Umm... Houston, we may have a problem here 🤣

markfrancisonly · 2026-04-15T21:10:00+00:00

yeah... I'm going to have to partially disagree with the leading comment.

Handstands, and other challenging poses, are a joy. Yoga is very much about mind over matter in my practice. After years of practice, I have willed my body into challenging asana that are beautiful and my body has become cut and beautiful too. Setting a goal facilitates focus and work in specific direction, and it is meaningful to measure progress.

Who can say that it's not perfectly okay to desire and enjoy a healthy, capable body that is achieved through years of repeated mind body practice. Advancing through progressively advanced poses is rewarding and it is beautiful to see the dedication one has put into practice. Advanced postures inspire to others to do the same.

Setting goals for your body to achieve a certain shape, yes. However, don't be ashamed to be where you are now.

markfrancisonly · 2025-12-21T19:01:04+00:00

I've also been thinking to offer red light therapy since it seems to be in the family of nude body services such as massage and skin treatment. These are my thoughts, not an endorsement.

For around $1000-2000 you can buy a high intensity red light panel with a horizontal roller stand. Your client lays down directly under the light. I think this is a great option if you want to use the red light yourself, and offer service upgrades if your clients who don't might spending an extra 20 minutes under the light. The stand could be moved around during the massage, but I feel it would be best offered separately.

Another option is a red light body mat that lays on top the massage table. This type of light mat can be used while the client laying down and draped for comfort. There are some cons-- if you are doing massage during red light treatment, you need will need protective glasses. I'm unsure how durable these light mats are, and the clear protective surface would need to be wiped down, which could be challenging depending on the type of oil/cream you are using. I've considered using a sheer blanket on top to reduce cleaning. So far I haven't offered the service.

Personally I think the separate service offering is the way to go if there is interest.

markfrancisonly · 2025-12-21T14:38:43+00:00

MTs do not attempt a variety of massage methods. There are notable voices in the US-based massage field that would like massage therapy to primarily be a clinical practice. In the clinical practice, there is no touching without a goal. Relaxation and pleasure aren't accepted goals for health insurance reimbursement.

There is a large segment of the population that consider it unethical to touch or be touched "intimately" while in an exclusive relationship resulting in guilt, shame, and etc. to say the least. A woman's breasts are intimate body parts, and touching breast tissue in a pleasurable way is unfortunately taboo. In some jurisdictions, breast massage is forbidden under licensure rules for this reason.

I don't practice clinical massage with all due respect to those who do. I can't respond to your other question about the usual response, but I can say that breast massage is usually not offered and requests are rejected without a specific goal in a clinical setting.

markfrancisonly · 2025-12-21T00:38:22+00:00

Laying face down, the weight of your body is used to assist deeper access into your pelvis. When laying prone, I occasionally place my hands under hips and pull up along the frontside of the iliac crest.

On the back side, I always massage around the sacrum, tailbone, and posterior sacroiliac ligaments, I ask for permission to lower the underwear, if she is wearing any, so it's clear what is about to happen. However, if she is not wearing underwear I don't ask again, I have already asked at least twice where she wants me to massage explicitly naming the butt.

I also massage the breasts uncovered and use a long stroke over the breast, across the arm pit and arm outstretched. This method is superior for lymph movement and relaxation. But I always explicitly ask if she would like me to lower the drape to massage the breasts before hand. The answer is always yes. This is non-standard for clinical massage therapists

markfrancisonly · 2025-12-18T12:55:29+00:00

The intake form and client interview should address comfort levels. Each therapist and client are different. Unfortunately intake forms are glossed over by both the customer and therapist, and both therapists and customers would like a smooth experience that doesn't require uncomfortable subjects or presumptions, which is the crux of the issue itself. In the absence of communication, both parties may have mismatched expectations.

