Fundamentals of Esalen® Massage

With Rob Wilks and Vicki Topp

March 31 - April 4, 2025

Workshop Schedule

Monday
5:00 pm – 5:45 pm*How to Drop into Esalen *
7:15 pm – 9:30 pm
Tuesday
9:30 am – 12:50 pm
3:00 pm – 6:15 pm
Wednesday
9:30 am – 12:50 pm
3:00 pm – 6:15 pm
Thursday
9:30 am – 12:50 pm
3:00 pm – 6:15 pm
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm (Optional)
Friday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm

See general schedule information including arrival, departure and meal times.

  • Sleeping Bag Space – $940.00
  • Bunk Bed Space – $1,240.00
  • Standard Shared Space – $1,560.00
  • Standard Queen Room – $2,060.00
  • Standard Room Two Beds – $3,260.00
  • Premium Queen Room – $2,860.00
  • Premium King Room – $3,060.00
  • Premium Plus King Room – $3,460.00
  • Premium Wooden Yurt – $3,460.00
  • Premium Wooden Yurt Two Beds – $3,460.00
  • Rolf Suite – $6,560.00
  • Point House – $6,560.00
  • Fritz Point House – $6,560.00
  • South Point House – $8,000.00

This workshop is the perfect opportunity for you to enjoy the natural beauty of Esalen’s springtime bloom while gaining a foundation in Esalen® Massage. Senior teachers will guide you in this experience of connection and presence translated to the massage table.

Through lecture, demonstration and practice with your co-students, you will be introduced to the essentials, including quality of touch, rapport, a deep respect for our natural impulse toward healing, and mindful body mechanics. You will listen to what is felt as well as what is said. You will learn how to comfortably drape, and how to easily apply the foundational long, integration strokes, detail work,  and gentle stretches. You will have plenty of time for guided practice and to effectively share your experience. At the end of the week you will be able to give a simple massage to friends and family back home.

Esalen massage promotes feelings of wholeness and reconnects us with our natural state of being. Teaching tools include experiential exercises to awaken the senses, demonstrations, and tableside guidance appropriate for you. The class is appropriate for the new and curious as well as the professional who would like to rejuvenate their senses and the quality of their touch.

26 hours of continuing education provided by the faculty through Esalen Massage and Bodywork Association Teachers.

About the Leaders

Rob Wilks

Rob Wilks is a full-time bodywork practitioner and a faculty member at the Esalen Institute teaching both Esalen Massage® and Deep Bodywork®. He has taught massage in Indonesia and China, as well as experiential leadership education in the U.S. and Eastern Europe. Email Me

Learn more about Rob Wilks

Vicki Topp

Vicki Topp is a senior practitioner and instructor of Esalen Massage® and somatic bodywork. She teaches workshops and training groups internationally, and is a registered Movement Therapist and practitioner of Body-Mind Centering. www.vickitopp.com

Learn more about Vicki Topp

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