Sometimes the most important journeys begin in unexpected moments. For Nina, Esalen® Massage opened a door when she felt most lost. What began as a personal crisis became an awakening: a path where exploration is welcomed, where the body itself carries wisdom, and where community holds each step. This is her story.
A Crisis as a Beginning
New paths often appear when life feels most fragile. For Nina, it was during a Gestalt training, in the midst of a personal crisis. She felt there was no space for her authentic expression, too many directives, too much rigidity.
“I asked myself where I really belonged,” she recalls. “And then I received my first Esalen Massage. It was an absolute revelation.”
That single session changed her course. She discovered a place where words were no longer necessary, where she could let go and be carried by empathic touch.
Not long after, she signed up for Esalen Massage training. Without overthinking, she simply knew this was her way.
Learning Without Fear of Getting It Wrong
Like many of us, Nina carried a deep fear of criticism. “I was terrified of being corrected,” she admits. “It would have felt like a devastating judgment.”
But in the Esalen Massage training, she found something radically different. Teachers created an atmosphere not of judgment but of support. Correction was never about shame, it was about encouragement.
“I realized I could try things out, follow my curiosity, even enjoy not knowing. That made me lighter and braver.”
This shift was life-changing. Today, Nina carries that same spirit into her teaching:
“I want my students to feel the same kind of freedom — that learning can be playful, exploratory, and always supported. I invite them to reconnect with the wisdom within through embodied practice and presence-based guidance.
Essential Moments at Esalen
There are moments in life that flow through us like underground springs. For Nina, one of those moments unfolded after a healing session with Seema at Esalen.
Still glowing from the treatment, she followed a narrow path toward the ocean.
“I felt myself connecting with the waters themselves,” she remembers. “After the healing session with Seema, I first soaked in the hot springs baths. Then I stepped into the ocean exactly where the river flows into the Pacific, letting myself be held by all three waters — hot, fresh, and sea — as if the land, the river, and the ocean were guiding me together.”
For her, this was more than a beautiful scene. It was an initiation, a true Esalen moment, a deep sense of belonging, not separate but woven into earth, water, and body.
The Body Knows: Trusting Inner Wisdom
The body knows. These words carry Nina’s path.
Through Esalen Massage, she discovered that the body has an innate wisdom. If we listen, it offers guidance.
This trust became even more profound during her journey with cancer. Alongside all the research, the doctors, and the treatment options, it was always her body that pointed the way.
“I could rely on my body. It told me which steps brought peace and which didn’t.”
This embodied trust is now her compass: not relying only on outer knowledge, but on the voice of the body itself.
Mini-Practice: Walk & Talk
At the end of our conversation, Nina offers a simple practice she cherishes in daily life. She calls it Walk & Talk.
She walks with a close friend. One speaks while the other listens. No advice, no fixing, no judgment. Just words flowing, witnessed in silence. Then they switch.
“For me, it’s like sorting myself out,” she explains. “By speaking, clarity arises. And by listening, connection deepens.”
Try it yourself: Invite a friend for a walk. Take turns speaking and listening without interruption. Let words flow like water, and notice how clarity and companionship emerge naturally.
Invitation to the Esalen Massage Global Village 2026
Nina is excited to bring her presence and teaching to the Esalen Massage Global Village 2026 in Switzerland. She will co-teach a one-day workshop, Deep Bodywork – Liberating the Lower Back and Hips, together with her colleague Eva-Maria Leve.
“I can’t wait to reconnect with friends from all over the world and meet new ones,” she smiles. “It feels like a great homecoming for our international family.”
Whether you are a seasoned practitioner or just beginning to explore, this gathering will be a space of belonging, where exploration is welcomed, where hands listen, and where we return home to ourselves through touch, presence-based guidance, and community.
You are warmly invited to join the Esalen Massage Global Village 2026:
At the end of our talk, Nina reflects:
“I don’t have to know everything. The answers live in the body.”
May you trust the quiet wisdom within,
may your hands remember how to listen,
and may every touch guide you back — to yourself, to others, and to the living flow of life.
Find Nina’s practice in Hamburg — and her upcoming introduction courses and certification trainings in English across Europe at: → Nina Ottenheym.com