This is a frequently asked question – especially if you have low ceilings that may be difficult to build bars in, if you are very tall with low ceilings and are considering dropping your table to the floor, and/or if you are already offering Thai/Shiatsu/Breema/Rossiter Matwork on the ground and want more footwork. The style of Myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage…
Barefoot massage encompasses many techniques you may not be aware of, this post is here to help you discover the differences in Fijian Barefoot Massage & Hot Ashi. Barefoot Massage is the umbrella term that encompasses a type of therapeutic application using a foot (or feet) as the tool. Many Americans used to believe there was only one way. And…
Myself and four of our instructors just got back home after sharing Fijian Barefoot Massage in Phoenix at the AMTA national massage convention! We set up a booth in the exhibit hall, provided about 45 Barefoot Matwork sample sessions, and talked to many of the 1,500+ Massage Therapists in the conventions attendance that visted us!
Meet the feet: We had such a powerhouse of instructors present at this event – I’m not even sure if the visitors to our booth knew the extent of our team’s history and experience in the profession. Myself (Jeni Spring) from Central Texas, Sara from Missouri, Hillary from North Texas, Ashley from Southern California, and Dawn from upstate New York. (Click each name to be taken to their instructor profile pages!)
Each one of these Barefoot Massage Barbies have been using their feet as massage tools for ~at least~ 10 years – double that in some cases! Dawn Dotson is our FasciAshi Range Of Motion instructor who designed the portable bar system that you can strap into and use with a portable, electric, hydraulic table or a mat. Sara Newberry is an author of the 1st ever Hot-Ashi Barefoot Massage class and has been on many podcasts talking about our Barefoot work. Hillary Arrieta is a published author with her own massage book and is our lead Fijian/Matwork 1 class instructor trainer. Ashley Shears is a Fundamentals class instructor who is making waves with her approach to myofascial barefoot work on the table and on the mat. (Ashley also roadtripped to Phoenix with a knife that came in very handy in the booth all weekend because we forgot to pack scissors!) I was there, too, and I’ve also done cool things. 😉
It was great for this section of our instructor team to meet other leaders and forward thinkers in the industry, to find old friends, to share selfies with AMTA royalty and instructor buddies, to get our feet on the pulse of as many people as we could to share Barefoot Massage with, and to talk with the masses of LMTs in attendance to see what they have questions about. (There were so many people there!!!)
I want to tell y’all all about this experience, from beginning to end: read on and enjoy our journey to the desert!
When we talk about what we do, our instructor team at the Center for Barefoot Massage has been working very hard to deepen the use and understanding of the phrase “Barefoot Massage” rather than using the single A-word, ashiatsu. We see that word in play a lot, especially used alone on its own as a massage service across the nation…
Already Ashiatsu-Trained?
We’re thrilled you found us — and that you’re curious about our myofascial barefoot massage approach, Myofascial Ashiatsu “FasciAshi” Barefoot Massage
If you’ve been practicing Barefoot Massage already and you are ready to add the AshiStrap, this is where it all started! That game changing suspended strap was originally developed and implemented in 2003 by Jeni Spring – the innovator of the FasciAshi approach, our co-founder and owner here at the Center for Barefoot Massage. We love the strap, it is the core support behind the success of our practitioners
Learning FasciAshi will give you the tools to integrate fascia + pain science into detailed, deep massage sessions with sustainable footwork that feels effortless in your body We’re excited to show you our approach!
How Training Works at the Center for Barefoot Massage
At the Center for Barefoot Massage, everyone begins with FasciAshi Fundamentals.
No matter where you trained before.
No matter how long you’ve been practicing.
This is intentional — and essential.
Experienced Barefoot Massage therapists regularly report that Fundamentals changes how they think while they work. It clarifies why certain strokes feel different, why effort accumulates, and where unnecessary strain creeps in.
Your experience is not erased. It is organized, contextualized, and upgraded.
Fundamentals gives language, structure, and clinical reasoning to skills you already use — and prepares you to evolve them safely.
Every class we teach builds directly on the concepts, language, and movement literacy introduced in Fundamentals.
Starting together ensures:
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safety for clients
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sustainability for therapists
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depth of learning at every level that follows
Why This Structure Exists
FasciAshi is not a remix of existing barefoot methods. It is a fully developed, evidence-informed approach that integrates:
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modern fascia research and western myofascial technique theory woven throughout the technique
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Mindfulness in every step, encouraging Interoceptive awareness to support pain science
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tensegrity-based anatomy specific goals for each stroke
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career-protective body mechanics that intricately involve the Ashi-Strap
The way we use our feet, bodies, bars, the suspended strap, angles of pressure and distribution of load is fundamentally different from other barefoot styles. Depth requires shared foundations — and we teach from the ground up.
Why Transfers No Longer Work
When we opened in 2017, we intentionally set a higher standard for barefoot massage education — and we have continued raising that bar every year since.
From the beginning, the way we use our feet, bodies, and equipment has been different. As our curriculum evolved to integrate fascia research, pain science, tensegrity-based anatomy, and sustainable body mechanics, that difference became more and more clear.
We operate with a growth mindset. Our teacher team is expected to keep learning, questioning, refining, and updating how we work on our own clients. This reflects on how we teach as research and clinical understanding advances. We look for that same curiosity, adaptability, and willingness to evolve in our students.
