Introduction to Esalen® Massage: The Art of Healing Touch

With Char Pias and Lori Lewis

May 2 - 4, 2025

Date and Time Details:

Friday
5:00 pm – 5:45 pm*How to Drop into Esalen*
7:15 pm – 9:15 pm
Saturday
9:45 am - 12:45 pm
3:15 pm – 6:15 pm
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm Optional
Sunday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm

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

  • Sleeping Bag Space – $560.00
  • Bunk Bed Space – $740.00
  • Standard Shared Space – $930.00
  • Standard Queen Room – $1,230.00
  • Standard Room Two Beds – $1,950.00
  • Premium Queen Room – $1,710.00
  • Premium King Room – $1,830.00
  • Premium Plus King Room – $2,070.00
  • Premium Wooden Yurt – $2,070.00
  • Premium Wooden Yurt Two Beds – $2,070.00
  • Rolf Suite – $3,930.00
  • Point House – $3,930.00
  • Fritz Point House – $3,930.00
  • South Point House – $4,800.00

This workshop invites you to enjoy Esalen in the springtime as you gain foundational skills in our famed massage modality. Char 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. 

About the Leaders

Char Pias

Char Pias, a member of the Esalen massage staff since 1980, teaches internationally, focusing on bodywork's energetic, emotional and spiritual aspect. She is a Reiki teacher, a Circle of Life facilitator/coach and a licensed graduate of The Center for Spiritual Healing. Email Me www.piasoma.com

Learn more about Char Pias

Lori Lewis

Lori A. Lewis is certified by the Esalen Massage® and Bodywork Association as a 500-hour massage practitioner, and is an authorized Deep Bodywork® teacher. She lives in Santa Barbara, where she is also a hospice volunteer using bodywork as palliative care. Email Me

Learn more about Lori Lewis

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