Creativity & Culture

Website program category as of 2022

COME TOGETHER! A Festival of IntraConnectivity and Spirit | Day Pass

With Daniel Siegel, Elissa Epel, Little Bear Tom Nason, Rhonda V. Magee and Douglas Drummond

Package Dates

We live in times of high existential stress with both ever-increasing personal, societal, and global pressures and the constant pain of witnessing ecological crises and widespread social injustices. These challenges also create opportunities to reconsider our relationships to self, one another, and the planet — and to choose a life of peak purpose and interconnectedness. […]

COME TOGETHER! A Festival of IntraConnectivity and Spirit | ETMC Day Pass

With Daniel Siegel, Elissa Epel, Little Bear Tom Nason, Rhonda V. Magee and Douglas Drummond

Package Dates

We live in times of high existential stress with both ever-increasing personal, societal, and global pressures and the constant pain of witnessing ecological crises and widespread social injustices. These challenges also create opportunities to reconsider our relationships to self, one another, and the planet — and to choose a life of peak purpose and interconnectedness. […]

Capacity Building Through Healing-Centered Learning Environments

With Angel Acosta and Yolanda Ruiz

October 17 - 19, 2025

We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking. — Richard Rohr In a world in flux, where uncertainty is the norm, how do we cultivate the inner resilience to enact outer change? This workshop invites educators, social impact leaders, and business professionals to explore healing-centered […]

Your Brain on Sound: Rewiring Through Resonance, Mantra, and Alchemy Crystal Bowls

With Deva Munay

October 20 - 24, 2025

Join us for a deeply nourishing sound immersion where sacred resonance becomes a gateway to transformation. In this weeklong workshop, we work with alchemy crystal singing bowls — instruments of subtle energy and crystalline intelligence — to harmonize the nervous system, soften emotional residue in the biofield, and awaken a more grounded, joyful state of […]

Erotic Ecology: Awakening the Senses and Healing through Nature

With Lindsay Branham

October 24 - 26, 2025

Love is an ecological process.  — Andreas Weber  Most of us have lost our sensual connection to our bodies and to the living world. We have become numb to the Earth's touch. This weekend workshop offers an immersive experience in the erotic ecology pathway — a space to reawaken our sensory, pleasurable, and nourishing connection […]

Autumn Enchantment: Ritual Connection with Land and Spirit

With Fletcher Tucker and Micha Merrick

October 27 - 31, 2025

For thousands of years, autumnal holidays such as Samhain, Hallowe’en, and Vetrnætr have served as ceremonial foundations — connecting pre-modern peoples to landscape, ancestors, and ritual time. Many cultures believe “the veil thins” during this time, letting enchantment flood back into our world. The time is rife with opportunities to renew sacred relationships with the […]

American Detox: How to Heal in a Toxic World

With Kerri Kelly

October 27 - 31, 2025

We are living through a polycrisis — a time of profound unraveling and emergence. Old systems and structures are collapsing while new possibilities stir beneath the surface. This shift isn’t just happening “out there.” It is alive within each of us, inviting us to transform inherited stories into new ways of being, relating, and belonging. […]

Sleep Yoga: The Sleep of Clear Light

With Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

November 3 - 7, 2025

In the ancient Tibetan practice of Sleep Yoga, the primary goal is to enter the pure, luminous awareness — the clear light — that is the true nature of the mind. As a profound support for Dzogchen meditation, Sleep Yoga enhances clarity, awareness, and spiritual realization, even as the body rests. In today’s fast-paced world, […]

The Healing Voice: Exploring the Sonic Anatomy

With The Brothers Koren and Eileen McKusick

November 7 - 9, 2025

What if you could use your voice to feel alive and present in your body? What would it look like to discover your own voice and fulfill its unique potential? This November, join sound therapy pioneer Eileen McKusick and transformational voice leaders and international recording artists Isaac and Thorald Koren of the Brothers Koren in […]

Healing Waters: Return to One

With Douglas Drummond and Little Bear Tom Nason

November 10 - 14, 2025

We invite you to step into a powerful, immersive experience weaving the dynamic energy of 5Rhythms® movement with the deep wisdom of Indigenous traditions. Rooted in the teachings of the Esselen people, this workshop is an invitation to reconnect — with yourself, your community, and the natural world. For millennia, rites of passage and sacred […]

Healing Wisdom for Modern Times: You Are Your Greatest Healer

With Erika Gagnon

December 1 - 5, 2025

Join ceremonial leader and wisdom carrier Erika Gagnon on a sacred journey, as we gather together and explore the healing wisdom of the “Americas.” We will learn about the importance of ancestral lineage, ceremonies and rituals, sacred altars, medicinal plants, and the origins of dis-ease in our physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual bodies. You are your […]

Imagination: Exploring Your Inner World for an Extraordinary Life

With Cassandra Vieten

December 5 - 7, 2025

The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them to the impossible. — Arthur C. Clarke Imagination is the foundational ingredient in problem solving – the ones in your own life as well as problems in society. Yet how many courses in imagination did you take during your K to12 education? Were you […]

