Esalen Massage Blog Post June 26, 2013
The sound of the waves provides a soothing background for any massage session at Esalen Institute, Big Sur, California. This sound, coupled with the cliffside natural hot springs and the educational community dedicated to explore the “far reaches of human potentiality”, inspires a unique approach to bodywork known worldwide as Esalen® Massage.
The ocean provides a slow-moving rhythm very much akin to the internal rhythms of the body. The receiver rests on the massage table, draped, and the practitioner’s hands begin quietly, with presence, attending to breath, allowing the receiver to drop inward. The long, slow, t’ai chi-like strokes awaken awareness, and as the tissues open to the warm of touch, the contact deepens, nudging bound-up muscles, drawing forth expanded movement. A relaxing sigh resounds through the body, and the practitioner responds with integration strokes into related areas. The massage continues, seamlessly, wrapping the torso arms, legs, hands, feet, neck, and spirit into a united whole.
The practitioner brings a knowledge of strokes (many have roots in Swedish Massage), of muscles and bones, of movement, of listening to the body as well as the words. Prior to the session, he/she pays attention to his own physical comfort, and quiets down internal chatter to welcome inner guidance, or intuition. As he massages, the practitioner responds to the signs of relaxation: deepened breath, enhanced circulation, a sigh, perhaps flutters of the eyelids. Each session is unique, tailored by personal requests, comfort level, physical tension and release, the felt sense of intuition.
The effects of this intentional touch, loosely categorized as “wellness/stress management massage”, range widely. For some, it brings a renewed sense of health and vigor, others may regain a sense of safety with regard to touch. Often old tension patterns break free and old emotions are released. It signals a return to one’s nature, a switch from everyday consciousness into a calmer, more colorful space less inhabited by the constraints of time and place. An out-of-ordinary reality.
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 for 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.
At the heart of the session is a sense of empowering each individual to regain a sense of harmony, reverence, and balance, and to awaken inner resources for healing. It is not unusual to hear, “That was the most amazing massage I’ve ever received.”
~ Brita Ostrom ~
Ten key aspects of the Esalen technique for practitioners include:
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.
What is Esalen® Massage?
Esalen® Massage, well-known for its long flowing strokes over the whole body, helps release the stresses of everyday life, leaving the receiver feeling whole, integrated and deeply relaxed, in a natural state of well-being. The Esalen Massage is best described as the interface and integration of form, energy, structure, and soul. With its nurturing contact, integrating strokes, and detailed attention to the whole body, an Esalen Massage provides a state of deep relaxation and healing. Esalen practitioners are dedicated to connecting deeply with each client and can usually accommodate specific requests and preferences within the Esalen® massage modality. Practitioners combine a full-hearted presence with long, integrating strokes and slow, deep muscle work to release everyday stresses, still the mind, and leave you feeling integrated and deeply relaxed.
Perched on the bluff above the ocean, and nestled beside the healing waters of Esalen’s renowned natural hot springs, our massage and bath area is inspired and influenced by the rhythm of ocean waves and a spectacular and deeply nourishing place to receive a massage.
ESALEN Massage differs from other massage modalities in that the massage strokes are much slower, longer, even full-body length, (the draping is pushed aside to complete these strokes). Sometimes the hands pause over an area of tension and move ever gently…”coaxing” the tension out of the body.
Few Esalen massagers practice 100% pure Esalen but use a blend of strokes and techniques for maximum physical as well as relational touch and good feelings.
Esalen Institute:
The brainchild of two Stanford graduates, Michael Murphy and Richard Price, Esalen Institute on the Big Sur coast has had a profound influence on American religious history over the last half-century. Many of the practices and ideas the institute stood for at its inception in 1962—from meditation and yoga to the synthesis of evolutionary biology and theology—are now common features of American culture and discourse. Join us as we discuss the history and influence of a pioneering project that has long been on the leading edge of alternative and experiential education.
MICHAEL MURPHY
Michael Murphy began his journey toward the founding of Esalen Institute when, by chance, he heard a lecture on comparative religion by Frederic Spiegelberg in Cubberley Auditorium during his sophomore year at Stanford in 1950. Among his many books are Golf in the Kingdom and In the Zone: Transcendent Experience in Sports.
Richard “Dick” Price (1930–1985) co-founded Esalen Institute in 1962.
Dick Price was a veteran of the Beat Generation. He ran Esalen in Big Sur for many years, sometimes virtually single-handed. He was an explorer of the Santa Lucia Mountains that define the Big Sur coast. He developed a unique form of personal integration and growth, called Gestalt Practice.
Dick worked with his awareness, and helped many people work with their own. His memory remains at the core of the Esalen experience.