A Full Circle of Touch: Esalen® Massage

The Esalen Massage & Bodywork Association (EMBA) brings a profound tool for healing to far reaches of our planet. “Given our current growth and the growing interest in practicing and teaching Esalen Massage, I would love to see Esalen Massage in every country of the world,” says EMBA coordinator and long-time practitioner and teacher Robin Fann Costanzo.

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“Esalen Massage is an awareness practice, and with many of these self-reflective and awareness practices, the ideas of observing the breath, body, and mind come from yoga. The flowing nature of Esalen Massage, specifically how body weight is used, the movement of the feet, and the ease of movement with the arms, came from principles of tai chi, qi gong, and aikido,” shared Esalen Massage & Bodywork Association (EMBA) coordinator and long-time practitioner and teacher Robin Fann Costanzo.

When Michael Murphy and Dick Price founded Esalen Institute in 1962, they looked Eastward for inspiration. Drawn to the wisdom and traditions born out of India, China, and Japan, they immersed themselves in meditation and explored yoga, tai chi, and other ancient practices that honor the integration of body, mind, and spirit. Their self-actualizing curiosity extended to Europe, where leading-edge, contemporary voices of humanistic psychology birthed deep, ongoing explorations into Gestalt, somatic, and sensory awareness practices. These influences helped shape what would become the heart of Esalen's work: experiential transformation rooted in presence, connection, and embodied awareness.

During the early days, sensory awareness practitioner Charlotte Selver, writer George Leonard, martial artist Robert Nadeau, and yogi Joel Kramer, along with Molly Day Shakman and Bernie Gunther — each deeply involved in Eastern philosophies and practices in different ways — strongly influenced the creation of Esalen Massage. This Eastern influence carries on today. Beloved workshop leader Chungliang Al Huang continues to teach tai chi and qi gong annually, ongoing after five decades. 

EMBA currently has teachers across the US, in California, Washington, and North Carolina, and in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Spain, China, Japan, and Bali. “There are three students from Taiwan currently becoming teachers and one from South Africa,” says Robin. “Some teachers travel and teach in other countries as well — in Morocco, Canada, Mexico, Greece and Argentina.” Their goal is to keep expanding to other countries for more communities and cultures to experience and learn.

Esalen Massage emerged from the fertile ground of those influences as a fluid, intuitive form of bodywork grounded in sensitivity, breath, and the sacred art of touch. As it continues to spread across the world, it stays true to its diverse origins and amalgam of influences, carrying with it the seeds of East and West, science and spirit, form and flow.

The establishment of EMBA has resulted in thousands of students learning Esalen Massage since the 1970s, with up to 50 workshops held throughout the year. By the late ’90s, full certification trainings traveled far beyond Big Sur. The teachers brought trainings to Europe, including Germany and Switzerland, to Asia, and several locations across the United States. 

“When I became a teacher around 2000, the teacher training was very informal, more an apprenticeship model,” says Robin. “At that time, most teachers were at Esalen, but a few of us started heading out into other areas of the world and teaching introductory workshops and full certification trainings. I recently met a guy who studied Esalen Massage in the 1970s and is still talking about it. This year, I have personally trained about seventy-five students.” 

Decades later, we are witnessing an expansion of Esalen‘s influence and a mainstreaming of early Esalen ideas and practices that extends to over two hundred nations, from guests and visiting work study scholars to faculty.

“These practices speak to many cultures, especially cultures that have been oppressed or where sharing feelings is not widely accepted,” says Robin. “Chinese, Japanese, and Indonesian cultures, where we have many trainings, love the freedom and creative nature of Esalen Massage, which seems to be a counterbalance to more rigid and structured cultural expectations and norms.” 

Through the Esalen Massage & Bodywork Association’s global network, this unique approach to healing touch is flourishing in the same lands and communities that first inspired Michael and Dick. From workshops in Japan, China, and Indonesia, to training programs in Spain and Germany, Esalen Massage is resonating deeply with communities who recognize something familiar in its essence — a philosophy of embodiment that echoes their own ancient traditions.

"Eleven years ago, when I was first introduced to Esalen Massage, what drew me in was a profound beauty that deeply resonated with me,” said Esalen Massage teacher Jingni Wang who is based in China. “As I continued to grow with the practice, I came to understand that this beauty revealed itself through the key of presence. It led me into a place of inner purity — where heaven and humanity are one. It is a quiet, non-dual space, where the infinite can be found within the seeming limits of the body."

There’s something profoundly moving about this moment. What was once sparked by the East has now returned in a different form, shaped by the cliffs and crashing waves of Big Sur and the collective journey of hands and hearts. This global cultural exchange speaks not just to technique, but to shared humanity. A circle that is ever widening.

“Given our current growth and the growing interest in practicing and teaching Esalen Massage, I would love to see Esalen Massage in every country of the world,” says Robin. “Because Esalen Massage is so much more than a massage modality, it is a way of life and a spiritual practice for many. My hope is that we just keep expanding and spreading this powerful combination of touch and mindfulness. I believe that everyone needs and wants this type of connection, and Esalen Massage offers a beautiful framework.”

Part of what makes Esalen Massage so impactful is the reciprocal nature of the practice itself. Essentially, the healer is healed while doing the healing. The self-care and the lifestyle of a practitioner are fully embodied, and that reverberates between the humans on and over the table. 

“We currently have eighty-two folks who are teaching or on their way to becoming teachers,” shares Robin. “We hope to have another teacher training in 2027.” In 2026, the Esalen Massage Practitioners International Gathering, the first of its kind, will be held in Switzerland. 

Wherever it travels, Esalen Massage carries with it a pulse of Esalen Institute: the sound of the waves, the stillness of the land, and the invitation to come home — to ourselves, to one another, and to something greater.