Workshops

We all face death, but how many of us are actually ready for it? Whether our own demise or that of a loved one comes first, how prepared are we? This workshop offers a wide array of resources and teachings to help participants address that final unfinished business and make the most out of every moment that comes before it.

All of life is held within the context of its inevitable extinction. By acknowledging and preparing for death now, we will find ourselves living more fully and fearlessly. Join us as we celebrate the preciousness of life, and ready ourselves and others for this final journey. We will explore how to die a good death and help others pass, engaging with meditations and contemplations that prepare us for letting go. As the Buddhist tradition proclaims, “If you die before you die, then when you die, you will not die.”

With preparation, we can transcend death, turning the greatest obstacle into a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and even attain enlightenment. The bardo teachings lead to the death of death. The journey through the bardos is a journey into our mind, so by exploring the bardos, we are exploring ourselves. The teachings apply to any moment that ends – which means they also relate to daily life and can help you live fully within the time you are given.

Together we’ll explore:

• Meditations that prepare you for the end of life
• Teachings that support the meditations
• Discussion groups to create a sense of community  

We hope you’ll join us for this exploration into the unknown, so that we may all return – fearless, and full of compassion for ourselves and those transitioning from this life.

Recommended Reading: Preparing to Die by Andrew Holecek

This workshop has an additional $20 of faculty tuition.

“Just as there is a relationship of mind to body, so there is a relationship of body to Earth.” - Carl Jung

Most of us have lost our connectedness to the living world. At the same time, climate change, mental health challenges and chronic illness have skyrocketed. Connection to our bodies and the Earth is the missing piece for sustainable healing.

In this experiential workshop, we will focus on reclaiming our birthright: a deep, and connected relationship with the Earth. A relationship with nature as a pathway to relational and physical healing can holistically transform your life through offering an ongoing source of timeless compassionate love and awareness. Because this is intrinsic to who you are, and we are the Earth.

Set amongst the beautiful Esalen grounds, with the Redwood trees and Pacific ocean, one of the most spectacular coastlines in the world, we will practice both groundbreaking somatic methods based on body awareness science and relational attachment theory, and ancient Buddhist contemplative tools that will support you to foster a connection with nature.

We will mindfully listen to musician John Newton share his own relationship to nature through his original fingerstyle guitar music, reminiscent of the primitive guitar tradition of North America and chamber folk music of the British Isles. 

Through embodied mindful awareness, and nature connection practice, you will:

• Slow down and receive nourishment from connection to the Earth.
• Experience a loving, interdependent relationship with nature.
• Gain tools to support your own body's innate intelligence for healing. 
• Find embodied support for navigating climate collapse, grief, and more.

Return home with the budding beginnings of a life-long relationship with the Earth that will help you to remain centered, joyful, and more resourced in an anxious world.

Recommended Reading: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Experience five days of deep rest, reflection, and rejuvenation. Using the profound practice of Yoga Nidra, movement and guided meditation. We will restore the body, clear the mind, and shift the habitual patterns that keep us from being calm, clear and balanced.

Yoga (meaning “union”) Nidra (meaning “sleep”) is a path to that liminal state of being between waking and sleeping. This is where you can systematically release stored physical, emotional, and mental tensions.

Let go of old beliefs and habits that keep you stuck in the past and fearful of the future. Experience your emotions fully, knowing you have unchanging, unshakable ground beneath you — a calm inner presence that allows you to see clearly.

We will work with both our bodies and our minds and  create clear intentions to live, not from unconscious and automatic past programming but from a new perspective — an aware, deliberate way of being. We will learn how to take this felt sense of being — this new awareness of the True Self — back into our personal lives, family lives, work lives, and love lives.

Together, we will cultivate new tools to help us negotiate those times when we are under stress and feel lost, tired, and confused — when we forget who we are. These guiding instruments will help put us on the path to gaining life mastery,  welcoming your challenges, and remembering your True Being.

This workshop is an opportunity to recognize one’s wholeness, the truth of who you are, and that deep down inside is an inner peace that has always been there.

All that is being asked of you is to show up, lie down, and let go. Yoga Nidra will do the rest. Please bring blankets, a yoga mat, an eye pillow, and anything else you need to lie comfortably on the floor for extended periods of time. And we’ll have opportunities to practice outside, so bring layers!

