April 2025 Newsletter
What's afoot at the Center for Barefoot Massage?
Hello and happy spring season to us all! For those of you who joined us recently in our winter or 1st quarter 2025 trainings, welcome to the world of Barefoot Massage - and for those of you already ankle-deep in FasciAshi, keep up the good footwork!
What’s in this message?
Barefoot Matwork “FEETured” in a popular web series
Where we stand: Our values & policies
Latest articles & Deep Dives
FEETured class & where to take it
Upcoming class dates & links showing back-to-back, immersion + Intensive options
Fijian Barefoot Matwork goes viral: and «SPOILER ALERT» it becomes their fave massage!
Our Tustin, California “SoCal” instructor, Ashley Shears, was invited to demonstrate Barefoot Massage on the “Good Mythical Morning” web series recently. She brought her LMT friend Julie who is also trained in the work, and they won over the hosts with their SOLEful samples. I queued up the video above to start right where the Barefoot team strolls onstage like rockstars, but be sure to watch the entire video: it’s fun!
A big shout out to Ashley and Julie who helped take big strides in normalizing Barefoot Massage in the eyes of a new audience! Every step we each take towards professionally representing and introducing the use of feet as massage tools will help grow the public awareness and interest in our work. This in turns helps the public seek out trained Barefoot Massage therapists like you!
If you watch this video, leave a positive comment in their feed about how Barefoot Massage helps your clients!
Where We Stand: Our Values in Action
At the Center for Barefoot Massage, we are redefining barefoot massage as a respected, essential part of therapeutic bodywork. Just like hands or elbows, the foot is a powerful tool capable of delivering precise, effective pressure. Through evidence-based education, we are raising industry standards and challenging outdated perceptions, ensuring that barefoot massage is recognized for its depth, skill, and impact. Our instructors don’t just teach, they each have an active practice with clients, keeping our techniques fresh, evolving, and responsive. We foster a community of lifelong learners, empowering therapists to refine their craft, embrace innovation, and build sustainable careers while advancing the future of barefoot massage together. You can read more about our Mission and Vision here.
Transferring in to our next-level classes is going away.
Since launching in 2017, we’ve allowed therapists trained in other Ashiatsu programs to transfer into our courses. However, as our standards have risen, the gap between our training and others has grown. To maintain the highest quality education, we’ll be phasing out this transfer option at the end of 2025. If you’ve been considering transferring in, now is the time.
Massage licensing is the way.
To uphold professional standards, we only train Licensed Massage Therapists legally eligible to provide therapeutic massage. In states without regulation (CA, VT, KS, MN), we now require proof of 500-hour massage training and professional liability insurance. We support licensure and license portability and continue advocating for national standards in our field.
Latest articles & Deep Dives: a Soleful, mindful feed!
I’ve been trying my best to stick to a schedule of making a long-read post once every 6 weeks. This is one of them, so I’m on track! Submerse yourself into the previous 5-10 minute reads full of content that won't fit in an Instagram post. Everything published to Substack is saved like a blogpost, so if you missed any of our recent articles, click the image above and enjoy the read!
Recently on our Instagram profile, Jeni shared the findings from a research paper and how they directly related to barefoot massage. (See the March 11th carousel slideshow “FASCIA DOESN’T NEED TO BE BROKEN UP”) The very next week, Jeni posted a talking head video of herself, challenging you to read the actual article, then follow the rabbit hole of links, citations and sources that spiraled out from there. (See the “STOP DOOMSCROLLING!” video on March 17th!) Then in a 3rd part to this series of evidence-informed posts, Jeni showed you how to use your understanding of those knowledge bombs within conversations with clients to help retrain their pain. (See the “EVIDENCE-BASED CONVERSATIONS” subtitled, narrated video from March 26th-ish.)
Missed these posts? Check them out, leave a comment, and deepen your understanding of what we do underfoot!
FEETured class:
Click here to see when & where this class is offered next!
This month we’d like to “FEETure” the FasciAshi Range of Motion: Stretch Therapy class! People commonly think this class is Thai Massage: but it is definitely NOT! Although every lineage of Thai, Shiatsu or other forms of matwork that has been taken up to the table will blend wonderfully with this work, our expertise is in the fascial focus within each movement we take our clients through underfoot. This class will focus on how to apply full body Active & Resisted Range of Motion work to mobilize your clients💥
The science of it all:
This is amazing work for when you need to stabilize joints. Got hypermobile clients? They don’t need a stretch, they need strength. Got hypomobile clients? They may not be able to be passively stretched very far, they actually need strength, too! Resistance stretching can lead to significant improvements in muscle strength throughout a joints range of motion more so than from static, passive stretching alone. Studies have shown that active stretching contributes to increased flexibility and strength.
Want to read some research relevant to the content presented in this class? Check this out.
Who teaches the ROM/Stretch Therapy class?
Erin Poovey in Colorado Springs - offering class 2-3x/annually
Dawn Dotson in Albany, New York - offering class 4-6x annually
Ashley Shears in California - offering class about 6x/annually
Jeni Spring in San Antonio, Texas - usually offering it 2x/annually + 1 special Intermediate/ROM Intensive class.
Julie Marciniak in Durham, North Carolina - now offering it 1x/annually.
MC Fredette in Cincinnati, Ohio- occasionally offering it, possibly 1x/annually
Upcoming Training Schedule:
Click here to see all upcoming classes available in chronological order.
If you are looking for a certain class, your fave instructor or a specific location, don’t forget that you can use the pull-down-menu filters (located at the bottom of the page for mobile devices, and on the left side for laptops.) If the class is “SOLE’d Out” and full, it will have a red banner on it that says “Out of Stock.”
No FOMO: Travel once, train twice! Special back-to-back immersion experiences:
March in California:
April in Alabama:
May in Missouri:
July in North Carolina:
September in San Antonio:
October in Southern California:
October in San Antonio:
October in North Carolina:
December in Missouri:
That’s all for now!
Don’t forget to check out the Frequently Asked Questions (we call them Footnotes) on the website for links to info you need to know. AND, don’t forget to find a Barefoot Massage near you (or get yourself listed) on our Sole Provider Directory here.
Heads up that if you listen to the audio of this post, the AI voice pronounces ~FaaashiAshi~ as "FaskiAski" lol. That's how you know the robots still can't take our massage jobs, LOL, if they can't pronounce it correctly, they sure as heck can't actually DO the work!