I've seen ads for other barefoot classes that look similar. Why should I take your class? After 15 years of refining my barefoot massage, I'm excited to be partnered with another instructor, Jeni, who has 12 years of barefoot massage experience. Together, we've taken our real world techniques and rolled them into a class jam packed with information on how to not only give a barefoot massage, but how to actually USE your feet as a therapeutic tool.
I am smaller therapist. Do I need to take the advanced class? Smaller therapists have one thing going for them that larger therapists don't--small feet. The use of a smaller tool will make the therapist's work more specific and therefore deeper. An understanding of how to use your feet as a specific trigger point tool will be very effective. If you work primarily on women, you may not want to take the advanced class, but I definitely recommend it if your client base consists of larger clients who want the deep work.
I want to learn to do this on my boyfriend, but I'm not a massage therapist. May I take class? In a word, no. We require completion of a minimum of 75% of an accredited massage therapy program. You will receive CEUs but won't be able to apply it to your license. We therefore recommend that you are licensed by the state or province in which you live and require proof that you may legally perform massage there.
It is very easy to hurt someone without a certain amount of anatomical background and palpation skills.
Can I learn barefoot bar massage from a video or DVD? Our opinion is that you really need to take a hands-on class in order to learn proper form and palpation skills. In our classes, you feel the stroke from the instructor, give it under a watchful eye, receive feedback from the person you're working on and work on the instructor for detailed feedback. None of this is possible with e-learning.
Can you actually feel things with your feet? Yes, although it may take time, just like when you were in massage school. With practice, your feet can become just as sensitive as your hands. It's also really important to take good care of your feet. The softer they are, the more the therapist can hone in to his or her sensitivity on their feet! We recommend regular pedicures for this reason, and the therapist makes sure to clean their feet prior to every session.
http://barefootblog.barefootmassagecenter.com/can-you-feel-knots-during-barefoot-massage/
Can you do barefoot massage and stand on a table when you're pregnant? If you have good balance and permission from your OB/Midwife, then YES! I worked until 33 weeks while pregnant with twins and until 40 weeks in the next pregnancy. Doing the barefoot massage actually saved my career as I had difficulty bending over to do traditional hands-on massage in my 3rd trimesters.
Do you have a height and/or weight requirement? No. For FasciAshi Fundamentals, the first class, you only have one foot on the client's body at a time while you're standing up. You are in complete control of your pressure at all times. We do recommend a certain amount of coordination and general fitness, but I have trained therapists ranging from 95-200+ lbs. You must, however, be able to easily stand up on a 24" stool without falling. Check out our video:
Can men be trained to do barefoot massage? Absolutely! This modality is great for any therapist who wants to decrease strain and stress on his/her own body.
What are the benefits of FasciAshi ROM? Because most people don't stretch enough, we'll teach you how to give them stretches that will increase their range of motion. It can easily be added in to a session with draping. I do hip and leg stretches in a good number of my barefoot massage sessions.
Are the bars hard to install? On the last day of the workshop, we go over how to install bars in a variety of ceiling types. The complexity of installation increases with specialty ceilings such as vaulted or concrete.
Don't try this at home, kids!
(These kiddos are 25, 18, and 16 now.)
Learn barefoot massage in our massage CE classes. Deep tissue ashiatsu massage training.
