You carry all the ingredients
To turn your existence into joy. Mix them. Mix them!
- Hafiz
My committment is to bring you the best, most healing, most deeply relaxing massage experience you've EVER had. I'm dedicated to connecting with your individual uniqueness, making every massage personalized and thorough and doing so with whole-hearted deep presence. I can accommodate your specific requests and preferences within the Esalen Massage and Deep Bodywork modalities. Each of your sessions will be an opportunity to awaken, at deeper and deeper levels, your inner resources and potential for self-healing and for you to regain a sense of natural balance in your body, mind and life.
I feel blessed and enriched to share the healing art of Esalen Massage with you and your loved ones. From the first time I experienced this bodywork for myself I knew it was a skill and a gift I was meant to train in and offer to others. The Esalen Massage Certification training at Findhorn in Scotland was an amazing experience of feeling alive and aligned with daily meditation, yoga and dance movement practice woven throughout the massage program. I feel deep gratitude to my Esalen Massage and Deep Bodywork teachers Perry and Johanna Holloman, and to each of the assistant teachers, as well as my colleagues from around the globe. After completing a year long Teacher Training intensive, I am now an Esalen Massage Teacher facilitating Introductory Workshops in this body of work. Along with teaching and my private practice, I offer Esalen Massage and Deep Bodywork for participants in transformational retreat and workshop settings and continue my advanced training and assisting in Deep Bodywork at the world renowned Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California.
Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.
- Rumi
What rests me? What moves my soul? Deep connections. Adventure. Authenticity. Curiosity. Appreciation. Making one's passions a priority. Travelling off the beaten path. Experiencing the heart and nuances of other cultures. The sun. Sitting on the edge of a cliff. Being near and on the ocean; in the forest; in the mountains. Being a life learner and a parent. Thinking outside the box. Photography. Dance. Walking, hiking, biking, swimming. Yoga. Super foods. The leading edge in natural healing. Meditation. Music. Silence.
Highlights from the roads less traveled... journeyed to 19 countries and plan to continue nourishing my travel bug... crewed on yachts across the South Pacific... encountered whales, dolphins, dugongs, massive groupers, gorgeous islands, beautiful people, a live volcano... lived through 2 hurricanes... learned to scuba dive in Victoria, and dove in the Cook Islands, the Kermedecs and New Caledonia... lived a monastic life in Zen monasteries in Asia for 4.5 years and was the personal attendant to Zen Master Seung Sahn and 2 abbots in South Korean Zen temples... sat three 90-day silent Zen meditation retreats, three consecutive winters in a row in South Korea, and co-founded the Hong Kong Zen Center.
For 14 years I was a caregiver to special needs children and adults, privately and for foster families, helping individuals with autism, FASD, CP, ADHD, high medical needs, in wheel chairs, and provided full-time care and a home to a young woman with autism for 6 years. I completed the Option Process Counselling Certification program at The Option Institute in Sheffield, MA and trained in the Son-Rise Program at The Autism Treatment Center of America where I learned that Autism can be cured. Training in Mind Body Spirit Medicine and the intuitive arts has been an important focus for me. For 30+ years I have made healthy living and alternative healing modalities a daily part of my and my family's life through wholesome nutrition, being active, homeopathy, vitamins and supplements, bodywork, acupuncture and using natural products for home and body.
The culmination of my life's abundant, diverse and adventurous experiences have brought me to this place I stand in now, with the unique knowledge and skills I have, and the open heart to be of service and share these gifts with you. Thank you to everyone - teachers, clients, family, colleagues, friends - for the loving support, in it's many forms, you've so generously given over the years. It is an honor to play a part in co-creating transformative experiences and deep healing for your body-mind-soul journey to optimum health and well-being.
Shayu Talbot
Esalen Massage Teacher
Certified Esalen® Massage and Deep Bodywork® Practitioner
Victoria, BC, Canada