Sleep Alchemy: Secrets of Daoist Sleep Practices for Inner Peace and Renewal

With Simon Cox

April 7 - 11, 2025

Workshop Schedule

Monday
5:00 pm – 5:45 pm*How to Drop into Esalen *
7:15 pm – 9:30 pm
Tuesday
9:30 am – 1:00 pm
4:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Wednesday
9:30 am – 1:00 pm
4:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Thursday
9:30 am – 1:00 pm
4:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Friday
9:30 am – 12:00 pm

See general schedule information including arrival, departure and meal times.

  • Sleeping Bag Space – $940.00
  • Bunk Bed Space – $1,240.00
  • Standard Shared Space – $1,560.00
  • Standard Queen Room – $2,060.00
  • Standard Room Two Beds – $3,260.00
  • Premium Queen Room – $3,000.00
  • Premium King Room – $3,220.00
  • Premium Plus King Room – $3,640.00
  • Premium Wooden Yurt – $3,640.00
  • Premium Wooden Yurt Two Beds – $3,640.00
  • Rolf Suite – $6,960.00
  • Point House – $6,960.00
  • Fritz Point House – $6,960.00
  • South Point House – $8,560.00

What if sleep could be more than just crashing into your pillow at the end of a long day? What if it could be a portal to transformation and self-discovery? In this workshop, we’ll dive into the ancient Daoist art of sleep alchemy, where the Wudang Hibernating Dragon and Five Dragons Sleeping methods teach you how to transform snoozing into a practice of subtle awareness and metaphysical transformation.

Rooted in the Wudang Daoist Sanfeng lineage, these techniques harmonize body and soul, turning your nightly shut-eye into a discipline of deep peace. The cosmic journey would be incomplete without Daoist stories like Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream and Lü Dongbin’s Yellow Millet Dream, classic tales of metaphysical gaslighting that explore just how slippery the boundaries of reality and illusion can be.

We’ll also talk about practicalities within a Daoist framework, like how your food choices, lifestyle, and daily habits can affect your sleep quality. Expect to walk away with tools for cultivating transcendent rest, resilience, and an appreciation for Daoist cosmology. Along the way, we’ll keep it relaxed — the Dao is at ease. Sleeping in class is encouraged, though snoring will be punished with five hundred years in Daoist hell.  

Participants will practice introductory Wudang sleeping methods to enter, sustain, and deepen sleep states. By the end of the workshop, you will be intimately familiar with practical techniques to deepen sleep, enhance well-being, and dream the dream of life more deeply and lucidly.

About the Leader

Simon Cox

Simon Cox is a martial artist, scholar, and teacher who spent six years training at Wudang Mountain, the spiritual home of Daoist culture and internal arts. Under Master Yuan Xiugang 袁修刚, he immersed himself in the Sanfeng lineage, studying tai chi, qigong, and Daoist meditation. His intensive training combined rigorous daily practice with rich cultural […]

Learn more about Simon Cox

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