There are moments when a life turns quietly, as if guided by an unseen hand.
For Ellen Watson, that moment came on the long road down the hill toward the Esalen baths — a van, a coastline, a breath, and an unexpected sense of freedom.
She arrived at Big Sur at a time when life felt tangled. “My sister-in-law said, I know where you need to go. You need to go to Esalen,” Ellen remembers. When the van reached the cliffs above the Pacific, something inside her widened. “It was a feeling of expansion and freedom.”
Held by Presence, Moved from Within
Ellen’s first visit became four workshops in a row. The two that shaped her most were Gestalt work with Seymour Carter and holotropic breathwork with Stanislav Grof.
Grof’s work touched something deep. She recalls lying on the floor, held by the firm, steady weight of his hand. “With all the force I could muster, I could not move him,” she says. His presence helped release years of held anger and taught her that breath can move where words cannot.
Ellen returned to Texas long enough to file for divorce. Within months she was back in Big Sur as a work scholar — then a staff member, a cook, and soon a student of the very practice that would become her life’s path.
Learning in a Field of Many Hands
In 1984, she entered the first teacher training ever offered by the Esalen Massage School faculty. There were more than fifteen teachers, each bringing a different rhythm, style, and history. “It was total chaos — and I liked it,” Ellen says.
This diversity became her foundation: the classical flow taught by Peggy, Brita, Deborah; the lively bodywork energy of Vicki and others; and the shared spirit that later shaped the name Esalen Massage & Bodywork. She gave her first 300 massages at the baths — to staff, to visitors, even to the children who lived there. “I gave them to everybody.”
Through practice, something softened. Presence became more than technique. Touch became a language.
The Teachers Who Held Her Path
Many voices shaped Ellen, but a few live at the heart of her story.
Stanislav Grof, whose breathwork opened a path through fear and stored anger.
Gabrielle Roth, with whom Ellen trained in the early days of the 5Rhythms. Gabrielle brought song and movement into every room. “Her teaching was not only about dancing on the floor,” Ellen says. In those years, Gabrielle took entire groups to the baths, where massage unfolded to live music — rhythm meeting touch.
George King, former masseur for the Russian ballet and American Ballet Theater, became her tutor. His hands were steady, wide, and full of quiet authority. “Doing nothing, just the touch of his hand was enough.” He taught her how safety is transmitted — not explained.
And then there was David Streeter, a former Benedictine monk and gifted teacher whose structure balanced Ellen’s natural spontaneity. They met in the Esalen kitchen.
“He was drinking cooking wine in the walk-in refrigerator,” she laughs softly. That moment became a lifelong friendship.
David later chose Ellen as his teaching partner, a decision that surprised some and shaped her path profoundly. “He taught me how to structure a class,” she says — how to weave anatomy, demonstration, and experience into one coherent arc.
Following Warmth Toward a New Home
Ellen’s education unfolded in community. Practitioners worked side-by-side, table-to-table, learning like musicians in a shared score. “We see what the others are doing and we might try it. It was a major teaching all the time.”
Practice with peers was constant. She remembers trading sessions with Daniela in those early years — a living apprenticeship inside a village of hands.
But Big Sur had winters that challenged the body. Cold air seeped through canvas curtains. So Ellen went searching for warmth. She traveled through the Caribbean, then to Indonesia, where Bali finally said yes.
There, she created Esalen Massage programming for 25 years — a winter home for practice and community. “Once I found Bali, I decided to offer winter programming there.”
Listening for the Next Shore
Today, Ellen moves between countries — including China, where she has been teaching since 2014 — while listening for the place that will hold her next chapter. She speaks about the ocean often: warm, swimmable, alive. “Maybe North Carolina. Maybe Mexico. I’m still in inquiry.”
Her life now is spacious, intentional. She carries breathwork, song, prayer, movement, and decades of touch into every training.
Offerings at EMGV26
Grof Legacy Breathwork — Evening Program
A doorway into Grof’s lineage of breath, music, and bodywork. Ellen guides participants into deep, holotropic states of awareness using accelerated breath, evocative sound, and focused touch — honoring the tradition she learned directly from Stanislav Grof.
Sound and Scent in Esalen Massage — 3.5-hour Afternoon Program
Co-led with Daniela Urbassek, this session explores the meeting point of touch, scent, and sound. Participants work with ten essential oils, gentle vibration through humming, and table practice that awakens the senses and deepens presence.
Invitation to the Global Village
When asked what she would say to practitioners around the world, her voice becomes clear and steady:
“Don’t miss it. It is the first one.
You will meet people from all over the world.
If you want to get a taste of what Esalen is about — we are it.”
Her invitation is simple: come, be part of the living lineage.
Ellen’s Website: www.ellen-watson.com