Workshops

For thousands of years across many cultures, enhanced states of consciousness have been used as a strategy for meaningful transformation and self-exploration — marking life’s major transitions and rites of passage and deepening one’s connection to self, community, and the natural world.

In this workshop, we will gather in the rich field of community for an immersive experience and personal exploration of enhanced states of consciousness. Our time together will include strategies for navigating, integrating, and preparing for these experiences. Holotropic Breathwork® offers language, method, and structure for turning inward and working with deeply personal material as it emerges, uniquely, from one’s own intrinsic intelligence. We will be supported by time-honored practices that are simple, yet powerful. These unique states can offer us unmediated access to the self as a deep source of healing, insight, and evolutionary potential. Participants will experience four Holotropic Breathwork sessions, with two as “breather” and two as “sitter.” Your time assisting others in “non-ordinary state” space will complement your personal exploration. Additionally, contemplative practice, movement, expressive arts, and time in community will support the integration process throughout the week.

Originating from the pioneering psychedelic researcher, Stanislav Grof, and his late wife, Christina Grof, Holotropic Breathwork is a particularly useful practice for those interested in or training to work in psychedelic-assisted therapy.

This workshop is suited for all those of heart who are curious about exploring enhanced states of consciousness and opening to an evolutionary process of unfolding. New or novice explorers/breathers are very welcome, along with experienced navigators/breathers. The fundamental urge to grow, to heal, and to be transformed in a truly authentic way drives us not outward but inward, toward the depths of our own being, toward a deep mystery within. This inward journey strengthens and nourishes our senses in a way that can revitalize our daily lives with creative and emergent energy.

This workshop includes an additional $75 of faculty tuition.

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 years, will share the most effective tools and practices they have developed to nurture their connection to each other.

The primary tool Perry and Johanna will share is called Gestalt Inquiry. This easy-to-learn, powerful practice provides a safe context for exploring the most meaningful and sensitive aspects of relationships. Perry and Johanna like to think of it as a practice that becomes a continuing part of any successful long-term relationship because it places high value on compassion, respect, and love of truth. As we learn to discover and safely express what is true for us, individually, as a couple, or as friends, we deepen our heart’s capacity for intimacy and connection, which leads to a more fulfilling and meaningful shared life.

During our time together, you will learn practices and resources to integrate into your everyday life, such as:

• Embodied practices involving movement, breath, meditation, and awareness to develop a sense of palpable presence as the foundation upon which your relationship can flourish.
• The Art of Conscious Communication: learning to care as much about understanding our partner and what they’re communicating as we care about being heard and understood by them.
• How to express needs, feelings, and appreciations in an attuned manner to deepen relational trust.
• Understanding the “distancing behaviors” we engage in, usually as an unconscious form of defense against vulnerability and contact.
• Learning to co-regulate each other in structured exercises, emphasizing compassion and respect so presence-based relating naturally arises.

This workshop is for couples of all genders and sexual orientations. A couple may be any two people with a history who desire a better future together, e.g., friends, partners, married or divorced spouses, parent and child, siblings, and others.

This workshop includes an additional $50 in faculty tuition.

As organized religion begins to lose its relevance, a fast-growing community of the spiritual but not religious rises to take its place. We are thirsty for the sacred and long to experience it within the heart of our everyday lives.

In this experiential workshop, we will cultivate a mystical way of seeing to reclaim awe and wonder, not in spite of but rather through the portal of our ordinary lives. By intentionally seeking the presence of the sacred in our closest relationships, work, food, pleasure, loss, and grief, we release false notions that mystical experiences are reserved for the spiritually elite and that intimacy with the divine can only be experienced in a religious context.

Throughout the workshop, we will walk through seven gates to reveal your everyday life as a sacred landscape: intention, attention, surrender, teachers and teachings, community, feeling, and ongoing unfoldment. Teachings from Mirabai will be interwoven with writing exercises, both small and whole-group discussions, guided and silent meditation, and interspiritual chanting.

Your life itself is sacred ground. When you decide to walk the path of the mystic, the mundane shows up as miraculous, the boring becomes fascinating, and your perceived shortcomings turn out to be your greatest gifts.

Recommended Reading: Ordinary Mysticism: Your Life as Sacred Ground, by Mirabai Starr and Wild Mercy by Mirabai Starr

In this transformative workshop, you will explore Maranasati, mindfulness of death, a profound practice for embracing life’s natural cycles of birth and death with greater aliveness, presence, and fearlessness. By facing impermanence directly, you can open your heart to live with deeper intention, presence, and less fear, freeing yourself to embrace life in its fullest expression.

