Mindfulness & Spirituality
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
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
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. […]
Altered States: Pathways to Expansion | Day Pass
With Sravana Borkataky-Varma, Lucia Horan, Xochitl Ashe, East Forest and Marisa Radha Weppner
You are an explorer, and you represent our species, and the greatest good you can do is to bring back a new idea, because our world is endangered by the absence of good ideas. Our world is in crisis because of the absence of consciousness. —Terence McKenna Since time immemorial, we humans have been curious […]
Cancelled | Yoga Nidra Retreat: Rest, Restore, and Remember Who You Are
With John Vosler
Experience five days of deep rest, reflection, and rejuvenation. Using the profound practice of Yoga Nidra, movement and guided meditation. We will restore the body, clear the mind, and shift the habitual patterns that keep us from being calm, clear and balanced. Yoga (meaning “union”) Nidra (meaning “sleep”) is a path to that liminal state […]
Cancelled: Leading with the Heart: Standing in our Authentic Power through the Wisdom of the Enneagram
With Dr. Deborah Egerton
Join Dr. Deborah Egerton for this exploration into how to lead from the heart when faced with life’s challenges. Find your place in the rehabilitation of our humanity through love, light, and connection. Setting aside binary thinking and the assignment of stereotypical roles, we come together to honor and explore the totality of the energies […]
Cultivating Vitality in Body, Mind, and Spirit: The Ecosystem of Mental Well-Being
With Cassandra Vieten and Elissa Epel
What is vitality? Exuberance, vibrance, sparkle, spirit, and verve — terms rarely found in psychology textbooks. Vulnerability to depression and anxiety is widespread, and our culture traditionally emphasizes reducing symptoms with drugs that alter certain neurotransmitters, which is only part of the picture. We are living in a new era where vulnerabilities can become strengths, […]
Wild Pilgrimage: Backpacking Journey to Esalen
With Fletcher Tucker and Emily Linders
Embark on an intentional wilderness journey through the sublime and seldom-traveled backcountry of Big Sur, concluding at the coastal grounds of the Esalen Institute. Among the fleeting gifts of Spring – free-flowing creeks, boundless wildflower fields and vibrant wildlife – immerse in the wild with an intimate cohort (up to twelve participants), practice awareness and […]
Cancelled | True Self Mastery: The Art and Practice of Living Well
With Anne Van de Water
Have you ever felt like you wanted to start over, or simply begin again – right now – in a more authentic, healthy, and sustainable way? One of the most consistent regrets of the dying is that they lacked the courage to live a life true to themselves. No matter what you have been through, […]
How We Change and Why We Don't: The Art and Science of Transformation
With Cassandra Vieten
Have you ever worked hard to make a change, only to find yourself slipping back into old habits? Want to supercharge your ability to stimulate behavior change in others when it comes to the issues you care about the most? Is it time to break free from old patterns and build your next chapter? This […]
Divine Eros and the Diamond Approach: Exploring the Relationship Between Love and Desire on the Spiritual Journey
With Jessica Britt and Vince Draddy
Join us as we dive into the mystery of spirit and matter in our human lives. There are great and painful misunderstandings about the relationship between our physical nature, expressed in our instincts; our emotional nature, expressed through our relationship to love; and our spiritual nature. For centuries, these three realms have been held in […]
Heart, Broken, OPEN: Cultivating Emotional Balance
With Eve Ekman
Our emotions help us respond to the threats and opportunities in our daily lives and profoundly impact our individual and collective well-being. Feeling the joys and pains of our emotions is universal, yet what makes us emotional and how we respond is unique. We become emotional without our conscious awareness. Developing emotional awareness is like […]
Love Thy Nature: Forest Bathing for Homecoming and Belonging
With Sylvie Rokab
What if you could heal modern-life isolation and thrive by deepening your bond with nature? By combining the ancient practices of forest bathing and mindfulness, this program guides you to awaken pleasurable embodiment, experience awe and wonder, and learn simple yet powerful daily practices to deepen connection with yourself, your loved ones, and all existence. […]
