“How do I soften my feet?” … “What exercises or stretches can I do before training?”
“What do I need to do to be physically ready for barefoot massage training?”
Barefoot Massage is going to recruit a lot of muscles that you may not be using in your daily movements.
In time, barefoot massage will become easy on your body and can evolve into something that is a pain-saving, career-lengthening, friendly-to-your-body solution for many work-induced aches… but at first it will be challenging.
We started the annual “Barefoot Massage Open”, which was a 5-week long challenge to try something new each week. There is a series specifically about mobility and strength intended for Barefoot Massage Therapists, taught by Dawn Dotson, our New York instructor, Yoga Teacher and Crossfit coach. We highly recommend you try each challenge and work through each one for a week at a time leading up to your class with us!
Here are the mobility challenges: Each entry has a blog post and video to help you.
- Feet: BAREFOOT MASSAGE OPEN 2.1: #Mobility Week 1
- Knees: BAREFOOT MASSAGE OPEN 2.2: #Mobility Week 2
- Hips: BAREFOOT MASSAGE OPEN 2.3: #Mobility Week 3 + Stretching Those Hip Flexors
- Spine: BAREFOOT MASSAGE OPEN 2.4: #Mobility Week 4
- Shoulders: BAREFOOT MASSAGE OPEN 2.5: #Mobility Week 5
Even Experienced Barefoot Massage Therapists need new exercises!
Our 2024 Barefoot Massage Challenge focuses on strength, movement, self massage and awareness exercises to help prevent or rehab yourself from the common imbalances that we see in our students. Dive into 4-weeks worth of topics, with multiple activities to work on suggested by our instructor team:
Hips: 4 videos + help by way of how your lubrication impacts your body mechanics!
Knees/Ankles: 4 videos + how the FasciAshi Strap helps you maintain rockin’ body mechanics when range of motion restrictions in your ankles try to cause compensations in your body.
Feet: Coming 3/22, 4 videos + help on how to work on your own alignment while working just by changing what you are standing on.
Ribs/Core/Diaphragm: Coming 3/29 4 videos + body mechanics help just by how you position your clients on the table.
Need help softening your heels?
You’ll need to exfoliate and hydrate your feet into tools that are as soft as your hands – and it’s best to do as much as that as you can BEFORE class, so that your student partner can focus on giving you feedback about the strokes, rather than only noticing rough spots on your heels.
We have a lot of tips and tricks for softening your feet, but start with a professional pedicure. Follow these links for help and inspiration pertaining to pedi-perfectness!