Guided sitting and walking meditations will be at the heart of our time together to help us anchor into the body, quiet the mind, and discover peace amid the ever-changing nature of life. We’ll create spaciousness for silence, allowing insights to emerge naturally. Contemplative practices will guide us as we reflect on powerful meditative inquiries. Reflective writing, such as crafting your own obituary, will offer deeper self-exploration. Creative exercises, like haiku writing, will provide a way to express these insights through art, transforming our contemplation into beauty.

Through small group inquiry, we will share and deeply listen to one another’s reflections, fostering a supportive community connected by our shared humanity. We’ll practice letting go, finding ease with the unknown, and addressing the heart’s unfinished business. As we cultivate metta (loving-kindness), we soften our fears and grief with compassion, gradually transforming them into equanimity and acceptance.

Join us in this exploration of mortality to see death as a wise teacher and life as an opportunity for authenticity, love, and presence. This workshop is open to anyone ready to deepen their connection with mortality and embrace life and death with an open heart.

Love is an ecological process.  — Andreas Weber

Most of us have lost our sensual connection to our bodies and to the living world. We have become numb to the Earth’s touch. This week-long workshop offers an immersive, slow, and sensual experience in the erotic ecology pathway — a space to reawaken our sensory, pleasurable, and nourishing connection to two landscapes: our bodies and nature. You are invited to slow down to let the Earth touch you, heal you, and love you.

Through embodied exploration, you can rediscover your birthright: an intimate relationship with the natural world as lover and healer. This kinship reminds us that, at our essence, we are not separate from the Earth — we are the Earth.

Set amongst Esalen’s sacred landscape, where redwood forest meets the Pacific Ocean, we’ll engage in practices designed to open you to ecological eros: the ever-living and abundant source of pleasure, aliveness, and vitality.

During our time together, you are invited to:

• Learn and practice the eight stages of interoceptive awareness, our body’s portal to sensing the Earth.
• Attune to the pace of nature and move at the rhythm of our surroundings.
• Remember, feel, and embody your own aliveness.
• Awaken a felt sense of kinship with the natural world.
• Reconnect with your body’s innate wisdom and capacity for healing.
• Expand in playful connection to nature through poetry, mandala-making, and dance.
• Savor the nourishment of surrendering to the Earth’s embrace.
• Practice consent in relationship to self, others, and nature.
• Taste the deepest wellspring of rest and nourishment that is always available to us.
• Learn how to speak the language of the Earth.
• Connect your own erotic vitality to collective liberation and ecological justice.

You’ll be guided to return home with the kindled flame of a love affair with the Earth — an enduring resource in an increasingly disconnected world.

Recommended Reading: Heartwood: The Wisdom and Healing Kinship of Trees by Lindsay Branham and Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Yoga is, at its heart, a profound philosophical journey — one that goes far beyond perfecting postures or achieving physical feats. In the ancient yogic tradition, the true essence of yoga is the cultivation of Witness Consciousness — a compassionate, non-judgmental awareness from which true freedom and transformation arise.

In this immersive workshop, informed by Devarshi’s five decades of teaching, we’ll explore yoga as a living philosophy expressed through accessible movement and inquiry. Movement here is not about performance, but about observing the mind; breath is a pathway to spacious presence, and sensation becomes a mirror for self-knowledge.

You’ll be invited to:

• Rediscover movement as a form of inquiry rather than performance.
• Explore ancient yogic principles like Ahimsa (non-violence), Svadhyaya (self-study), and Vairagya (non-attachment) as tools for kind self-relationship and inner freedom.
• Replace self-judgment with the non-judgmental Witness Consciousness that is the true alignment of yoga.

Whether you are a seasoned teacher or entirely new to the practice, this workshop meets you where you are. Discover a new relationship to the one who moves within all poses: yourself.

Come as you are and leave with a deeper understanding of yoga as a living philosophy, a pathway to presence, and a celebration of the wisdom within your own being. You’re encouraged to bring a journal to capture reflections and insights along the way.

Held by the cliffs, gardens, and vast Pacific horizon, this workshop invites you to slow down, awaken your senses, and remember your belonging to the living world. Through guided outdoor meditations and embodied awareness, you’ll reconnect with nature as teacher and mirror, discovering joy, wisdom, and wonder along the way. Come ready to breathe deeply, listen wholeheartedly, and be restored by the beauty that surrounds you.

