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Tag: Supplies

Can I buy a strap?

“How do I find and purchase the ashi-strap?” …  “Where do I buy that sling on your ashiatsu bars?”

“This small piece of equipment is a game changer.”

Interested in using a strap during your Barefoot Massage sessions? Using our support strap is more than just “strappin’ up”, you’ll need to understand the safety and technique for it’s use and installation.

If you have attended a Center for Barefoot Massage class since we opened in 2017, we’ll be happy to sell you a strap – just contact us, or get ahold of your instructor!

If your ashiatsu training was with another company, we cannot sell you a strap, or help you with any support for that strap, until you are FasciAshi trained. Read this post and check out the Intermediate class as the first place for experienced ashi-therapists to start their myofascial ashiatsu and strap training with us!

The Ashiatsu-Strap allows FasciAshi Therapists to work effortlessly on a diagonal angle to engage the lateral fascial line and offer different angles of pressure, still utilizing body weight and gravity to create tension in the strap that gets translated back into your client. It also saves your hands from death gripping the bars. We teach increasingly diverse uses of the strap the deeper you get into courses with The Center for Barefoot Massage, so you’ll learn more with each step. PLUS, some of our Instructors are even offering free straps with upcoming classes: bonus!!

The Center for Barefoot Massage is the only Continuing Education group that is teaching the use of these overhead suspended straps, because the idea comes from our Co-founder, Jeni Spring, who’s been using them since 2003, for 18 years. The straps start here with us, and if you know how to use them, how to clean them, and how to trust them, they help your ashiatsu sessions become effortless.

Stay safe, stay ethical, get some training into the equipment you rely on.

The strap will have your back!

How much is ashiatsu training?

How much does ashiatsu training cost?

How much are classes?

  • Fundamentals:  $750(3 days, 24 CE’s)
  • Fijian: $500  (2 days, 16 CE’s)
  • Intermediate: $500  (2 days, 16 CE’s)
  • ROM: $500  (2 days, 16 CE’s)
  • Advanced: $500 (2 days, 16 CE’s)
  • Hot Ashi: $250   (1 day. 8 CE’s)
  • IF IT’S A TRAVEL CLASS: meaning, if the instructor travelled to the location to teach there, then the tuition will be +$100 more than usual to help cover the costs of bringing an amazing guest instructor to town!

Payment plans are available, read more here

 

 

Included in your tuition costs:

  • Alumni Membership Website access, which includes curated resources and materials to start your new barefoot massage practice.
  • Study videos demonstrating each stroke taught in class.
  • Online networking and support group with fellow practitioners and instructors.
  • A printed and bound class workbook, with:
    • anatomical references to each stroke
    • THe structural goal to each stroke
    • pro-tips from the founders,
    • your notes and journal entries from observation time in class.
    • Specific Cautions and Contraindications to the strokes learned- and each section of our Pathology and Contraindications were reviewed by Ruth Werner, BCBMT.
    • Strap installation instructions in each workbook,
    • Bar Installation instructions included in the Fundamentals class workbook.
    • Client evaluation forms to help gather feedback during your self-study practice sessions.

Any additional costs?

  • Optional Sole Provider boosted listing on our alumni locator map: ranging from FREE-$80-$150 (Basic listings are FREE!)
  • Optional Pro-Membership for upgraded study videos, with monthly anatomy and marketing challenges: Price TBA upon next release
  • Bar installation cost varies greatly depending on supplies, design and labor. Common costs range between $150-$400
  • Support Straps (Ashi-Straps) are $25 each, and you’ll want a few to switch between clients.
  • Portable Bar designs available for $150! You’ll save on shipping and will be able to custom design your travel bars to your exact measurements for the best body mechanics. Contract a local welder to build the portable bars off our designs, and you’ll be supporting local businesses in your area.
  • ~Eventually~ a level of Endorsement will be available after testing: price TBD.

How do I install the Ashiatsu Bars and Straps?

The FasciAshi Fundamentals class is where we will teach you e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g that you will need to know on how to install ashiatsu bars and straps, and how to build your overhead bar support.

In class, we provide designs and blueprints with detailed suggested material shopping lists that outlines which wood to choose, as well as the specifications of the ~many~ different options for hardware available.

Please DO NOT build your bars prior to class.

How Do I install ashiatsu bars and straps
install ashiatsu bars and straps

There are some specific measurements and safety guidelines that go along with using the bars that we will discuss together. For liability reasons we will not provide this information before class.

Many massage therapists have had to completely re-build their bars after taking our courses because their original designs were either not conducive to proper body mechanics, or were unsafe. Save yourself time, money and stress… just wait! Your Center for Barefoot Massage Instructor will show you examples, help you with designs, and provide you with blueprints when you meet in class. Even if you are not construction minded, the materials we provide you are perfect to hand over to your landlord, handy-person and build-out team: we’ve streamlined the process so you can easily build your bars in a day!

Looking for portable ashiatsu bars?

Read this blog post to know what the wooden portable ashiatsu bars are really like to use. SPOILER ALERT: They are not easy.

  1. Once you’ve finished your first ashiatsu barefoot massage class with us, our blueprints for portable bar designs are only $150!
The strap will have your back!

The straps are something Jeni Spring came up with and has been using with her ashiatsu sessions since 2003. The Ashiatsu-Strap allows FasciAshi Therapists to work effortlessly on a diagonal angle to engage the lateral fascial line and offer different angles of pressure, still utilizing body weight and gravity to create tension in the strap that gets translated back into your client. It also saves your hands from death gripping the bars. Read more about our support straps here.

