalize and elevate the way the entire world understands any style of massage given from the feet.

We believe touch can’t be taught online. Since that’s exactly where every other barefoot massage education company was headed, the Center for Barefoot Massage was born to offer only in-person training. We consciously stepped away from our past roles in other companies to carve out an entirely distinct and original curriculum… because we know the nuance of pressure and the ‘feel’ of the work are a physical conversation too important to be left to the interpretations of a laggy pixelated video call or a video tutorial that plays in the background as you multitask. We also feel strongly that the continuous growth of Barefoot Massage needs to stay strictly relevant to the public and grounded in current science while leaving the massage myths of the past far behind.

We created a branch off the mid-90’s lineage of westernized deep swedish ashiatsu massage and are reshaping barefoot massage to fit the modern demands facing LMT’s across the massage & bodywork industry. We teach Myofascial Ashiatsu (FasciAshi) Barefoot Massage… an organic evolution using deep myofascial tissue engagement that embraces the whole body as a responsive system communicating through the strain distribution of tensegrity across differing layers of fascia muscle and bone.

While you get a literal feel from the sole of this work while underfoot other students and instructors in our classrooms, you will also really feel the SOUL of this work in our theory, intention, and integrity.

We want you to massage intuitively with your feet just like you do with your hands and practice with total confidence by building pattern recognition deep in your psyche so you can actually feel the fluid systems responding to your pressure… and with our help understanding the modern advances in pain science and biotensegrity research and findings from across the industry you will know exactly why and how and when to use every stroke to safely communicate with the different layers and depths of fascia, muscle, bone, and density of the whole body.

Expect a classroom that is as playful as it is precise. While some think scientific credibility requires a boring tone, we stand on the idea that “punny” and “professional” are the perfect pair for mastering barefoot massage! Each instructor’s own style and specialty combines with our vibe of humor, hard facts, experience and passion, because you learn touch best when you’re actually enjoying the process.

1. Save your hands for other things!

Stop straining your hands and start getting your clients underfoot. We focus on career longevity by teaching you to use the dexterity of your feet, the Ashi-Strap as a fulcrum for effortless body mechanics, and gravity as your main form of pressure, leaving you feeling like you’ve had a movement practice with the energy to actually tackle life after work, rather than a week of intense manual labor that leaves you with a busted, exhausted body, laid up on the couch!

2. Fill your books with clients who trust the “Why”

If your clients are looking for deep pressure that stays consistent over the years without the “ouch” factor, we got you covered. You’ll gain the clinical authority to stop relying on marketing that convinces them to book because “it feels good” and instead state with confidence exactly why the work is effective, building a level of trust in your local community that keeps people coming back. (But it also DOES really feel good!) Whether your clients want to “heel” a specific tissue issue or they need someone who finally knows a new way to work on their restrictions, you’ll have the “ten-toes-down” confidence to deliver Myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage work day after day, with the control and consistency in pressure to keep everyone underfoot safe and feeling like they’ve finally found the specialized solution they’ve been searching for.

3. Specialize in Barefoot Massage

Our FasciAshi approach (which, BTW, is our made-up word combining “myofascial” and “ashiatsu”, pronounced Fah-shee-ahh-shee) is highly adaptive so you can keep what you already know while meeting the “kneads” of each client individually. We help you break free from rigid routines and organically integrate fascial research and therapeutic strategies straight into the niche you already love… do you describe your sessions as Relaxation/Sensory or Sports/Recovery or Clinical/Orthopedic? Whatever your vibe is, their fascia is everywhere …and it communicates differently at every depth in every body. Training in our fascia-focused approach gives you an evolving stream of knowledge that helps you confidently work on everything… whatever the goal we’ll help you do it with SOLE! It’s all about massaging better in general with the clinical pattern recognition and technical integrity that comes from being a true Barefoot Massage Specialist.

We are on a mission to redefine barefoot massage as a respected, essential part of therapeutic bodywork. This starts by raising the standard for the massage classroom experience itself. To maintain the highest level of professional integrity and depth, we stay in our own lane: we ONLY teach Licensed Massage Therapists.

Our requirements are clear: we expect you to have at least 500 hours of entry-level education and maintain active professional liability insurance. While a lot of classes skip the paperwork, we actually check, because when everyone in the room meets national professional standards, we can dive deeper into the work together. We even have you fill out a health intake form before class so we can be fully prepared to support you the moment you step into the room.

We’ve built the tools and the environment to set you up for success before, during, and after each training. We expect you to bring a growth mindset and a professional spark to actually put these resources into practice. We’re here to help you own your expertise and move beyond “chasing pain” strategies and “no pain no gain” style pressure. We want to empower you to deliver the kind of results that prove barefoot massage isn’t a cute gimmick or performance art …it’s a sophisticated, detailed therapeutic intervention.

Inspired by decades of clinical practice at Heeling Sole, as well as the local businesses behind every instructor on our team, we teach you the theories and applications to stop treating the body as a collection of isolated parts and start addressing it as a single, interconnected system. Through the FasciAshi lens, you’ll learn to target the nervous system and fascia to help clients find relief from persistent pain that “spot-treating” simply hasn’t solved.

We provide the depth and structure to work with your client’s nervous system to address the chronic high-tone and dense tension that seemingly only heavy-duty deep tissue can reach—but we do it all without wrecking your own body in the process. Because at the end of the day, it’s about happy clients that fill your appointment schedules and your own happy, healthy body.

You can read more about our company mission and vision here.