Cancelled | Writing and Mindfulness: A Practice for Navigating Difficult Times
With Janis Cooke Newman
A daily writing practice and a consistent meditation practice have the power to ground us during difficult times. Writing gives us perspective and helps us make sense of the world. Mindfulness teaches us how to make space for the joy as well as the fear. This experiential meditation retreat and writing workshop invites writers and […]
Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Doorway to Joy, Connection, and Wonder
With Mark Coleman and Lori Schwanbeck
Are you longing to feel enlivened by nature and expand beyond the virtual world, revitalizing your senses, body, and heart? Together, with the exhilarating Big Sur coastline, towering redwoods, and verdant gardens, we will access the clarity of the mind, feel the aliveness in the body, and the expansiveness of the heart. Following spiritual traditions […]
RITUAL: Full Moon Women's Retreat
With Sianna Sherman
Alchemize your life with the wisdom of the 13 moons! This is a spirited call to soul sisters, magic makers, and wise women of all ages. If you feel called to awaken and amplify your magic, this is for you. Women throughout the ages have gathered under the light of the full moon, steeping in […]
The Wisdom of Aging: Self-Care, Community, Inquiry, and Celebration
With Jim Gallas
How do we celebrate aging and become wisdom holders for our communities in a youth-obsessed culture? As we ripen into the late summers and autumns of our lives, how can we let go of what no longer serves us and enjoy the abundance of each precious moment? The experience of living through many years and […]
Big Sur Wilderness Experience: Springtime
With Steven Harper
Esalen is the trailhead to one of the most spectacular mountainous coastlines in the world. With the Big Sur wilderness as the primary teacher, participants will explore the beauty of this wild coast — one of the most spectacular mountainous coastlines in the world — which includes ancient canyons of redwoods, dramatic coastal beaches, rugged […]
Beyond Duality: Healing Wisdom and Ceremony for Personal Health and Well-being
With Erika Gagnon
Join ceremonial leader and wisdom carrier Erika Gagnon on a sacred journey as we gather to look beyond the false duality of a divided self and the destructive concept of “self versus nature” to discover how to live in harmony and balance within ourselves and the world around us. You are your greatest healer and […]
Holotropic Breathwork®: Expanded States of Consciousness
With Stacia Butterfield
For thousands of years across many cultures, enhanced states of consciousness have been used as a strategy for meaningful transformation and self-exploration — marking life’s major transitions and rites of passage and deepening one’s connection to self, community, and the natural world. In this workshop, we will gather in the rich field of community for […]
Meditation and Modern Life: A Zen Meditation Retreat
With Dan Zigmond
When was the last time you gave something your undivided attention? Nearly 2,500 years ago, Buddha worried we had become too distracted — and that was before paper, let alone smartphones. In 2022, our days are filled with convenient distractions that promise happiness while mostly delivering busyness and frustration. So many of us today live […]
Awe and Wonder: An Exploration Through Science, Contemplation, and Expressive Writing
With Dacher Keltner and Mollie McNeil
Awe is the feeling of encountering vast mysteries that transcend our current knowledge and understanding of the world. In its greatest sense, it is an astonished and transformative appreciation for the moral beauty of others, for nature, for the arts — and is always rooted in a spiritual understanding of life. In this new, paradigm-shifting […]
Tantra: Freedom, Embodiment, and Transformation
With Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Keith Edward Cantú
Have you ever dived into the ocean of Tantra? Join Tantric scholar-practitioners Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Keith Edward Cantú as we explore Tantric practices and perspectives on topics like freedom from external interference and self-sovereignty (Sanskrit svādhikāra), the link between physical and so-called “subtle bodies,” and the creation of physical mandalas (maṇḍala) or circles and other […]