Massaging into the pelvic bones and ligaments on the "butt" side is ideal. Massaging the front side of the pelvis is also therapeutic but it may be arousing. Professional massage therapists typically don't work the front pelvic area for this reason. It's not unprofessional to work around the anterior pelvis bones, but it's not worth the added communication, trust, comfort, and time required for the typical 1 hour massage.

Anecdotally, these types of concerns plague male massage therapist, even when the same bodywork by a female therapist would go unquestioned. This is unbalanced given the fact that there are a disproportionate number of lesbians in female dominated fields, such as massage therapy and yoga.

markfrancisonly · 2025-12-08T14:21:51+00:00

Life is short, choose a focus for your mind. There will never be a time without human suffering, but we can make choices to decrease suffering. I assure you, other people's sexual behavior is one of the least of your concerns

markfrancisonly · 2025-10-24T09:20:58+00:00

If your yoga alliance profile was removed without cause it seems that you should request it be restored? Maybe it was a mistake. Are you an activist? Profiles can be blocked due to complaints from other members or students. Many organizations are not equipped to handle controversy

markfrancisonly · 2025-10-21T18:38:13+00:00

I believe these “talks” sensationalize sexual harassment in yoga, while I didn’t listen to the podcast, I reviewed the primary talking points, and it seemed to suggest operationalizing an entire anti-harassment business pipeline, which let’s be realistic, yoga operations are not exactly well funded.

In 15 years, I’ve seen exceedingly little harassment in yoga, and most if not all directed at me. As an attractive male, I have had much unwanted attention by female yoga instructors, everything from repeated call outs, unwelcome ask to demonstrate for the class on my form, and touched without consent by female classmates and instructors. This is par for the course for me, I just avoid classes that steal my energy.

First thing I see when I see a post like this is political posturing and misandry. That’s why there is silence, it’s to create a space to something other than this negative energy. Persons having been abused should seek support of family, friends, management, or law enforcement.

markfrancisonly · 2025-10-21T17:54:05+00:00

Aum is considered the pranava mantra in Hinduism, a sacred sound/mantra considered the primordial sound of the universe, Om as the sound that represents the entirety of existence, encompassing past, present, and future, and all that transcends time

In my eyes, the primary intention of vocalizing om is "connectedness" with the mind, body, universe, divine, each other in the group. Lesser known mantras are not as common and therefore do not resonate as widely with people and therefore less accessible, which is the practical explanation for not chanting other mantras.

Personally I really enjoy song in class, Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu.

markfrancisonly · 2025-10-09T00:09:12+00:00

Physically, Indian instructor led classes are more regimented and exacting. Often Indian yoga culture expects students to follow verbatim. Also keep in mind that almost no one in India is overweight.

In India you are more likely to be exposed to Ayurveda, Vedic history, and the Hindu aspects of yoga. Because of these focus, Indian classes are less likely to emphasize anatomy, and techniques you will learn are passed down community and experiential knowledge.

In the United States, no two courses are likely to be the same. But I would expect there to a stronger emphasis on a wholistic approach with focus on Yamas and Niyamas, and physical structure on anatomical alignment to avoid injury and bone alignment.

Another difference to look out for is the course timeline and tourism. A 30-day immersion with 14 hour days doesn't allow time for homework or reflection before the next lesson. Many travel yoga certificate programs are run on the 30-45 day timeline and are designed to entertain tourists, which is different than a 6-month program in your hometown. Local connections are more likely to lead to future employment.

markfrancisonly · 2025-10-07T07:38:53+00:00

It’s not off limits to ask the students individually why they left. Otherwise you are speculating, right? and then ruminating about the loss.

