Students in Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy class

This is a photo of 3 students working on 3 guest clients during the last day of our Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy Barefoot Basics class in Cincinnati.

We are one of the few continuing education classes for massage therapists that bring in "real clients" for LMTs to practice on.

The massage therapists frequently report that the experience is a highly valuable one, and they greatly appreciate the opportunity.

I still have room in my April Cincinnati class as well as in our March class in Austin, TX.

Check out http://www.affintiymassages.com/ for more information.

Undressing to comfort level

When I was in massage school, the teachers told us that our clients should undress to their comfort level. Looking back at my first massage, though, when the therapist told me that, I didn't have a clue. How did I know what I was comfortable with when nobody had ever given me a massage before?

First time clients are often nervous enough as it is. If you tell them WHY they should undress a certain way, that will make sense to them. For instance, if you want to work skin-on-skin on a certain area, you can tell them that it'll feel much better, that your flow will be smoother and that you can be more accurate.

Or you can say, "If you take off such and such, I won't have to worry about getting créme on it. I know I hate when that happens."

I think that makes your massage easier and gives the client an additional level of comfort.

www.affinitymassages.com

Getting a massage

How often do clients ask you how often you get a massage? And how often DO you get a massage? Can we ask them honestly to come back once a week or once a month for "maintenance" if we don't do it ourselves?

Taking care of yourself by getting a massage does a lot of good. And if you do a trade, all it costs is your time. Here's new mantra--take care of ourselves like we take care of others.

Not much!

I had a brilliant idea for a blog today during a massage, but it was a long massage (2 hours), and now I've forgotten it. So...

If you love massage, make sure you figure out a way to make it happen. Firemen and EMTs work really hard--they'd be great people to market to. Put up some cards on Whole Food's bulletin boards. Have an open house at your office. Give away free chair massages at a barber shop.

Website changes

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. Don't hurt yourself by working too hard today...

I made a few changes to my website, one of which is a flash intro. Please let me know if it's too slow to load or if the flashes bother you! Looking forward to nonpartial feedback! Of course, if you like it, you can let me know that too.

www.massageclasses.info links to the site, as well as www.affinitymassages.com and www.ashiatsuworkshops.com .

Appreciation for a good massage therapist

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and a lot of massage therapists are dreading the 9-5. I'm not really sure why people feel the need to show their love only on one "special" day of the year (or 2, if you count Sweetest Day). But they do, so many massage therapists are busy.

Which, of course, is good for the bottom dollar. But the problem is that many LMTs do 6-8 or more hours of massage just on this day alone. As a client, you're better off getting a massage before noon! As a therapist, we try to give each client the same quality massage, whether it's the first or the ninth of the day.

Last year I did 7 hours of hands on couples' massage on Valentine's Day, something I don't care to repeat. See, I'm not used to the hands on any more. I do deep tissue with my feet. My wrists and forearms felt like liverwurst at the end of the day.

But the clients loved their massages. And so to you hard working massage therapists, know that your clients do appreciate you, and hopefully, they'll compensate you for a job well done.

Client comfort

In my opinion, if a client's feet are cold during a massage, it ruins the massage. Especially this time of year (for those of us who live in winter climates), it's important to remember simple things that can make our clients return to us.

Do you use a heating pad on your table? Eartlite sells a fabulous digital heating pad that is inset in fleece. It adds an extra layer of cushion, and you can set the temperature up to 160 or so. I usually keep mine at a toasty 118 to keep the clients cozy.

How warm is your room? Although we may get hot during a session, it's important for the client to stay warm. How about keeping the room a little warmer, and you can use an oscillating fan up high where you'll feel the breeze, but the client won't?

Can you keep your client's feet warm? I usually use a little camping heater set on a small table at the foot of the table, aimed right at the client's feet. You can also use microwaveable flax packs (Mother Earth Pillows has some lovely ones).

Can larger therapists take our classes?

Many therapists assume that we have a height and/or weight restriction for our Ashiatsu classes. Not so, brown cow, as the saying goes!

For our Barefoot Basics class, all the strokes are one footed on the posterior side of the body. So if the client needs less pressure, the therapist simply shifts his or her weight onto the foot that's on the table.

Check out http://www.affinitymassages.com/ for more frequently asked questions.

As you can see by this photo, there are therapists of all sizes, from tiny to average to muscular and heavy. And Rick too--he's not a tiny little thing!

Ashiatsu and pregnancy

Here I am showing Adrianne in Birmingham, AL some fancy footwork this past weekend.

See my belly? I'm 22 weeks (5+ months) pregnant here and have no problems doing Ashiatsu, getting on the table or teaching.

Ashiatsu is a great way to keep in shape during pregnancy! When I was expecting twins, my clients loved the additional pressure they got as a direct results of my weight, and I only gained 25 pounds.

With my last baby, I gained about 20 lbs and worked up until a couple of days before I was due.

And the babies were all above average size, with the twins being 6 lbs each (that's 12 lbs of baby!) and the single baby being 8 lbs, 12 oz.

AMTA KY convention

I will be doing demonstrations of Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy and handing out brochures at the AMTA Kentucky chapter annual meeting.

Last year, despite near blizzard conditions, the convention had over 200 attendees. We look forward to seeing you again this year!

www.affinitymassages.com

Bamboo-fusion Visage (for the face)

Not yet available for massage therapy CEUs, if the Bamboo-fusion Visage facial set is available for purchase online. Regular price is $99.95 for the Visage stick set and $49.95 for the video. However, if you take our next Bamboo-fusion table class, you can purchase the set for a significant discount.

The Visage stick set is available for $80 and the instructional DVD for $40. That's a savings of $30. This offer is ONLY good if you take our class and purchase the set either on the first or second day of class.

www.affinitymassages.com/bamboo_classes has all the information about our classes scheduled in Cincinnati!