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Esalen® Massage for Couples, Friends, and Family
November 3–5, 2023
November 3–5, 2023
Perry Holloman and Johanna Holloman

Please note: On Wednesday September 20, online registration may be unavailable for up to 15 minutes while system maintenance is performed. If the 'Register Now' page does not load, please wait about 15 minutes and try again.

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Need a scholarship? Apply here.

Need a scholarship? Apply here.

In this basic skills workshop, couples, partners, and friends will refine their relationship with touch, our forgotten language. Participants will learn to listen to each other, gain sensory skills in initiating and receiving touch, experience the felt sense of muscle release, and close with a balanced tenderness.

Seasoned instructors will offer exercises, massage demonstrations, and at-the-table guidance during paired practice. The simple principles of Esalen® Massage — presence, connection, attending rather than fixing, self-care, receptivity, and slow-paced strokes encompassing the body — will build a heartfelt experience with our partners and friends and, perhaps most significantly, ourselves.

By the final session, participants will share the basics of a classical Esalen massage. Experienced practitioners and caregivers will find it refreshing to apply the Esalen method and notice its healing effects as their rhythm slows and the mind becomes focused on compassionate contact rather than technique.

Touch evokes an opening to spirit as we tap our innate ability to move into healthful balance and a recognition of our natural field. The edgy wildness of Esalen’s grounds, canyons, hot springs, and mountain backdrop invites this deeper connection.


This class offers 10 hours of CE credit for massage therapists.

View the continuing education syllabus here.

Recommended reading: Connecting Through Touch by Peggy Horan

Learn more about the requirements to receive continuing education credit.

Lead photo:
Stephanie Lewis
Perry Holloman

Perry Holloman

Perry Holloman has been a teacher and practitioner of Esalen Massage, Deep Bodywork, and body-oriented approaches to Relational Gestalt Process work for more than 30 years. He teaches in the US, Asia, and Europe and makes his home in Big Sur.

Read More

Johanna Holloman

Johanna Holloman

Johanna Holloman is a German-born clinical psychologist and Diamond Approach® teacher. Her international teachings in Integrative Gestalt Coaching™, Integrative Somatic Practice™, Deep Bodywork®, Esalen Massage®, and Yoga focus on embodied presence and inner development through inquiry, breath and movement.

Read More

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Workshop Schedule

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

Summer Groovers will experience Esalen in a format similar to our Self Guided Explorations workshops. Each Summer Groove week or weekend will open and close with a circle, and be filled with festive, nostalgic activities that harken back to those days of yore.

More activities can be found on our open class schedule.

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

Accommodations & Tuition

Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive, program-specific tuition. Please note that not all accommodation levels are available for every workshop and additional faculty fees may apply.

We offer scholarship funds for those with financial need. Learn more.

Please note: On Wednesday September 20, online registration may be unavailable for up to 15 minutes while system maintenance is performed. If the 'Register Now' page does not load, please wait about 15 minutes and try again.

Accommodations & Tuition

Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive tuition that includes lodging, three meals per day, access to the baths, and all activities on the Summer Groove schedule.

We offer scholarship funds for those with financial need. Learn more.

Accommodations & Tuition

For this workshop, you will register and pay for accommodations and tuition in two separate steps.

First, sign up and pay tuition directly to

Second, click Book Accommodations from this page and enter the password to complete your reservation to stay at Esalen.

Prices for accommodations include your lodging, meals, open classes, and use of the baths and other facilities. View partner program accommodations pricing.

COVID Update

As of June 30, 2023 we no longer require a negative COVID test at the time of check in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

All guests and faculty must provide proof of negative test results at time of check-in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

In addition to proof of vaccination, all guests and faculty must provide proof of negative test results at time of check-in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Effective January 7, 2022 in response to the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant, all guests and faculty will provide proof of negative PCR, NAAT, or antigen test results at time of check-in. The test must be taken within 72 hours nd results must come from a laboratory or healthcare provider.Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Effective December 15 in accordance with new guidance from Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Health, all guests, students, staff, residents, and faculty are required to wear masks in all indoor public settings, irrespective of vaccine status, for the next four weeks (December 15, 2021 through January 15, 2022). Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Effective November 19, 2021, in accordance with new guidance from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, all guests, students, staff, residents, and faculty are no longer required to wear masks indoors on campus. Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Starting November 5, 2021, due to substantial levels of COVID-19 transmission in Monterey County, a mask mandate established by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will go into effect. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

All guests will be required to provide proof of vaccination upon arrival starting September 3, 2021. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Masks are no longer mandated indoors or outdoors, except during massage sessions. Guests are not required to provide testing or vaccination verification before arriving on campus. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

All-inclusive Pricing

Perry Holloman and Johanna Holloman

November 3–5, 2023
Register Now

In this basic skills workshop, couples, partners, and friends will refine their relationship with touch, our forgotten language. Participants will learn to listen to each other, gain sensory skills in initiating and receiving touch, experience the felt sense of muscle release, and close with a balanced tenderness.

