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Tag: specialize

Can I do Barefoot Massage on a mat? Or does it have to be on a table?!

This is a frequently asked question – especially if you have low ceilings that may be difficult to build bars in, if you are very tall with low ceilings and are considering dropping your table to the floor, and/or if you are already offering Thai/Shiatsu/Breema/Rossiter Matwork on the ground and want more footwork.

The style of Myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage that we teach does actually require the massage table to be elevated up off the floor – as techniques learned in our Fundamentals, Intermediate, Range of Motion and Advanced courses all “dangle” the clients limbs off the edge of the table and need that gravitational drop and hang in the joint. Westernized Ashiatsu in itself needs the trifecta of the overhead bars, on an elevated table and needs to be using some kind of lubricant to glide on the skin. So putting Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage down on the floor would take away from this potential and would not be true to the name or lineage.

…HOWEVER:

Our Fijian/Matwork Barefoot Massage class is meant to be on the floor! Ok, not literally on the floor: we teach on skinny mats, not even as wide as a typical massage table, but Fijian can also be done on your yoga mat with a BodyCushion system on top, on a massage table flattened to the floor, and/or on Thai and Shiatsu mats! No bars are needed to be installed for the Fijian/Matwork techniques, either!

Fijian Barefoot Massage class in actionFijian Barefoot Massage class in action

You can install the strap to make your life easier and to assure that you aren’t pushing through your wrists/hands on a support crutch – like the back of a chair, a cane/walker, or ballet bars (none of which are things we would ever recommend: underhand support is not your friend if you are trying to save your hands for a longer massage career.) In a Fijian Barefoot Massage, you can use the strap to lean into, or sit in a chair, or sit in a floor chair lie a Back-Jack, while using your feet to do the work. Read the many blog posts below that are related to Fijian Barefoot Matwork to better understand it’s rad potential – and read the Fijian/Matwork 1 class page to read the course description!


Read more about how Fijian Barefoot Matwork is different than our table-top Myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage

Fijian massage in action - the LMT is sitting on a chair working on the clients lumbosacral area
16 CE hours | Two days in class | *$500 tuition

 

How do I become a Barefoot Massage Specialist?

It’s one thing to want to learn how to massage with your feet – and it’s a whole other world when you realize that you want to do this all day, every day, for the rest of your life!

If becoming a Barefoot Massage Specialist is your “thang”, we want to help you!

The Center for Barefoot Massage offers an innovative series of pathways to help cater your massages exactly to what your clients “knead”

Find your thang, your niche, your specialty… we’ve got the steps laid out in different training pathways to help you achieve success.

In addition to training and our Endorsement process that shows your own approach to the work has been vetted by the founders of FasciAshi, we are also creating tracks of classes for you to “choose your own adventure” and specialize in Relaxation, Clinical or Sports Barefoot Massage!

 

Are you already trained in other forms of barefoot massage of ashiatsu? We can help you really dig your heels in! Read this page for what to do next.

Are you just MESMERIZED by the barefoot massage and want to do it, too? Do you have a specific niche that you want to focus on?
CLICK HERE to read how you can follow our classes down the rabbit hole that gets more and more specific as you go!

 

We are actively recruiting students who want to take this work seriously. Our passion for ashiatsu and our drive to build barefoot massages presence within the field of massage therapy is driving this movement. We’ve rallied all of our training and experience down into each class for you (so you don’t have to figure it out the hard way as we did!) We are consulting with industry leaders to create course content that is accurate, modern and ready to apply to your clients. We’ve tried and tested the techniques and have put them to use in practice with our instructors and their local teams. We share our successes and struggles in the FasciAshi Tribe Facebook Group, a supportive community of FasciAshi alumni. We continue to educate beyond the classroom with our #BarefootLikeABoss Pro Membership, which is dedicated to growing and scaling their skills both with their clients & in their business. There are so many ways that we try to help you create a successful barefoot massage career – and as we learn and grow even more, we pass that onto our students.

The future for barefoot massage is afoot!
Here are some more resources that we recommend as you search your SOLE to find its purpose!recommended-ashiatsu-training

Knowing your ideal client

Whether you’ve learned barefoot massage already or are pondering your possibilities, it’s important to decide who your ideal client is for barefoot massage.

Really, you should know this even if you haven’t even considered the possibility of taking our classes!

1st consideration

You can’t serve everyone.

Think of big chains.

While it may seem like they serve everyone, they’ve probably narrowed it down something like this-the person

  1. wants the convenience of a membership
  2. doesn’t mind seeing a wide variety of therapists
  3. wants a less expensive massage
  4. is willing to buy products

2nd thought

In trying to have everyone as your client, you are missing out on those who want to find someone who specializes in XYZ.

This brings us to specializing in a modality.

You don’t have to be a barefoot nerd like we are. Some massage therapists love taking a wide variety of CE classes, and we’re into that as well.

But when you offer 37 items on your massage menu, it:

  • creates confusion with your potential clients
  • it makes it harder for them to make a decision
  • ultimately, they’ll probably leave your site
  • you aren’t seen as an expert in any one field-you look more like a dabbler in modalities.
  • Just pick a couple of things and get really good at them.

Be known for something specific.

3rd idea

Now that you’ve chosen a thing or 2 to specialize in, who do you want to work with?

My ideal client used to be someone like me (Mary-Claire)-a parent who didn’t have a whole lot of money but wanted to take care of themselves. As a result, I didn’t charge a whole lot.

While noble, that’s not a great idea if you actually want to make a living doing massage therapy.

When deciding your ideal client (also known as an “avatar”), get super specific.

Do you want to work with:

  • men or women
  • athletes or wanna be’s
  • someone who’s working from home and is stressed out
  • car accident rehab patients
  • oncology patients (not for barefoot massage, though)
  • etc. (you catch my drift, right?)

What’s their name?
Do they have kids? How many? Ages?
Pets?
What are their hobbies?
What kind of work do they do?

Be specific as you can. For instance, mine looks something like this:

Bob is a 54-year-old married dad of 2 whose kids are out of the house. He has a Labradoodle named Sals who he takes on walks twice a day. He is an upper-level executive of marketing with Procter and Gamble and likes to hike on his days off. He loves deep tissue massage and is a foodie.

What 3 important facts does this tell me?
1. He has a reasonable amount of disposable income with his job and his kids being out of the house.
2. Bob likes being outdoors and getting exercise.
3. Being a foodie, he is open to new experiences.

Therefore:
1. He would probably like stretching added into his barefoot massages (which I want to do)
2. Bob has enough money and time to take care of himself with regular massage.
3. As a matter of fact, Bob is an ideal client who can afford to come 2x a month to receive massage.
4. He is willing to try new-to-him techniques such as side-lying,

Knowing your ideal client will help you target your social media and marketing to the right potential client.


Interested in learning more about barefoot massage?

Visit us at www.barefootmassagecenter.com

We have tons of Tip and Tricks on YouTube!

And check out our Facebook page

Don’t forget Instagram!