Californian & Esalen® Massage
BRIEF HISTORY OF CALIFORNIAN AND ESALEN® MASSAGE
This bodywork technique was developed at the Esalen Institute in California in the late 1960s (Esalen® Massage). Place of astonishing beauty, hot springs on site and amazing grounds. Go visit if you have the chance!
Later on, Ingrid May and Marcelo Bartrolí (RIP) dedicated themselves to structuring this work to facilitate its transmission. Thus, Californian Massage (a cousin of Esalen massage) and the Oasis School of Massage and Healing Arts (Buenos Aires) were born. In 2006, Sujati, my teacher and director of the Spazio Masajes school, brought Californian Massage to Barcelona.
Like many things that become popular in our society, there is a certain "prostitution" of this technique in an effort to commercialize it. There are weekend courses that claim to teach Californian Massage and it is also sold as an exclusively relaxing massage... Nothing could be further from reality!
Today, as our understanding of the human body increases and new theories are developed, the very name of the massage is evolving: from Gestalt massage to somatic or integrative massage. Anyhow it is always based on conscious touch and the rhythm of the ocean waves. If you'd like to learn more, I invite you to watch this video by Marcelo, which distills the essence of this work, and read the article "9 Differences with Other Massage Techniques."
WHAT ARE THE FOUNDATIONS OF CALIFORNIAN & ESALEN MASSAGE?
Californian massage is an holistic bodywork technique. Through an accurate approach to the physical body, we adress as well the emotional and energetic body. It is characterized by long and integrating movements that run through the whole body as if they were waves; It also has slow and deep tissue movements aimed at releasing the most stressed areas of the body, along with mobilizations, rockings and moments of pause and stillness.
The differentiating element of this massage, inspired by gestalt psychotherapy (Gestalt massage) is the attitude of the therapist: listening, presence and quality of touch. Each massage is different because each body needs different rhythms and pressures, even the same person needs a different touch every other day. The therapist connects with the customer's body (through touch, breathing, the quality of the muscle tissue...) and puts his sensitivity and listening into play, that is when californian massage becomes art.
MY EXPERIENCE AS CALIFORNIAN & ESALEN® MASSAGE PRACTITIONER
I like to define this massage as a 'journey' in which each person experiences what their body needs. They almost always go into deep states of relaxation , similar to a trance; normally you feel more openness and body space, as if something had loosened ... and movements also occur in the emotional body: from connecting with the pleasure of feeling your body, compassion towards oneself, support ... to more intense emotional discharges.
The most important thing during the sessions is the support towards the person who is in your hands. It is a space and a massage that allows you to lower your defenses and everything that happens is welcomed. Likewise, we do not want to achieve anything or seek a specific goal and it is in these moments where the magic of the present moment appears, and things just happen, as in life itself.
MY BELIEFS AS A MASSAGE THERAPIST
I am convinced that a caring and consciuos touch has a deep healing potential. We are mammals, and touch has soothed us from our earliest experiences. I have experienced it in my own healing journey and in those of my customers.
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Caring touch: for me it means with respect to your body and your process.
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Conscious touch: I work from a meditative state, attentive to your breathing, body reactions, muscular tissue texture....
During the massage therapy you are vulnerable: lying on the massage table, undressed and predisposed to receive. We use this opening to put it at the service of what your body needs.
Only through breathing can you dissolve the contracture, pain or discomfort. When something hurts or scares us, instinctively we contract, close, and stop breathing . During the massage, I invite you to do the reverse: pay attention to your breathing, connect with what is happening to you, with the part of the body that hurts you and help to release tension from within while I help loosen from the outside.
I work from a bright place. I trust, and this is the feedback I receive from my customers, that everything that happens during the massage will be for good: for more understanding, for more compassion, for more lightness, etc. despite the fact that sometimes you have to go through pain, discomfort or your own fragility.
The more I listen to you and the more you share with me what your needs are, the more intense the work is. Beyond a refined technique (and continuous training), it is this way of being on the massage table that makes the difference. Emotional and energetic movements happen through me and not because of me.
Taking care of my own energy and supervising my process as a therapist and person have become essential.
And finally I work from my sensitivity, intuition and passion for what I do. I have discovered that physical contact, when it is consented, is a door through which a lot of healing, well-being and pleasure arises. I am pleased to share it with you.
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“It takes tenderness to take care of ourselves, the will to make small
changes and humility to understand that we all have our souls unstitched”
Anabel González, psychiatrist and psychotherapist
“After working for 46 years on the mind-body connection (…) my conviction is that you are your body, and your head doesn't control it. This means that if you're going to change in any way, your body must change too.”
Alexander Lowen
“Survivors of the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York were asked what they found most beneficial in overcoming the effects of their experience. Survivors highlighted acupuncture, massage, yoga, and EMDR therapy.”
The body keeps the score, Bessel Van Der Kolk
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EASY ONLINE BOOKING
Through my online agenda you can schedule your 90-minute massage easily. Check my availability in Barcelona and book at the time that suits you best. I speak english and french.
Do you have any question? You can check the FAQs or contact me via phone or the contact form . You can also read the reviews and comments of the customers who have already trusted me.