Recommended Reading: Yoga Nidra: The Art of Transformational Sleep, by Kamini Desai; and Yoga Nidra: A Meditative Practice for Deep Relaxation Healing, by Richard Miller

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Across various wisdom traditions, there is a common yet paradoxical invitation: Turn toward what is difficult to find freedom from what is difficult. However, when we find ourselves feeling anxiety, loss, judgment, irritation — the full bouquet of difficult emotions — facing these feelings is the last thing we want to do. Fortunately, there are trainable, evidenced-informed practices to help us transmute adversities into joy and insight. By turning toward our challenges, we uncover the wisdom within them, and they transform into our allies.

Teachers and authors Chandra Easton and Eve Ekman have been teaching these transformative tools together and apart for more than a decade. Easton’s expertise draws from her intimate knowledge and practice of Tantric Buddhism and her teachings on the evidenced-based practice of Feeding Your Demons® (FYD) internationally. FYD is a guided five-step process that transforms our so-called “demons” of difficult emotions into our allies. Ekman’s expertise lies in her application of contemporary psychological science of well-being and emotion awareness, sharing the evidenced-based practice of Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) with the world. CEB draws from contemporary emotion science and develops our emotion granularity by mapping our emotion episodes.

In this training, Easton and Ekman guide participants to transform the mind, which is afflicted by our tendency toward enacting destructive emotions. At the heart of all these practices is an ability to transform adversity and joy into the path of our awakening. In contemporary psychological terms, we investigate our so-called “negative” emotional experiences to identify the stories and patterns that occlude our innate compassionate, pro-social nature.

This weekend will include guided meditations based on FYD and CEB, discussions, and time for integration and practice outdoors, weather permitting.

Suggested reading: Feeding Your Demons: Ancient Wisdom for Resolving Inner Conflict by Tsultrim Allione & Start Where You Are by Pema Chodron.

This workshop includes an additional $5 materials fee and $110 in faculty tuition.

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What does nature / the cosmos have in store for your life today? What yearns to be birthed in and through you? What if Nature can help you release what stands in your way?

Join us in this deep partnership with the more-than-human world at wondrous Esalen to help you identify and dissolve the obstacles towards manifesting your life purpose.

Discover the alchemy of “forest bathing” – the Japanese practice of mindfully experiencing nature through the senses, which studies have found to improve health, elevate mood, and heighten creativity and problem solving.

Workshop leader Sylvie Rokab will guide you on a journey with Esalen’s spectacular land, waters, mountains and other beings – with invitations that help you clarify and (re)discover the beauty of your uniqueness, talents, and gifts that only you can offer to the world.

Our time together includes:

• Sensorial nature experiences
• Talks on purpose, forest bathing, and mindfulness
• Deep sharing / listening circles
• Contemplative practices
• Music and tea ceremony

Participants often share that their stress dissolves, confusion lifts, insights awaken — and they take home a renewed sense of belonging, meaning and purpose in their lives.

Recommended Viewing: Love Thy Nature

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Learn to call on your spirit guides and tap into your intuitive mind. Join us in a transformative workshop combining scientifically proven brain-enhancing techniques with intuitive guidance to help you break free from self-limiting patterns and create the life you desire.

This workshop brings together two powerful approaches to help you develop tools for personal growth and transformation. Through easy-to-learn exercises, you will learn how opening neural pathways to your higher consciousness can bring valuable insights into areas where you may feel stuck. By thinking outside the box and accessing your intuitive mind, you have the ability to unlock your creative potential and experience increased productivity and happiness.

Guest faculty Joseph Perreta, a certified psychic medium, will guide you in connecting with your support system on the other side. Joseph’s ability to channel messages directly from the spirit world offers validation, clarification, healing, and peace. His presence will enrich your experience and provide a deeper understanding of the spiritual realm.

Throughout the workshop, you will develop practical tools that you can apply whenever you face important decisions or obstacles in life. By harnessing your intuition and uncovering profound insights about yourself, you will gain the clarity and confidence needed to make positive changes.

Our intention is to empower you to unlock your intuitive mind and carry these transformative practices with you long after the workshop ends. Please come prepared with a notebook or journal and a pen to capture your experiences and reflections.

This workshop has two options on length of stay: a traditional weeklong of two nights or a long weekend of three nights. The extended stay workshop will include more workshop content which is reflected in the extended stay schedule.

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Misconceptions about Reiki place its origins anywhere from ancient Egypt to Tibet — even from angels and aliens — but we hold the truth in the palms of our hands. In this workshop, we’ll explore the roots of this Japanese practice and discover the transformative power of universal life energy through Reiki meditations and transmissions.