Men need supportive spaces to embrace vulnerability and explore presence-based touch. In a culture that often rewards emotional restraint and self-reliance, many men have few opportunities to lower their defenses and explore presence and authentic connection — especially through touch. This immersive workshop offers a space for men to reconnect with themselves and one another through the art and practice of Esalen® Massage.

At its core, Esalen Massage is about more than technique; it is a relational, heart-centered approach to touch that honors the body’s innate capacity for healing. Through long, flowing strokes, gentle stretches, and attuned presence, Esalen Massage invites both giver and receiver into deeper embodiment and mutual awareness. In this workshop, you will be introduced to the foundations of Esalen Massage, including quality of touch, rapport, mindful body mechanics, and how to drape comfortably.

Through guided massage exchanges, demonstrations, and unmasking practices, we will explore how cultural expectations around masculinity have shaped our relationships — with ourselves, with one another, and with touch. During our time together, we’ll hold space for honest conversation about what we carry and what we’re ready to release.

Whether you’re new to massage or seek to deepen your personal or professional practice, this workshop offers a unique opportunity to explore Esalen Massage as a path to wholeness — one grounded in presence, touch, and brotherhood.

Recommended Reading: The Will To Change by bell hooks & Iron John by Robert Bly

10 hours of continuing education provided by the faculty through the NCBTMB

The body is a dense and visible aspect of a unified field. It can’t be separated from the field in which it lives. The whole body accepts. — Stephen Schwartz

If you have ever danced, you know the power of movement to unlock the hidden places within — the shortcut faster than years of talk therapy. In its elegant way, dance lets us be with what needs attention and love inside.

Rediscover the magic of life through the miracle of conscious movement and the healing power of embodied presence. Drop into your body, reconnect with what most matters to you, and feel alive again in your messy, mysterious, and magnificent human body.

Inspired by a wide range of music and the great sound of silence, supported by the elemental presence of nature, we will travel together across the landscapes of relating — to self, other, the world, and the great mystery that we also are.

During our week together, using the practice of Soul Motion® and the body-based explorations of Gestalt, we will:

• Awaken each day with movement, breath, and sensory awareness.
• Explore our inner landscape through solo and guided movement journeys.
• Connect deeply with others in paired- and small-group practices to be seen and heard.
• Move outdoors, drawing presence and inspiration from nature.
• Reflect and integrate through circles of sharing and silence.
• Include time for teaching and discussion, though most of the program is experiential.

In the process of waking up together — sometimes glorious, sometimes clumsy — we will deepen our skills for empathy and relational fluidity and find ourselves held in effortless belonging.

Zuza Engler is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) to sponsor continuing education programs for LMFT, LCSW, and LPCC. This workshop offers 18 CE credits for therapists and social workers. Please email angel@zuzaengler.com for more details about CE credits. There will be a $25 fee for the certificate.

Recommended Reading: Body Process: A Gestalt Approach to Working with the Body in Psychotherapy by James Kepner, Spirituality of the Body: Bioenergetics for Grace and Harmony by Alexander Lowen and The Wisdom of No Escape and the Path of Loving-Kindness by Pema Chödrön

Discover research-backed tools to create a loving relationship. Together, we’ll engage in a comprehensive exploration of the psychological and scientific aspects of dating and healthy relationships. We’ll delve into the science of attraction, unlocking the mysteries of chemistry and creating and sustaining meaningful connections — all grounded in the latest research on relationships.

Our key focus will be the art of building deeper connections through effective communication techniques and empathetic understanding. You’ll learn how to nurture skills that foster intimacy, trust, and lasting bonds. Mastering a comprehensive framework for effective communication is essential for stronger, more resilient relationships, and you’ll learn practical ways to apply these skills in your daily interactions.

In this workshop, you’ll find out how to create a personal relationship narrative that aligns with your current life. Reflective exercises will help you identify and rewire limiting beliefs about love for healthier and more fulfilling bonds. The “Dating Funnel” framework, a structured approach that demystifies the various stages of relationship development, will provide a clear strategy for navigating the dating world, from initial contact to a committed relationship.

By the end of our time together, you will be equipped with a comprehensive set of tools to navigate your relationship journey with confidence and clarity. Understand the foundations of attraction, develop communication skills, and reshape your love narrative.

This workshop is open to all gender identities and expressions and all sexual orientations.

Recommended Reading: Breakup Bootcamp: The Science of Rewiring Your Heart and Unsingle: How to Date Smarter and Create Love That Lasts by Amy Chan

This workshop includes an additional $15 materials fee.

