This year, for our SECOND ANNUAL ASHI-CHALLENGE (which coincides with the CrossFit Open) we bring you the BAREFOOT MASSAGE OPEN 2.0: with 2x the content!!! On Fridays, our New York Instructor Dawn Dotson will be posting mobility/stability exercises and activities for your body…. And on Tuesdays, Jeni will post challenges to do while you massage!!! Here’s our Week #2 Mobility…
This year, for our SECOND ANNUAL #ASHICHALLENGE (which coincides with the CrossFit Open) we bring you the BAREFOOT MASSAGE OPEN 2.0: with 2x the content!!! On Fridays, our New York Instructor Dawn Dotson will be posting mobility/stability exercises and activities for your body…. And on Tuesdays, Jeni Spring will post an #AshiatsuChallenge for you to do while you massage!!! Want…
This year, for our SECOND ANNUAL ASHI-CHALLENGE (which coincides with the CrossFit Open) we bring you the BAREFOOT MASSAGE OPEN 2.0: with 2x the content!!! On Fridays, our New York Instructor Dawn Dotson will be posting mobility/stability exercises and activities for your body…. And on Tuesdays, Jeni will post challenges to do while you massage!!! Here’s our Week #1 Mobility…
For those of you who know me – you know that I love the ashiatsu portable bars. I was originally trained in ashiatsu on a very old style of the portables, (that were new at the time) and they feel like home to me. Although I honestly couldn’t afford them back then, I put my first set on a credit card and made sure I got my money’s worth out of them ASAP. Ever since, I’ve used them regularly at local Farmers’ Markets, sporting/yoga events and massage conventions. I’ve taught on portable bars across the country and in Germany. I used ashiatsu portable bars daily for 6 months at one point because I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay in that location long enough to justify building permanent bars.
I just spent 3 solid days working on a set of portable bars that I own. Now that *anyone* can go buy a set of portables, I wanted to fill you in on all the things I don’t think anyone will actually tell you about them. HERE WE GO!
If you’re not aware of how you use both your feet and hands (applying lubricant, moving sheets or limbs, etc.) then it’s quite possible you aren’t giving your clients the best massage ever.
And that’s our goal. Every. Dang. Time.
You may be amazing in treating your clients with the appropriate pressure and perfect moves, but if everything else isn’t spot on, fuggedaboutit.
From Jiffy Lube to Sheet Shredders, here’s what to look out for:
In this Tuesday Toesday tip, we’ll show you how to add in a delightfully warm pillow to enhance your barefoot or hands-on massage. It’s perfect for the winter or even if you keep air conditioning running in your massage room year ’round. Items needed (in addition to your massage table and all that jazz): ❀ an inexpensive heating pad. I actually…
Jeni and Mary-Claire did a podcast earlier in the year with Allissa of Massage Business Blueprint entitled, “What to Know Before Taking a Massage CE Class” (episode 147). In it, we covered many important things to know before signing up for any massage class.
Today, I’m going to mention some specifically relating to our ashiatsu classes (we can go on and on ad nauseam on the subject in general.) 😉
Before you sign up for our barefoot massage class, understand basic yet important need-to-know items such as:
❀ What are your goals for learning barefoot massage? We don’t want you 2 feet deep into class before you realize that your client base (or target clientele) won’t want deep tissue barefoot massage. If you want to work (or do work already) on athletes or deep tissue clients, then perfect!
❀ Do you have health issues? Can you receive deep tissue compressive massage? You’ll be receiving a lot in our classes- 2 + hours for each of the 1st 2 days.
Topical allergies? Please let us know ahead of time. We don’t want you breaking out due to someone’s detergent or foot cleaner.
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.
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.
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:
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quit
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do massage part time and another job full time
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specialize in “lighter” work
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teach
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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.