Life as a Ceremony: South American Indigenous Wisdom for Healing and Connecting with the Earth

We need the medicine of joy, magic, and fun. We are in a place in our human journey where we desperately need guidance and support to navigate life in these uncertain times. With the pandemic, climate change, and our own individual traumas, humanity is longing for community, connection, healing, and ceremony with the Earth more than ever.  

Join us for a week of ceremony with Earth wisdom teachings from Mesoamerica and Peru as we reconnect, heal, and nourish our hearts. We will work with our ancestors to build our spiritual support team and partake in a plant medicine ceremony with cacao. We will learn various daily spiritual practices, including offerings to the land to help you create and connect to the magic in your life and within yourself. 

Our week will feature two guest faculty whose magic will enhance our experience and understanding.

Kyle McBride is an international chef, food justice advocate, fermenter, and wild food enthusiast. He draws inspiration from the abundance and diversity of nature and seeks to honor our sacred connection to the Earth through his food.

Marisa Anita Reyes is a community leader and medicine woman who uses her voice, charango, harmonium, frame drum, and crystal bowl to take people on a journey to open their hearts, meet their ancestors, and connect to Spirit. 

During our time together, we will:

• Learn and embody the ancient Peruvian philosophy of belonging to ourselves, one another, and the Earth. 
• Create an ancestral altar to connect with the ancient energies of the land.
• Engage in practices to support the ancestral connections beyond your workshop. 
• Offer daily Earth-based ceremonies to deepen our connections to Earth and the land we are on, including foraging for fresh ingredients to create a sacred shared meal. 
• Be supported by two sacred plant medicine cacao ceremonies in a safe space for our heart well-being and healing. 
• Experience the power of healing in community.

Being at Esalen provides us a special opportunity to be in connection with the elemental spirits of the native coastline and the sacredness of the land where the sweet and thermal waters meet the ocean.

Participants are invited to bring a drum or rattle/maraca.