Over this weekend, students will have the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of Reiki from both historical and experiential perspectives. We will discuss how this energy-healing technique originated in Japan, find out how it was influenced by other practices and cultures, and study how it evolved over time.

Participants will have the opportunity to learn:

• Various aspects of Reiki practice.
• Meditations taught by Reiki’s founder, Usui Mikao.
• Practices to connect to Reiki’s universal source and increase the flow of Reiki through one’s body.
• Reiki’s Japanese origins and how it is practiced and taught today

Participants will receive empowerment ceremonies called reiju or Reiki blessings. We will experience the power of Reiki self-treatments, how to give full Reiki treatments to others, and how to receive Reiki from another, all within the unique Reiki-filled space that is Esalen.  

Participants interested in Reiki initiation and certification please email Diane at nycreikimaster@gmail.com, for more information.

“​​Reiki is medicine for me — both inward and outward. When I first received Reiki, it was in an inward way. It opened me and made me feel what space is, what energy is, and what the universe is.” — Shinobu Saito, a Reiki Master initiated by Hawayo Takata

This workshop includes an additional $60 faculty tuition.

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The chakra system is one of the greatest gifts the ancient yogis and rishis of India shared with the world: a powerful spiritual map for our healing and the awakening of our consciousness so we can fully come alive! This week is an invitation to explore this map and unlock the unbridled joy, creative power, and freedom that lives inside of you.

The ultimate goal of yoga is to live in embodied enlightenment. It is to know and feel the current of mukti (the force of liberation that expands you in the direction of pure potentiality and higher consciousness) and to feel and celebrate bhukti (the gift of embodiment and all the pleasures and abundance of earthly reality). This workshop offers us the opportunity to bring these concepts into reality and into our living beings.

Through embodied ritual practices of yoga, live music, dance, meditation, sounding, and communion with nature, you will begin to shape an intimate connection with each of your energy centers. Together we will work to break through the blockages that keep you stuck and stagnant — preventing you from healing and experiencing the fullness of your power and life. We will dive deeply into the chakra system through accessible, dynamic, and interactive discussions and exercises.  

Each day, Cristi will guide us in her signature, dynamic chakra-based vinyasa, woven with mudra, kriyas and pranayama, supported by the sacred rhythms and healing soundscapes of our musical guides. DJ Marques Wyatt and DVINE1, aka Joel Long, will be playing sitar and percussion.

These practices will be enhanced by a variety of daily rituals, ranging from:

• Interactive lectures and discussions about each of the chakras.
• Movement meditations
• Transformational dance practices, including The Deep Exhale Experience and JourneyDance.
• Deeply nourishing soma practice and journaling.
• Spending time in nature to activate our chakras through the five sacred elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space.

Join us as we turn the yoga dance floor into a ritual of self-expression. You’re invited to experience every ritual as a prayer to your highest self to return you home to your body and nature, awaken pleasure, and give you permission to feel. Ignite your power. Heal your heart. Claim your vision and voice. Connect to your own divinity and celebrate this gift of life!

Recommended reading: Chakra Rituals by Cristi Christensen

How much joy we experience in life is limited by our ability to show up each day with unapologetic authenticity. For many people who identify as LGBTQIA2S+, feeling safe or supported to live authentically may not have been an option. As a result, many of us live disempowered lives— stuck in jobs, relationships, and routines that we no longer identify with. In turn, many of us have been able to break free from those past lives but still carry the weight of grief and trauma that come from years of living inauthentically.

This interactive, thought-provoking, and supportive workshop is designed to help you move away from the pain of the past, and  set your inner child free into a safe, welcoming and vibrant relationship with you and your Self. During this week, you will explore a series of creative exercises individually and together as a group.  By tapping into the voice of your inner child, releasing what no longer serves you, there is safer and more gentle space for experiencing  joy like never before.

You will have the opportunity to:

• Learn about Queer history, theology and activism.
• Practice written, sound and physical storytelling.
• Explore meditation as a form of social resistance.
• Experience healing modalities through dance, breathwork and sound baths.
• Gain insights about your limitations and strategize your next steps to live more authentically in joy.

This workshop is welcome to anyone who identifies as an LGBTQIA2S+ person or, a family member or friend of someone seeking to live more authentically in partnership with their inner child, and discover ways to support the LGBTQIA2S+ people in their lives.

