It’s been personally rewarding working on this series of “A Year of Giving Back,” and it’s inspiring me beyond my usual promotions. For example, April is more than Easter and Tax Day. It has Foot Health Awareness, Youth Sports Safety Month, National Infertility Awareness Week; Stress Awareness month; Earth Day, and World Health Day. Any of these would be excellent to highlight depending on your personal priorities and clientele. I traditionally celebrate Earth Day, but in 2018 I’m also adding emphasis on Foot Health and Stress Awareness. My challenge was how to bring these three together in a cohesive manner. Then I came across a quote: “Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet” -Thich Nhat Hanh.
It’s official, April will be all about getting back in contact with Mother Earth. A lot of clients are getting their hands dirty getting back in their gardens for spring. And some of us, it’s time to start enjoying the feeling of connecting to the earth with our bare feet, which is a self-care technique called Earthing.
Special Offer
Foot treatments. You can offer just one or a package of four–once a week for the month. Biotone has quite a few protocol suggestions on their website. I recommend: Bare Your Sole; Heart and Soul; Rock and Sole and Pep in Your Step.
Lagniappe
Incorporate a 5 min foot polish into every session and remove it with a warm towel. Offer stress-relieving aromatherapy option. (20 drops of Relaxing Spa Complex or 10 drops of Stress Remedy Essential Oil to 1oz massage medium) to therapeutically enhance their massage experience.
Retail
feature Stress Remedy essential oil blend. Place several related retail items together to form a basket deal. Mother’s day is right around the corner, so that it might be an excellent promotion coupled with a gift certificate special.
Wellness Education
Provide information on the effects of stress and how massage counters those effects. Check out Pinterest and the Internet for ideas that you can easily customize for your practice. Many of my clients are into aromatherapy to share the traditions of essential oils used for stress relief. I may even produce a flyer on Earthing. I will definitely display uplifting quotes though out my space and correspondence.
Giving Back
A great way to promote Earth Day and your business is to offer complimentary foot treatments in a casual seated setting. I include a protocol I use when I teach “Seated Spa” that can be performed fully dressed and use a massage or regular chair. This is ideal for health fairs, coop events, or even within the four walls of a business you are connected to, such as a gym, salon, or clinic. The donations collected could be passed on to local earth-based charities like community and teaching gardens. It’s a great way to develop networking relationships.
Kiss the Earth with Your Feet Treatment
Products:
1 oz Micro Buff Exfoliate
1 oz Mud Masque
½ oz Calming or Serenity Aromatherapy Massage Lotions
Stress Remedy Essential Oils
Equipment needed:
4 moist towels 1 towel
Electric booties Pre-cut wrap or Bags
Procedure:
- Have client sit comfortably in a chair
- Customize Micro Buff and the Mud with a couple of drops of EO’s. ( I pre-measure and store mine in snack bags. )
- Massage the client’s foot with exfoliating in a circular motion; pay close attention to callused areas.
- Remove all exfoliate and pat dry with a towel.
- Cover the foot with mud, and plastic bag/wrap, then place in an electric bootie. Repeat with the alternate foot.
- Let the client rest for a total of 15 minutes. Note: this is a good opportunity to layer: neck pack, hand treatment, or even continue with neck massage.
- Unwrap the first foot and remove the mud with a warmed moist towel Repeat with the alternate foot.
- Perform foot massage with lotion. You can use stones to make it more effective and memorable.
I challenge you to try out any or all of these ideas, and I leave you with a quote from one of my heroes: “As you walk the sacred earth, treat each step as a prayer” Black Elk
Be well, Do good work, and remember to tread lightly on Mother Earth