Introduction to Esalen® Massage: The Art of Healing Touch
With Silvia Guersenzvaig and Lori Lewis
July 24 - 26, 2026
This workshop invites you to enjoy Esalen in the summertime as you practice foundational skills in our famed massage modality. Silvia 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
Silvia Guersenzvaig
Silvia Guersenzvaig is a certified international Esalen Massage® teacher and astrologer since 1977. She is a bilingual practitioner and international teacher of Transformational Kinesiology® and creator of AstroSoma, a healing method that combines energy muscle testing and astrology. Email Me www.transform4joy.com
Learn more about Silvia Guersenzvaig
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 LewisCategories : Esalen Massage, FF/FC, Massage & Healing Arts