The Art of Non-Sleep Deep Rest: A Rejuvenating Yoga Nidra Retreat
With Kelly Boys
In this retreat, you will get in touch with a deep relaxation to rejuvenate the body and the mind through non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) and yoga nidra. No matter your reasons — whether you need a break from the constant pressure, are in a life transition, or just want to delve deeper into your meditation […]
Finding Your Spirit Guides: Building A Relationship with the Unseen World
With Brenda Rose
We all have spirit guides. They are part of your soul family and spiritual GPS. Tuning into them takes patience, trust, and assistance from the Other Side. Learn to access your spirit guides in this kind-hearted immersion that welcomes seekers at all levels of experience and at any stage of healing. This unique class dives […]
Tibetan Yoga, Breath & Sound: Understanding and Practicing with Our Subtle Body
With Alejandro Chaoul
Tibetan yogis, monks, and nuns are human like you and me; they have feelings, emotions, and obstacles in their lives, and they understand ancient yogic practices that help them enrich those lives and overcome those obstacles. These same practices can benefit and transform our lives, too. Tibetan mind-energy-body wellness practices remained secret recipes for centuries. […]
The Nature of Movement: Embodiment and the Wilds
With Steven Harper
“You didn’t come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. You are not a stranger here.”~ Alan Watts Throughout the ages and across cultural traditions, nature has inspired the human spirit. The wilderness of Big Sur allows us to imprint the collective wisdom of this alive and wild […]
Renewing Purpose: Modern Rituals to Navigate Life Transitions
With Day Schildkret
As life changes, we also must change — yet this isn't guaranteed. Too many of us get stuck at our thresholds. Ritual can help us cultivate discernment, recognize gains and losses, and conjure possibility. Join us for a transformative workshop designed to provide the skills and understanding needed to create your own modern rituals. Learn […]
Come Together: A Festival for IntraConnectivity and Spirit
With Daniel Siegel, Rhonda V. Magee, Little Bear Tom Nason, Elissa Epel and Douglas Drummond
We live in times of rapid change and high stress. You are not alone if you're experiencing the unease of increasing personal, societal, and global pressures — the pain of witnessing widespread social injustices and devastating ecological crises. These shared challenges create opportunities for us to heal from within in order to heal the world […]
Maps to Ecstasy: A 5Rhythms® Mindfulness & Art Celebration
With Lucia Horan and Douglas Drummond
When we experience moments of ecstasy, we taste what life is meant to be. — Gabrielle Roth The 5Rhythms® maps hold all the information required to lead us where we want to go. What is your destination? There is a science to achieving ecstatic states, and this is the mastery we have come to share. […]
The Power of Breath: Embodied Liberation
With Sadia Bruce
To breathe well is to live well. When we befriend the breath, we expand our capacity for choice, change, joy, and healing. When we embody breath — allowing limbs and bones to express outwardly the dynamic, unceasing pulsation of life within — we touch freedom. In this new and electrifying experiential workshop, we’ll explore and […]
Journey to Wholeness: Embodying the Ancient Teaching of Yoga and Yoga Nidra into Your Modern Life
With John Vosler and Laura McKinzie
The highest spiritual practice is self observation without judgment. — Swami Kripalu Welcome to Esalen, a sacred haven, where the echoes of nature harmonize with the rhythms of self-discovery. This workshop invites you to embark on a transformative seven-day experience designed to nourish your mind, body, heart, and spirit. Take a deep dive into yoga wisdom […]
Embodied Writing and Spiritual Practice
With Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Erik Davis
Part writing workshop and part tantric retreat, this unique practice week explores the relationship between personal writing and subtle body practices. Religious historian and Tantric practitioner Sravana Borkataky-Varma will lead experiential sessions largely stemming from Hindu Goddess Tantra practices. Award-winning author and scholar Erik Davis will then guide the group in reading and writing exercises, […]
Openness to Belonging Through Film: Transforming Intolerance by Embracing the Other
With Francis Lu
