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Ashiatsu barefoot massage, business by 08/30/2018 0Comments

The importance of communication in charging for additional services

I personally charge the same for everything I do at my office. I’ve never thought that anyone should have to pay more because their body needed a different kind of work (ie. charging more for deep tissue massage). I add on aromatherapy sometimes, and sometimes there’s…whatever I come up with. That’s my gig.

Adding on services or a modality to your massage is totally fine, but if you charge, you better let your client know ahead of time it will cost more.

(Heck yeah, I’d pay extra for an Aroma-nap after a massage. As long as I knew there was a fee first. Putting on your menu or online would be a fab idea.)

I worked on a client today who had just come back from vacation. As I work on him every week, he got a massage while he was gone. It was hands-on, but that was all that was available.

The therapist told him that it wouldn’t be as deep as barefoot massage, and he was ok with that. Because he told her he sees someone who’s been a massage therapist for 20 years and has been teaching for ages, she got a little worried about what he was expecting.

Ashiatsu barefoot massage by 08/02/2018 0Comments

You can ditch the fingerless gloves

If you are a barefoot therapist who wears fingerless gloves to work in, I have a suggestion for you. Ditch them. If you need to wear gloves while you are doing one-footed strokes, you’re working too hard.

In fact, you really don’t need them for 2-footed strokes either. The truth is that if you need to protect your hands from blisters or calluses, you’re working too hard.

Some of you don’t use a strap-maybe you never learned with it, or maybe you never got into it.

I thought it got in the way a lot when I first started using it, so I understand not wanting to use it. But honestly, when I actually trusted the strap to hold me as I leaned back, I could let go of the bars. Those of you with short arms know what it’s like to try to lean back and hang on for dear life.

Using the strap is like having a new boyfriend. You have to learn to trust him.

There’s no doubt that fingerless gloves are better than they used to be. Back in the day (like 15 years ago!) you had 2 options–leather weightlifting gloves and cheapo dollar store knit gloves. The leather on the weightlifting gloves would get all crunchy if you got any cream or oil on them, which would blister your palms fast.

You’d cut the finger off the knit gloves so you’d have a little grip. But my hands would get so stinking sweaty so fast. And I’m not even a person who sweats much. I ditched the gloves.

How do you protect your hands, then?

 

Let go! Let go of your tight grip. If you are doing one footed strokes on someone who thinks your pressure is too heavy, you are either working on the wrong type of client OR you are holding your weight up in the bar.

Do the “How Do My Biceps Look” test. If they look great when you’re doing a one footed stroke, you are working too hard. Unless you’ve got awesome biceps all the time, your arms should look soft and squishyish. 

That means you’ve actually relaxed.

2 ways to protect your hands

  1. Relax and shift your weight onto your stationary foot.
  2. Lean back with your strap (that you’ll learn to love if you haven’t already) and loosen your grip on the bars.

If you currently wear gloves to do barefoot massage, try shifting your weight onto your non-working foot or leaning back into the strap. It may take a little practice to break the habit, but it’s worth it!

Share with anyone you know who needs to ditch the gloves!

Ashiatsu barefoot massage by 07/27/2018 0Comments

the Princess and the Pea (Feet)

Do you remember the Hans Christen Anderson story the Princess and the Pea? This story is, some would say, about the dangers of jumping to conclusions without all the facts. Others believe that it’s about presenting yourself honestly despite how you may appear.

In the tale, the old queen, upon seeing the bedraggled girl, needed to prove that she was a real princess. Placing a pea under a mattress, she laid a total of 20 mattresses and eider-down covers upon the pea. (She was strong, apparently, and had good balance while standing on something tall. 😉 .)

The princess tossed and turned all night because she felt something hard under her body. Yes, it was the pea, under 20 mattresses. Because she was so delicate, she was able to feel the pea as if it were a rock.

Our feet are rather like that princess, delicate and trustworthy. We can feel grains of sand or hair on a client’s body. Those are small–think about how we are able to palpate knots, ropy muscles, bony prominences.

People ask us about our ability to palpate all the time. Yes, we can feel with our feet. A lot.

Wikipedia even tells us: the soles of the feet are extremely sensitive to touch due to a high concentration of nerve endings, with as many as 200,000 per sole. This makes them sensitive to surfaces that are walked on.

The feet have a very high concentration of nerve endings, mostly because the information coming from your feet is used to make all the constant, tiny muscular adjustments necessary to maintain balance.

Is there a need to tell the public about this? Apparently, yes.

