Esalen MassageEsalen Massage® is a type of massage that was developed at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA. It is one of the more relaxing and nurturing types of massage and uses long, slow massage strokes for the purpose of opening and increasing the person's awareness of their body. It focuses on the whole person. It can be used for relaxation and also pain relief.Esalen Institute also was instrumental in the creation of Rolfing® (Ida Rolf), Feldenkrais (Moshe Feldenkrais), Gestalt Therapy (Fritz Perls), Aston Patterning (Judith Aston)and Rubenfield Synergy (Ilana Rubenfield). Among the notables who have spent time at the Institute are Abraham Maslow, Timothy Leary, Paul Tillich, Carlos Castaneda, B. F. Skinner, and former California governor Jerry Brown. The renowned Esalen Institute, founded in 1962 by Stanford graduates Michael Murphy and Richard Price, was created as a place "where the body can manifest the glories of the spirit." It offered guests a heady mixture of world mythology, hypnosis and psychic research, spiritual healing, sport mysticism, and Tantric eroticism. Ten key aspects of the Esalen technique for practitioners include (as noted by Nicole Cutler, LAc in her article on Nudity and Esalen Massage: 1. Grounding yourself before giving a massage. 2. Waiting and listening to the client's breath before making initial contact. 3. Gentle rocking to help the body let go of rigidity. 4. Creating a unified and whole massage defined by long, lengthening strokes. 5. Making small circular movements around joints to encourage release. 6. Bringing the whole body weight into the movement. 7. A little unpredictability to ease away holding patterns.8. Allowing time to pause. 9. Understanding that massage goes beyond the physical self. 10. Remembering that everybody loves and wants to be touched. I also found this video on Youtube that helps give you a sense of the place and an idea of what the massage is like. The Esalen Massage and Bodywork Association says this about their massage (from their website): The sources of this rich work are endless: it was informed by sensory awareness, Swedish massage, oriental medicine, meditation, gestalt practice. The influence of deeper work borrowed from Ida Rolf's teachings, Moshe Feldenkrais' sense of neural co-ordinates, Milton Trager's passive movement to awaken the mind, yoga stretches, somatic mind-body psychology, and more energetically based polarity massage and cranial-sacral work continue to "grow" the work. Each practitioner translates this into his/her personal art form. You can begin learning Esalen Massage by watching this video.Esalen Massage The Massage Book: See also: Learning Esalen Massage by Carl Nelson at www.thebodyworker.com Have information on this type of massage?Share your information on this type of massage or some of it's uses and resources for learning or about receiving this type of massage. How has it made a difference in your life?
Become a Massage Therapist || Find or Create Your Ideal Massage Job Websites || Consulting/Coaching || FAQ's || About Me |
by George Downing was one first books from Esalen
