Head on over to my Massage Momentum blog! 

[CLICK HERE]

Massage Momentum's blog is for massage therapists who need killer business skills to match their ah-maz-ing massage stills.

Oy. Ever want to throw your computer across the room?

Even when it's not aforementioned laptop's fault?

I used to have an old Blogspot blog, mostly about massage. I also wrote sometimes about P90X, photography assignments and cooking.

This is neither here nor there, other than I have spend almost 2 hours in the last week attempting to login to my old Blogger account. Why bother? Let's just say it's a new project.

For who am I to NOT have new projects on the regular?

Anyway...

As you may know, I love cupping. I have a machine at my office, which saves my hands and forearms from overuse.  As I'm now (stands tall and proudly) an "influencer", I will share with you the cupping machine that's in my Amazon Store. 

It's a bit loud, but that doesn't bother me at all. No client has ever mentioned it, but I have seen others write about it's volume. So that's that.

I like it because the cups are easy to clean-I just soak them for a few minutes in soapy water, wipe and rinse. Just don't drop them on the concrete floor, because the glass cups will break. Ask me how I know.

Sometimes I use the massage cups "parked" on the client while I do barefoot massage somewhere else on same client's body. Mostly, I just glide them. What's cool is that their body tells the massage cups where to stop and hang out.

You can also leave the glass massage cups in place while you create Range of Motion moves in a pin and stretch type of situation.

At home, I use silicone massage cups. I've tried a few styles. My favorite right now, because they stick well, are Lure ionic massage cups. You can't glide with them, but they just stay put. If you're not jacked up, the silicone massage cups don't stick. Sometimes I get marked up, but othertimes not. So don't do massage cupping on exposed skin if you're going to be a swimsuit model that week.

Each Lure "2” cup is embedded with 6 negative ion beads. Negative ions are said to boost circulation and promote healing and overall physical well-being. Just suction one or as many cups as needed to the treatment area, apply pressure and keep in place for 3-5 minutes. For static ‘parked’ cupping or active cupping (pin & stretch) use only."

Again, these Lure massage cups DO NOT GLIDE.

If you want silicone massage cups that DO glide, check out these. What's nice about these massage cups is that they come in a variety of sizes for larger body parts. You can use the small silicone cups on, for instance, your forearms.

The medium cups might go on your shoulders, where the large silicone massage cups work well for larger surface areas, like the back or hips.

While I use the cupping machine at work on both myself and my clients, I use the Lure ones on my shoulders, low back and forearms. My adult kids use the other kinds weekly.

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If you've made it this far, you should know that the links are affiliate links. I get a few pennies for each purchase. It doesn't affect your price.
Discover cool stuff in my Amazon store!

Also, visit Massage Momentum for massage therapist business advice. Coaching, mentoring, business tips for massage therapists.

If you're a massage therapist who struggles with business, it's not really your fault.

Massage schools teach you to be an awesome massage therapist but not a business person, capable of running your own massage therapy practice.

What happens if you accidentally run your massage practice into the ground?

You'll have to either get part time work somewhere, or you'll need to stop massaging and get the dreaded JOB.

That thing that's a soul-sucking, unfulfilling 8-5. You might even have to wear dress clothes and makeup, Heaven forbid.

What to do, what to do?

Well, follow me on Tikety Tok  or the 'gram for massage therapist business tips, and health advice (I'm a nutritional therapy practitioner too!).

Oh yeah, you can also take a gander at my beautiful website, www.MassageMomentum.com, where I have oodles of freebies to help you grow your massage therapy practice.

Or check out the 10 marketing hacks for massage therapists [HERE.]

It's a good idea for any massage therapist going back to work to start providing a new intake form that the client fills out within a day of their deep tissue massage appointment. Deep tissue barefoot massage will be back in action at Affinity Massage Studio in Cincinnati VERY SOON!

2024...SCREW THE RONA. The world's gone to hell in a handbasket in the last 4 years. Oy. 

I've moved on. But I go bonkers mentally when I see dorks in the Costco parking lot or in their cars still wearing ineffective face diapers. 

I sold my ownership in CBM, the barefoot massage business I worked hard to build. Created a new model, Massage Momentum.

 

I'm getting a lot of work done on my new website, Massage Momentum.

Honestly, I need to thank my husband, Paul, for putting together the site and dealing with the idiosyncratic functioning of Wordpress.

While I miss doing massage-a lot (it turns out that giving barefoot massage is great for my abs), being able to provide free content with Massage Momentum's "lead magnet" (free download) fulfills part of my mission.

And what is this mission, pray tell?

As you know, giving barefoot massage lights me up. Part 1 of my mission is to help clients feel better through awesome, comfortable deep tissue massage.

Part 2 of my mission is to help massage therapists soar in long-lasting careers.

Yes, teaching barefoot massage is a great way to be able to provide deep tissue massage long term, but it's more than that. Many massage therapists don't have great business skills (it's not their fault-they haven't been taught) but become overwhelmed with tech, writing emails, and knowing how to provide consistent income. 

This is where I come in. 😊

And that's what I'm working on in my "free" COVID-19 time.

How's your self-care been this month?

I don't know about you, but I've had a hard time taking care of myself since the state of Ohio went on Stay-at-Home. 

Eating the wrong things (sugar much? Oy.), not giving massage (turns out that giving barefoot massage is good for my abs), not getting enough exercise...You know how it goes.

