Center for Barefoot Massage

12/02/2025

We've changed the name of our "Fijian Barefoot Massage" class, read the full story here👇🏼

https://open.substack.com/pub/barefootmassage/p/class-name-update-fijian-barefoot?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=38nash

12/01/2025

December sales shipping deadlines for products on the website in the student store (if you want it to arrive by 12/24!)

Dec 11 for CBM Apparel
Dec 17 for FasciAshi Straps

Myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage Classes

11/27/2025

Toe-tally thankful for the way barefoot massage offers meaningful work, happier bodies (yours and mine), and a career that doesn’t fall apart (mentally or physically) before dessert. 👣🫶🏼

Grateful for you all: Happy Thanksgiving!

11/26/2025

When three days fly by and somehow you walk away feeling like you’ve added years to your career (and countless sighs of relief to your clients)… that’s when you realize: “Wait… this can actually be easy?!”

What you’ve been searching for has been here all along. FasciAshi Fundamentals is where it all starts—a science-informed, body-sparing approach to barefoot massage that leans on gravity, leverage, and smart weight distribution so you can give deep, effective pressure without wrecking your hands… or your hopes for longevity in this field.

Barefoot massage isn’t about brute force. It’s about precision, interoception, and pacing. In class, you’ll learn how sustained, responsive pressure works with your client’s nervous system—helping long-held tension and protective guarding melt so their body can finally find a sense of ease.

Whether your clients live with persistent pain or you’re simply tired of working way harder than you should, FasciAshi teaches you to trust your feet as the intuitive tools they are… and your clients will absolutely feel the difference.

👣 Ready to work smarter, not harder?
Tap the link in our bio to learn more about FasciAshi Fundamentals and grab your spot. Our class sizes stay intentionally small, so they fill quickly—register early and we’ll help you prep to step in with confidence.

https://centerforbarefootmassage.com/courses/?filter_class-type=fundamentals&query_type_class-type=or

11/25/2025

Feeling ready for a change in your massage career?

Sometimes the shift you’re craving isn’t just about new skills… it’s about offering something so transformative that it changes you and the way you show up for your clients — and makes a big difference in their lives.

Barefoot massage training with the Center for Barefoot Massage gives LMTs a path to grow in a way that supports your body and elevates the impact you make in your community.

In our FasciAshi trainings, you’ll:
✔️ expand your skill set with science-backed myofascial footwork
✔️ protect your hands, wrists, and back with sustainable mechanics
✔️ deliver deep, effective pressure without draining yourself
✔️ bring something truly awesome to your clients—something that can shift how they feel, move, and live

When you invest in learning differently, you’re not just changing your career…
you’re changing the experience of every client who walks into your practice.

And that’s how one therapist—one set of feet at a time—changes the world a little.

https://centerforbarefootmassage.com/

11/24/2025

Massage school taught us “keep your hands moving”…
but your body (and your clients) know better.

Give weight. Then wait.

Gravity and your body weight weigh down through your foot, your strap keeps you supported, the tissue underfoot tells you when to move, and suddenly you’re not white-knuckling or elbow-bustin' your way through deep tissue anymore.

If you’re tired of muscling through sessions,
this is your sign to let physics do her job. Save your hands for other things, Barefoot Massage is a game changer!

https://centerforbarefootmassage.com/give-weight-then-wait/

11/22/2025

Just because you use your feet… and just because “ashiatsu” literally translates to foot pressure… does not mean the work you’re doing is “Ashiatsu.” ⁣👣
⁣
For years, The Center for Barefoot Massage has been working to normalize Barefoot Massage as the umbrella term that honors the wide range of global traditions that use the feet as therapeutic tools. That includes Japanese barefoot shiatsu, Indian Chavutti Thirumal, Hawaiian lomi, Thai barefoot lineages, and the modern Western styles that developed here in the U.S.⁣
⁣
𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 = any professional massage therapy technique performed with the feet as tools, not hands.
⁣
The word “Ashiatsu” belongs to a very specific cultural context — and the Westernized version many LMTs practice today is not the traditional Japanese form. The 1990s American technique was deep-tissue/Swedish-based and used overhead bars, oil, gliding, and tables. Traditional Japanese ashiatsu does none of that.⁣
⁣
𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝘆𝗼𝗳𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗮𝘁𝘀𝘂 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 (𝗙𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗶) — a modern, evidence-informed lineage rooted in fascia research, biomechanics, pain science, and interoception. That’s not “Ashiatsu”… and it’s important to call it what it is.⁣

So when you’re naming services, educating clients, or using hashtags, remember:
Not every Barefoot Massage is “Ashiatsu.”
And if you must use the A-word to specify a style, use a full qualifier like:
👉 𝘔𝘺𝘰𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦
👉 Myofascial Barefoot Massage
👉 Or just Barefoot Massage
⁣
Better language = better clarity = better respect for every lineage that contributed to the global history of Barefoot Massage.
⁣
Let’s keep raising the standard — magazine editors, educators and practitioners included. 👣✨
⁣
What’s your definition of Barefoot Massage? Tell us below!