We must learn to live together as brothers and sisters or perish together as fools. — Martin Luther King, Jr. Through mindful viewing of eight feature films — today’s vehicles of myth — participants will open their hearts to the quality of belonging with and to others that is so important in our time. We […]
Stages of Tranquility and Insight
With Dustin DiPerna
Asanga’s Nine Stages of Staying is one of the oldest and most comprehensive systems of concentration in the Buddhist tradition. Sometimes called the Elephant Path, this approach was originated by the great Buddhist master in 506 A.D., and it is now the main method of training the mind in the Tibetan tradition. In this weekend […]
Natural Healing: A Spiritual Journey of Return
With Margaret Harrsen and Michael Ventura
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, their work honors a lineage of […]
The Essence of Esalen: Heart, Mind, Body, Spirit, Community
With Sadia Bruce, J.J. Jeffries, Cara Chandler and Jovinna Chan
Join us for an extended opportunity to explore the true essence of Esalen, and find yourself in the process. Like a snapshot of all that we do here on campus, this workshop is composed of enlivening and heart-opening classes that are driven by Esalen’s founding areas of focus: Heart, Mind, Body, Spirit, and Community. During […]
Holotropic Breathwork®: Expanded States of Consciousness
With Stacia Butterfield
For thousands of years across many cultures, enhanced states of consciousness have been used as a strategy for meaningful transformation and self-exploration — marking life’s major transitions and rites of passage and deepening one’s connection to self, community, and the natural world. In this workshop, we will gather in the rich field of community for […]
Reclaiming Your Authentic Power
With Justin Michael Williams
Doing personal growth work while still engaging in self-sabotaging behavior is like watering a garden full of weeds and expecting roses to bloom. Learn to overcome negative patterns and transform your pain into authentic power. In this dynamic three-day workshop with best-selling author and teacher Justin Michael Williams, you will have the opportunity to: Discover […]
Graceful Exit: Preparing for a Good Death
With Andrew Holecek
We all face death, but how many of us are actually ready for it? Whether our own demise or that of a loved one comes first, how prepared are we? This workshop offers a wide array of resources and teachings to help participants address that final unfinished business and make the most out of every […]
Wisdom and Medicine of the Earth: Healing The Planet And Ourselves
With Lindsay Branham
Are you feeling the existential impacts of climate imbalance, global crises, and so much more? Are you seeking sustainable ways to care for both yourself and the Earth? This workshop, led by Cambridge University psychologist and eco-doula Lindsay Branham, will equip you with somatic and contemplative tools to explore your own relationship with the Earth. […]
Yoga Nidra Retreat: Rest, Restore, and Remember Who You Are
With John Vosler
Experience five days of deep rest, reflection, and rejuvenation. Using the profound practice of Yoga Nidra, movement and guided meditation. We will restore the body, clear the mind, and shift the habitual patterns that keep us from being calm, clear and balanced. Yoga (meaning “union”) Nidra (meaning “sleep”) is a path to that liminal state […]
Revitalize Your Purpose with Forest Bathing
With Sylvie Rokab
What does nature / the cosmos have in store for your life today? What yearns to be birthed in and through you? What if Nature can help you release what stands in your way? Join us in this deep partnership with the more-than-human world at wondrous Esalen to help you identify and dissolve the obstacles […]
Unlock Your Intuitive Mind: Tap into Your Higher Consciousness
With William Donius
Learn to call on your spirit guides and tap into your intuitive mind. Join us in a transformative workshop combining scientifically proven brain-enhancing techniques with intuitive guidance to help you break free from self-limiting patterns and create the life you desire. This workshop brings together two powerful approaches to help you develop tools for personal […]
Queer Liberation: Setting Your Inner Child Free Through Creative Expression
With Adam Clark and Udim Isang
How much joy we experience in life is limited by our ability to show up each day with unapologetic authenticity. For many people who identify as LGBTQIA2S+, feeling safe or supported to live authentically may not have been an option. As a result, many of us live disempowered lives— stuck in jobs, relationships, and routines […]
