All Workshops

Breath alleviates tension just as light illuminates darkness.

Most people are surprised to learn how art, beauty, and truth can turn on gene expression and brain growth during creative experiences.

As humans, one of the sufferings we bear is the sense of separation we experience when we believe that the difference between ourselves and another person is greater than the connection between us.

There is a deep desire in all of us to know ourselves, to live and love from our most essential nature.

"What’s the quickest way out of the city?" John Muir is reported to have asked a stranger on the street of the metropolis in which Muir had just arrived. "Where do you want to go?" the man asked.

Imagine a beautiful and protected space that supports you to mindfully turn within and find greater ease, and gives you space to play and just be with your family—all held in the dramatic natural s

In this workshop, rooted in Gabrielle Roth’s 5Rhythms movement practice, we use our dance like archeologists to dig beneath the surface, to seek buried treasures and pearls of wisdom gleaned from o

Within us is a wellspring of vitality known as qi waiting to amplify every aspect of our lives.

Following ancient spiritual traditions that value the transformative power of nature, this experiential workshop will be spent meditating outdoors in the natural beauty and mystery of Esalen.

This workshop is an invitation to explore and experience current trends in Esalen Massage and Bodywork. During the weekend, attention will be focused on various ways to:

The words for mind and heart are the same in many cultures. In the West, however, mind and heart are considered distinct, separate, and too often the intellect is valued more.

For more than forty years, the Esalen Farm and Garden has provided a holistic model of food security and sustainability—producing food that sustains, heals, and educates the community.

The words for mind and heart are the same in many cultures. In the West, however, mind and heart are considered distinct, separate, and too often the intellect is valued more.

This workshop will provide a safe and supportive environment for you to explore and connect, to enhance sensitivity, and to reawaken intimate touch.  The fundamental elements of Esalen Massage, suc

This retreat invites participants to open to their most elemental relationship, that which exists between the body, mind, and the natural world as it manifests through eating, food, and our senses.

“In our previous classes, we’ve focused on teaching the practice of Deep Bodywork for specific segments of the body,” write the leaders.

The Gestalt model teaches us that we are intensely relational, creative, and meaning-making by our deepest nature.

Join award-winning painter Jennifer McChristian for a five-day intensive workshop for all levels of artists who want to learn the time-honored joy of painting en plein air.

What happens when you merge the power of the word with the language of the soul?

Your body is a tremendous resource. It has been present for every experience and stores the memories of these events.

“Mothering a daughter is often among the most intensely satisfying and challenging experiences of a woman’s life,” write Renée Schultz.

With the use of experiential exercises, theoretical material, and group discussion, this workshop will explore unique approaches to body cultivation that are possible for elders in ways that are no

Do you sabotage yourself? Is there something you really need to get done but you just don’t do it? Are there parts of your life that stay stuck no matter how hard you try?

Join Tihikpas and Ellen on the longest day of the year to welcome and celebrate summertime on the sacred land of Esalen.

Chinese yoga, known as qigong (or chi kung), changes lives.

Some of the greatest leaps in personal development come when we stop believing that others have more access to deep wisdom than we do, have superior opinions to ours, or hold sway over us—when we f

Our truest life is when we are in our dreams awake. -Henry David Thoreau

Your twenties can be a time of possibility, inspiration, and the discovery of your deepest values and truths.

How is it to be a person in your sexual/erotic body-self in a positive way?

Gratitude and gratefulness are becoming frequently used key words among spiritual practitioners. What stands behind this new phenomenon? Does it point toward a shift in consciousness?

In Buddhist practice, lovingkindness, the experience of natural goodwill, is traditionally cultivated along with practices that enrich compassion, support the happiness of others, and stabilize equ

Being fully present through mindful awareness is a crucial factor in giving us resilience to face challenges that arise in our daily lives. –Daniel Siegel

If you’re “feint of heart,” you avoid confronting the emotional injuries or habits that prevent you from enjoying life to the fullest.

All art arises from an embodied creative source within.

