Barefoot Basics:

 

To see a full class listing, check out http://heelingsole.com/workshops.html

Of course Ashiatsu also works on the anterior aspect of the body!!!

For the Texas AOBT trained therapists out there, this blog's for you:

Toes on the nose:    

Nope - we don't massage the face or the abdomen, but Anterior/Sidelying (I'm going to call it A/S since it's so long to type out!) not only continues the flow of Barefoot Basics strokes onto the front side of the body - it also gets very specific and works on the areas that "knead" it most, even if your clients don't think that's where the problems really lie. You know better than that - with this class under your belt, you can flip them over and give some work inspired by Rolfing and Myofascial Release with your feet! In class, we teach you a simple 15 minute protocol for Anterior, and a 20 minute protocol for Sidelying that will hit everything you wish you were already working on. Check out this picture of Veronica's Upper Traps and Levator being lengthened and muscle stripped with ease. Now she can stop wearing those shoulders like earrings, it's just a small example of the many things you'll learn in one quick day! Wait until you feel the QL release! If you are an AOBT trained LMT, and if you haven't taken this course yet, what are you waiting for?! Prereq's are successfull completion of Barefoot Basics and an active LMT license.

 

A/S Class Schedule:

• September 25, Anterior/Side-Lying, Houston TX
  (Sun) REGISTER BY SATURDAY 9/10/11
• *November 14, Anterior/Side-Lying, Dallas TX
  (Sun) Taught by Mary-Claire Fredette
• December 4, Anterior/Side-Lying, San Antonio TX
  (Sun) 4 spots left
• January 16, Anterior/Side-Lying, Houston TX
  (Sun) New addition to the schedule!
• February 21, Anterior/Side-Lying, San Antonio TX
  (Mon) 8 spots left
• May 21, Anterior/Side-Lying, San Antonio TX
  (Sun) 8 spots left
• June 7, Anterior/Side-Lying, Dallas TX
  (Thurs) 8 spots left

Advanced Ashiatsu (AKA DF2/Fusion)

It's coming not this weekend, but NEXT! Class is Friday-Sunday September 16-18 in San Antonio. If you are an AOBT graduate, already finished your A/S training, have about 6-9 months of Barefoot Basics practice, AND have your AOBT Certification completed, then talk to me so we can discuss if you are ready to learn the double footed Ashiatsu strokes! It is HARD, so I will be completely honest with you if I think you are ready for it. Here's some tips from Mary-Claire on how to prepare (I love how I can rhyme her name with so many things!)  

 

Shoestring budget?

I am now a vendor for Earthlite! I can get you 15% off anything from Earthlite, INCLUDING the extra special custom Ashiatsu table! (Depending on options you choose, it starts at $345 - fully custom, free shipping - perfect for AOBT.)

I just ordered the Armrest Bolsters ($38.25 after discount) and with a little practice on my footing, it really has helped me keep my clients arms where I want them - they don't roll way forward and off the front of the table, and if the client would rather have their arms lay on the table, they can now rest a little wider out on these extenders, and there is still the normal room on the table next to their waist for me to stand! Surf Earthlite and email me with whatever supplies you want, I'll put in the order and get you that discount! 

 

See you in class!

-Jeni

 

 

 

 

A few weekends ago I held a Barefoot Basics and Anterior/Sidelying classes in San Antonio, and it was amazing as usual! Here's Colleen, Jaime, David, upsidedown me, Betsy, Kim & Shanna:

And from the Anterior/Sidelying class there was Colleen, Shanna, Suzanne, and April:

Whats next

• September 7-8th, Ashi-Thai workshop in San Antonio. $399, 16 CE, register HERE
• October 1-3, Barefoot Basics in Germany! More info HERE
• I'll be at the Houston AMTA meeting on September 12th presenting Ashiatsu, another 3 CE opportunity.
• Ashiatsu at the Ft Worth TAMT Massage Conference October 15-17 offering a 4 CE class as well as a booth in the vendor hall. Stop by to get some Ashi-Shwag and a massage!
• Existing Ashiatsu graduates: don't miss the Ashiatsu refresher courses in Austin, Houston, and Dallas! 3 Hours, 3 CE's, $75, we'll focus on your body mechanics, application of the strokes, and questions from you!

See http://www.heelingsole.com/workshops.html for the updated schedule.

Guest CE classes coming to San Antonio this fall:

September 19-20, Fijian Massage, www.barefootmassage.org
(Sun-Mon) Taught by Christyn Rittenhouse, the top instructor under the modalities founder, Lolita Knight, for Fijian Massage

October 3-4, Bamboo-Fusion, www.bamboo-fusion.com
(Sat-Sun) Taught by Dari Haffie, instructor under the modalities creator and master of Bamboo Massage Therapy, Nathalie Cecilia.

So now onto actual massaging! For you clients out there, I'm massaging at the office, schedule your session online or call 210.967.4400 to get on my table and under my feet!
~Jeni

Welcome with me the newest additions to our Ashi family from my fun little class this past weekend: Our ever-growing Texas crew now includes Samantha from San Antonio, Karen from Austin, and Lan from Houston, and we had Arelys from Terry Mississippi, drive alllll the way out! Give a super big re-welcoming to Dawn from Weisbaden Germany, who has been an Ashi-diva since 2005, but came all the way to Texas to get her Anterior/Sidelying and Ashi-Thai training to take home and unleash on those Germans!!!
They all are fabulous with their feet!

I am about to bring more awesome Ashiatsu to Texas - you've all been waiting for it, now it's coming! Some of you know might remember seeing this class listed as "Deep Feet 2" back in the day, some of you know it as "the doubles"... well now it's vamped up and has been combined with the Fusion class, ready to be unleashed on Texas as "ADVANCED ASHIATSU"!!