Seasoned instructors will offer exercises, massage demonstrations, and at-the-table guidance during paired practice. The simple principles of Esalen® Massage — presence, connection, attending rather than fixing, self-care, receptivity, and slow-paced strokes encompassing the body — will build a heartfelt experience with our partners and friends and, perhaps most significantly, ourselves.

By the final session, participants will share the basics of a classical Esalen massage. Experienced practitioners and caregivers will find it refreshing to apply the Esalen method and notice its healing effects as their rhythm slows and the mind becomes focused on compassionate contact rather than technique.

Touch evokes an opening to spirit as we tap our innate ability to move into healthful balance and a recognition of our natural field. The edgy wildness of Esalen’s grounds, canyons, hot springs, and mountain backdrop invites this deeper connection.


This class offers 10 hours of CE credit for massage therapists.

View the continuing education syllabus here.

Recommended reading: Connecting Through Touch by Peggy Horan

Learn more about the requirements to receive continuing education credit.

Lead photo:
Stephanie Lewis
Perry Holloman

Perry Holloman has been a teacher and practitioner of Esalen Massage, Deep Bodywork, and body-oriented approaches to Relational Gestalt Process work for more than 30 years. He teaches in the US, Asia, and Europe and makes his home in Big Sur.

Read More

Johanna Holloman

Johanna Holloman is a German-born clinical psychologist and Diamond Approach® teacher. Her international teachings in Integrative Gestalt Coaching™, Integrative Somatic Practice™, Deep Bodywork®, Esalen Massage®, and Yoga focus on embodied presence and inner development through inquiry, breath and movement.

Read More

Workshop Schedule

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

Summer Groovers will experience Esalen in a format similar to our Self Guided Explorations workshops. Each Summer Groove week or weekend will open and close with a circle, and be filled with festive, nostalgic activities that harken back to those days of yore.

More activities can be found on our open class schedule.

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

Accommodations & Tuition

Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive, program-specific tuition. Please note that not all accommodation levels are available for every workshop and additional faculty fees may apply.

Accommodations & Tuition

Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive tuition that includes lodging, three meals per day, access to the baths, and all activities on the Summer Groove schedule.

We offer scholarship funds for those with financial need. Learn more.

Accommodations & Tuition

For this workshop, you will register and pay for accommodations and tuition in two separate steps.

First, sign up and pay tuition directly to

Second, click Book Accommodations from this page and enter the password to complete your reservation to stay at Esalen.

Prices for accommodations include your lodging, meals, open classes, and use of the baths and other facilities. View partner program accommodations pricing.

COVID Update

As of June 30, 2023 we no longer require a negative COVID test at the time of check in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

All guests and faculty must provide proof of negative test results at time of check-in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

In addition to proof of vaccination, all guests and faculty must provide proof of negative test results at time of check-in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Effective January 7, 2022 in response to the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant, all guests and faculty will provide proof of negative PCR, NAAT, or antigen test results at time of check-in. The test must be taken within 72 hours nd results must come from a laboratory or healthcare provider.Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Effective December 15 in accordance with new guidance from Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Health, all guests, students, staff, residents, and faculty are required to wear masks in all indoor public settings, irrespective of vaccine status, for the next four weeks (December 15, 2021 through January 15, 2022). Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Effective November 19, 2021, in accordance with new guidance from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, all guests, students, staff, residents, and faculty are no longer required to wear masks indoors on campus. Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Starting November 5, 2021, due to substantial levels of COVID-19 transmission in Monterey County, a mask mandate established by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will go into effect. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

All guests will be required to provide proof of vaccination upon arrival starting September 3, 2021. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Masks are no longer mandated indoors or outdoors, except during massage sessions. Guests are not required to provide testing or vaccination verification before arriving on campus. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

All-inclusive Pricing