11/22/2025

A Quick Ashiatsu Fact Check on AMTA’s latest cover story in their magazine (and a Note for the Barefoot Massage Community)

Many of you saw the newest issue of Massage Therapy Journal, where an article on Japanese massage techniques features photos of the American bar-supported Ashiatsu that many LMTs practice today.

Because lineage accuracy and cultural clarity matter — and because CBM has spent years helping our field use more precise, respectful language — I want to offer a simple fact-check list before this gets muddier in the larger massage conversation.

Ashiatsu Fact-Check: What LMTs Should Know

✔️ American Ashiatsu is not Japanese bodywork.

The Western technique developed in the 1990s was not built on shiatsu, meridian theory, ki philosophy, or traditional Japanese assessment.

✔️ The word “ashiatsu” does literally mean “foot pressure,” but the modality most U.S. therapists practice is not the traditional Japanese form. I would have loved for the article to talk more about its traditional roots and use this cover-story level exposure to explain the differences.

Traditional Japanese ashiatsu is part of shiatsu — done clothed, on a mat, without oil, bars, gliding, or Swedish strokes.

✔️ The AMTA article vaguely referenced “Hindu roots,” but did not name the actual Indian modality.

If the intention was to reference an Indian lineage, the accurate term is Chavutti Thirumal, an Ayurvedic barefoot massage system using sweeping foot strokes and a single rope for support.

Ayurveda has philosophical ties to Hindu texts, but Ayurvedic massage is not a religious act — and it is fully distinct from Japanese traditions.

✔️ Cultural accuracy matters.

Just as we’ve written before, not every style of Barefoot Massage is “ashiatsu,” and blending unrelated traditions together (Japanese, Indian, American) under one word doesn’t honor any of those cultures. Using correct terminology helps us avoid misrepresentation and keeps our field moving toward more respectful, transparent communication.

✔️ For what it's worth: CBM teaches Myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage — a modern lineage.

Our work (developed in 2017) is grounded in biomechanics, fascia research, pain science, interoception, and evidence-informed care.

It is not Japanese.

It is not Ayurvedic.

It is its own evolution of Barefoot Massage.

American Massage Therapy Association - AMTA

11/19/2025

The final Intermediate & ROM/Stretch Therapy classes of 2025 have officially wrapped… which means our window for transfer students has closed for the year—& forever!

If you’re currently practicing ashiatsu barefoot massage that began in training from another lineage & were hoping to skip into our mid-level classes, the last dates to get into Intermediate or ROM without taking FasciAshi Fundamentals first have passed.

(We do have one more Advanced class happening in St. Louis this December with Sara. If you’ve already taken our Intermediate class—but haven’t taken Fundamentals—that’s your final chance to step forward before the 2026 reset.)

For everyone else who hasn’t completed FasciAshi Fundamentals yet: that’s your next step. Beginning in 2026, Fundamentals becomes the anchor point for all students, no matter your previous barefoot massage background. This ensures that every therapist in our classrooms are speaking the same language while using the same influence of biomechanics + supporting equipment.

The approach to Myofascial Barefoot Massage that we teach & the way the FasciAshi strap shapes directional force, depth/speed modulation, + therapist body mechanics is unique to the Center for Barefoot Massage. We've always had a different approach to westernized ashiatsu, FasciAshi has always stood apart with unique content, & our transfer program served as a great trust building, industry expanding bridge between styles.

Wherever you are in your barefoot journey, join us in 2026! We’re entering our 9th year of FasciAshi training & raising the bar yet again:

Every core class has been fully revamped with fresh manuals & updated discussions woven into each training day. You’ll see new pain science resources, modern fascial research, tensegrity-informed anatomy & mindfulness applications all threaded directly into how you use your feet. Our aim is to help you understand how the work supports client pain recovery, nervous system safety, & your own long-term movement ease.

Smart feet. Evidence-informed practice. Better outcomes for the humans you work with. Long, happy careers.

The future of massage is a foot!

11/14/2025

“Have you ever noticed that once you’ve had a problem in one body area, it’s more likely to be the place where symptoms return or spread? That doesn’t necessarily mean there’s new or more damage – but we may have a volume dial that’s already primed (you could think of it like having more security cameras that are even more sensitive to detecting things going on in the yard).”

This great metaphor was part of an article focused on the Glia, and their contributions to persistent pain patterns. I've been studying the Pain Science content that the Noigroup is putting out, and they never cease to amaze and enlighten with relatable, memorable examples!

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An introduction to glia cells – active players in shaping how sensitive and responsive our nervous system is.