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Esalen Massage and Bodywork was first developed over 40 years ago, in California. In 1982, Currie Prescott, senior massage teacher and director of THE CENTER/ European Institute of Esalen Massage, introduced the massage style to Europe, where it has developed further in its scope and depth. Since Esalen Massage encourages practitioners to use their intuition to guide them in the massage, Esalen is known as the art of "conscious touch."
According to practitioners, the Esalen Massage "experience" consists of
- Traditional massage, which works on the muscle and circulation systems.
- The bodywork approach developed by Charlotte Selver, which emphasizes the deeply relaxing and emotional responses of the body when a conscious, structured and pleasant touch is applied.
- Gentle rocking of the body
- Passive joint exercises
- Deep structural work on the muscles and joints
- Energetic balancing of the body
Over the years, Esalen massage has incorporated elements of other therapies:
- Classical Massage
- Cranio Sacral Therapy
- Polarity
- Chakra und Qi Energy Balancing
- Trager
- Movement and Stretching Therapy
- Trigger Point Release
- Rolfing
- Deep Tissue
- Acupressure
- Feldenkrais
All Esalen Massage practitioners develop their own unique Esalen Massage style in accordance with their background, experience, feelings and special capabilities. The Esalen philosophy encourages practitioners to combine a wide range of methods to suit the clients’ needs, as well as the massager's “intuitional feelings” in that moment of time.
Benefits
Esalen massagers claim benefits similar to other forms of massage:
- Stimulating the skin and blood circulation
- Relaxing the muscles and nervous system
- Stimulating the metabolism and lymphatic system
- Stretching tendons and ligaments
Esalen massage also claims "conscious touch" has additional benefits:
- Increasing the perception of each person’s body, both the clients' or the practitioners'
- Allowing both the client and practitioner to more fully experience themselves with a heightened sense of awareness
Curative Measures
Esalen Massage also claims to help various ailments:
- Chronic neck and back pain
- Tension in the muscles and joints
- Headaches or migraines
- Poor circulation
- High blood pressure
- Sleeping difficulties
External links
"Esalen Massage"