Who writes these guides

Founder of Spoken Massage. Writes and oversees these guides.

Steffen Hoyemsvoll is the founder of Spoken Massage. He took his first massage course in 2007 and has been hooked ever since, training across a range of styles and modalities over the years, which is reflected in these guides.

The approach here sits closest to Swedish massage in its relaxing, flowing form, the Esalen tradition: long, slow, nurturing strokes made for connection rather than clinical correction.

He holds a master's in Physics from the University of Oxford, with a specialism in biophysics, and brings a scientist's eye to what touch actually does.

Spoken Massage is relaxation and connection between partners, not medical treatment. Where a topic edges into anything clinical, injury, pregnancy, a health condition, the guides say so and point you to a qualified professional.

Training

• MSc Physics (specialism: Biophysics), University of Oxford