This workshop is designed to help couples understand at a deeper level why they were attracted to each other, why they get stuck in endless power struggles, and how to safely begin to work through

Using the power of modern neuroscience, informed by ancient contemplative wisdom, you can use your mind alone to change your brain for the better.

Do you love your family but feel busy and overwhelmed by your life? Studies show that parents tend to be unhappier than their childless counterparts.

For more than forty years, the Esalen Farm and Garden has provided a holistic model of food security and sustainability—producing food that sustains, heals, and educates the community.

The Esalen massage experience opens a remarkable web of interconnection: a listening touch, the sound of the ocean, and our nervous system soothed with calm, gentle contact. When we receive a massa

Spiritual traditions point to the essence of our being, calling it fundamental consciousness, true self, non-duality, and many other names.

In this intimate week of yogic practice and retreat, you will have ample opportunity to expand and refine your practice.

Painting can be a profound experience — one that engages all of our senses, our minds, and our spirits. It brings together observation with introspection, contemplation, and healing.

What another would have done as well, do not do it. What another would have said as well or written as well, do not say or write it. Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself.

Research by psychologist Dr. Albert Mehrabian and others shows that at least 70% of all communication is non verbal.

At the core of all that exists in the universe is vibration. Many cultures have long believed that the world itself was created through sound.

During this five-day seminar, you will experience direct, enjoyable, and reliable practices for inviting embodied presence.

There is a magic about metal that can mesmerize those who appreciate it and energize those who work with it.

Enjoy the serene beauty of Big Sur as you and your partner learn to give each other an effective massage.

Imagine waking up in the morning excited because you're doing what you love.

For many, drawing seems to be a mysterious process reserved for the “talented” few. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain has debunked this myth.

The ability to sustain and enjoy a loving relationship over time is a blessing and supreme accomplishment.

How much are you present for your own life?

In his breakthrough works of channeled literature, I Am the Word and The Book of Love and Creation, author and medium Paul Selig recorded a program for personal and planetary evolution as humankind

Join a vibrant community of mothers and their 10-14 year-old daughters, where you can slow down, nourish your relationship, and have some fun!

In his breakthrough works of channeled literature, I Am the Word and The Book of Love and Creation, author and medium Paul Selig recorded a program for personal and planetary evolution as humankind

How can we elevate ourselves each day so that rather than reacting to the immense demands of life, we respond from a place of consciousness, grace, and mastery?

Activate your imagination, creativity, and spontaneity. Just as muscles can tighten with stress and age, so can notions about ourselves.

Esalen is the trailhead to one of the most spectacular mountainous coastlines in the world.

Join Master Mingtong Gu for a week dedicated to healing and balancing body, mind, heart, and spirit through the powerful movement, sound, and visualization practices of qigong.

Each of us finds our true selves through our emotions.

This is a “reset point” for couples who want to dramatically improve the quality of sex and intimacy in their love lives and open up to more ecstatic pleasure and spiritual connection in their rela

We must answer anew the old questions. "What are the limits of human ability, the boundaries of the human experience? What does it mean to be a human being?" — From the 1965 Esalen Catalog

Research has proven that positive emotions can help you skillfully undo the impact of negative emotions on mood, health, and coping behaviors.

This powerful practice workshop for men and women unfolds an approach to meditation that harnesses the subtle inner energy called Kundalini Shakti.

The most profound medicine for body, mind, and spirit is produced in the human system for free.

How do innovative entrepreneurs deal with overwhelming challenges? How can we learn and grow during the most difficult times of our lives?

Loss is a universal human experience. Whether it is a loss of a dear one, a relationship, a home, or health — grief is the response.

The mystical union between the conscious mind and super-conscious mind is real and accessible to all.

This is a special opportunity for people to experience Esalen without taking a workshop.

Are you drawn to making a difference in your life and in the world? Looking for inspiration and insight for creating the change you are committed to?

During this weekend, we will join together to experience a comprehensive integration of our embodied humanity and our divine spiritual nature that will activate and nurture the evolution of your so

Did you know that no mechanical engineer has ever been able to replicate the efficiency of the heart, which puts out more energy than it takes in?