Sometimes, we need a little self-care help.

Just for fun, are you interested in Self-Care bingo?

Take the download-feel free to print!- and see how many ways you can take care of yourself in a day.

When you get a line, reward yourself with something that makes you happy.

Enjoy!

Massage therapists...

have you heard about my new website, Massage Momentum?

It's a bit different from what I've done before. I'll be focusing on providing ways to help ALL massage therapist in business create recurring income by learning how to discover Massage Memberships.

In the meantime, if you are interested in my 17-page guide on 9 Ways to Make Online Income When You Can't Massage, head on over to Massage Momentum. 

Just pop in your name and email, and the Guide will zip on over to your inbox.

Let me know how else I can serve you as a massage therapist at this time!

And yes, I'll still be massaging barefoot and teaching massage therapists deep tissue barefoot massage!

The psoas, which are actually called "iliopsoas" as they include the ilacus + psoas, lie deep beneath your abdominal muscles and intestines.

They attach to the sides of your lumbar vertebrae (low back spine), starting at your last (12th) rib and continuing down to the pelvis.

Psoas combines with iliacus in the groin and follows down into the top of the femur. If you imagine that your hip bone on the front of your pelvis is a bowl, you can envision how the muscles also attach to the underside of the bowl (I like to think of it as how you would grease up a bowl-the grease would stick to the sides of the bowl. That's what iliacus does, in essence).

Trigger points in the psoas muscles can contribute to both low back pain and the groin. 

Causes are often:
✔️sitting
✔️overuses (athletes)
✔️physical and emotional trauma
✔️may be caused by tension or fear

Here's a video I did to show you how to help loosen them up.

All you need is a foam roller. 

I can also work them during your deep tissue barefoot massage. I will say that it tends to be unpleasant, but if that's the source of low back pain, you'll feel better right away.

Back in November of 2019 (it seems SO LONG AGO!) I was featured on It's a Tribe Thing Podcast with host Shelli Varela.
 

You can listen to it HERE.

 On Tuesday this week, I'm being interviewed on a wellness talk show, MindBodyRadio.

Here's the information I'm providing them.

YOUR BACKGROUND

I became a licensed massage therapist with the State of Ohio Medial Board in January of 1999. Starting my career in a busy day spa, I experienced typical massage therapy tendonitis issues within a few years. 

In 2002, I learned barefoot massage and have been specializing in it ever since, teaching since 2004. 

2017 began a new evolution of the way I teach barefoot massage when I co-founded the Center for Barefoot Massage. We have instructors throughout the US and also have a Pro Membership for our graduates. In 2019 I began an online company, Massage Momentum, where I provide valuable information to all massage therapists to help their careers soar.

I continue to provide barefoot massage in my busy Cincinnati studio.​

YOUR PROFESSION

In my massage studio, I provide effective, comfortable myofascially based barefoot massage.

When I teach, I help massage therapists discover more effective yet easier ways to provide deep tissue massage so they can have a long-lasting, pain-free massage career.​

Our continuing education company, the Center for Barefoot Massage, guides our instructors to teach their students how to use their feet like they do their hands, which saves careers and provides valuable support in their communities.

WHY ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS LINE OF WORK?

The human touch is a valuable asset-I don't think there's any replacement for it. While tools may assist in providing more effective massage, the human touch is essential. 

The trouble with massage therapy is that many (if not most) massage therapists work to their detriment, hurting their bodies while they try to fix their clients. This creates injury and burnout quickly in a career that they love.

By providing barefoot massage to my own clients, I've been able to sustain a busy practice for 21 years without injury. Teaching therapists-not only can it save them physically, but they often make more money as they can do more massage without hurting. In fact, their last massage of the day may even be better than their 1st one. It also creates a ripple effect-they feel better, so they're happier, they are able to enjoy their lives with their families, and their clients feel better. When their clients feel better, it positively impacts THEIR lives and relationships.

When I was in massage school over 2 decades ago, any business information we received is completely irrelevant now. I've found that many massage schools don't provide much assistance with marketing or running a business.

It's my goal with Massage Momentum to help fill those gaps with business and marketing knowledge.

ANYTHING ELSE?

​I had 2 small children when I started massage school in 1997 and had 6 more after I became a massage therapist. Barefoot massage saved my career when I was pregnant with twins-I couldn't bend over to do hands-on work. We have 8 children, 5 of whom still live at home.

My brilliant husband, Paul, runs the back end of our businesses, and we also have a rescue German Shepherd, rescue Persian cat and an adopted turtle.

SOMEONE YOU ADMIRE (AUTHOR, ACTIVIST, PROFESSIONAL, OR PUBLIC SPEAKER):

There are a ton of business people I admire, but one that sticks out right now for me is Shelli Varela. She was the 1st female firefighter in her city, has been a featured Ted Talk speaker and hosts a fantastic podcast, It's a Tribe Thing  (on which I was featured​, episode 48). She's an exquisite listener and synthesizer of valuable information.

BIO FOR OUR WEBSITE

​Mary-Claire Fredette has been a massage therapist since 1999 and specializes in effective, comfortable, deep tissue barefoot massage at her Cincinnati practice, Affinity Massage Studio (www.affinitymassages.com)

She co-owns the Center for Barefoot Massage(www.barefootmassagecenter.com), runs an online membership for our barefoot massage therapists and has recently been a new focus on creating business courses for all massage therapists at MassageMomentum.com.