This workshop invites you to enjoy Esalen in the summertime as you practice foundational skills in our famed massage modality. Silvia and Lori will guide you in this experience of mindful touch translated to the massage table. Through lectures, brief demonstrations, and supervised practice, they will introduce the basics: quality of touch, rapport, massage skills with “the listening hand” and effective body mechanics.
The slow-paced practice of Esalen massage sets the stage for a pleasurable natural healing process to emerge, rather than any focus on “fixing.” You will learn how to drape and how to easily apply Esalen’s signature integrative strokes, detail, gentle stretches, with a concluding pause. You will be encouraged to effectively share your experience. You may even enjoy giving a massage as much as receiving one.
Classroom tools include exercises designed to awaken the senses and illuminate the value of boundaries in healing work, demonstrations, and tableside guidance tailored specifically for your experience level. The class is appropriate for the new and curious as well as the professional seeking to refresh their senses and the quality of their touch.
10 hours of continuing education provided by the faculty through Esalen Massage and Bodywork Association Teachers. For more information on CE email EMBA@esalen.org.


Silvia Guersenzvaig is an international instructor of Esalen Massage. Inspired by the wisdom of nature, she has developed a practice of aligning presence and quality of touch. Her background includes multiple years on the Esalen® Massage staff, somatic healing, energy kinesiology, Polarity and Trager, and much more.


Lori Lewis offers students a compassionate invitation to come fully into their sensory awareness–body, mind, and spirit. Certified since 2009, Lori teaches at Body Therapy Institute in Santa Barbara and volunteers with hospice, offering Esalen® massage to patients, families and staff.