Do you sense another life calling you? Do you crave meaningful work, or ache to express your creativity or contribution — and pay your bills? Your wildest dreams are not frivolous.

Do chronic tension, stress, or aches and pains plague you? Are you fit, but injured? Do you feel tight all the time?

The fall season is a time to reflect, renew, and invite our deepest intentions.

We are drawn to others not because of our similarities, but because of our differences which provide the means for growth and development.

Are you a practitioner? What does that mean? A practitioner of course is someone who practices, doesn’t aspire to do something. How can you aspire to have a glass of water?

“Are you ready to rediscover your body relaxed and restored to its natural birthright of flexibility, ease, and wonder?” asks Vinn Martí.

Love and a sense of belonging are the cornerstones to fulfilling relationships throughout life. Disturbances in these patterns of love and attachment create havoc in families, for generations.

In this workshop, we will combine traditional Buddhist practice of the “Divine Abodes” (brahmavihara) of lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, with movement meditation and ecstatic dance

Experience is not just something that happens to us. Experience is also something we cultivate and refine.

Milton Erickson (1901–1980) was one of the foremost twentieth-century practitioners of hypnotherapy.

Following ancient traditions on this winter solstice we will take this poignant time to retreat, slow down, and enter stillness, silence, and inner exploration.

CranioSacral Therapy 2 studies cranial-base dysfunctions as diagnosed and treated by Dr. William Sutherland, the “father” of cranial osteopathy.

Would you like to find wise inner guidance from all parts of yourself?

“We gather at Esalen for a weekend to remember — with our bodies, minds, and spirits — all that we have to be grateful for,” Janet Stone writes.

How do we cultivate and sustain fulfilling intimate relationships?

Feminism is an unfinished project. Women have gained rights equal to men, but as women and men, have we really understood the power of the feminine?

Prime of Life Yoga reflects adaptations recommended for the majority of the US population, which is now in midlife or beyond.

In this high adventure in Active Dreaming, you’ll be encouraged to remember and live the deeper story of your life. You’ll find confirmation that:

“Shapeshift into the healing force of the Earth to awaken fresh possibilities for living,” write Llyn Roberts and Mick Dodge.

Life is uncertain. As much as we try to create stability and predictability, each moment brings its own surprise and its own unique offering.

The practice of painting is healing and meditative. No experience is necessary as we transform our everyday consciousness into the inner artist that lives in each of us.

In this retreat Lama Drimed and Susan Harper open a multi-dimensional inquiry into our spiritual, somatic, and creative human capacity.

One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began. –Mary Oliver Start over: The resilient brain is always starting over.

Spinal awareness is a combination of the Feldenkrais Method®, Taoist energetic science, and the Esalen experience.

The time has come to turn your heart into a temple of fire. -Rumi

In Asian culture, the philosophy of “play” is always at the underlying core of “serious” living.

In order to become whole, we must engage in the ongoing process of discovering our own personal truth.

Join Suzanne Sterling for this ecstatic mind/body immersion into the heart of soulful self-expression.

Linda Trichter Metcalf, originator of Proprioceptive Writing® (PW) and coauthor of Writing the Mind Alive: The Proprioceptive Method for Finding Your Authentic Voice, has been a pioneer of writing

Deep bodywork, practiced with great sensitivity, is one of the most effective healing modalities available to the bodywork practitioner.

You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve to be loved. -Buddha

The purpose of our lives is to be happy. -His Holiness the Dalai Lama

At some point in each of our lives we have been hurt, mistreated, or disappointed. Unfortunately too many of us linger too long in self pity and anger.

Following ancient traditions on the winter solstice, we will take this poignant time to retreat, slow down, and dive into stillness, silence, and inner exploration.

This time of year, during the winter solstice, is a poignant time to retreat, slow down, and reflect on letting go of the old and inviting what you want to bring in for the coming season.

So many of us have a deep desire to change the world in major ways.

Like the whales who gracefully navigate their winter migration down the California coast each year, we must cultivate a fluid mixture of perseverance, clear reckoning, skillful navigation of life's