Tonight was the first class in the Esalen Massage workshop in Asheville, NC. It was very different than I had expected, and very enlightening.
The instructor was Ellen Watson, a 24 year veteran of the Esalen Institute in California. She told us some things about the institute which I did not know. It has natural mineral baths there with waters that have healing properties to them. They also have intellectual groups and many other things. these are what the owner wanted to see the place become famous for. But to his chagrin, it became famous for the massage that they created there.
Californians are very laid back when it comes to massage. Esalen became known for doing massage without draping (as long as the client was comfortable with it). There were times even when the therapists wore nothing because they were comfortable with it. At one point, when the local licensing board became aware of this, they told the therapists that they would have to wear something or be licensed under Adult Entertainment. (Now I have done massage where the client is completely undressed and undraped and kept the proper mindset. This is part of being a professional. I’m not sure I could do that if I was undressed as well.)
What came out of this freedom was a very unique style of massage that was geared to major relaxation. It utilizes long strokes done with slow motions to create a very relaxing feeling. The client is encouraged to breathe deeply, and the therapist tries to match that breath pattern in their breathing and motions. Movements sweep the entire length of the body in straight lines and swirling patterns. These movements are done with the hands, forearms, elbows, and so forth.
The client is moved around a bit more than a normal Swedish massage. Stretches are done, matching the breath cycle. Some muscle groups are stretched, and then worked in the stretched positions so when the stretch is over, they are much looser than if they had been worked normally.
The client is moved around by sliding the sheet they are laying on up and back. This creates a unique feel just in the moving itself. But what this does is allow the head to be worked without the table to interfere, so that it reaches its maximum stretching potential. This technique is also used to work the legs and pelvis.
The client is also turned on their side. This allows the back to be worked using the body’s weight to create the needed pressure. It also allows a stretch so that the shoulders, spine, and glutes can be worked.
While they do Esalen in California with little or no draping, it can be done within most people’s comfort levels. Sometimes creative draping is needed to keep a person covered, but it can be done. Minimal draping is best, but full draping can be used.
One of the things that Esalen massage offers is relaxation in the extreme. To achieve this, it uses long, slow strokes with varying pressure. It also does continuous movement with pauses placed in there to allow the body to assimilate what has just happened.
But one key is, is that there is no pattern that one follows. In most massage, the therapist starts with a routine. Now if the therapist is any good, the routine will vary with every person that gets on the table because each person’s needs are different. With Esalen, there is no routine. It is completely intuitive. There are moves, and those moves could be ones used in other styles like Swedish or Lomi Lomi, but they are put together based on what feels right at the time.
The idea is to treat the client like a whole being rather than parts (which is what most massage styles do). The flow of the movements makes all the parts feel integrated into the whole that it is. 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.
When Ellen arrived at the Asheville school, she was expecting to give an introduction to Esalen massage to students of the school. (She is doing this in several areas on the east coast to try to create a certification class here sometime next year. It would be 150 hours and would take four three-or-four day weekends.) What she found was five practicing massage therapists who have seen the Esalen video. She then changed her direction to get us thinking in the mindset to do an Esalen-type massage. Instead of showing of a lot of new strokes, she got us using what we already know and putting it together in the type of style required. This was the key to working in the manner similar to Esalen.
Ellen talked for a while then told us she was going to do a demonstration on one of us, and asked who wanted to volunteer. We all smiled as with the exception of one person, we all wanted to be the demo body. So four names were thrown into a ‘hat’ and mine was pulled.
The experience was very nice and extremely relaxing. I found it interesting how she worked the body and the positions she used to work it. There were times that she turned me on my side (which is hard for draping) and worked the back using my body weight for pressure, and times when she just stretched parts to create deeper work. It was all real nice.
After my ‘session’ was over, Ellen had the remaining students pair up and do similar work while clothed. After I got up, I got to do the same work on her.
The first thing I did was scan her and ask about problem areas. J She then guided me through a couple stretches until she was on her side, and she then told me to work the back along spine and such. She did not tell me what moves to do, just to work. I started intuiting right away. I worked my fingers into the area on the side of the spine,, then moved into the glutes using my forearm for compression, and then up into the shoulders. Basically, I was just making it up as I went, which I told her.
There was appoint that she told me it felt real good. Then there was a point that she howled. Yes, I said howled. I’ve had people sigh with pleasure, purr, even just melt. This is the first time I’ve had someone howl. Cool.
It meant a lot to me to have someone with her experience like what I was doing. That was truly a neat feeling.
** See the Esalen Massage article here.