What if what we experience wasn’t always a serious endeavor, but rather an invitation to play, to grow and to learn? Hindu philosophy encapsulates this idea in the Sanskrit word Lila, which means “divine play.” Lila suggests that creation isn’t an obligation but an ongoing, spontaneous, joyful expression of the divine. Perhaps we’re so deeply immersed in the drama of it — like actors lost in our roles — that we’ve forgotten it’s a playful dance? Suppose existence is just a cosmic joke, a juggling act of the relative and the absolute. This unique workshop is designed to help you learn to dance between the everyday mundane and the spiritually sublime.

Each day will begin with the ancient technology of yoga, breathwork, and meditation. Morning classes will be energizing and dynamic to cleanse the blocks of stress, physical/mental patterns, and common discomforts. These sessions are designed to help you access peace, resilience, and a playful state to gently unravel the genius of your authentic self.

You’ll then be guided through various exercises to develop highly nuanced body awareness, followed by physical games and rituals that give birth to organic impulses inspired by the child within. In this, there is no pressure to perform, just an invitation to get lost and found inside yourself, an openness to go beyond your comfort zone, and a willingness to play within the moment.

Each day will close with a soft, contemplative yoga practice and an opportunity to share and hear one another’s interpretation of the day. This helps to absorb the benefits, make sense of your experience, and allow for genuine healing and connection through community.

This workshop is physical, but open and accessible for all levels and diverse bodies. Practices will be adapted and tailored to support you. Please come unprepared, ready to explore, and open to an entirely new outlook on life.

Mindfulness can help us understand the patterns of the mind. Movement can help us understand the patterns in the body. By bridging the two, we begin to develop a clearer, more embodied understanding of who we are.

In this three-day retreat, we’ll explore meditation, breathwork, and improvised movement as an integrated toolkit. We’ll approach these tools as creative research — a playful inquiry into what it means to be human.

Through guided sessions in stillness and motion, you will:

• Deepen awareness of the subtle dialogue between body and mind.
• Explore movement as a form of self-discovery and creative expression.
• Use breath to regulate the nervous system and unlock embodied presence.
• Learn to understand and release habitual patterns in body and mind.
• Integrate mindfulness into daily life through the body.

This retreat offers a grounded and experiential approach to understanding the body-mind connection. It’s an opportunity to step out of autopilot and into direct experience — curious, clear, and fully present. Some prior experience in meditation, mindfulness, and movement is desirable but not a requirement.

Physical Abilities: Participants should be comfortable with moderate physical activity, including standing, moving, and lying down for extended periods. Ability to move freely on the floor is beneficial but modifications can be offered.

Important Health Considerations: Active breathwork is not advised for individuals who are pregnant, have cardiovascular conditions, severe asthma, epilepsy, or a history of seizures. Please consult with a healthcare provider if you have any concerns about participating in intensive breathwork practices.

Experience Level: All levels welcome. Sessions are designed to be accessible to beginners while offering depth for experienced practitioners of meditation and movement.

Sensitivity: This workshop involves deep somatic exploration that may bring up emotional material or stored tension in the body. Active breathwork can be intense and may evoke strong physical sensations or emotional releases. Participants will be supported in working at their own pace, and are encouraged to practice self-care and communicate their needs throughout the retreat. Those with trauma histories should be aware that breathwork and embodied practices can be activating, though all practices are offered with options for self-regulation.

Tibetan yoga is a powerful bridge between ancient wisdom and contemporary somatic healing. Rooted in movement, meditation, and subtle energetics, these practices engage not only the physical body but also the deeper layers of the subtle body — where trauma often lives.

In Tibetan yoga, the subtle body is composed of energetic pathways through which the vital winds flow, regulating both our physiology and consciousness. These winds influence the movement of thought, emotion, and life force. Within this energetic system, the vital essence — traditionally associated with reproductive health and immunity — is also key to stress regulation and emotional well-being.

By deeply understanding these channels, we can learn to work directly with these energies to clear blockages, release somatized distress, and cultivate new pathways for mind-body integration for healing from within.

In this workshop, you will be invited to:

• Experience traditional Tibetan yoga movement and meditation practices designed to regulate the subtle body and promote inner balance.
• Explore the energetic channels of the subtle body, including vital winds and vital essence, to better understand how stress and trauma are held and released.
• Cultivate a deeper connection between mind, body, and essence and develop tools for long-term emotional resilience and holistic well-being.