Can the hands to things that the feet cannot? Absolutely. We love our feet, but we don’t want them on someone’s face. That’s just weird.

It’s unlikely that anyone wants our toes in their orbital sockets or maneuvering their hyoid. We’ll leave that to hands.

Tiny little moves may be best suited for the fingers.

This does not, however, mean that your hands are far better tools than your feet for massage-based services.

How about broad, deep pressure? The feet are a clear winner here.

Some people may like “twisty fists” in their bums. I can tell you from experience that the foot feels better to the client.

The forearm and fists are often not the quadriceps’ friends.

Now, we are not saying that there’s no place for hands-on massage. That would be silly. Many different types of massage are valuable, and most of them are done with hands.

But to say that the hands are “a far better tool” than feet is also incorrect.

We have many 1000s of clients who believe that the “feet can’t be beat” when it comes to massage.

Plus, there’s this: 😉

 

FAQ, Pro tips by 07/11/2018 0Comments

How to prepare for your next massage class or convention!

You’ve been saving up all year – stashing your tips, making the most of your work schedule so that you are prepared to take time to travel far and wide to that 3 day massage class, or 4 day massage convention that you have been SO excited about….

MAN THAT SOUNDS SO AWESOME! 3 days of receiving massage? A working vacation!??!

OK wait. This is the part not everyone thinks through all the way.

Your body is about to get weirded out for a few days, best prepare.

business, Membership, Pro tips by 06/08/2018 0Comments

Awesome scheduling software for solo therapists-getting started with Bodywork Buddy

While most of our instructors have employees, I (Mary-Claire) have steadfastly remained a solo therapist. There are a variety of reasons, but that’s the way I like it. As our team loves to share different ideas and products that we love, I HAD to let solo therapists know about the awesome scheduling software I’ve used for many years, Bodywork Buddy.

I like to think of myself as Bodywork Buddy’s (BWB) unofficial mascot since I truly love their services and praise the software to anyone who needs a scheduler.

To say that BWB is an online scheduler is true, but there’s SO. MUCH. MORE. I’ll cover some of the features today, but I have plenty to say about lots more, so we’ll add another blog post or three. Maybe more. Seriously, I love them that much.

In this series of post, I’ll start with the ease of use for both clients and the therapist and how to start setting it up.

business, Online Vs. In Person, Why FasciAshi? by 05/20/2018 0Comments

The subtle art of giving a F*ck

When we started the Center for Barefoot Massage, we set out with some high expectations for ourselves.

the-subtle-art-of-giving-a-fuck

We had the vision to teach our style of ashiatsu to massage therapists, and we wanted to back it with not just quality content in classes, but more importantly, high quality substance to every aspect of the company.

We wanted to make sure that our faculty is in touch with their students, the community, and the massage industry so that we keep it real.

high-standards-in-barefoot-massage

We want you to learn FasciAshi from someone who uses the technique every week. We want you to study under someone who leads their practice and massage business by example. We want to train therapists in person, look them in the eyes, touch them with our SOLES, and pass our knowledge onto the next generation of barefoot massage therapists. We feel that a person shouldn’t own a massage continuing education company if they aren’t teaching and practicing the work themselves – so we continue to do “all the things” for you every day.

The integrity level of every member on our sometimes overwhelmed, busy team shows through in their passion for the work they each present. You’ll feel it embedded within FasciAshi as you personally grow with the technique. We hope to raise the standard on barefoot massage education, and to help support the massage industry rise to great heights. (And I’m not just being ‘punny’ and talking about stepping up onto a massage table here, folks!)

Membership by 05/18/2018 0Comments

Working on new membership site

Our current site has not served us as we had wished.   Sooooo, we are creating a new and better site.

The new site may live here on our blog or possibly completely on its own – we are still testing.

Know that the membership site is a big deal to us and we want you to have the best there is to offer.

Our other site – currently open and running – has been a headache and we are reconstructing the new site to work better for all of our alumni.

There will be some similarities ( all the videos you were promised and more ) and some differences from the current membership site.  You all have spoken and we have listened and are molding this area to be what the alumni have asked for.

We can’t wait to share the new stuff with you and get all those people who were having issues previously up and running with this great content.

We’ll keep striving to provide you with the best that Barefoot Massage has to offer.

Ashiatsu barefoot massage, Pro tips by 05/11/2018 0Comments

Why doing barefoot massage all day doesn’t wipe me out anymore

Pretty much everyone knows that the career-span of a massage therapist is not great. Some sources say 3-5 years, others say 4-6. We burn out and/or hurt ourselves. Then we typically do one of 5 things:

  1. quit

  2. do massage part time and another job full time

  3. specialize in “lighter” work

  4. teach

  5. learn barefoot massage so we can do deeper work.

