Relationship & Communication
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. […]
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 […]
Cancelled | Gestalt Practice and Principles: Cultivating Embodied Wholeness in Daily Life
With Steven Harper
Gestalt Practice at its core is an awareness practice in which we cultivate embodied, present-moment awareness of the unfolding experience of the here and now on a journey toward authentic growth, wholeness, and aliveness. Drawing from the foundations of Gestalt Practice, wisdom traditions, and contemporary approaches that cultivate awareness, we’ll learn to become increasingly aware […]
The Relational Leader
With Kerena Saltzman and Ben Saltzman
When you are a leader, often people don’t understand all the complexities you face or the weight of your responsibilities. Being in charge can be isolating and lonely; it can feel like others are looking at a projected image instead of the real you. Whether you're leading an organization, managing a team, or are a […]
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 […]
Relational Gestalt Practice: The Transformative Power of Emotion
With Dorothy Charles
Our sense of self develops in connection with others and our experiences in early relationships. They shape our beliefs — about ourselves, other people, and what is possible for us in our lives. While we cannot change the past, we can change the parts of our lives that we find difficult or unfulfilling through new […]
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 […]
Secrets of Great Relationships: For Individuals and Couples
With Charlie Bloom and Linda Bloom
For one human being to love another, that is the most difficult of all of our tasks; the ultimate, the last test and proof, for which all other work is but preparation. — Rainer Maria Rilke A great relationship requires more than just staying together. Until we enjoy trust, intimacy, caring and love with our […]
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 […]
Integrative Gestalt Coaching™
With Perry Holloman and Johanna Holloman
Integrative Gestalt Coaching™ (IGC) is a comprehensive and interactive therapy method Perry Holloman developed over the last 40 years while living at Esalen. He and his wife, Johanna, travel and teach this approach in the USA, Europe, and Asia, working with individuals and groups and coaching businesses and communities. This month-long program is designed for […]
Creative Path: Hiking and Artistic Connection on the Big Sur Coast
With Fletcher Tucker and Noël Vietor
Sitting in stillness to draw a flower, tracing the mountain’s slope with brushstrokes by eye, following the sound of waves down corridors of memory, and free association through writing – these are gestures of connection as much as they are creative acts. Join us for an intimate creative workshop on the enchanted grounds of Esalen […]
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 […]
Role Mate to Soul Mate: The Art and Discipline of Love
With Warren Farrell
Since falling in love is biologically natural, but sustaining love is biologically unnatural, Soul Mate focuses on the art and discipline of sustaining love. You begin with learning how to appreciate your partner so specifically and frequently that your partner feels fully seen and loved. You then practice both the art and discipline of hearing […]
The Enneagram and Healing Humanity: A Modern Entry Into Enneagram Work
With Dr. Deborah Egerton
Join Enneagram master educator Dr. Deborah Egerton for this foundational exploration of the Enneagram. Experience the work through her unique approach to the Enneagram, which stems from a deep, rooted understanding that as humans we all have a desire to belong. Through a blend of experiential activities and a deep dive into inner work, you’ll […]
Relational Gestalt Practice: Presence, Contact and Communication
With Dorothy Charles
In 1938, researchers at Harvard University began a 75-year study that addressed life’s fundamental question: What makes a good life? The Grant Study, also known as the Harvard Study of Adult Development, found strong relationships to be the clearest predictor of life satisfaction. In Relational Gestalt practice, direct and response-able communication is essential for creating […]
Unveiling Your Inner Work: Navigating the Enneagram Path to Fulfillment and Purpose
With Dr. Deborah Egerton
Join us on a profound exploration of self-discovery and personal growth. In this immersive weekend workshop, participants will use the Enneagram to delve deeply into the inner work. Through engaging discussions, introspective exercises, and powerful insights, Dr. Egerton will guide you toward unraveling the layers to find your authentic self. Together, we will explore the […]
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 […]
The Heart of Relationship: A Weekend of Gestalt Inquiry for Couples and Friends
With Perry Holloman and Johanna Holloman
Fostering close and connected relationships is one of the most important things affecting the quality of our lives. Cultivating trust and openness with a loved one, whether with an intimate partner or friend, is an essential aspect of any successful, supportive relationship. This weekend, Perry and Johanna Holloman, intimate partners and friends for over 30 […]
Setting Your Heart on Fire: A Passionate Practice to Liberate Your Life
With Raphael Cushnir
"To live in accord with love is to set your heart on fire. In the crucible of such an inferno all convention burns away. What’s left is an entirely new kind of existence, one full of passion, presence and infinite possibility." — Setting Your Heart on Fire What if you could fall absolutely in love […]
Total Immersion for Total Transformation
With Raphael Cushnir
Get ready for ecstatic rebirth! This small group workshop is for you if you are prepared and 100 percent willing to: Determine the aspects of your life that are calling for healing and change. Move toward healing and change on the very first day. Commit to an action plan. Take a giant leap forward in […]
