Barefoot Massage versus Foot Massage: What’s the diff?
One is a massage FROM feet, and another is a massage TO feet!
Are you a Barefoot Massage Therapist? Use this content as inspiration for educating your local community on what our work is all about: share this post with your followers, or rewrite it to fit your voice and vibe! Maybe you are someone who loves to receive massage and bodywork, or maybe you are a bodyworker of some kind who is curious about those of us who use our feet as tools, then this post is to help you better understand what Barefoot Massage is all about!
“Is it like reflexology?” This is one of the most common questions I hear.
I’m sure at some point in your life you have had an amazing foot rub or foot massage service – and they are definitely a treat for your feet! If you saw the term “Barefoot Massage,” it makes sense that you’d be quick to associate it with something like that. I’ve got some good news and some bad news for you…
The bad news is: that’s not what a Barefoot Massage is.
The good news? Barefoot Massage is just as awesome than a foot massage, and you can still get your feet massaged during it!
A Barefoot Massage means that a Massage Therapist works your entire body with their feet.
Barefoot Massage Therapy is a style of bodywork that is much different than a foot massage or reflexology session. A Barefoot Massage Therapist will use a hybrid of techniques similar to what you might think of as “back walking” …but even that terminology falls way short! It’s actually not as common for us to use both feet at the same time, more often we are moving slowly with one foot at a time, maybe holding pressure with part of the second foot somewhere, and although there can be some alternating compressions that step carefully into your body, it’s definitely not as simple as walking on you. Massage from the feet offers an advanced therapeutic form of deep tissue myofascial release and facilitated stretching that creates a deeper than deep pressured, full body experience.
These Barefoot Massages are great for chronic low back, hip and shoulder pain. As we gradually apply our own body weight through our foot into your muscles, we have the leverage and gravity to sink into the deepest layers of your muscle and connective tissue, able to free up stuck, adhesive areas. This creates a neuromuscular recalibration within yourself that changes the way your body process and responds to pain, while also increasing range of motion in the joints. What you’ll experience is MUCH different than how you used to walk on your dad’s back.
To learn more about the many techniques and styles of barefoot massage that exist, click here.
Here’s a little insight from our insoles on what a typical foot massage is:
We don’t teach Reflexology, but that work in itself is a very specialized technique that is more than just a foot rub, and is seen as a holistic practice that treats the entire body and person by using finger pressure along a map of points on your foot, face and ears. Practitioners of this work are not always Licensed Massage Therapists – but they are professionals who should have at least attended an accredited education class, and can affiliate themselves with a reflexology association, an alliance group, certification board, or the like.
What is Reflexology?
Reflexology is a protocol of manual techniques, such as thumb- and finger-walking, hook and backup and rotating-on-a-point, applied to specific reflex areas predominantly on the feet and hands. These techniques stimulate the complex neural pathways linking body systems, supporting the body’s efforts to function optimally.
The effectiveness of reflexology is recognized worldwide by various national health institutions and the public at large as a distinct complementary practice within the holistic health field.
-American Reflexology Certification Board
Just like how Barefoot Massage is not Foot Massage, keep in mind that Foot Massage is not Reflexology.
(Confusing!??! To the public, it can be, we know. We hope this helps delineate the differences!) A foot massage or foot rub that you may receive during a pedicure or in a strip mall shop is typically a relaxing lotion application given by the practitioners HANDS, working on your skin, with some attention to superficial (shallow) aspects of your lower limbs and feet. Nail Technicians at your local Pedi Palace are trained and licensed pro’s – however the bulk of their schooling hours are focused on different topics, less on the pathology or effects of touch therapy to the foot and legs than what a Massage Therapist would be taught. Strip mall shops sometimes employ those who are not licensed for massage necessarily, but through any regulatory board or agency – they may just be someone with a knack for rubbing feet (or they may be legit Reflexologists.) Although it all feels lovely, the foot massage service you’ll receive in a chair stems from their natural talent, and is typically intended as an add-on or filler service to their focal point of nail care. Typically, you’ll want to go to a Licensed Massage practitioner to get a therapeutic foot massage.
What about a Barefoot Foot Massage?
We actually do that! Almost every class that the Center for Barefoot Massage teaches to it’s students includes some element of work focused on the clients feet! For deep manipulation of the dense fascia that starts at your feet and travels throughout your whole body, the pressure delivered from the feet of a Barefoot Massage Therapist can help relieve a lot of foot and even full body-related issues. As we massage your feet, the pressure penetrates to the tarsals, metatarsals (foot bones!) and then creates a chain effect that impacts the mobility of your ankles, knees and hips. So many peoples stiff, immobile feet need help getting loosened up so that your gait and posture can be set free to move with more fluidity.
If you are looking for a Barefoot Massage near you, locate one of our Myofascial Ashiatsu and Fijian Matwork Barefoot Massage Therapists who can use their feet to massage you - you’ll be able to find whoever wants to be found on our Sole Provider Directory here