Wait List
Maps to Ecstasy: A 5Rhythms® Mindfulness Celebration
With Douglas Drummond and Lucia Horan
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. […]
Designing Warmth: A Human-Centered Approach to Connection and Collective Well-Being
With Daniel Gloyd
Warmth is a connecting principle. Somehow the barriers come down when warmth is involved. — Pema Chödrön Warmth is a powerful and essential component of human connection, prioritized by the biological brain and spiritual heart alike. To thrive, we humans need to experience interconnectedness between ourselves and the world around us. Psychologist Abraham Maslow described […]
Self-Guided Explorations Weekend of July 17 - 19, 2026
With Teachers in Residence
Letting go of entrenched ideas — of who we are, of how the world works, of our place in it — is a challenge. It takes energy. Time. Space. Security. This growth asks us to examine ourselves and understand our connection to the whole. This model of change encompasses both personal and communal, and it’s […]
Engaging with Beauty as a Pathway to Resilience Through the Mindful Viewing of Film
With Francis Lu
Through mindful viewing of eight memorable feature films, participants will engage with cinematic beauty to open their hearts for a pathway to resilience. Recent studies from neuroaesthetics have shown that experiencing beauty can activate the brain’s emotional processing centers, which are critical for resilience; research in positive psychology has identified “appreciation of beauty and excellence” […]
Self-Guided Explorations Week of July 20 - 24, 2026
With Teachers in Residence
Letting go of entrenched ideas — of who we are, of how the world works, of our place in it — is a challenge. It takes energy. Time. Space. Security. This growth asks us to examine ourselves and understand our connection to the whole. This model of change encompasses both personal and communal, and it’s […]
Your Brain on Breath: Ancestral Technology for Healing and Transformation
With Sadia Bruce and Josh Brahinsky
Breath matters. It is one of the few human capacities that is at once biological, cultural, and sacred. Every breath connects physiology with perception — and with our shared search for meaning. It is a physiological necessity, a regulator of attention and awareness, and a primary medium through which humans have explored consciousness across time. […]
Discovering the Beauty of Color/Music/Dance Through the Mindful Viewing of Film
With Francis Lu
Through mindful viewing of four classic motion pictures filled with color/music/dance, participants will open their hearts to profound cinematic beauty. This seminar offers an enhanced mindfulness experience through films directed by Jacques Demy, Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, and Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger filled with cinematic beauty involving color/music/dance. These films are presented for […]
Body Poetic and The Life/Art Process®
With Daria Halprin
Imagine that your body has a voice. What would it say? The body speaks through movement, where each breath, feeling, and memory becomes a metaphor — a living story longing to be heard and danced. Begin by digging, fearlessly and with tenderness, into the fertile soil of soft skin. Touch bone. Listen to the heart, […]
Self-Guided Explorations Weekend of July 24 - 26, 2026
With Teachers in Residence
Letting go of entrenched ideas — of who we are, of how the world works, of our place in it — is a challenge. It takes energy. Time. Space. Security. This growth asks us to examine ourselves and understand our connection to the whole. This model of change encompasses both personal and communal, and it’s […]
Introduction to Esalen® Massage: The Art of Healing Touch
With Silvia Guersenzvaig and Lori Lewis
This workshop invites you to enjoy Esalen in the summertime as you practice foundational skills in our famed massage modality. Silvia and Lori will guide you in this experience of mindful touch translated to the massage table. Through lectures, brief demonstrations, and supervised practice, they will introduce the basics: quality of touch, rapport, massage skills […]
Lessons in Liberation: Power, Surrender, and Choice
With Betty Martin and Marcia Baczynski
Power without surrender is force. Surrender without power is collapse. True freedom comes from knowing how to embody both. BDSM is often misunderstood as only rough sex or kink, but at its core, it’s the consensual exploration of power dynamics. It can include play with dominance and submission, sensation, and restraint — but ultimately, it’s […]
From Practice to Freedom: Let Your Inner Lion Roar
With Jovinna Chan
Are you ready to listen to the calling of your courageous heart? This weekend yoga retreat invites you to slow down and relax into a deep knowing of your heart’s wisdom. Tap into the astrological event known as The Lion’s Gate Portal, in which Sirius, the brightest star, aligns with the Sun during our time […]
Encountering the Animate World: Hiking and Animism in the Big Sur Wild
With Fletcher Tucker
The Big Sur wilderness lives and breathes, listens, and speaks. Beneath ancient redwood trees, a shimmering creek journeys toward the sea. In the oak woodland, a polyphony of birds sings to the rising sun. Fog dances across chaparral bluffs, caressing sagebrush and sandstone cliffs. Every cove, meadow, and forest of this biodiverse landscape is alive […]
Expanding the Nature of Your Being: Embodied Consciousness, Intuition, and the Remembering of Human Potential
With Diane Hennacy and Siegmar Gerken
Come with an open mind and an open heart, and allow consciousness to meet you where you are. Across cultures and throughout history, humans have reported subtle perceptual capacities — deep intuition, nonlocal connections, and heightened sensitivity to energy and emotion — that extend beyond ordinary awareness. While such experiences were once considered natural aspects […]
The Heart of Relationship: A Weekend of Gestalt Inquiry for Couples and Friends
With Johanna Holloman and Perry 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 […]
Self-Guided Explorations Weekend of August 28 - 30, 2026
With Teachers in Residence
Letting go of entrenched ideas — of who we are, of how the world works, of our place in it — is a challenge. It takes energy. Time. Space. Security. This growth asks us to examine ourselves and understand our connection to the whole. This model of change encompasses both personal and communal, and it’s […]
Clown Church: Mindfulness, Healing, and Your Deepest Self
With Jet Eveleth
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. Clown is about being soft, brave, and available to the moment. This workshop is an immersion practice that explores our deepest, most vulnerable, creative self. Using […]