fbpx
0 items - $0.00 0
0 items - $0.00 0

Vintage

These are old blog posts from our foot-loose beginnings – rea them for a step-back in time. We’ve been bringing these topics up to date on “A foot” our substack blog, keeping current, moving forward, but also staying rooted in the vintage vibes where we started.

HomeAll PostsVintage
Ashiatsu barefoot massage, Massage, Pro tips by 01/11/2019 0Comments

Antibiotics, viruses and barefoot massage – part 1

Nobody wants to work on sick clients. In fact, we’re not legally allowed to in Ohio. Especially this time of year, when we are in close proximity with multiple clients in often small, heated rooms, it’s important to understand who you can work on in regards to common illnesses. Today, I’m going to talk about the difference between viruses and when antibiotics are used.

Part 1 focuses on 4 common viruses, how long they’re contagious, and the symptoms. At the end of the post, I’ve got a list of what to do if a sick person has come into the office. Part 2, coming next Friday, concentrates on antibiotics, their use, and contraindications.

Will antibiotics help?

Antibiotics will not improve viral infections–we just need to “ride them out”.  Antibiotics are prescribed for the treatment of a bacterial infection, but they are NOT effective against viral infections.

Viral infections, and how long to keep people off your massage table.

Continue

Ashiatsu barefoot massage, Barefoot Massage in the News by 01/03/2019 0Comments

Introducing the world’s first Hot Ashi barefoot massage training

On Wednesday, I wrote about the deliciousness of using heat during a massage. Because of the multitude of benefits that the combination of heat and massage can provide, instructor Sara Newberry and I  (Mary-Claire Fredette) teamed together to create the world’s first…

Hot Ashi!

It’s a combination of heated Mother Earth Pillows and, you guessed it, barefoot massage! It’s first in our specialty class lineup.

A little history on how this came about…

I’ve been doing barefoot massage since 2002. The trouble is that my hands and feet were always cold after washing them. A heating pad has been my feet’s friend since about Day 1. When I learned “thermal connective tissue release” Pillossage with Mother Earth founder Karen Kowal back in 2011, I knew I had found the answer to my cold hands.

Continue

Ashiatsu barefoot massage by 01/02/2019 0Comments

Using heat in conjunction with barefoot massage

Almost ALL of us love to be warm when we get a massage. There’s something so comforting about even just lying down on a heated massage table. It’s like stepping into a warm bubble bath, knowing you relaxation is going to commence immediately.

Have you ever dabbled with using heat for a massage? Maybe you’ve played around using a heating pad to keep your clients feet warm, or set a small oscillating heater to blow warm air on your clients.

Perhaps you’ve draped warm Mother Earth pillows over an aching joint or shoulders, because you know how good that feels.

(As I write this, I’m alternating a Mother Earth flax pillow between my lap and my shoulders. Ahh…)

Let’s talk about the benefits of heat.

Continue

Ashiatsu barefoot massage by 12/25/2018 0Comments

Our barefoot massage team wants to tell you something!

No matter what you’re celebrating today – “Merry Christmas!”, “Happy Holidays!”, “Happy Kwanzaa!”, or even “¡Feliz Navidad!”, we hope you’re having an awesome time with family and friends.? Each one of our team members took a few minutes out of our busy schedules to send you a message. We hope you like it.  ❤️ What are you doing this week? Pop…

Continue

Ashiatsu barefoot massage, Pro tips by 12/22/2018 0Comments

Sucking at table etiquette: and how to turn a duckling into a swan

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:

Continue

Ashiatsu barefoot massage, Massage, Pro tips, Tuesday Toesday, Why FasciAshi? by 11/26/2018 0Comments

Warm pillow for client comfort

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…

Continue

Ashiatsu barefoot massage, FAQ, Pro tips by 11/26/2018 0Comments

Before you sign up for our barefoot massage training

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. 

Continue

Massage, Why FasciAshi? by 10/13/2018 0Comments

Stretch Therapy meets Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage

Our FasciAshi Range of Motion (ROM) class is where stretch therapy meets ashiatsu massage. There is a growing presence of ‘stretch providers’ in the massage therapy, yoga and personal trainer industries, possibly due to the evolving understanding of the properties of fascia. The public is noticing more and more that a movement practice of some kind is essential to a healthy body – and some are turning to their massage therapists for help.

The human population is becoming more and more sedentary.

The leading cause of disability is musculoskeletal pain, and over 80% of acute and chronic injuries are caused by the body not moving properly. (I should know, I just spent a day on the couch writing this blog post!!) One goal of stretch therapy and movement re-education is to make the client more aware of their habits of movement and more comfortable in his or her body with less compensation.

We all need varying movement to maintain healthy tissue hydration, regeneration, and repair. Motion is lotion, no matter what lifestyle you live. The smooth moves we teach in the FasciAshi ROM class could be just the thing that your clients are ACHING to try!

Continue

Ashiatsu barefoot massage, Massage, Why FasciAshi? by 09/14/2018 0Comments

5 Reasons to Learn FasciAshi Barefoot Massage

5-reasons-to-learn-fasciashi

Why should you start to consider using your FEET to massage with? I can think of a million reasons, but I boiled it down to just enough to count on one foot. 5 reasons to learn FasciAshi Barefoot Massage. Just five. Read on to see if we can further romance you into learning our favorite way to do deep tissue, myofascial release and trigger point work with our FasciAshi style of barefoot massage therapy.

Continue

Ashiatsu barefoot massage, Barefoot Massage in the News by 09/09/2018 0Comments

Recap from the 2018 World Massage Festival

Last month at the 2018 World Massage Festival in Las Vegas, we taught the biggest ashiatsu class on record!

We had almost 100 massage therapists (93, to be exact) sign up for a full day of training in our HandsFree Ashiatsu class at the World Massage Festival. Five of our FasciAshi instructors traveled from across the country to meet up for a feet-up just off the Vegas Strip. Jeni Spring, Mary-Claire Fredette, Julie Marciniak, Dawn Dotsonand Sara Newberry joined forces and shared little samples of what it takes to be a Barefoot Massage Therapist.

Continue