This extended weekend workshop is ideal for those seeking a deep exploration of subtle energetics, nervous system regulation, and the intersection of ancient yogic traditions with contemporary insights from Polyvagal theory and somatic practices.

Be inspired and transform your yoga practice with the stories of yoga and the power of myth. Awaken the hero’s journey within you as you explore the legends, lore, and archetypes of the yoga tradition. Deepen your love of yoga, elevate your creativity, and infuse your practice with mythic codes that support your purpose in life.

Each day will offer asana, pranayama, mantra, mudra, meditation, and inner transformational exploration to ground myth into your everyday life. Morning sessions will be energizing, followed by reflective afternoon sessions.

Together, we’ll explore the alchemical practices of:

• Asana (physical yoga postures)
• Pranayama (breathing techniques)
• Mantra (healing sound vibration)
• Mudra (energy seals created by the hands)
• Meditation (expanded states of awareness)
• Mythic codes (stories, legends, and lore of yoga)
• Hypnotic trance ritual (inductions to deepen your mythic experience)

Sianna and Masood will guide you on this sacred pilgrimage with five thematic journeys:

Monday: Soma Flow — hips, twists, and tantric stories of Shiva & Shakti with mantra meditation.

Tuesday: Leap of Love — backbends and heart-opening practices inspired by the devotion and courage of Hanuman.

Wednesday: Clear the Obstacles — clear the way with Ganesha’s wisdom to remove blocks with breathwork, balance poses, and shadow work.

Thursday: Expand the Evolutionary Edge — explore and embody the avatar forms of yoga through Vishnu and Durga.

Friday: Invoking Grace — a celebration of the goddesses of yoga through vinyasa flow, mantra, music, and community.

“Once upon a time…” is how it all begins. From there, let your imagination soar and awaken your quest in a whole new way!

This transformative Mythic Yoga Flow® retreat includes 20 CEUs certified by Yoga Alliance. See workshop faculty for more details.

Have you ever worked hard to make a change, only to find yourself slipping back into old habits? Want to supercharge your ability to stimulate behavior change in others when it comes to the issues you care about the most? Is it time to break free from old patterns and build your next chapter? This workshop is for people in the process of change and those who work as change agents with individuals, groups, and organizations and in society.

Through dialogue, experiential practice, and creative process, we will bridge the science of breakthroughs with indigenous, religious, spiritual, and secular models of transformation. You will:

• Learn what works and what doesn’t to inspire lasting change in yourself and others.
• Explore how peak experiences, a-ha! moments and awe can stimulate change.
• Examine how we and those we work with can get stuck or lost, and find ways to shake free from periods of inertia or patterns that prevent us from moving forward.
• Investigate the transformative potential of pain, hitting bottom, and post-traumatic growth.
• Delve into stories, symbols, and metaphors of transformation to guide your path.

Join us for this transformational exploration of our most deeply entrenched behaviors. Learn how to break free from the patterns that no longer serve you — and create new habits that will change your life.

Additional embodiment practices will be provided by Guest Faculty Member Nichol Chase.

Nichol’s yoga practice is informed by a vast and eclectic set of influences that blend invigorating flow with precise and insightful instruction and extensive study with a variety of innovative teachers. She is a Garrison Institute Fellow and a faculty member and teacher trainer for The Mazé Method.

Recommended Reading: Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life by Marilyn Schlitz, Cassandra Vieten, and Tina Amorok

This course builds on your previous seven rich days of exploration in CFR® Week One. During that crucial week, you laid the foundation for releasing your childhood survival patterns and moving through life with more ease and presence physically, mentally, and emotionally.

In CFR® Week 1, you reorganized the stranger you once called “self” to become more objective, compassionate, curious, and hopeful, changing how you live with yourself and others.

We will continue excavating and healing old patterns that no longer serve you. You will gain deeper appreciation for how embodied movement can serve as a portal to your soul. Using newly experienced body wisdom, you will uncover what has been hidden, held back, and inhibited your fullest expression of ease, joy, and authentic self.

Bring your lingering issues, past injuries, and a desire for freedom on all levels. Leave more deeply connected to your body and present in your soul.              

Please note: This is an advanced class. Participants must have taken CFR® Week 1.

