Since we launched in 2017, our mission has been teaching evidence-based techniques through actual feet-on in-person training. Our roots trace back to 2003 when our co-founder Jeni Spring began evolving typical deep Swedish barefoot work into the modern myofascial approach we teach today …and it all started with the innovation of her Ashi-Strap. We’ve worked to popularize the term ‘Barefoot Massage’ over the years to intentionally step away from cultural appropriation issues surrounding the western use of words like “ashiatsu,” and we make continual conscious efforts to normalize and elevate the way the entire world understands massage given from the feet.

While you get a literal feel from the sole of our Myofascial “FasciAshi” Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage while underfoot other students in our classrooms, you will also really feel the soul of this work within our theory and integrity of the content. Each instructor brings their own vibe of humor, fun and flow to the room as they present the work through their lens of experience and their own niche specialty: because you learn touch best when you’re actually engaged in the process. Expect a classroom full of hard facts and heavy science that somehow stays completely playful and digestible. We stand 10 toes down on the belief that touch simply cannot be taught online because the nuance of pressure and the physical conversation of this work require you to be fully present in the room with us. Because of this, we only offer our classes in person and will not teach any feet-on techniques online.

We want you to massage intuitively with your feet just like you do with your hands and practice with total confidence by building pattern recognition deep in your psyche so you can actually feel the structural network of the body responding to your pressure… and with our help understanding modern advances in pain science and biotensegrity research you will know exactly why and how and when to use every stroke to safely communicate with the entire nervous system and all the different depths and densities of the whole body.

1. Save your hands for other things!

Stop straining your hands and start getting your clients underfoot. We focus on career longevity by teaching you to use the dexterity of your feet, the Ashi-Strap as a fulcrum for effortless body mechanics, and gravity as your main form of pressure, leaving you feeling like you’ve had a movement practice with the energy to actually tackle life after work, rather than a week of intense manual labor that leaves you with a busted, exhausted body, laid up on the couch!

2. Fill your books with clients who trust the “Why”

If your clients are looking for deep pressure that stays consistent over the years without the “ouch” factor, we got you covered. You’ll gain the clinical authority to stop relying on marketing that convinces them to book because “it feels good” and instead state with confidence exactly why the work is effective, building a level of trust in your local community that keeps people coming back. (But it also DOES really feel good!) Whether your clients want to “heel” a specific tissue issue or they need someone who finally knows a new way to work on their restrictions, you’ll have the “ten-toes-down” confidence to deliver Myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage work day after day, with the control and consistency in pressure to keep everyone underfoot safe and feeling like they’ve finally found the specialized solution they’ve been searching for.

3. Specialize in Barefoot Massage

Our FasciAshi approach (which, BTW, is our made-up word combining “myofascial” and “ashiatsu”, pronounced Fah-shee-ahh-shee) is highly adaptive so you can keep what you already know while meeting the “kneads” of each client individually. We help you break free from rigid routines and organically integrate fascial research and therapeutic strategies straight into the niche you already love… do you describe your sessions as Relaxation/Sensory or Sports/Recovery or Clinical/Orthopedic? Whatever your vibe is, their fascia is everywhere …and it communicates differently at every depth in every body. Training in our fascia-focused approach gives you an evolving stream of knowledge that helps you confidently work on everything… whatever the goal we’ll help you do it with SOLE! It’s all about massaging better in general with the clinical pattern recognition and technical integrity that comes from being a true Barefoot Massage Specialist.

“Once you try FasciAshi, you won’t go back to normal massage”

 

We teach an exploration of how to engage tissue using myofascial release, deep tissue, and stretch therapy techniques… it all just happens to be applied by your feet rather than hands! That’s our jam.

Read more about the science behind our work here… …and here

We are on a mission to redefine barefoot massage as a respected, essential part of therapeutic bodywork. This starts by raising the standard for the massage classroom experience itself. To maintain the highest level of professional integrity and depth, we stay in our own lane: we ONLY teach Licensed Massage Therapists.

Our requirements are clear: we expect you to have at least 500 hours of entry-level education and maintain active professional liability insurance. While a lot of classes skip the paperwork, we actually check, because when everyone in the room meets national professional standards, we can dive deeper into the work together. We even have you fill out a health intake form before class so we can be fully prepared to support you the moment you step into the room.

We’ve built the tools and the environment to set you up for success before, during, and after each training. We expect you to bring a growth mindset and a professional spark to actually put these resources into practice. We’re here to help you own your expertise and move beyond “chasing pain” strategies and “no pain no gain” style pressure. We want to empower you to deliver the kind of results that prove barefoot massage isn’t a cute gimmick or performance art …it’s a sophisticated, detailed therapeutic intervention.

Inspired by decades of clinical practice at Heeling Sole, as well as the local businesses behind every instructor on our team, we teach you the theories and applications to stop treating the body as a collection of isolated parts and start addressing it as a single, interconnected system. Through the FasciAshi lens, you’ll learn to target the nervous system and fascia to help clients find relief from persistent pain that “spot-treating” simply hasn’t solved.

We provide the depth and structure to work with your client’s nervous system to address the chronic high-tone and dense tension that seemingly only heavy-duty deep tissue can reach—but we do it all without wrecking your own body in the process. Because at the end of the day, it’s about happy clients that fill your appointment schedules and your own happy, healthy body.

You can read more about our company mission and vision here.

Tustin, California (Southern California/Orange County) 

San Luis Obispo, California (Central Coast)

Hayden, Idaho (Pacific Northwest/Inland Empire)

Colorado Springs, Colorado (Mountain West)

Dallas/Plano, Texas (North Texas)

San Antonio, Texas (South-Central Texas)

 St. Louis, Missouri (Midwest/Mississippi River)

Decatur, Alabama (Southeast/Deep South)

Cincinnati, Ohio (Midwest/Ohio River)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Northeast/Mid-Atlantic)

Durham, North Carolina (Southeast/Research Triangle)

Albany, New York (Northeast/Upstate