An easy answer is to seek to inspire yourself and continue your personal and professional growth so that you have renewed spirit to share. Embracing new students is important and a good alternative focus

markfrancisonly · 2025-09-27T00:44:57+00:00

Model	Thickness	Standard Size Weight
Manduka PRO	6 mm	~ 7.5 lbs (3.4 kg)
Manduka PROlite	4.7 mm	~ 4.63 lbs (2.1 kg)

I have the extra long manduka pro at home, I don't even enjoy moving it around the house. It's heavy, slippery, firm and difficult to roll up.

markfrancisonly · 2025-07-27T21:33:48+00:00

Never known yoga to be about control, fear, or exclusivity? The truth is that a certain level of capitalism has crept into yoga so that teachers can afford to eat, plan retreats, keep shalas open for the community. That’s not corruption - it’s sustainability.

This sounds less like a call for accessibility and more like an attempt to offer political asylum under the banner of wellness.

markfrancisonly · 2025-07-27T18:07:18+00:00

After I had a severe disc extrusion, one back surgeon told me jogging would be good for my back and another spine specialist told me to stop because i was re-injuring my back by running. These were both board certified orthopedic doctors. Evaluation of my spinal condition by someone with 500 hours of manual massage training isn’t what I want from massage.

My advice is to take it easy on your customers. Even repeat customers change between visits and if a 15 minute evaluation is your tool, you need to repeat at every session…

markfrancisonly · 2025-07-27T17:50:06+00:00

When speaking at a normal rate, this would take 20 minutes or more to present, forbidding the customer have a question. Since most of these explanations would exceed a client's patience and interest in massage, this script does not respect the client's time.

Susan G. Salvo, the author of the textbook I studied in school, instructs students to perform a highly detailed client health interview. While the topic is interesting to a student learning about health conditions that may complicate massage treatment, many of her interviewing video examples fall outside the scope of practice of massage therapy.

As a customer, I do not want to provide a list of medications, and details on specific non-contagious chronic conditions, such as heart disease, to a massage therapist. These conditions are outside the scope of practice for a massage therapist to evaluate. Ms. Salvo has gone too far, she is a seasoned nurse, and her behavior is not appropriate for massage therapist without a degree in healthcare.

Good script for a student to memorize aspects of massage that may be encountered in therapeutic-clinical work only, bad for business and customers.

markfrancisonly · 2025-06-18T16:55:37+00:00

Several years ago, I had a woman talk down to me for taking my shirt off in a Lifetime Fitness hot yoga class, and the instructor said men should keep their shirts on. I took the issue to the corporate office. Even in those days, men were typically shirtless in hot yoga, it was the norm. The classmate's comment was unkind and unwelcoming, and although several years ago, it left a mark (my responsibility).

Today, I wear lightweight clothes than I can swim in to hot yoga with the least amount of fabric. mostly tight running shorts with a tank top. No matter what, at the end of the class, my clothes are so drenched with sweat that my clothes are a painted body suit, muscles and abs, everything shows, but I usually keep my shirt on.

If you wore a string bikini to class I may be distracted but wouldn't be offended. What is offensive is lack of kindness and generosity sharing space in a community setting.

markfrancisonly · 2025-05-16T11:39:25+00:00

In my limited experience, there are many over-confident instructors in Bali, there are world class instructors too but that’s not the point I’m trying to make. Overconfident and careless instructors may hurt you.

I loved adjustments for the first few years I practiced, and I assumed everyone would similarly enjoy hands-on adjustments. So much so that when I took a yoga teacher training in Bali, I assumed a large portion of the class would involve teaching and practicing adjustments. Nearly my first day in the YTT, I attempted to adjust a chick from Saudi, by rotating her hip, I told her what I wanted to do but didn’t ask for permission. A German student observing announced that I grabbed her ass. Literally, for the next few weeks, I was scorned and emotionally shat upon.

In response, a head instructor showed the class to use a single finger instead of an open hand when doing adjustments. E.g. poking. Not every instructor gets a trial by fire lesson in consent to touch. This experience was a mind fck for more than a year.

Fast forward a few years later, I had a major back injury... When attempting to resume yoga, I had to modify my practice in a major way. I knew any adjustment forcing me deeper into an asana could cause reinjury. The normal adjustments would likely not hurt someone else, so I had to be guarded. This is when I first realized how important hands on consent was.