What is vitality? Exuberance, vibrance, sparkle, spirit, and verve — terms rarely found in psychology textbooks. Vulnerability to depression and anxiety is widespread, and our culture traditionally emphasizes reducing symptoms with drugs that alter certain neurotransmitters, which is only part of the picture. We are living in a new era where vulnerabilities can become strengths, and what used to be stigma becomes common humanity. Good mental health is being redefined in terms of stress resilience, post-traumatic growth, and vitality.

This workshop explores evidence-based tools for living a vibrant life, even in the presence of stress, depression, anxiety, or any pain we may be carrying. We will help you build your own ecosystem of mental well-being — including new ways to foster vitality and purpose through caring for the brain, body, and gut. In this workshop, we’ll review the latest scientific findings on practices such as:

• Hot and cold exposures
• Optimal physical challenges
• Breathing techniques
• Meditation
• Embodied movement

A mental health renaissance is underway. Mental well-being is being redefined, and a range of evidence-based, whole-person approaches are gaining ground. Learn from renowned authors and cutting-edge scientists to create a flourishing ecosystem of mental well-being for yourself and your clients.

Additional embodiment practices will be provided by Guest Faculty Member Nichol Chase.

Nichol’s yoga practice is informed by a vast and eclectic set of influences that blend invigorating flow with precise and insightful instruction and extensive study with a variety of innovative teachers. She is a Garrison Institute Fellow and a faculty member and teacher trainer for The Mazé Method.

Recommended Reading: The Stress Prescription: Seven Days to More Joy and Ease by Elissa Epel; The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer by Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel; Spiritual and Religious Competencies in Clinical Practice: Guidelines for Psychologists and Mental Health Professionals by Cassandra Vieten; Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life by Cassandra Vieten

This workshop has an additional $30 of faculty tuition.

All knowledge / until it’s in the body / is still a rumour. — Anonymous

In a world that constantly pulls us away from ourselves, this is an invitation to return to the living intelligence of the body. Through movement, awareness, and curiosity, we’ll explore the physical architecture of embodiment: the foundation upon which all emotional, cognitive, relational and spiritual experience rests.

Over three days, we will re-member ourselves from the inside out. Open Floor practices teach us to include everything — the tense, the tired, the strong, and the shy — allowing each part of our experience to take its rightful place in motion. Held by this field of movement, familiar patterns begin to dissolve, giving way to what is spontaneous, fluid, and alive.

Through the subtle play of weight, direction, and contact, we can discover how even the smallest shift can open new pathways for expression and connection. What begins as physical movement becomes a field of awakening — a remembering that embodiment itself is intelligence.

Rooted in the essential structures of Open Floor practice, Bare Bones is an opportunity to place the extraordinary body at the center of experience — to inhabit life not as an idea, but as a lived, moving truth.

Join ceremonial leader and wisdom carrier Erika Gagnon on a sacred journey, as we gather together and explore the healing wisdom of the “Americas.” We will learn about the importance of ancestral lineage, ceremonies and rituals, sacred altars, medicinal plants, and the origins of dis-ease in our physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual bodies.

You are your greatest healer and greatest medicine, and we will examine what this means in the context of our modern daily lives as we share healing wisdom and practices together. This is your opportunity to transform trauma and unhealthy patterns, and to realign your body, mind, spirit, and soul. You will also have the opportunity to participate in a traditional South American healing ceremony, a sound healing & “doctoring” ceremony and water blessing.

You will be invited to reconnect to your authentic wisdom and power with clarity, gratitude, and forgiveness. When you honor and heal your ancestral lineage, and connect to the natural and spiritual elements of this planet, you will strengthen your connection to the sacred in everyday life.

We are all interconnected in this giant web of life, and every day is a gift in the service of unconditional love: for yourself, your community, humanity, and our planet. If you feel the call to be a part of a new humanity that lives in harmony and balance upon this Earth, then we invite you to join us in this celebration of life.

Note: Please bring a journal to write in, and items for our altar, including photographs of loved ones and ancestors and sacred objects that have meaning for you.

Special Note on Gift Economy:  For this workshop, Esalen will not be collecting the typical leader fees. Erika embraces the tradition of the gift economy and reciprocity. The leader’s compensation will be self-determined by each attendee. At the end of the workshop, participants will offer a donation amount that reflects their feeling of gratitude, value, and desire to support Erika and her ongoing work.

BIPOC SCHOLARSHIP: Erika has established a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, person of color) scholarship for her workshops.  For more information on receiving one to participate, please contact her at ErikaGagnon11@gmail.com

Imagine your relationship expressing the true depths of your love and commitment. If you are in love, this retreat is an opportunity to rise even higher in love. If you are in crisis, it is an opportunity for healing on the deepest level. We all carry some degree of negative programming from our past, and there are loving and effective ways to transform this programming into a positive and vibrant celebration of our connection.

