“Give it weight, then wait” to impact the fascia (but really, the nervous system) is a pretty heavy theory that we’ve found to be important to our FasciAshi technique. Addressing the deep fascial bands, navigating the contours of muscle and bone, and applying a great amount of pressure directly to specific tissues creates a form of myofascial release that your hands only WISH they could achieve with such consistency and accuracy. The broad pressure from a Barefoot Massage is a no brainer for deep bodywork. Moving slower, OR NOT AT ALL, helps you get to that “deeper than deep tissue” feeling so many clients are looking for.
Mindfulness in massage is all about being present, focusing on the experiences happening in the current moment. In FasciAshi, even though you are “using your feet to massage,” you are honestly utilizing your whole body. Experienced ashiatsu therapists will start to dance across their clients bodies, focusing on where the clients fascia and their own intuition leads them within a session. The mindfulness of their massage becomes a sort of movement meditation.
We know learning how to massage “from scratch” all over again is a huge change. It can be humbling to your ego when your ease and natural hands-on massage skills don’t immediately translate all the way down to your feet.
Confidence and competence while applying FasciAshi techniques starts in class. A mindfulness approach that flows into your practice bridges the gap between classroom and clinical knowledge.
We are proud of the strokes and theories presented in the Intermediate FasciAshi course, and we get so excited at the potential this particular workshop offers for your growth in the technique! It’s a class favorited by our instructors, and an important step towards bringing the skill level of your feet up to par with your hands.
Our Intermediate course, where you’ll learn the supine and sidebody FasciAshi material, has been a 12 CE hour course since it’s release early this year. Feedback from our students and faculty has shown that the amount of information provided within this 12 hour long class is too much for the time span allowed. The Center for Barefoot Massage is listening to you! We are extending the class to allow more time to allow you to experience the class without feeling rushed.
Starting in March, 2022, you’ll see the FasciAshi Intermediate: Supine & Sidebody course listed for $500, which is our standard price for all two day, 16 CE classes. You’ll see this change reflected soon on our website – it is already in place for any 2018 Intermediate class listed.
In our FAQ series, we’ll be going over all of our Frequently Asked Questions in depth. We’ll address questions therapists often have prior to attending class, but also give helpful information to educate the public on the benefits of barefoot massage. Today’s question is a popular one: “Am I too big to learn barefoot massage?”
Massage therapists, and actually clients too, often wonder if there is a weight limit for massage therapists. I’ve actually been asked how much I weigh prior to giving a barefoot massage. Quelle horreur! Do not ask a lady (or an ashiatsu therapist!) her weight. Rule for living #1. 😉
Let’s be frank, though, shall we? While there is technically no weight limit per se, we all need to be honest about our ability to move with grace on the table. If you can move like this yoga lady, let’s talk.
The Center for Barefoot Massage currently offers four different FasciAshi classes- and if you haven’t had a chance to read about them on our website, or experience them first FOOT in class, then here’s a quick overview – and a visual teaser to get you excited!
What’s the difference between the AshiatsuBarefoot Massage that you’ve heard of for years and our new FasciAshi?! ↫ Do you see the word “Fascia” in there? That’s the key to our work.
We teach anatomy based, Fascia-focused strokes that have been developed by a team of experienced and highly trained barefoot massage specialists. FasciAshi (our nickname for MyoFascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage) started in San Antonio at Heeling Sole, but quickly found a collective movement of barefoot massage therapists across the country who wanted MORE out of their cookie-cutter feeling sessions, and it grew into its place as part of the myofascial barefoot massage movement you see today.
Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage is a growing niche in the massage industry – and just like there are many different styles of sports massage or hot stone courses in the Continuing Education market, we are presenting a drastically different new style of Ashiatsu.
Most of us can figure out that ashiatsu barefoot massage is going to be deeper than hands-on massage simply by seeing that gravity does a lot of work for the massage therapist. How much pressure can you get with barefoot massage versus hands and forearms?
Today we have an easy-to-do cool little trick is for you. All it takes is your massage table (you can use your dining room table to check your hand/forearm pressure if you’re at home), a scale, and a board. The board simply gives a solid surface for the scale. I used a cutting board. (You can skip the board if you’re checking this out on your eating table.)
Put the scale on the floor to see how deep you can go with your foot if you don’t have ashiatsu bars!
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!
- Converge – we talked about this 4 weeks ago!
- Revitalize – This was posted 2 weeks ago
- Retrain: this is today’s topic!
- Internships…. we’ll talk about that later.
Today we’ll discuss your opportunity to RETRAIN by attending courses in their entirety.
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.
- Converge – we talked about this 2 weeks ago! ***Converge classes were discontinued as of 2018 and are no longer available.***
- Revitalize – This is what we’ll cover today!
- Retrain
- Continue on to more training
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.
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?