Safety is key:

Equipment standards are a large part of the safety involved with our technique. Training centers are equipped with Earthlite’s “Spirit” massage tables and “Flex-rest” face cradle platforms, which have a 800 pound working weight capacity and offer the utmost padding for comfort. Strong enough to hold you, your client, and the movement created during the protocol, comfy enough to fall asleep.

The overhead bar apparatus in our training centers are built to commercial grade code, and support well over 1000 pounds in weight – even though we don’t dangle from the bars like monkeys, it’s very nice to know that our rigging is strong and can hold us up if the entire class decides to do a pull up on their bars!

We’ll teach you in class how to build safe and sturdy bars for your own use, and we’ll discuss the many makes and models of massage tables appropriate for using during a session. Discounts on Earthlite products available for our alumni – click here!

What do I need to bring to FasciAshi class?

What kind of things should you bring to your FasciAshi or Fijian Barefoot Massage class?

 

The list of items to bring ~could vary~ between locations, instructors and classes. Check your email after you sign up for FasciAshi class!

fasciashi-class-suppliesYou will receive a registration confirmation email immediately after signing up for class from info@barefootmassagecenter.com, and another one from your instructor 2-4 weeks prior to your class.

In those emails, you’ll be provided with a specific list of things you’ll need to bring – as it could vary slightly by class and location. Make sure to read everything.

Check with your Instructor directly, as each Training Campus may require you to bring different items, and some of our instructors list exactly what to bring on their biography page here on the website: go check!  You will ~for sure~ need to bring face masks as these are required in our courses, as well as clean sandals that can be sanitized between each client.

 

In the meantime, here are some ways to prepare for class!

What Ashiatsu Massage Table do I need?

You need to have an ashiatsu massage table that will hold your body weight, plus your heaviest client, plus a few hundred extra pounds breathing room within the working weight capacity of that table.

DO YOU HAVE THE EQUIPMENT THAT WILL SUPPORT THIS WORK?

We ~tend to~ recommend the Earthlite Ellora or the Earthlite Spirit – or something comparable. No aluminum legged portable massage tables.

Barefoot Massage Tables for Ashiatsu, Fijian and Sarga
Our classrooms are stocked with 32″ & 35″ Earthlite Spirits, and many of our instructors have one of the two versions of Earthlite Ellora’s in their treatment rooms – so you can try the tables out during your myofascial ashiatsu training.

There are also other tables that work great to stand on… if your table checks these boxes, then it’s more than likely good for Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage:

  • 32″ wide OR WIDER
  • Double decking (2 or more layers of plywood under all the padding)
  • Wide-set frame around the perimeter of the table, and support beams that cross the width or length for better weight distribution
  • Sturdy, Strong single hinge @ center of table if portable (No extra moving parts, like a tilt)
  • 2 knobs on each wooded leg if a portable table (Aluminum/metal portable tables are not safe)
  • Scissor lift if electric/hydraulic table (not center stand: these will tilt.)
  • 500+ pound working weight capacity (different than static weight capacity)

 

What won’t work?

  • Convertible Lift tables that are a hybrid of an electric lift frame with a flat-folded Portable table on top ARE NOT SAFE and standing on them is not recommended by those manufacturers.
  • Electric/Hydraulic tables with a pedestal lift: look for a scissor lift that is balanced in the center to prevent tipping and motor performance issues.
  • Tables with a tilt: the more moving parts the weaker the table is to stand on
  • Aluminum/Metal legged portable tables: these may not sustain our diagonal vectors of pressure.
  • Lightweight portable tables with a hammock or mesh (non-wood) decking/platform: your foot will sink through the padding!
  • Skinny (less than 30″ wide tables) due to tip hazard and less area to safely stand

TABLE TUNE UP! If your table passed those tests, here’s some tips to give it a quick tune-up before you stand on it:

Portable tables:

  • Flip it on it’s side and tighten EVERY screw. (Including hinge screws, leg-pulley screws, decking screws/bolts.) Don’t tighten so much as to strip them, just make sure there’s no wiggle left.
  • Notice if any plastic washers are broken, or the plastic pulleys. Most of the time these are covered by your table’s lifetime warranty and can be replaced free or cheaply just by contacting the manufacturer. Replace any broken plastic parts ASAP.
  • Notice if the elastic bands are still suspending the cables, and still have elasticity. Contact manufacturer if not.
  • Always make sure that the adjustable table legs are securely attached: if not completely screwed on at each setting, once you stand on the table that bolt can bend, and it will lessen the stability but also make it really tricky to get the adjustable part of the leg on and off later.

Stationary/Electric/Hydraulic Tables:

  • Make sure it’s been leveled out. Most models have adjustable feet, so that you can make sure there is no wobble or tilt. Many models of the Earthlite Ellora are sensitive to this, and after some use, if not properly leveled, will develop a “ping” sound when raising/lowering the height, especially when a client or you are also on the table. The tables can easily get moved with clients getting on and off of them, and with you pushing on them in all directions, so recenter them under yo
  • ur bars regularly, and check the levelness of the entire table often.
  • Make sure no cords are in the way of the moving parts – so they aren’t pinched, kinked, or run over.
  • Check with your table manufacturer about any maintenance that can be done to prolong the life of the motor.
  • Clean and safely position any height adjustment pedals so that nothing interferes with it’s function.

MOAR Table tips, tricks, hacks and ideas:

electric-ashiatsu-massage-table
electric “hydrolic” ashiatsu massage table

 

As of 2022, the Center for Barefoot Massage has chosen to no longer serve as a direct vendor with Earthlite, and we will not be taking orders moving forward.

You can order directly through Earthlite, Massage Warehouse, and even Amazon. Check with your massage association(s) to see if you qualify for a discount through them, and follow their process for ordering at their reduced rate.