During this 5 day workshop, we will naturally dive into a deeper learning experience with much more material than we can cover in a weekend. The extra time allows for a fuller integration of all the practices. Each couple will experience exercises and practices to do with each other, therapeutic coaching by the Vissells, the support of other couples, and time for sharing after each practice.

We will share a collection of tools for deeper appreciation and communication building, including healthy communication of feelings, our partner as a mirror, understanding and respecting each other’s differences, conflict resolution, healing past hurts, sexual wellness, inner child/inner parent, taking responsibility and developing a true inner connection. Take the opportunity to explore these tools with your partner during the workshop and learn to incorporate them into everyday life as you continue to improve your relationship at home. For more information, visit www.SharedHeart.org.

This workshop welcomes couples of all gender and sexual orientations.

When the ground falls out from underneath us, our instinct is usually to cling fast to the beliefs, stories, relationships, and identities that give us the greatest sense of stability and comfort. But what if we viewed these moments as wondrous opportunities instead of terrifying threats? Could the experience of groundlessness offer an unexpected freedom from the constant strain of molding the world to our liking?

In this workshop, we will explore how the loss of our bearings — an inevitable and recurrent fact of life we often intensely resist — can become a spontaneous and nourishing invitation. Together, we’ll ask how we might begin to meet these uncertain moments with curiosity rather than fear. What if we could find pleasure in the ongoing evolution of our identity and greet the natural transformation of our relationships with openness rather than resistance? What might it look like to exchange our grip on control, certainty, and rigid beliefs for qualities like surrender, adaptability, and emotional ease? And how might we come to experience the thrill of groundlessness — not as a crisis to be solved, but as a profound opportunity to live more honestly in rhythm with life’s unpredictability?

We’ll explore these questions by way of a dazzling and playful journey through contemporary film and popular culture, ancient and modern spiritual philosophies, and holistic medicine and psychology. From the Zen Buddhist axiom on resisting the poison of egoic-attachment to the injunction by American Philosopher Alan Watts to live in the present moment, from psychedelic therapy and the loosening of rigid thought patterns to the trippy identity-dissolving visual experiments of recent science fiction and fantasy films — all of these and more will be our teachers.

Together, we’ll tap into a wide range of psychological and spiritual resources — many already at our fingertips yet often overlooked or dismissed in our daily pursuit of holding it together. Because in the end, life offers no absolutes, only the thrill of groundlessness and the freedom that comes when we finally surrender to its flow.

Morning sessions will focus on open group discussion and embodied practices; evening sessions will include nightly film screenings followed by collective dialogue about what we’ve watched.

Recommended Reading: Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Training in Compassion: Zen Teaching on the Practice of Lojong by Mark Fischer, The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety by Alan Watts, The Feminism of Uncertainty: A Gender Diary by Anne Snitow

Immerse yourself in a restorative workshop designed specifically for male-identifying people of color. This unique experience offers a sanctuary for growth and self-discovery, fostering a supportive community where participants can connect and build meaningful relationships.

Black boys and men of color have limited opportunities to engage in mind-body healing practices, and there are not nearly enough representations of Black male wellness; this workshop provides tools for transformation, healing, and empowerment while also addressing the interconnected issues of mental health, racial disparities, and community well-being.

Danny and Darnell combine meditation, yoga, and reflective writing to create a nurturing space for participants to explore their inner selves and cultivate mindfulness. Through guided meditations and intention-setting exercises, participants will center their energy and focus on their personal growth journey.

This workshop features:

• Rejuvenating Hatha Yoga sessions, engaging participants in gentle stretches, balancing poses, and breathing exercises to promote physical and mental well-being.
• Yoga Nidra sessions to provide deep relaxation and inner exploration for a meditative state of consciousness.
• Reflective writing sessions to offer a profound opportunity for self-discovery and life visioning, guided by thoughtful prompts.
• Shadow work writing sessions to confront and integrate repressed aspects of the self for holistic healing.
• Somatic movement, breathwork, and primal movement exercises to facilitate healing and emotional release.
• Healing circles to enrich the experience, fostering support and collective healing energy.

With reflective writing and a closing circle, participants will be able to process their experiences, express gratitude, and set future intentions to carry them well beyond Esalen.

Revolutionary findings in neuroscience have demonstrated that we can literally re-architect the very structure of our brains. In fact, we can even rewire our neurology to be more focused, calmer, and happier.

