Creative & Expressive Arts

Internal use ONLY

Laughter, Sound, and Consciousness

With LARAAJI and Arji OceAnanda

December 8 - 12, 2025

Are you ready to escape the grip of everyday seriousness and soften into your own vibrant aliveness? Join us for a soul-soothing, laughter-filled playshop designed to help you lighten up, loosen your edges, and let yourself flow. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of Big Sur and the healing spirit of Esalen, this immersive experience is […]

The Art of Improvisation: From Sound to Song

With Shahzad Ismaily

December 15 - 19, 2025

Join acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, composer, poet, and record-doula Shahzad Ismaily for a deep and inspiring journey into the liberating realms of spontaneous sound and written word. This unique workshop invites participants to embrace the creative process of making music in the moment — free from judgment, structure, or expectation. We begin each day with the gentle […]

Writing and Mindfulness: Cultivating a Daily Meditation and a Daily Writing Practice

With Janis Cooke Newman

January 12 - 16, 2026

A consistent meditation practice lowers stress, improves health, strengthens relationships, and increases happiness. A consistent writing practice not only helps you make sense of the world, it also can make you a better, and more creative, writer.  This combination writing and meditation workshop invites writers and meditators of all levels to delve deeply into both […]

Entering Your Creative Universe

With Paul Heussenstamm

January 12 - 16, 2026

This workshop invites you to explore the creative spirit that resides within each of us. Whether you are an experienced artist or simply seeking to uncover your potential, this meditative experience promises to be enriching. We will begin with colored pencils to open our hearts and let creativity flow naturally. Then, with acrylic paints, participants […]

Planets and Poetry: Embodying Astrology Through the Expressive Arts

With Heidi Rose Robbins

January 26 - 30, 2026

Join Heidi Rose Robbins for an enlivening exploration of your astrological chart. Through group study, movement, writing, and poetry, we’ll bring our astrological map to life — and in so doing, we will practice loving, act courageously, and fully embrace our next life steps.  In this workshop, we will come together in the beauty of […]

SoulCollage®: An Enchanting Path to Inner Wisdom

With Kimberly Lee

January 26 - 30, 2026

Set out on an enlightening journey of self-discovery, guided by your own intuition and creativity! In this immersive workshop, you’ll uncover and access inner wisdom through the inspiring SoulCollage® method. Developed by the late Seena Frost, this enchanting personal practice harnesses the magic of images, imagination, and intuition as a way to excavate insight and […]

Creative Catalyst: The Transformative Power of Making Art

With Dana Albany and Michael "Flash" Hopkins

February 2 - 6, 2026

The Artist lives within everyone! Art can be made out of just about anything! It’s a time to leave the critic behind and allow oneself to play, nourish, and replenish the creative spirit. It’s also a time to enjoy the company and camaraderie of like-minded peers. Now is your time to discover the joys of […]

Sacred Clown: Reconnecting to Self Through the Spirit of Play

With Jet Eveleth

February 2 - 6, 2026

Our clown is the authentic, curious, and playful version of ourselves. Clowning as a life practice is the balancing of our light and shadow while laughing at our attachments. We will explore being soft, brave, and available to the moment. This workshop is an immersion practice that explores our most vulnerable and creative self. Using […]

Reawaken Creative Process

With The Brothers Koren

February 6 - 8, 2026

Explore your unique creative process and express your human potential in a weekend deep dive with The Brothers Koren. Discover your distinct creative personality and how to find harmony and coherence in your own creative process. The brothers specialize in facilitating a safe space for you to move beyond the inhibitions and align to your […]

Encounter: Meeting the Moment

With Andrea Juhan

February 16 - 20, 2026

To encounter someone, something, or someplace implies that it’s unexpected or a surprise. Encountering the moment means coming face-to-face with the unknown. In movement practice, we train ourselves to stay open, curious, centered, and responsive at the front edge of any encounter — counterbalancing those innate primal reactions to fight, flee, freeze, or please.   Rather […]

A Black History Month Celebration: Exploring and Restoring Our Path to Healing through Empathy and Music

With LaVerne McLeod and Melanie DeMore

February 20 - 22, 2026

Join LaVerne McLeod and Melanie DeMore for a weekend of exploration and celebration of Black History Month as we express ourselves, connect, play, and honor humanity. Together, we will explore what it is like to walk in another person’s shoes to understand and empathize with viewpoints that might differ from our own. We will build […]

Make Peace with your Judging Mind: How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Help Free You from the Inner Critic

With Mark Coleman

February 20 - 22, 2026

Have you noticed the painful effects of self-judgment? Do you feel tormented by negative critical self-talk and the harsh words of the inner critic?  Are you prone to judging everything you do as not good enough, not quite right, or not up to some impossibly high standard? Do you find yourself harshly judging your meditation, […]

Thresholds and Altars: Nature-Based Rituals for Life’s Turning Points

With Day Schildkret

February 27 - March 1, 2026

Everything begins by leaving. — Rev. angel Kyodo williams Life invites us into change, but rarely teaches us how to move through it well. Whether it’s a relationship ending, a role dissolving, a chapter closing, or a calling emerging, you may find yourself standing at the edge of what was — and unsure how to […]

Movement as a Metaphor in Life and Art

With Daria Halprin

March 9 - 13, 2026

Everything I have experienced in my life, I take into my art. —Anna Halprin  What if everything you’ve experienced in your life could be danced? What if an image drawn carried a message for healing? What if a dance inspired a drawing that sparks words for a poem and the poem transforms a difficult story […]

Fear of Dopeness: Surrendering to Your Own Greatness

With Didier Sylvain

March 16 - 20, 2026

Your crown has been bought and paid for. All you have to do is put it on. — James Baldwin Most people don’t actually fear failure; they fear their own brilliance. In this weeklong journey, we’ll explore how subtle self-sabotage, shrinking, and doubt prevent us from claiming our gifts. Through coherence coaching, embodied exercises, and […]

The Future We Choose: Human Empowerment in the AI Age

With Sam Stern and Cecilia Callas

March 20 - 22, 2026

What does it mean to remain human in the new age of artificial intelligence? In this immersive weekend workshop, we'll explore this profound question together, journeying from awareness to empowerment to integration as we discover how to shape our relationship with AI while preserving what matters most. Through hands-on AI demonstrations, creative labs, and experiential […]

Mapping Your Hero’s Adventure: A Mythogenesis PlayShop

With Robert Walter

March 23 - 27, 2026

Joseph Campbell used to celebrate his birthday at Esalen. When asked why, he’d recount how Carl Jung — wondering, “What myth am I living by?” and realizing he didn’t know — wrote, “I took it upon myself to get to know ‘my’ myth, and I regarded this as the task of tasks.”  “That’s what a […]

Free the Resonant Voice

With Odeya Nini

March 23 - 27, 2026

The voice is calling me, to come home, to the river that is flowing within me. — Sophia Tuv The voice is more than sound — it is the breath of our being made audible, the vibration of our essence moving through space. It is our most innate instrument, a direct channel between the soul […]

Awaken The Artist Within: Evolution

With Erin Gafill and Tom Birmingham

March 30 - April 3, 2026

When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy. —Rumi Embark on a five-day journey of artistic discovery in a creative space that nurtures playful practice and community above all. This immersive multimedia experience is an invitation to explore an array of techniques and mediums, including: Torn paper […]