Love Yourself for Everyone Else's Sake
With Mark Abramson
Mark Abramson designed the course as a deep dive into self-compassion after seeing students achieve self-kindness from work with his Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Clinic at Stanford University. Thirty years of teaching have taught Dr. Abramson that bringing kindness and compassion to one’s self is truly the most altruistic of all practices. Imagine always being […]
Reunion with the Wild Earth: Hiking and Nature Connection in Big Sur
With Fletcher Tucker
How would it feel to move into a meaningful relationship with the living world? Beyond a mere passive appreciation of nature? In the long arc of human history, people across all cultures and traditions have lived in communion with the lands they called home. Though this intrinsic connection has been largely severed in our modern […]
Luminous Darkness: Restoring Our Authentic Power A Women’s Retreat
With Deborah Eden Tull
All light arises from darkness. This includes insight, creativity, vision, and possibility. Darkness is not the absence of light, but a vital, regenerative, and healing expression of nature and consciousness. Join us for a restorative and empowering women’s retreat based in embodied meditation, relational mindfulness, and conscious dance. Together we will shift away from the […]
Belonging to Ourselves, Each Other, and Our Planet: A Relational Mindfulness Retreat
With Deborah Eden Tull
While we sometimes draw a division between sitting meditation and how we show up to the beautiful and messy field of socializing and relationships, relational mindfulness helps us bridge this divide. Every relationship we will ever have begins with our relationship with ourselves. Beyond the myth of separation, conditioned beliefs, and false divisions that feed […]
Designing the Life We Want
With Mark Nicolson and Caitlin Wild
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 […]
Wild Presence: Relational Gestalt Practice in Nature
With Dorothy Charles, Noël Vietor and Fletcher Tucker
“Wilderness, by itself, has its own way of teaching. The direct experience of wilderness can spontaneously bring wholeness back into the human community.” – Manual of Gestalt Practice in the Tradition of Dick Price When we are present in the here and now, every moment in the natural world represents an opportunity to enrich, heal, […]
Meditation and Modern Life: A Zen Meditation Retreat
With Dan Zigmond
When was the last time you gave something your undivided attention? Nearly 2,500 years ago, Buddha worried we had become too distracted — and that was before paper, let alone smartphones. In 2022, our days are filled with convenient distractions that promise happiness while mostly delivering busyness and frustration. So many of us today live […]
A Journey Into the World of Dreams: Exploring the Depths of the Unconscious
With Machiel Klerk
Machiel Klerk will lead participants on a journey into the mysterious world of dreams. Through various experiential exercises and discussions, we will explore how to tap into the wisdom and guidance of our inner selves, unlocking new levels of creativity, insight, and personal growth. Dreams are a powerful tool for accessing the inner workings of […]
The Power of Mindfulness and Self-Compassion
With Shauna Shapiro
Learn how mindfulness and self-compassion can change everything about how you feel, how you relate and how you live ― for good. In this workshop, Shauna Shapiro ― a leading scientist studying the effects of mindfulness + compassion on well-being ― shows us that acting with compassion toward ourselves is the key. She explains basic […]
The Power of Breath: Embodied Liberation
With Sadia Bruce
To breathe well is to live well. When we befriend the breath, we expand our capacity for choice, change, joy, and healing. When we embody breath — allowing limbs and bones to express outwardly the dynamic, unceasing pulsation of life within — we touch freedom. In this new and electrifying experiential workshop, we’ll explore and […]
The Buddha, the Brain, and Bach: Exploring Practice in Mind, Music, and Life
With Barbara Bogatin, Nikki Mirghafori and Clifford Saron
You are what you practice. Or, as the Buddha said, “Whatever you frequently reflect and ponder upon, that becomes the inclination of your mind.” This essential observation is examined from our intertwined perspectives on contemplative practice, brain science, and music. Through interactive inquiries and guided meditations, Nikki Mirghafori will lead a journey into mindfulness and […]
Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Doorway to Joy, Wisdom, and Wonder
With Mark Coleman and Lori Schwanbeck
Do you love the beauty of the outdoors and delight in the wonder of nature? Do you want to learn how to meditate outdoors? Would you like practices to stay grounded, connected, and open-hearted in life? Then what better place to discover all this than in the majesty of the Big Sur coastline, where we […]
The Next You: The Art of Futuremaking
With Cassandra Vieten and Bristol Baughan
What innate potential lies dormant within you? What dreams are yearning to be expressed? What does it look like to be fully alive, live an integrated and embodied life, and become an engaged part of the larger ecosystem of nature and community? It’s time to meet your future self and find out. This workshop focuses […]
Beyond Duality: Healing Wisdom and Ceremony for Personal Health and Well-Being
With Erika Gagnon
Join ceremonial leader and wisdom carrier Erika Gagnon on a sacred journey as we gather to look beyond the false duality of a divided self and the destructive concept of “self versus nature” to discover how to live in harmony and balance within ourselves and the world around us. You are your greatest healer and […]
Tantra: Freedom, Embodiment, and Transformation
With Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Keith Edward Cantú
Have you ever dived into the ocean of Tantra? Join Tantric scholar-practitioners Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Keith Edward Cantú as we explore Tantric practices and perspectives on topics like freedom from external interference and self-sovereignty (Sanskrit svādhikāra), the link between physical and so-called “subtle bodies,” and the creation of physical mandalas (maṇḍala) or circles and other […]
The Space Between: Where Tensegrity Meets the Subtle Body
With Kate Flore and Kevin Dockery
“A brain without a body couldn’t think.” — Moshe Feldenkrais “We want to get you to a place where gravity is your friend, a nourishing force.” — Dr. Ida P. Rolf Human beings are relational by nature. We are an intricate web of anatomy, energy, space, and time that takes shape through our life experiences. […]
A World We Can Love: A Rewilding Retreat for Climate Resilience
With Willa Baker and Susan Bauer-Wu
How do we move from fear to a world we can love? How can we face the crises of our time with heartfelt and actionable responses? We are on the brink of profound planetary change in a time ripe with potential. If there was ever a moment to think about who you are and how […]
Wild Tao: Hiking and Qi Gong in Big Sur Wilderness
With Fletcher Tucker and Jim Gallas
In search of balance, the ancient sages of China walked into the woods to attune themselves to nature in its sublime integrity. The timeless wisdom uncovered in their wild wanderings was called simply Tao, “The Way.” Qigong — the practice at the heart of Taoism — is dedicated to harmonizing body, mind, and spirit with […]
Love Your Body Now: A Yoga Therapy Approach to Joyous, Full-Body Awareness as We Age
With Tracy Lease
You deserve to feel ease and joy in your body as you age. Movement, time in nature, breath, quiet contemplation, and “Aha!” moments all contribute to expanding happiness and delight in life. Though this is true, you may face challenges. Changes to our bodies — aches and pains, joint replacements, osteoporosis, heart issues, and other […]
Deep Rest, Recovery, and Renewal: From Burnout to Vitality
With Elissa Epel
Join us to experience deep rest and renewal! You need and deserve this. So many of us are overtaxed by constant demands, burdens, and worries, especially those of us providing extra support for others through caregiving, healthcare, activism, and other service-oriented jobs. We bring you expertise in the science, art, and practice of restoration from […]
Discovering Childhood Solutions, Enacted in our Adult Body, Preventing Physical and Emotional Healing. Advanced CFR®
With Harriet Goslins, Judy Greenman, Melissa Krikorian and Tomas Prietto
Recent brain research reveals how constant predictions based on old information can run our lives. As we are flooded with current sensory information, our brains compare past and present to identify discrepancies called “prediction errors," updating the old predictions to create a better working model of the world. Inaccurate predictions are often based on unconscious […]