The Shared Heart Summer Couples Retreat
With Barry Vissell and Joyce Vissell
Imagine your relationship expressing the true depths of your love and commitment. If you are in love, this retreat is an opportunity to rise even higher in love. If you are in crisis, it is an opportunity for healing on the deepest level. We all carry some degree of negative programming from our past, and […]
Breaking Free From the Likability Cage: A Replenishing and Empowering Workshop for the Emotionally Exhausted Woman
With Nancy Colier
Summer is the time to take a break, step off the treadmill of modern life, take care of oneself, and refill the tanks before gearing up for the busyness of fall. What does taking care of yourself really mean—for you? What do you want and need at this moment in your life; what genuinely takes […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
Ancestral Plant Medicine
With Xochitl Ashe
What if our lives could feel magical? What if we felt supported in every way? Join us for this delightful weekend as we connect with plants, ancestors, and ancient wisdom from Mesoamerica and Peru to nourish our hearts and replenish our spirits. Ayni is the Quechua word for “sacred reciprocity” — the way we humans […]
Life as a Ceremony: South American Indigenous Wisdom for Healing and Connecting with the Earth
With Xochitl Ashe
Use for 4-Night weekday workshops, 6-Night Mon - Sun workshops, or 7-night Fri - Fri workshops--RG will autocalculate the correct pricing. We need the medicine of joy, magic, and fun. What if our lives could feel like a sweet ceremony, where all is sacred? What if we felt supported in every way? Join us […]
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 […]
Libido: Riding the Waves, an Open Floor Movement Workshop
With Andrea Juhan
Variety may be the one and only truly universal characteristic of human sexuality. — E. Nagoski The ups and downs of our days, months, and years are unpredictable, but change will always be constant and reliable. The energy we call libido, in all the ways we might perceive it — as sexuality, vitality, creativity, aliveness, […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
Know Justice Know Peace: Reconnection, Healing, and Oneness through the Power of the Enneagram
With Dr. Deborah Egerton
Join us for an enriching exploration into the transformative potential of the Enneagram and discover its profound capacity for fostering reconnection and oneness. As we commemorate the two-year anniversary of Dr. Deborah Egerton's impactful best-seller, Know Justice Know Peace, we will explore the art of coming together through compassion, kindness, healing, and self-awareness. For this […]
The Heart of Relationship: A Weekend of Gestalt Inquiry for Couples and Friends
With Perry Holloman and Johanna Holloman
Fostering close and connected relationships is one of the most important things affecting the quality of our lives. Cultivating trust and openness with a loved one, whether they be an intimate partner or friend, is an essential aspect of any successful, supportive relationship. This weekend, Perry and Johanna Holloman, intimate partners and friends for over […]
The Path of the Wounded Healer: 5Rhythms Heartbeat and Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness
With Lucia Horan
The healing path has a trajectory. Gabrielle Roth called this, The Path of The Wounded Healer. It is here that we look closely at our healing process. We mark both where we are and where we want to be. We dance through the five stages of healing in relationship to being the victim, the survivor, […]
Moon Lodge: Honoring the Sacred Feminine
With Lucia Horan and Dr. Julie Von
How empowered do you feel as a woman navigating this world? What is your relationship to the feminine? And to female wisdom? Join us inside the Moon Lodge, a place for exploration — for women to find tribal and ritual healing. The 5Rhythms is a map that teaches us how energy moves. It shows us […]
Relational Gestalt Practice: Presence, Contact and Communication
With Dorothy Charles
In 1938, researchers at Harvard University began a 75-year study that addressed life’s fundamental question: What makes a good life? The Grant Study, also known as the Harvard Study of Adult Development, found strong relationships to be the clearest predictor of life satisfaction. In Relational Gestalt practice, direct and response-able communication is essential for creating […]
Pathways to Partnership: Scientific Strategies for Healthy Relationships
With Amy Chan
Discover research-backed tools to create a loving relationship. Together, we’ll engage in a comprehensive exploration of the psychological and scientific aspects of dating and healthy relationships. We'll delve into the science of attraction, unlocking the mysteries of chemistry and creating and sustaining meaningful connections — all grounded in the latest research on relationships. Our key […]
Role Mate to Soul Mate: The Art and Discipline of Love
With Warren Farrell
Since falling in love is biologically natural, but sustaining love is biologically unnatural, Soul Mate focuses on the art and discipline of sustaining love. You begin with learning how to appreciate your partner so specifically and frequently that your partner feels fully seen and loved. You then practice both the art and discipline of hearing […]
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 […]
Integrative Gestalt Practice™: Unlock Your Authentic Life Through Self-Inquiry
With Perry Holloman and Johanna Holloman
Integrative Gestalt Practice™ is a method of self-inquiry developed by Perry and Johanna Holloman over the last 30 years. Self-inquiry is a powerful practice for discovering and living that which is most authentic in us. This in-depth program is for those wanting to experience the practice of Gestalt Inquiry to support their self-exploration. Integrative Gestalt […]
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 […]