I currently have one of these amazing and awesome Advanced Ashi classes scheduled in San Antonio on February 26-28th, 2010. Ruthie's coming! She and I will teach you how to safely apply the deepest most luxurious massage, with two feet! Get double the instructor attention, feedback and demonstrations, double your fun! You've seen me do these advanced techniques, now you can too. I'm going to have an army of 20 guest clients for us to practice on over the course of those 3 days. Yes, I did say 20. Practice practice practice, and practice some more. You will be made of steel after graduating this workshop!

If you still find yourself needing to go deeper even when you are using what you've learned from Barefoot Basics, then come take this one. Register now and click here!

OK, so what's NOT to like about this class? Well, for one, you need to have the strength to safely release your body weight into the clients body and be able to pull, twist, thrust, propel and slide yourself ever-so-gracefully between strokes to create a peaceful session. Gotta make this stuff luxurious you know, it's not "NO PAIN NO GAIN" for the client. (But maybe for you!) Go get strong!

Here are some exersize ideas to slip into your New Years resolution:

1: Pull ups and push ups are your friend. Go try some!
2: Pilates must be your sidekick, not your nemesis. Get that core STRONG LIKE BULL!
3: Grip strength is important - no cheater moves here with yoga straps supporting you up, no resting your wrists on top of the bars, its all hands on deck this time. Practice squeezing stress balls, and give strong handshakes! Guitar Center has a rad grip strength doo-dad that I like.
4: Use your bars for the ultimate test: condition your body by holding onto your bars, palms facing in, Rhomboids, Traps and Lats held strong, neck long, spine straight, and raise both legs straight out at the same time to be parallel with the floor, your body is in an "L" shape: hold that for 2 minutes!
5: Confidence comes from within - train your mind that you can do this! Think positively, eat healthy, sleep well, drink more water, and practice what you preach.

Here's the bit of news you ~may~ not like: I don't think I'll teach this class outside of San Antonio for a w-h-i-l-e. Why? I've got to come up with your meat, the guest clients, to massage for 3 days straight! It's hard to coordinate 20 men with the appropriate body type and no contraindications to come receive this work at very specific times in my own town, let alone in Dallas or anywhere else I teach. Most other AOBT instructors stick to one city to teach anyways, and being that I'm a multi-city instructor, this is where it gets tough. SO, I know I said I'd try to get up there ASAP, but it honestly isn't going to happen for a long while. And by long I mean, maybe not in 2010. I'll bring Ashi-Thai, Barefoot Basics and Anterior/Sidelying whenever I teach out of San Antone, though! (Hey Pacific Northwest, I'm looking your way!)

So for my dear Dallas and Houston area AOBT therapists, your consolation prize is this: $50 off my February Advanced Ashiatsu workshop if you live closer to Dallas or Houston than you do San Antonio.

In the meantime, go get strong to prepare for Advanced Ashi! As for me, I'm taking Aerial Dance lessons to get my muscles in gear:

Read more about Advanced Ashiatsu on my site and on Ruthie's. And remember: If you don't see someone listed on deepfeet.com as one of the modalities Associate Instructors, they aren't teaching you what they claim. Study from the source, train with the original, and learn it for real.

Later!
-Jeni

This Barefoot Basics and Anterior/Sidelying class was originally meant to happen in Austin as a private training, but not no more! Now it's in San Antonio and ready to roll. All it needs is your enrollment! Starting Friday November 13th, Barefoot Basics runs through Sunday November 15th, and the Anterior/Sidelying class is Monday November 16th. I need to know ASAP who is coming, so this is your last chance to register!

Visit http://heelingsole.com/workshops-registration.html and complete my registration form by this Thursday, November 4th, if possible. Then I will contact you with more information.

This is the last AOBT class in Texas for 2009, and we won't be offering another Barefoot Basics course until late February 2010. Get in while you still can!

Please PLEASE don't wait until the last minute to register!
****WELL, this is it, it's the last minute. If you were biting your nails trying to decide if you should come learn an amazing new form of bodywork starting tomorrow... now's the time to bite the bullet! Learn Ashiatsu this weekend and you'll be ready to start using your feet on your clients in a week. They'll need that pressure and change to survive the upcoming holiday season, and you'll need the change to stay ahead of the rest. Call me today to squeeze into the San Antonio class that starts tomorrow! 2106230026*** (updated 11/12/09)

Are you a dude? Do you like deep tissue massages? Would you volunteer your body to education? If so, we need YOU at our next San Antonio Ashiatsu workshop! This could be YOU:

On Sunday, November 15th from 12:45-3pm, and again from 2:45-5pm, I need volunteers to receive a massage from the students and give constructive feedback on the quality of their touch- which I will tell you what we're looking for on each move the student makes! Its a fun hour and a half massage where you can really help improve the therapists massage.

Please contact me no later than Wednesday November 4th, and I will fill you in on the details:
Jeni Spring
210-623-0026
jenispring@gmail.com

This weeked starts the Americal Massage Therapy Association's (AMTA) National Massage Therapy Awareness Week! Every year around October 25-31st its time to remind yourself to get back into the habit of taking care of your body with regularly scheduled massages.

Are you aware of what your body is telling you? Sometimes we are so busy in life that we have learned to tune out our own natural intuition, and we shut down the voices saying "Hey! I'm overworked! I need a massage!"

Not ~all~ the voices in your head are crazy, but the voices in your body are usually right! So listen to them and come in this week.

A barefoot massage will help you turn up the volume on your body's awareness channel, you'll start to see the warning signs for when that evil knot that lives in your shoulder is about to attack.

Let massage help you become more aware now, and you're body will thank you forever!