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Author page: Jeni Spring, LMT, BCSI

HomeAuthor page: Jeni Spring, LMT, BCSI
Ashiatsu barefoot massage, Pro tips, Tuesday Toesday, Why FasciAshi? by 07/18/2017 0Comments
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Technique TOESday: The power of SOLE sisters!

The FasciAshi faculty is lucky to be rooted in a strong network of “Sole Sisters”, as many of us have been friends, colleagues and online buddies for years.  Even though we are all about a half days travel away from one another, we talk almost daily, so when we do get to meet up it’s as if no time has passed at all! With Jeni, and 4 other instructors all in the same place at the same time this week at the Barefoot Massage Summer Camp in San Antonio, we thought we’d make today’s “Tuesday TOESday” tip all about how you can combine forces with another massage therapist friend to grow BOTH of your businesses and careers in Barefoot Massage!

Sole Sisters and FasciAshi Ashi-Friends can help your Ashiatsu business succeed!

…read more by clicking on the “continue reading” link below~

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Guest post, Massage by 07/17/2017 0Comments
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Think you have to live with pain? Not if my foot has anything to say about it! (Part 2)

In 2006, at a massage convention, I ran into the author of the article that saved my back from pain, Richard Rossiter. I told him that I had been studying his work through his online website, DVDs, and books since discovering the powerful effect Rossiter had on my back. Since my wife, Mickey, was the only person who had worked on me thus far, I asked if I could sample the foot of the master. 

Eager to grant my request, he invited me to hit the floor and proceeded to apply weight with much more authority. It was definitely more difficult to move through the stretches, but the effect was much more profound.

My back felt even better!

A year later, I was a Certified Rossiter Coach, and through continued advanced work on my legs, I experienced the ultimate back pain relief that continues to the writing of this article.

The crazy thing is, nobody ever touched my back.

All Rossiter work (for my situation) was done on the inside of my thighs (adductors). The work was done in less than thirty minutes, and my reward was a back that felt like it did when I was in the prime of my dance career.

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Guest post, Massage by 07/14/2017 0Comments
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Think you have to live with pain? Not if my foot has anything to say about it! (Part 1)

When people meet me and find out that I’m a manual therapist with a reputation for getting people out of pain very quickly, they want to know what it is I do and how do I do it. To keep it simple, I tell them that my work is nothing more than power stretching and that they should visit my website (DontFearTheFoot.com) to get the full picture on how it works.

This is Chuck. He does not fear the foot.

Here’s where the fun starts. They immediately want to know what does fearing a foot has to do with massage, stretching or getting out of pain?

I spent 20 years of my life professionally stretching, for  I was a professional Broadway dancer for twenty years. And during my professional career, I probably stretched more in a day than most people stretch in a year (or a lifetime for that matter).

My flexibility served me well throughout my dance years and now, with the addition of mobility and stability training, it continues to be my preferred weapon in maintaining a “relatively” pain-free body. now help others in their quest to getting out of pain.

I now help others in their quest to getting out of pain.

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Ashiatsu barefoot massage, Pro tips, Tuesday Toesday, Why FasciAshi? by 07/11/2017 0Comments
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FASCIAnate your Ashiatsu Massage: Part 3

Ashiatsu therapists want to learn more Ashiatsu.

If you are already an experienced Ashiatsu barefoot massage therapist and you share our passion for giving the best massage from your feet possible, then we already know that you know (deep down) that you want to know more!!!

(Did that make sense?!) It makes sense to us. We’ve felt the craving for more information, just like you are now.  We want you to continue to improve your effectiveness and mindfulness in barefoot massage to help give your clients the healing (and heeling) that they are looking for. #NeverStopLearning is one of our favorite hashtags, and we have FOUR ways for you to do just that!

Today we’ll discuss your opportunity to RETRAIN by attending courses in their entirety.

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Ashiatsu barefoot massage, Pro tips, Tuesday Toesday, Why FasciAshi? by 06/27/2017 0Comments
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FASCIAnate your Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage: Part 2

How can existing Ashiatsu therapists learn FasciAshi?

If you are a Myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage therapist, the Center for Barefoot Massage wants you and your Ashiatsu skill level to continue to grow.  We want you to continually be self-aware and conscious of how you are applying barefoot massage daily. We want you to question and expand your approach, but check back into the foundations of its body mechanics and intentions. We want you to grow to understand the aspects of the work that you didn’t quite “get” during class – and we want you to continually discover new aspects of the material that you never noticed before. We have FOUR ways for you to support your advancement in this style of massage, and blend the new strokes in with the old, to dive deeper into the material we present, to know it inside and out. These retraining opportunities allow you to revisit your Ashiatsu technique and biomechanics, while infusing it with FasciAshi’s innovative myofascial approaches to how you apply pressure through your feet.

Today we’ll discuss the REVITALIZE classes and what they entail – in the following weeks we’ll cover all options to step up your Ashiatsu game!

If you want to be a Jedi Master at Ashiatsu, training and retraining is key.

ashiatsu-refresher-classes

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Ashiatsu barefoot massage, Pro tips, Tuesday Toesday, Why FasciAshi? by 06/13/2017 0Comments
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FASCIAnate your Ashiatsu Massage

How can existing Ashiatsu therapists learn FasciAshi?

