Wait List
Gratitude Retreat
With Janet Stone
We gather on this powerful land for a weekend to remember — with our bodies, minds, and spirits — all that we have to be grateful for. Amidst all of the turmoil, we come together in community to remember that we are enough as we are. Through yoga, meditation, reflection, cliff side baths, and walking […]
Giving Thanks: A Yoga Retreat
With Janet Stone
“Enoughness” is the starting point of any journey toward gratitude. We begin to fully take in the profound gift of all that is unfolding only when we recognize that we are enough. With Esalen as our transformative container, let’s meet during the week of Thanksgiving. Let’s honor the land and the Esselen people, the indigenous […]
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 Essential Qigong of China: The Energy, the Movement, and the Stories
With Chungliang Al Huang
Master Chungliang “Uncle Al” Huang, one of Esalen’s most cherished faculty members, brings 50+ years of teaching experience to welcome you into China’s ancient practice of qigong. During this workshop, Master Huang will teach the most essential qigong exercises — guiding students through energetic practices of movement, storytelling, and subtle energy work. This is an […]
Fundamentals of Esalen® Massage
With Nora Matten and Whitney Bell
This workshop is a perfect opportunity for you to enjoy the natural beauty of Esalen’s land while gaining a foundation in Esalen® Massage. Senior teachers and staff will guide you in this experience of connection and presence translated to the massage table. Through lecture, demonstration and practice with your fellow students, you will be introduced […]
Creative Tai Ji Experience: Change, Transformation, Metamorphosis
With Chungliang Al Huang
To be truly creative, to let go of preconceived restrictions, is to allow yourself the freedom to flow. Taoist wisdom calls this Wu Wei — the art of not interfering with what is already happening. During this weeklong workshop, we will playfully reinvent Tai Ji forms with ancient Tai Ji rituals, Five Moving Forces of […]
Awaken The Artist Within: Evolution
With Erin Gafill and Tom Birmingham
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 […]
Journey Space: Music, Movement, & Ceremony
With East Forest and Marisa Radha Weppner
Now more than ever, it is important we build practices to strengthen our internal resolve and self-resourcing amidst a dynamically shifting society. Together, we will listen to our heart’s wisdom in this rich four-day journey (Friday to Monday) through sound, ceremony, and self-discovery. In this intimate and transformative workshop, you will have the unique opportunity […]
Aligning with Nature: A Winter Solstice Yoga Retreat
With Sarana Miller
Winter solstice is a time to reflect — to cultivate vitality and nurture ourselves. The dark days of winter are an opportune time to slow down and make space for self-care. This winter solstice yoga retreat will focus on cultivating inner awareness. By practicing in community, we build inner vitality and brightness to return home […]
Gateways: A 5Rhythms® Movement & Mindfulness Retreat
With Lucia Horan and Douglas Drummond
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 […]
Working in Three-Dimensional Space: Psychodrama for What Was Missing
With Bessel van der Kolk and Licia Sky
In this experiential workshop, pioneering trauma researcher and author of The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk and somatic educator and co-founder of the Trauma Research Foundation Licia Sky apply psychodrama and theater techniques to create virtual experiences of safety, belonging, and protection. While trauma treatment tends to focus on “What happened to […]
Trauma, Memory and the Restoration of One’s Self
With Bessel van der Kolk and Licia Sky
This workshop explores ways of representing and befriending our inner experience. Therapies that work all start from a basic sense of calm and safety. The calmer we are, the more we can allow ourselves to know what we know, and to feel what we feel. Trauma changes the way the brain processes information and the […]