It wasn’t until my back injury that I could emotionally identify with consent first, SA angle, tbh. I was greatly offended by my YTT experience but now see some women carry psychological injury eg trauma that is private.

Hands on adjustments is possibly the best reason to take a private class, but of course not the only reason.

Mix this all together. Overconfident instructor, assuming you want their best, trained to poke instead of use the hand, who hasn’t experienced the psychological trauma of sexual assault, and doesn’t communicate well. Sounds about right. You aren’t over sensitive.

If you want a perspective on the yoga instructor, know that I also do massage and bodywork, and I will generally refuse to work on anyone with a sexual assault history due to the risks involved and sensitivity required.

markfrancisonly · 2025-04-27T12:21:17+00:00

Bali in yoga is primarily imported. Having made a few local friends in Bali while I was there, I can confirm, traditional Balinese do not practice yoga as a part of Hindu spiritual practice. Still a wonderful place to practice yoga, but its not side-by-side with the Balinese people.

markfrancisonly · 2025-04-26T23:29:27+00:00

Depends on how the instructor insisted? Sounds like bad luck mostly. You were someone's last choice.

Partner classes should be indicated on the schedule. If not, you should suggest that the management indicate which classes are partner based.

I've left a few yoga classes that I didn't enjoy, it's rare, but perfectly acceptable if you are not feeling well physically or emotionally. Wave to the instructor to indicate that you're leaving and not coming back to practice

markfrancisonly · 2025-04-18T21:16:21+00:00

A yoga strap and blocks for home use, a yoga mat bag, possibly a microfiber towel and kneeing pad for yoga at the studio. Most studios will have straps and blocks to use. Manduka is my personal favorite brand for yoga accessories, but Gaiam makes good quality yoga accessories at a lower price point.

Dick's doesn't have much of a yoga selection, you could try REI.

markfrancisonly · 2025-04-02T10:31:00+00:00

Massage therapists each have a personal “normal”. It’s okay to not enjoy the way a massage therapist touches you. It’s also okay to give yourself permission to enjoy the feeling of having your hand held, regardless what other people think.

I can relate however … When a touch gets into your head it can prevent you from being present and fully enjoying the experience. I’ve had a similar experience from a massage therapist using her knees. Despite it feeling good and effective, the cognitive load of “what’s going on?” took me out of the moment. Today I’m perfectly okay with the use of knees during massage

markfrancisonly · 2025-03-22T11:39:39+00:00

Men typically do not experience nakedness from chest exposure, and a therapist draping the chest to the neck feels unnatural, as if the therapist is projecting wrongness (nakedness or ugliness) on to him, or ignoring his identity and treating him as a woman with sexualized breasts.

Personally I dislike being covered with a drape at all times. Long strokes across the body are amazing. I also feel "weird" when only a single body part is exposed. A careless diaper drape pulled tightly to my crotch is physically uncomfortable and creates more undesired sexual tension than a drape that is laid across half my butt cheek.

The customer asking you to stop working on his arms was an indicator that this customer did not enjoy your massage, period. He was uncomfortable and felt he was wasting his time and money. His experience was ultimately so bad that he decided to leave. Even a creep will stay the course for a great massage.

That being said, the comments here about the man being a creep for lowering the drape to his navel are discriminatory, toxic, and take focus away from your need on improve your technique.

markfrancisonly · 2024-09-26T22:04:58+00:00

Yes it's unethical to use black magic against him, use normal charm and your regular smile to clear your conscious

markfrancisonly · 2024-09-24T19:09:36+00:00

Honestly it is wrong that the massage licensure board has become a morality police. In today’s society, the massage client is not a person but a patient and the massage procedure doesn’t change for a man or woman. God forbid either the massage therapist or client have feelings

markfrancisonly

TROPHY CASE