If you are a massage therapist who already has formal Ashiatsu training, the Center for Barefoot Massage wants you and your Ashiatsu skill level to continue to grow.  We have FOUR ways for you to support your advancement in this style of massage, and blend the new strokes in with the old. These retraining opportunities allow you to revisit your Ashiatsu technique and body mechanics, while infusing it with FasciAshi’s innovative myofascial approaches to how you apply pressure through your feet.

Today we’ll discuss the Converge classes and what they entail – in the following weeks we’ll cover all options to step up your Ashiatsu game!

Advancing-Ashiatsu-with-FasciAshi

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Barefoot Massage in the News by 06/09/2017 0Comments
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Barefoot Massage wins 2nd place at World Massage Championship!

Last weekend, the International Massage Association hosted a massage competition in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Massage therapists and bodyworkers from all over the world came together to share their techniques, approaches and love for their work – and a chance to win gold!

One person stood above the crowd to us… literally and figuratively… we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Nowozeniuk, who acheived 2nd place in the Freestyle Category with the use of Barefoot Massage!

barefoot-massage-world-championship-massage-nerd
Photo Credit: MassageNerd

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Ashiatsu barefoot massage, Pro tips, Tuesday Toesday, Why FasciAshi? by 05/30/2017 0Comments
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Bolstering for Ashiatsu

To give your client a safe, comfortable and effective barefoot massage, it’s important to support them with specific bolstering for Ashiatsu where needed. We do this in many unique ways, from how we use a flat pillow for ankle and knee support while prone or supine, to what tools we use to position their body to best absorb and distribute gravitational forces and our weight.

Bolster #1: The Boob Pillow.

The purpose of a breast support pillow, when it comes to Ashiatsu, is to position “the girls” while supporting the sternum, clavicle, ribs and cervical spine when under pressure. Keep in mind that the table below the client is resisting your weight, and pushes back into the client’s body.

This “Oreo” of pressure coming from above and below your female client’s torso can translate into suffocating force in the chest, or a position of their head and neck that adds compression to the throat.  Having a cushion helps your client maintain thoracic, cervical and shoulder alignment so that she may comfortably absorb the pressure applied by your feet. Keep in mind that the breast recesses built into massage tables don’t always work well with Ashiatsu because the table is still there to push back on the throat – so give the girls some lift, and put an added level of padding underneath!

 

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Online Vs. In Person by 05/12/2017 0Comments
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Massage classes online?

Where I live in Ohio, massage therapists are not required to acquire continuing education at all, unless you belong to a professional membership, like AMTA or ABMP. The State of Ohio Medical Board, through whom I’m licensed, does not require CE hours.

While there are currently efforts for the Medical Board to require 24 hours of massage continuing education every two years with renewals, I’ve seen some interesting reasons why we “shouldn’t” have to do continuing ed:

  • The human body doesn’t change, so why should we learn more?
  • Classes are too expensive.
  • Massage therapists don’t make enough money-the cost is unjustified.
  • 24 hours is a ridiculous amount. 12 would be – well, okay.
  • I don’t want to waste time on classes that don’t interest me.
  • It’s too hard to leave my business to take classes.
  • Therapists who have been licensed for 10 years + should be exempt.

This, friends, is frightening to me. Not only do some massage therapists not want live classes, but they don’t want classes at all.

For some time, there has been a push for online learning for massage therapists. On the surface, it seems like a good idea. Therapists can take classes at their leisure, in their own time frame, can save money by not having to take off time and work due to live class time and travel.

Online continuing education classes for massage therapists are typically significantly less expensive too. Don’t therapists may feel like they get their best bang for their buck when fulfilling their continuing education requirements online? Probably.

Is this best for the massage industry or for massage therapists, though?

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Ashiatsu barefoot massage, Tuesday Toesday, Why FasciAshi? by 05/09/2017 0Comments
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What is Ashiatsu Massage?

Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage is a massage. That’s it, honestly. A licensed massage therapist will provide a professional, well educated massage service catered to a clients needs, and they just so happen to use their feet as the tools that deliver the technique, rather than hands. Why should a person try Ashiatsu?

You can talk about it’s depth and consistency of pressure. You can go on and on about how you use 1 foot at a time unless the client happens to weigh more than pounds than you… you can talk about your overhead bars or your super sturdy massage table… you can explain your soft, smooth, clean feet…  you can mention how it saves your own body…. FOR REAL THOUGH!?

what is barefoot massage definition

Do you go into that much detail when you explain a deep tissue massage that’s delivered from your upper limbs?! Not usually. Although ALL of this information is imperative to explain at some point during your client education, sometimes you are limited on time, so get to the point. Let them ask those questions instead, and you can come back to these key points while keeping them engaged in conversation.

 

How do YOU introduce this specialized technique to your clients or your surrounding community? Do you have a rehearsed elevator speech that explains the key benefits a person may experience when receiving an Ashiatsu massage from you? Sometimes an on-the-fly elevator speech seems intimidating, but it can be really fun and inspiring when you speak from your experience!

Instead of memorizing a script and repeating it back like a robot, aim to embody your own walking/talking advertisement so that when you need to, the words will roll off your tongue and fit the situation. Here are some tips to explain your work intuitively and fluently:

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