For many years, we worked to bridge the gap between our curriculum and therapists trained elsewhere. We refined onboarding, adjusted expectations, and invested significant instructor time supporting crossover. Over time, it became clear that the distance between FasciAshi and other barefoot lineages had grown too wide to bridge without restarting at the foundation.
Allowing crossover between fundamentally different lineages ultimately serves neither. It diminishes the integrity of FasciAshi by implying equivalency where there is none, and it fails to respect other barefoot methods by suggesting their foundational training is interchangeable with ours.
Each lineage deserves to stand on its own terms.
FasciAshi has evolved through years of independent development, original curriculum design, and ongoing integration of neuro-myofascial and stretch therapy theory, palpation skill advancement and career-sustaining mechanics with the assist from our suspended Ashi-Strap,
Beginning with Fundamentals is not about hierarchy — it is about honoring the internal logic, safety framework, and educational coherence of the system itself.
We encourage you to learn ALL the Barefoot Massage styles you want and blend them to fit your “kneads”, but if you are going to learn any, learn each one all the way.
Clear boundaries protect the work.
Shared foundations preserve its depth.
Beginning with FasciAshi Fundamentals ensures every therapist entering our program shares the same movement literacy, clinical reasoning, and safety framework — which is essential for everything we teach next.
What Makes FasciAshi Fundamentals Different
This is not an intro class.
It’s the keystone of the entire CBM curriculum.
Fundamentals includes:
Specialty, niche focused work
We help Massage Therapists to niche with Barefoot Massage as a solid vehicle for success – or at least to use their feet as a tool to offer unique, specialized services. Tap into your interests and hone your craft through avenues that include sensory awareness, injury treatment, mobility and performance, all while working deeply, effortlessly.
Pain science education
Understanding nervous system responses, threat, safety, and why “more pressure” isn’t the goal. We teach tools you can use to educate your own clients within each session. This included awareness helps your footwork land on receptive tissue, and work together with your clients to reduce persistent pain.
Fascial research
Connecting current research to what you feel underfoot — not just theory, but lived, tactile understanding. Knowing the “why” behind every stroke is something we’ve taught since day 1, and the knowledge continually evolves and expands with science, data and collected experience.
Tensegrity principles
Working with whole-body load, angles, and force transmission — not routines or memorized sequences. Each stroke has an anatomical focus to enhance detail, effectiveness and outcome.
Movement literacy
Learning how your body works best while doing the work, so your feet stay powerful and your career stays long.
Everything that follows — Intermediate, Stretch Therapy, Advanced, specialty tracks like Hot Ashi and Clinical Neck — assumes this shared foundation.
Why Therapists With Experience Still Start Here
Therapists who come to CBM already trained in barefoot massage often tell us:
“This changed how I think while I work.”
“I finally understand why certain strokes feel so different.”
“I didn’t realize how much I was muscling through before.”
Your experience doesn’t disappear — it deepens.
Fundamentals gives context, language, and structure to skills you already have, and prepares you to evolve them safely. We are excited to see how including FasciAshi into your existing approach helps you and your clients reach your shared goals!
The Bottom Line
There are no transfers.
There are no shortcuts.
There is no testing-out.
There is a clear, intentional pathway — and it starts with FasciAshi Fundamentals. (Click here to see when + where it’s offered next)
And honestly?
That’s where the good stuff begins.
Before You Sign Up for a Class Please read our “Before You Sign Up For Our Barefoot Massage Training” blog post. At any time, you may read our frequently asked questions and contact us for more information on any topic. We are here to help you transition to a confident Barefoot Massage therapist. These guidelines are intended to support healthy…
The Center for Barefoot Massage understands your concerns about attending a class during a pandemic. We will be following the FSMTB’s “Massage and Bodywork Guidelines for Practice” modeling our classrooms after the precautions set forth on pages 28-33. We have implemented Air Quality monitoring in each classroom to help our instructors maintain sufficient fresh airflow and have an effective number of…
It’s one thing to want to learn how to massage with your feet – and it’s a whole other world when you realize that you want to do this all day, every day, for the rest of your life! If becoming a Barefoot Massage Specialist is your “thang”, we want to help you! The Center for Barefoot Massage offers an…
Are you looking for one of our Myofascial Ashiatsu and Fijian Barefoot Massage trained students to give you the best deep massage of your life? Follow this link to find a trained professional near you.
(Or follow this link for help on how to use the directory!)
Want to be a “guinea pig” in one of our Student Clinics during a Center for Barefoot Massage class? Although our instructors don’t typically recruit straight from the public to fill these spots, every member of our teacher team is still a practicing Barefoot Massage therapist with a local business: you’ll want to schedule a series of sessions with them to get on their radar. We keep a list of our existing clients who would work well with our students for future classes. You can find our list of instructors and track down their local businesses here.
Center for Barefoot Massage alumni can list in our SOLE Provider directory for free!
We have a great network of Barefoot Massage Therapists across the nation – and their clients travel! We all know that once you try Myofascial Ashiatsu, you won’t want to go back to normal massage, so lets help these fans of our work find their favorite bodywork in the town they are relocating to, or visiting! If YOU are a Barefoot Massage Therapist and want to get found, dig your heels in and read more below to get started!