The Art of Non-Sleep Deep Rest: A Rejuvenating Yoga Nidra Retreat
With Kelly Boys
In this retreat, you will get in touch with a deep relaxation to rejuvenate the body and the mind through non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) and yoga nidra. No matter your reasons — whether you need a break from the constant pressure, are in a life transition, or just want to delve deeper into your meditation […]
Awakening Joy: Finding Well-Being in Difficult Times
With Jane Baraz and James Baraz
True happiness is not about acquiring anything; instead, it comes from opening to the natural joy and aliveness inside you. As we are bombarded with messages that heighten our fear and sadness about the world, more than ever, it is vital to understand the importance of joy as a central aspect of mindfulness practice. We […]
Embraced by the Earth: Embodied Herbalism, Plant Meditation, and Folk Medicine
With Marysia Miernowska
“You carry Mother Earth within you. She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment. In that insight of inter being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer.” - Thich Nhat Hanh Join herbalist, medicine woman, and plant spirit teacher Marysia […]
Designing the Life We Want: Self Renewal in the Fall
With Mark Nicolson
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 […]
Meditation and Modern Life: A Zen Meditation Retreat
With Dan Zigmond
When was the last time you gave something your undivided attention? Nearly 2,500 years ago, Buddha worried we had become too distracted — and that was before paper, let alone smartphones. In 2022, our days are filled with convenient distractions that promise happiness while mostly delivering busyness and frustration. So many of us today live […]
Harnessing the Power of Creation through African Ritual
With Marques Redd
Open to people of all backgrounds and experience levels, this workshop will explore the lessons that traditional African spirituality can teach us about creation, how the universe was brought into being, how to manifest things we want in the world, and how to fashion a life filled with divine harmony. It will first introduce the […]
The Essence of Esalen: Heart, Mind, Body, Spirit, Community
With Sadia Bruce, J.J. Jeffries, Cara Chandler and Jovinna Chan
Join us for an extended opportunity to explore the true essence of Esalen, and find yourself in the process. Like a snapshot of all that we do here on campus, this workshop is composed of enlivening and heart-opening classes that are driven by Esalen’s founding areas of focus: Heart, Mind, Body, Spirit, and Community. During […]
Awakening the Heart of Belonging: An Embodied Inquiry into Curiosity, Courage, and Compassion
With Steven Harper
The hunger to belong is at the heart of our nature. ~ John O’Donohue Uncertain times have shaken and are shaking our habitual ways of being. Individually and collectively, we are experiencing anxiety, disconnection, and the reality of impermanence even as we begin our journey into the ever-forming new “realities.” Now more than ever, we […]
Higher Self & You: Illuminate Your Inner Compass through Hypnotherapy and Your Spirit Guides
With AJA Daashuur and Laurnie Wilson
What shackles bind your higher self's ascent? What reservoirs of latent power lie dormant within your being? How can you deepen your communion with your highest self to unleash its limitless potential and guiding light? Embark on a sacred journey of soul discovery with medium and spiritual guide AJA and multidisciplinary hypnotherapist Laurnie Wilson. Immerse […]
The Luminous Darkness: Imagination, Possibility, and Conscious Intentions for 2025
With Deborah Eden Tull
All light arises from darkness, including insight, creativity, vision, joy, and possibility. The luminous darkness is the healing presence and receptivity through which we also access light. It is the field of all potential and emergence that we sometimes forget in the context of ordinary life and habit. In this deeply restorative retreat, at the […]
New Year Meditation Retreat: Self-Love and Kindness That Benefits All
With Mark Abramson
Meditating in noble silence offers a special opportunity to focus inward, deeply connect with oneself, and reflect on life goals. The New Year, with its connection to the winter solstice and new beginnings, is the perfect time to silently journey inward. You are invited to set intentions and explore, through seated and moving meditation, themes […]