Structural Integration and Myofascial Barefoot Massage: Whats the diff?

The classroom in Maine where Jeni is learning all the things.

Hey everyone, it’s Jeni Spring, LMT from Heeling Sole in San Antonio, Texas! I’ve been in training learning a lot lately, and you’ve probably noticed that I’ve been trying new things out on you in sessions. I’ve noticed mixed messages in my marketing as I figure out how to explain whatever it is that I’m doing with my feet lately. Some of these things are very different than usual, some are more refined versions of what I may have been doing already, and some things seem unchanged. Those unchanged things are the crossover of info that I got right apparently, (or I’m too in love with the effects of that particular original move to change it!) …everything else you experience in a massage with me is an evolution of the way I am working.

I’m not exactly sure where I’m going with implementing everything I am learning.

I am travelling back and forth to Walpole, Maine often to attend an intensive training at Anatomy Trains, a Structural Integration/Bodywork school. I mainly just want the knowledge and a deeper understanding of how to influence tissue in ways that encourages a longer lasting change. My explanations of what I’m learning is also evolving the more I get into it. So from where my level of understading is at today, let me try and explain the differences between my Myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massages that I’ve been doing for years, and the Anatomy Trains style of Strutural Integration that I am sneaking in. Here goes:

What are the two styles of massage/bodywork I’m doing at Heeling Sole?

Anatomy Trains Structural Integration (ATSI) is a bodywork approach that focuses on balancing the connective tissue network of the body, known as the fascia. Fascia is a three-dimensional web-like structure that surrounds and supports every muscle, bone, organ, and nerve in the body. ATSI practitioners use a variety of hands-on techniques to manipulate and reorganize the fascia, with the goal of restoring balance and ease of movement, so that no one strand of tissue is ever working outside of it’s job description and compensating for something else. It’s also touching into a deep interoceptive and proprioceptive awareness with conscious control – which is the secret sauce to making the suggested postural changes stick. ATSI Pratitioners use their hands to do all this work, but since I am “Jeni Fuckin’ Spring” and I like to do things the hard way, I chose to use my feet whenever it’s best for you/me.

Myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage is a form of massage therapy that also focuses on the fascia but is always performed using the feet instead of the hands. To be fair, the style I use is the style I developed here at Heeling Sole and teach at The Center for Barefoot Massage, which is an evolution of basic effleurage/relaxation/glidey ashiatsu massage, with everything myofascial I learned along the way (including my earlier understanding of Tom Myers’s Anatomy Trains fascial lines.) During a myofascial ashiatsu barefoot massage session, (I nicknamed it “FasciAshi“) the therapist uses their feet to apply deep pressure and stretching to the client’s muscles and fascia, with the goal of releasing tension and improving mobility. Although a deeper sence of interoceptive awareness and inner sensations are experiened, the slow speed, depth and broadness of the strokes tend to send a person into a deep, almost disassociated trance that can be helpful in reducing high levels of anxiety and stress, as well as keeping the volume of chronic pain to a lower level.

Key Differences:

While both ATSI and myofascial ashiatsu barefoot massage share a focus on the fascia, there are some key differences between the two approaches. ATSI is a highly specialized form of bodywork that requires an extensive 500+ hour training and certification. It is typically performed in a series of twelve sessions, with each session targeting a specific area of the body, working as a long project between practitioner and client with an end goal in better alignment to reduce the compensations that may be the root of pain and mobility issues. Myofascial barefoot massage is a specialized massage modality that requires an already licensed massage therapist to attend 3-11 days of continuing education training to perform. The work is typically catered to the “kneads” of the day, often chasing pain, often retouching on the same issue as part of a persons self-care/maintenance routine, not typically incorporating a multi-session plan.

Another key difference between ATSI and myofascial barefoot massage is the level of pressure used. While ATSI practitioners use a variety of techniques, including deep pressure, breath awareness, movement and postural assessments throughout the session, they typically work at a more moderate pressure, although more specific with their aim, than myofascial barefoot massage does. This is because ATSI is a highly structured and precise, almost prescribed approach that requires a more subtle, yet specific, touch to achieve its goals over the course of 3 or 12 sessions. Myofascial barefoot massage, on the other hand, (foot?) uses a combination of strokes intuitively aimed into adhesed layers of tissue and trigger points, but the broad pressure of a big foot dulls the intensity of the depth and specifity.

Overall, both ATSI and myofascial barefoot massage can be effective in improving mobility, reducing pain, and restoring balance to the body’s fascial network and alignment. Right now I’m blending everything based on the brain space that I happen to have in the moment during your session. Structural Integration is amazing, but very hard to peice together while I learn the ropes – it’s not intuitive yet for me. Myofascial barefoot massage comes easily, but I do hope to combine the best of both worlds eventually.

Jeni’s binder from the 3rd section of the Anatomy Trains Structural Integration certification program

And another thing!

Just so you aren’t confused by other brand names out there, I should probably mention that what I am learning is based on the pioneering work of Dr. Ida Rolf.  Although I am learning a lot about the genius of this woman who was way ahead of her time, I’m not learning and won’t be providing her or her institutes approach to bodywork. Don’t say the “R” word! (This is also NOT the piano-playing dog muppet Rolph.) Ida Rolf’s technique is a different lineage to the style of Structural Integration that I am learning from Tom Myers and his crew of instructors: Lou Benson, Kelly Chadwick, Debby Dower and Meredith Stevens. Furthering this disclaimer a step deeper, the Myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage “FasciAshi” technique that I teach through the Center for Barefoot Massage and provide here at Heeling Sole is not the same style as Ruthie Hardee’s Ashiatsu DeepFeet Bar Therapy. Same tool, different theory, different approach, different lineage. I am trying to stay clean and clear on my terms, to help avoid confusion between the brand names and their individual focuses. ALSO, when I combine the ATSI work with my FasciAshi work, I’m not teaching or presenting any of that content in my CBM classes, either. I invested a lot of money and time into this learning experience, and it’s “solely” going back into my private practice for the clients I step on in San Antonio: I am not teaching Barefoot SI work and I have no plans to …unless Tom invites me, LOL.

Thanks for reading this key-word loaded brain dump of information. Assuming you actually read it. All that matters is that Google will read it. Maybe HeelingSole.com will rank higher in search results for Structural Integration bodywork in San Antonio with Jeni Spring. (Kidding, not kidding)