When the Body Finally Speaks
“I had nothing to do with massage,” Elke laughs. “I was a social worker — all in my head.”
Her journey toward Esalen® Massage began not with ambition, but with loss. After her father’s death, life felt heavy and unclear. A therapist once told her, “You love to move. Try the Five Rhythms.”
So she did.
At a Five Rhythms weekend, she met a woman who said, “You should try Esalen. It’s good for you.”
Without knowing what awaited her, Elke signed up for an introductory weekend.
“When it came to the moment — ‘and now take off your clothes and lie on the table’ — I thought, what have I done?” she remembers, smiling. “But I stayed. And I was richly rewarded. It was the best thing that could have happened to me.”
A Sunrise in Her Life
That weekend in 1997 changed everything.
At the end, Elke knew she would start the training.
Two years later she received her certificate — but the deeper transformation had already begun.
“I had spent so much time in my head,” she says. “I had danced a lot, but it was only through touch that something became whole. It was like a sunrise in my life.”
Learning to Trust
At the beginning, the greatest challenge was not technique — but trust.
Living in a shared house with other practitioners, they all remember saying to each other, “Dare to bring yourself fully. Lean in.”
“It took time,” says Elke. “As a social worker, you don’t touch anyone. It was a completely new language for me — the language of touch.”
Today, it has become her most fluent expression: to move, to feel, and to listen with her whole body.
Guided by Teachers and Stillness
Elke speaks warmly of the people who have shaped her:
“Ingrid has deeply inspired me — her courage to follow her heart reminds me again and again how I want to shape my own work.”
In recent years, a meditation teacher has joined her path, helping her return to presence again and again.
Community as the Cradle of Esalen
“Community is the cradle of Esalen,” says Elke.
By that she means both the origins of the Esalen Institute and her own experience in northern Germany, where a small group of practitioners has been meeting regularly for over twenty years.
“Three times a year we come together for long weekends. I remember a night twenty years ago — we stood around a table until two in the morning, trying to remember how to turn someone over! Everyone had ideas, everyone joined in. That’s what I love — that spirit of discovery.”
For her, these gatherings are a way to keep the lineage alive: not through fixed forms, but through shared exploration and learning.
A Small Great Big Bang
From the beginning, Elke has been part of the idea of the International Gathering.
When asked how she would invite practitioners from around the world to Kiental, her eyes light up:
“Come together — let’s explore the world.”
For her, EMGV26 feels like “a small great Big Bang.”
“The idea of inviting the world — that’s beautiful and brave. Esalen has always been like that: people from all over the world bringing their ideas together.”
She smiles. “Kiental is breathtaking — a place that carries community. And the most beautiful thing is: I have no idea what will happen! You can sit at a table with someone whose language you don’t speak and still connect deeply — because we all share the same passion. No one comes to Kiental just to ‘check it out.’ Everyone comes with heart. And that’s when something new can be born.”
A Morning Practice of Presence
When asked about her personal rituals, Elke describes something wonderfully simple:
“In the morning I just sit. No formal meditation — just me, my tea, and time to flow gently into the day.”
She observes herself quietly: “How am I right now? What needs attention? What can I breathe in, what can I let go of?”
This practice, she says, arose during a difficult time — and became a daily path of self-care.
Follow your joy!
If she could offer one wish to her students and colleagues, it would be this:
“Follow your joy. Trust your body and your heart.”
She sees it again and again — people who come unsure or wounded and leave with shining eyes.
“To witness that transformation is a gift.”
Offerings at the Gathering
Elke will share two experiences at the Esalen Massage Global Village 2026:
Walking Meditation – “It helps me become quiet,” she says softly. “When I do it in nature, I notice everything — a drop of dew on a blade of grass. It’s so simple, and so beautiful.”
Unusual Massage Positions – playful explorations of forgotten techniques that awaken creativity and joy. “Some of them you can’t use often — but when you do, they’re incredibly beautiful,” she says. “And the best part is to practice together, to explore in small groups. Because practice — again and again — is what keeps the work alive.”
A Love Letter to Humanity
As our conversation ends, Elke shares a line from one of her students that has stayed with her:
“Esalen Massage is a love letter to humanity.”
She smiles. “I couldn’t have said it better.”
You are warmly invited to meet Elke and the global Esalen Massage community in Kiental, Switzerland — July 2026.
Discover touch as a language of presence, belonging, and joy.
May your hands remember what it means to listen.
Meet Elke at her practice in Wuppertal, Germany, where she is also part of the teaching team of Esalen Massage in Germany, offering both introductory courses and professional trainings: → Elke Bartsch.