A Little More About Me…

I have had people ask me a few questions…

• Where and how did you learn ashiatsu?
• What type of people did you work with in your practice?
• Why another ashiatsu course?

I hope this post answers a few questions for you.

In my twelve years as a massage therapist, I have taken both live and home study ashiatsu courses from various instructors. I enjoyed taking both seminar and home study courses. Each has advantages and disadvantages.

The seminars I have taken have been primarily at local massage schools. I have taken both beginner and advanced courses. I have also studied a few other barefoot techniques, but ashiatsu has remained my focus and passion.

Seminars allowed me to visit with colleagues, learn new techniques, get feedback from a few strangers, travel, and share some of my techniques and experiences with colleagues.

Home study courses allowed me to take my time; to review videos over and over again, to learn and absorb a little each day instead of being overwhelmed with new information. I was able to work with/on friends, family and colleagues that I could trust to give me honest feedback.

Over the years, I have got my hands on every book, manual, and DVD about barefoot massage I could find in the US and around the world. In my basement, I have amassed quite a collection. I have shared a few of these resources on my blog.

There is not one person, book, country, or course that I trace my work to, but my work is a compilation of years of reading, listening, experiencing barefoot work myself, and practicing. I describe my style as simple, efficient, and geared towards practitioners with clients seeking pain and stress relief.

Here is how I started my journey to learn more about ashiatsu barefoot massage.

The Beginning... A temporary set in my basement. Rough.

I read about barefoot massage and ashiatsu shortly after I graduated from massage therapy school. I was immediately eager to learn more about it.

At that time I was busy with my new massage practice, newly married, and a building a new home. I decided to build my first set of bars in my unfinished basement, at least temporarily. This project was pretty easy compared to the rest of the projects we had going at the time.

Not the most ideal beginning, but tell the twenty-three year old me that.

I wanted to see if this technique was for me. I was a mad scientist working in my basement on volunteers in my family. I was hooked.

After practicing for nearly a year, I was ready to introduce this to my clients. I set out to build another set of bars in my office.

I worked inside a chiropractic clinic. The chiropractor I worked with also happened to be my dad (pretty lucky, huh?) I knew he was not going to let me do anything that was going to jeopardize his clients, or the business. He had experienced the work and knew it was safe to move forward.

With his permission, up to the attic I went.

Much better this time.

I introduced ashiatsu to my massage clients. Most of my clients were chiropractic patients who were seeking pain relief, but wanted a little bit of relaxation.

I can honestly say most clients were immediately hooked. Clients reported improvements in after introducing ashiatsu. The difference it was making to my clients was obvious to me, my clients, and my dad.

It quickly got around town about the new modality I was offering. People wanted to try it. I continued to stay very busy.

A few years ago, I started to write my ashiatsu course eBook. This took a few years to complete.

After it was finished, I sent it to colleagues around the country to critique and review. I took their suggestions about how I could make the best course possible.

I released the Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage course in April of 2012. I added videos, lots of pictures, and everything I thought other courses, DVDs, and books lacked.

There are already ashiatsu courses, why another one?

I live in Iowa. I more than understand that CE courses are not always close and require extensive travel. I am a mom and business owner, so I also understand that time away from a family or business is not easy to maneuver.

I know there are more massage therapists who want to learn this technique and I want to make that happen. And I truly believe there are many massage therapists that can learn this modality in a home study format. I have done it, and if you are self-learner, I willing to bet you can too.

I have been a continuing education provider for a few years now. My company, Advanced Massage Techniques, offers home study courses. Along with offering the ashiatsu course, I assist massage therapists wishing to transfer their massage license to Florida, as well as offer ethics courses for Florida license renewal and NCTMB renewal.

We have great feedback from our customers as we focus on individual communication with every person who buys a course. We are committed to giving ten percent of course proceeds to two fantastic charities. Last year we were able to give $1000 to SmileTrain and $1000 to The Massage Therapy Foundation.

I also have a blog, Massage & Bloggywork, where I post about lots of different massage therapy topics.

When I am not on my table, or in front of the computer, I’m enjoying two little girls; one through the miracle of birth and one through the miracle of adoption via China. My husband now works at home, helping me with this business and homeschooling our little girls (it is a busy house).

My father recently retired, so I now work with two new chiropractors in the office two mornings a week keeping ashiatsu massage alive and well in rural Iowa.

Of course, there is more to my story. I will share all that information as I continue this blog. What I am really excited about is sharing more information about ashiatsu barefoot massage with you.

I also hope you will share your story about your path and experience as ashiatsu barefoot practitioner with me. Please tell me about your path to ashiatsu in the comments section below.