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Author page: Mary-Claire

HomeAuthor page: Mary-Claire
Ashiatsu barefoot massage, business by 03/15/2018 0Comments

Podcast and Mad Ninja Skills

Jeni and I have been featured on Massage Business Blueprint’s podcast with the subject being “What you need to know before you take a CE class.” In the interview, we discuss our history into how we became massage therapists and forayed into the careers we have now.

We also go over various points of our experience in having taught for so many years and what therapists should expect before even signing up for a class.

Sadly, because the podcast is only 34 minutes and not a lot longer, we had a lot of points that we wanted to cover but weren’t able to get to. That’s ok, though, because we’ll save those for another blog post.

We’ve got the podcast link below the video. Oh, and feel free to make fun of my ninja skills. ?


Listen to the podcast.

More information on our barefoot massage training CE classes can be found here.

Sharing is caring!

business by 03/09/2018 0Comments

10 ridiculously easy ways to be more successful

Sometimes when we want to have more clients or improve our income, we spend lots of time thinking of ways to get people into the office. How can you be more successful? Maybe you run sales or send clever email campaigns. Perhaps you offer packages and VIP incentives.

These are all fantastic ways to bring clients back.

But have you ever examined what’s going on “in house” with YOU?

Sadly, massage therapists often have the bad rap of being unreliable. We know plenty of the LMT flakes-they don’t show up for work because the wrong president won or they need to commune with nature on short notice or it’s 70 and sunny. Maybe it’s simply because they can’t be bothered with coming in to work for “only one client”.

You may do great at ALL of these intuitively. We hope so!

All of these 10 tips are common sense. But take a few moments to read them and see if there’s something you can tweak in YOU.

Ashiatsu barefoot massage by 03/02/2018 0Comments

Don’t take our barefoot massage certification training

Strange title, right? Why would we tell you to not take our ashiatsu certification training when we obviously want people to take our classes? While this may come across as a little snarky, it’s not meant to be–it’s honest insight on if you’ll be a good fit for our barefoot massage workshops.

We are not for everyone. Craniosacral is not the best massage for the client who wants deep tissue and barefoot massage is over the top for clients who are petite or want a feather touch.

There’s a fair amount of competition for barefoot massage certification training.

You can learn online with some companies. Maybe you think you can figure it out from YouTube videos with no formal training at all. Or find an old DVD on the topic.

We are not your people.

Ashiatsu barefoot massage by 02/28/2018 0Comments

Why a therapist of 18 years loves FasciAshi barefoot

Today’s Wow Wednesday testimonial features Deb Fukano, a fantastic massage therapist of 18 years! She originally learned barefoot massage about 10 years ago and came into our FasciAshi class to learn new moves and invigorate her career.

She raves:

The more I do the new ashi the more I’m hooked. Love the strap! The slowness is what I love the most. Before it felt like I had to fit all the foot sequence in.

I felt stiff and not myself.

I’m seeing why 90 minutes is needed–it’s 60 before I turn over my client! I’m one very excited therapist. ↬ Deb

Take a peek at her video. We love the excitement that just exudes from her. To find a massage therapist who’s this stoked after 18 years of massage is really a treat.

Thanks, Deb!

Your enthusiasm for barefoot massage is inspiring.

Ashiatsu barefoot massage by 02/19/2018 0Comments

Scoot your client up for supine neck work!

As I mentioned in our last blog post, our Tuesday Toesday tips aren’t usually rocket science. Sometimes they are easy fixes that just take us a heck of a long time to figure out for some reason. Today’s tip for scooting the client up is one of those — super easy but with big results.

Although I am normal height (5’5″), my legs are short. So for years when I tried to do seated anterior neck, shoulder, and pec work, I’d get myself into some bad body mechanics.

The client was all cozy on the massage table like they were in bed for the night, far away from the head of the table.

Since I couldn’t reach their neck our shoulders well, I’d try a variety of, shall we say, interesting positions.

Perhaps you’ve tried these too:

  1. scooting the stool forward so you can reach the client’s neck and therefore giving yourself no back support.
  2. leaving the stool nestled by the wall and keeping your back there but scooting your rear end forward, giving you no lower back support.
  3. tilting your stool forward, praying that it doesn’t tip over and thrusting you on your client’s head!
  4. hunched like Quasimoto with a foot on the floor and the other foot on your client and using no stool
business by 02/16/2018 0Comments

Why a barefoot massage membership site

When Jeni, Paul, and I started this little business in 2017, and we spent a lot of time visioning and planning how we could make our barefoot massage company different from others. Not only in the strokes and how we teach, but in our post-class support. A barefoot massage membership site made sense.

It would be a place for our community to review strokes, download marketing and business materials, ideas on how to better run their massage studio and more.

I’ve been doing barefoot massage since 2002, and Jeni was shortly behind me in 2003.

Together with our instructors, we’ve learned so much about what helps barefoot therapists.

By the same token we’ve also discovered what also prevents other skilled therapists who have learned ashiatsu from actually doing it in their studio and growing a business.

Ashiatsu barefoot massage, business by 02/09/2018 0Comments

Transitioning your clients to barefoot massage

Once you’ve learned barefoot massage and have practiced, sometimes the biggest challenge is how the heck you get your clients to try it. Let’s talk about the transition to ashiatsu barefoot massage.

The question recently came up in our FB alumni group, so we thought this might be a question that others have as well.

First off, you must practice and accept feedback from non-paying clients about your newfound barefoot skills. Why non-paying? Because if you are fantastic at hands-on massage but only mediocre, at best, from having recently learned ashiatsu, your clients will not love your new skills.

They’ll say, “Thanks, but I’ll stick with what I know and love” or some similar jargon that will deflate you and make you wonder what you’re doing wrong.

business by 02/03/2018 0Comments

Membership site & Valentine’s Day downloadables

Our Center for Barefoot Massage membership site is now live in beta testing! There are different levels based on what classes you’ve taken with us. And we’ve even got a free level even if you haven’t taken our classes. Yes, sometimes you get something for nothing. 😀

Today we’re adding another bonus: free downloadables for Valentine’s Day.

Pro tips by 01/05/2018 0Comments

Pure Pro for learning barefoot massage

We at Center for Barefoot Massage are pleased to be partnered with Dianna of Pure Pro. Their deep tissue massage cream is like summer butter, all squishy and melty.

There’s enough glide so you don’t inadvertently wax your client’s back but not too much that you can’t learn myofascial barefoot massage.

Why use cream at all if we’re doing myofascial ashiatsu (AKA FasciAshi)? Check out our post here.

Pro tips, Tuesday Toesday, Why FasciAshi? by 12/26/2017 0Comments

Stretching those hip flexors

Any ashiatsu therapist who loves to do seated work will tell you that you need to make sure you stretch your hip flexors. I personally often can spend 20-30  minutes doing seated work during a 90 minute session (depending on the client’s needs.)

You need to make sure you keep your hip flexors loose in order to do this or you’ll end up walking like Quasimodo.

This move is like your typical runner’s stretch, but it has an added component: the side stretch.