In this workshop, Dr. Shauna Shapiro — a leading scientist studying the effects of meditation on well-being — will teach you the most powerful science-based practices for increasing the neural pathways of happiness. She’ll explain basic brain science and offer a clear roadmap for living a joyful, connected, and meaningful life. Be prepared for unexpected transformation and delight.

During this weekend workshop, we’ll learn:

• Science-based practices to increase your baseline level of happiness.
• How to cultivate greater joy, gratitude, and connection.
• To integrate these practices into our everyday lives.

Recommended Reading: Good Morning, I Love You: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practices to Rewire the Brain for Calm, Clarity + Joy and Good Morning, I Love You: A Guided Journal for Calm, Clarity + Joy by Shauna Shapiro.

This workshop includes an additional $375 faculty tuition. *For anyone facing financial hardship, Dr. Shauna Shapiro invites you to contact her directly for tuition scholarship at slshapiro@scu.edu.

Join us for an immersive five-day experience where ancient breath practices intersect with contemporary psychology to unlock the transformational power of your breath. For millennia, diverse yogic and spiritual traditions have harmonized breathwork with mindfulness to foster psychological healing and spiritual growth. Today, science validates the profound impact of breathwork and embodied awareness on stress management and immune resilience. Visionaries like Bessel van der Kolk champion the integration of breath, movement, awareness development, and educated touch for healing trauma.

On the sacred grounds of Esalen, under the expert guidance of the Hollomans, participants will have the opportunity to experience how breath can create altered states of consciousness, supporting deep psychological and spiritual exploration. Perry and Johanna use the powerful tool of Gestalt Inquiry to integrate these experiences into a deeper understanding of who we truly are. Participants will engage in various forms of breathwork, including extended two-to-three-hour breath journeys that open expanded states of consciousness and doorways to deeper dimensions of being. We will also begin our days with shorter, 50-minute “daily-dose” breath practices, perfect for at-home use.

Perry and Johanna will create a safe and supportive environment through Integrative Gestalt Practice and group sharing, ensuring that the insights gained from breathwork support your journey of healing and self-actualization.

In this workshop, you are invited to:

• Engage in two extended two to three hour Hologenic breath meditations to explore the unconscious mind and access altered states of consciousness, complemented by shorter, 50-minute “daily dose” breath practices for ongoing use at home.
• Learn the art of self-inquiry through Integrative Gestalt to cultivate “presence-based consciousness” in daily life.
• Apply breathwork and Integrative Gestalt techniques to address trauma and restore our innate capacities for self-organization and healing.

Embark on this transformative journey designed to nurture personal healing and spiritual growth. Learn essential skills that you can practice in your daily life to continue your journey of self-healing and spiritual development. Whether you’re a professional seeking to expand your practice through the power of breath or an individual committed to deepening self-inquiry, we welcome you to join us for this exploration into expanded realms of consciousness!

Recommended Reading: Breath by James Nestor

This workshop includes an additional $50 material fee.

Disclaimer: Esalen workshops do not involve the use, provision, or facilitation of any psychoactive substances. Breath practice can be catalyzing. Individuals with any significant medical concerns, including a history of stroke, seizures, or cardiac issues, should consult with their physician prior to participation. If you are pregnant, or think you might be, please consult your physician.

Esalen Massage is a moving meditation, a practice in presence and mindfulness, and a sensory healing art. When practiced with focused attention, massage comes from a deep, quiet place that resides inside each of us. This practice of meditation also helps access our parasympathetic nervous system, where healing originates. As we give a massage, this state of mind can permeate the field that practitioner and receiver create together.

In guided sessions, we will explore the practice of sitting meditation to prepare and quiet our minds, and the fundamentals of Esalen Massage as a meditative and self-reflective practice. Special focus will be on quality of touch, breath awareness, centering, and sensitive rapport between partners. The signature long strokes will support a sense of wholeness and integration.  Instruction in detailed work for the shoulders, hips, limbs and neck will contribute to the massage experience. There will be supervised practice daily as students exchange massages, with the support of their experienced teachers.

Beginners as well as seasoned practitioners will welcome this week to explore Esalen Massage and meditation, while enjoying the natural beauty of the Esalen grounds.

This workshop is especially useful for those in the helping and healing professions in working with their clients and partners.

26 hours of NCBTMB approved continuing education provided by the faculty through the Esalen® Massage and Bodywork Association Teachers