Esalen Massage

While the strokes are similar, the philosophy and intent are quite different. Swedish massage was developed as part of gymnastics, ESALEN as part of Gestalt psychotherapy. ESALEN seeks to help the person live more comfortably in his or her own body and integrate body, mind and spirit into a more harmonious whole person.

Part of the attitude of ESALEN is that touching is a basic need, as essential as air, food or water: that caring about others is natural; that getting in touch with one's own body leads to a more effective way of loving and relating to others, and that healing comes from within as well as from the outside.

In ESALEN massage the social differences between the giver and receiver is reduced. ESALEN massage is often practiced as an exchange - alternating between who gives and receives - and is traditionally done in the nude. However, depending upon the laws of each state or community that governs the massage statutes, minimal draping is usually substituted for nude massage.

Optional Bikini Draping

Some clients prefer to wear a bikini rather than using a drape

In public practice ESALEN practitioners dress very informally and the client is usually covered with a towel or sheet, but since one of the aims of ESALEN style massage is to tie the parts of the body together, minimal draping is used or simply moved aside to permit long flowing "connecting" strokes that are among its hallmarks.

You may find therapists that allow draping to become optional. Having options places responsibility on each individual rather than on some external authority, and that's what holistic health care is all about. Our bodies thrive on sensual enjoyment through touch but we often confuse wonderful sensual feelings with sexual acts.

ESALEN massage breaks the barriers to touch and allows us to grow in a new awareness of the feeling, caring, and pleasure our bodies were meant to express to one another.

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.