The Depths of Vision: Jung, Psychedelics, and the Practice of Integration

With John W. Price

December 8 - 12, 2025

In an era fascinated by peak experiences and personal revelations, the deeper task of transformation is often overlooked. This workshop offers a grounded path for those who have touched something sacred — through psychedelics, mystical states, or profound life transitions — and are now asking, How do I live in service to what I’ve seen? […]

Awaken The Artist Within: Evolution

With Erin Gafill and Tom Birmingham

December 8 - 12, 2025

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 […]

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 […]

Solstice Hearthfire: Celebrate the Rebirth of Your Inner Light

With Micha Merrick

December 19 - 21, 2025

Gather with us on the longest night of the year for a weekend of deep ritual, mythic remembrance, and communal rebirth. As the sun pauses in stillness, we will circle the hearthfire to honor the turning of the wheel and the return of the light through sacred ceremony, fire circles, folklore, green magic, herbcraft, candlelit […]

Natural Healing: A Spiritual Journey of Return

With Margaret Harrsen and Michael Ventura

December 19 - 21, 2025

Healing ourselves is a journey of return. During this weekend workshop, you will be invited to learn about the practice and traditions of “curanderisma” (folk medicine) to bring forth awareness and attune us to our individual healing journeys. Through meditative and contemplative practices, touch, prayer, plants, and natural elements, this work honors a lineage of […]

Gateways: A 5Rhythms® Movement & Mindfulness Retreat

With Lucia Horan and Douglas Drummond

December 29, 2025 - January 2, 2026

Come to dance and be danced! Move until you are moved. Dance until the dancer disappears and only the dance remains.—Gabrielle Roth The gateway of the body is a powerful vessel that allows us to move and be moved. Together, we will dance into and through the gateway of the new year, crossing the thresholds […]

Awaken Your Heartfelt Intentions Through Movement, Sound, and Stillness

With Tracy Lease and Miyu Tamamura

January 5 - 9, 2026

If you are capable of living deeply one moment of your life, you can learn to live the same way all the other moments of your life. — Thich Nhat Hanh This workshop is for anyone feeling the need to slow down, reconnect with themselves, and step into the New Year relaxed and awake. Whether […]

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 […]

Awe, Compassion, Gratitude, and Beauty: The Science and Practice of Self-Transcendence

With Dacher Keltner

February 9 - 13, 2026

Deep in the human mind and body are vast capacities for self-transcendence, felt in experiences of awe, compassion, gratitude, and profound beauty. These emotions enable us to gain perspective on our stresses, quiet the voice of the transactional self, orient to the well-being of others, and find a commitment to all sentient beings. These emotions […]

Designing the Life We Want: Self Renewal in the Winter

With Mark Nicolson

February 16 - 20, 2026

Have you created the impact you want? Are you showing up the way you’d like? Are you going in the right direction? You have never before been where you are right now. You have never been the age you are today, never had the experiences you now possess. This is your time to pause and […]

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 […]

Meet Your Better Half: Unlock Your Right Brain

With William Donius

March 13 - 15, 2026

Learn to activate the right side of your brain to unlock the intuition and insights necessary to break through self-limiting patterns. Based on a Nobel Prize-winning discovery in neuroscience, this methodology helps you think outside the box and live a more creative, productive, happier life. William Donius, author of the New York Times bestseller Thought […]

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 […]

Shedding the Old to Enter the Magnificent Wild: A Women’s Third Rite of Passage

With Jovinna Chan

March 20 - 22, 2026

Perimenopausal and menopausal transitions are more than biological phases to endure; they are sacred passages that forge a woman into her fullest expression — as a truth-bearer, a pathfinder, a beauty maker, and a new creation.   When the monthly cycles end, you'll undergo tremendous transformations in your body, mind, emotions, and psyche. Crossing this monumental […]

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 […]

Sacred Tobacco: Hapé and the Art of Presence

With Glauber Loures de Assis

April 3 - 5, 2026

Hapé, a sacred tobacco preparation, has been used by Indigenous peoples across the Amazon as a medicine for clarity, presence, and connection for centuries. Blown gently into the nostrils, this finely ground blend of tobacco leaves and sacred ashes activates the senses in a unique way, opening inner vision and anchoring attention in the present […]

Healing Through Creativity: Merging Art and Psychology for Personal Growth and Change

With Pamela Hayes Malkoff

April 6 - 10, 2026

This workshop is more than a learning experience — it’s an invitation to connect deeply with yourself and others in a supportive and creative space. Together, we’ll explore the profound potential for healing and growth that arises when art and psychology converge. No artistic experience is necessary; this workshop is about creative expression, not perfection. […]

Sleep Alchemy: Secrets of Daoist Sleep Practices for Inner Peace and Renewal

With Simon Cox

April 20 - 24, 2026

What if sleep could be more than just crashing into your pillow at the end of a long day? What if it could be a portal to transformation and self-discovery? In this workshop, we’ll dive into the ancient Daoist art of sleep alchemy, where the Wudang Hibernating Dragon and Five Dragons Sleeping methods teach you […]