3.5 years into doing traditional hands-on massage, I had the usual complaints-mine were pain in my left wrist and tendonitis in my right elbow.

Years earlier, I had actually climbed up onto a table and placed my knees in a client’s bum and proceeded to actually massage with my hands all over her back. Yup. That’s not a “thing”. That’s a bit weird. (She did love it, though!)

When I found a barefoot massage, that was my “aha!” moment.

So barefoot massage was my gig for a very long time. Because I tend to be a rule follower, I did the moves I was taught. If I couldn’t work a muscle a way that I needed to, I’d invent something else.

Ashiatsu barefoot massage by 05/04/2018 0Comments

How barefoot massage training is like Star Wars

Happy Star Wars Day! Today Mary-Claire is going to tell you about how your barefoot massage training is like Star Wars. Seriously.

(Don’t miss todays Foot Note Quote on Instagram from Jeni, and her take on Star Wars and FasciAshi!)

Going back to the good old days of young Luke Skywalker, you know from the beginning that his life is about to change when he discovers his family murdered by Storm Troopers. ::Spoiler Alert!!:: He doesn’t know he has talents that lie within him, that he may be the one who will bring balance to the Force, yet when he meets Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda, that all changes.

Both Obi-Wan and Yoda are  wise (if not enigmatic) souls, and they guide young Luke to discover his latent talent. Yoda’s plan is for Luke to delve deep in his mind and body to morph him into a new, stronger man.

Through practice and sage advice, Luke discovers that he has strength in body and spirit.

But Luke wants to give up–it’s hard work to learn to be a Jedi. He’s not going through the old ways of learning at the Jedi Temple, he’s on a streamlined path of training, he’s travelling the Galaxy to find the lost guru. He’s merging the old with the new. Darth Vader challenges him to take action, which Luke must accept because he needs to save the galaxy and balance the forces of evil with good.

Along the way, there are many challenges. He learns that the dark lord Vader IS HIS FATHER! ::GASP! Big spoiler there: he loses a hand. His mentors disappear. He must convince the evil crime lord Jabba the Hutt to demand the beast release his friends. Luke’s challenges are beyond what he could have imagined a short time earlier, but he transforms himself into an amazing, knowledgeable, resourceful Jedi.

Imagine now that you are Luke, and your massage life is good until you discover that that you have aches and pains more frequently. And you realize that one day, massage life as you know it may be over. The pain accompanied by giving your clients the deep tissue work they want feels like it may kill you.

But then you discover your wise Jedi masters, our instructors at Center for Barefoot Massage. These women have years of knowledge and experience, and they are willing to guide you into a new path to resist the light and the dark forces within (your broken body).

In just 3 days, your instructor teaches you skills that will change your life. Over the course of four (and more to come!) classes, you will hone your skills and become one with the force. (The forces of gravity, that is!)

But you must be willing to go on that journey, to practice and receive feedback.

You may complain that it’s too hard-your body hurts because you’ve learned to move it in new ways. Perhaps you whine because you’re not as good as you want to be immediately after class. (“But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!” says Luke.)

Or maybe you get aggravated because your instructor makes the massage look so easy.

The membership site and our private FB FasciAshi Tribe group, along with your instructor, are there to support you in your challenge of learning a new way of life.

You may encounter problems along the way-maybe clients think feet are weird. It’s too hard. There’s so much to learn.

“Fear is the path to the dark side…”

Don’t be afraid. Like young Luke Skywalker, you’ll persevere and will become the best Jedi barefoot therapist there is.

May the force (of gravity) be with you today in your massages, and may the Foot be with you, always.

May the 4th be with us all.

Pro tips by 05/01/2018 0Comments

Self care-rolling your feet

Whether you are a barefoot massage therapist or one who simply stands all day at work, our Tuesday Toesday tip may help work out those crunchies in your tootsies! All it takes for feet self-care is a little hand weight that you may have sitting around at your house.

It’s important that your hand weight has rounded edges, otherwise, it won’t roll.

It’s easy like Sunday morning.

Simply sit somewhere comfortable (you can stand too, if that’s your preference) with your hand weight on the ground. Experiment with rolling different parts of your feet and see what kind of knots you may find there!

A caveat: if you haven’t been rolling your feet regularly, don’t watch an entire episode of something on Netflix or you may have trouble walking for a day or two. (Ask me how I know this. 😉 )