Recommended Reading: Sex, Needs and Queer Culture: From Liberation to the Post-Gay by David Alderson, The Empty Chair: Tales From Gestalt Therapy by Vikram Kolmannskog,  Body Bliss: A Guided Pleasure Journal for Exploration and Self-Love by Robin Denise.

A daily writing practice and a consistent meditation practice have the power to ground us during difficult times. Writing gives us perspective and helps us make sense of the world. Mindfulness teaches us how to make space for the joy as well as the fear.

This experiential meditation retreat and writing workshop invites writers and meditators of all levels to delve deeply into both practices. We’ll begin each day with a burst of free writing — what Natalie Goldberg calls ‘writing practice’ — generating work we will share with each other in a safe and supportive environment.

We will follow with guided meditations crafted to help us develop the resources necessary to cope in times of crisis, as well as nourish our creativity. Our meditations encourage presence to the world, forge strong mind/body connectivity, and greater access to our emotions and empathy.

The workshop’s meditations are supported by prompted bursts of free writing designed to help us tap into our creative energy, bypass our internal judge, and bring out our most original and deeply felt writing. We’ll explore how the dual practices of free writing and journaling can support us during times of uncertainty and change.

There will be time to write and time to share what we’re writing with the group. Everyone will leave with the tools and the inspiration to cultivate their own daily meditation and daily writing practices.

Mark Abramson designed the course as a deep dive into self-compassion after seeing students achieve self-kindness from work with his Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Clinic at Stanford University. Thirty years of teaching have taught Dr. Abramson that bringing kindness and compassion to one’s self is truly the most altruistic of all practices.

Imagine always being able to count on your own mind being kind to you — no matter what challenges life presents. That is your birthright, and now is the time to claim it! Immerse yourself in this mindfulness-based approach to self-love and compassion.  

Mindfulness, meditation, and contemplative practices have entered all spheres of our society, including corporate settings, sports,  performance, medicine, and psychology. Science has confirmed that ancient mental and physical training systems, such as meditation practices, confer health benefits for immunity, brain architecture, and pain management, as well as mental and physical resilience.

During our time together, you are invited to:

• Learn mindfulness meditation practices.
• Connect and experience your own loving attention.
• Learn to take back control of your body/mind to create a more peaceful you.

Throughout the weekend, you will have the opportunity to unite your body, mind, and soul into a self-nourishing whole person while strengthening your ability to give love to others by first loving yourself.

Recommended Reading: Love Yourself For Everyone Else’s Sake by Mark Abramson

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What if our lives could feel magical? What if we felt supported in every way?

Join us for this delightful weekend as we connect with plants, ancestors, and ancient wisdom from Mesoamerica and Peru to nourish our hearts and replenish our spirits.

Ayni is the Quechua word for “sacred reciprocity” — the way we humans can be in the right relationship with the world around us. These are the times that Indigenous prophecies have long predicted: an opportunity to create the life and the world that we know is possible. We will work with our ancestors to build our spiritual support team and partake in a plant medicine ceremony with cacao. We will learn how to make specific offerings to the land that help you create magic in your life.

Being at Esalen provides 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.  

During our time together:

• We will learn the ancient Peruvian philosophy of Ayni — how to live in sacred reciprocity.
• We will learn to make offerings to connect with a team of support.
• We will be supported by the sacred plant medicine of cacao in a ceremonial space that supports our emotional release and healing.
• We will experience the power of plants and community healing.

Our weekend will feature 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.

As an Indigenous medicine woman, it is my privilege to share the Quechua and Mazotec traditions that honor living in the right relation with the Earth for thousands of years. I invite you to share a weekend of Earth-based practices in the community with love, support, and guidance.

Bring pictures of ancestors and anything that you want to add to our altar.

This workshop has an additional $60 added for materials.  

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We need the medicine of joy, magic, and fun. What if our lives could feel like a sweet ceremony, where all is sacred? What if we felt supported in every way? Join us for this delightful week as we connect with plants, ancestors, and ancient wisdom from Mesoamerica and Peru to nourish our hearts and replenish our spirits.

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 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.

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.

This workshop has an additional $70 added for materials.  

How would it feel to move into a meaningful relationship with the living world? Beyond a mere passive appreciation of nature? In the long arc of human history, people across all cultures and traditions have lived in communion with the lands they called home. Though this intrinsic connection has been largely severed in our modern age, the perspectives and practices common to our respective Earth-reverent ancestors are not lost. They lie dormant in the land, among the wild beings, and in our own animal bodies, waiting patiently to be remembered and renewed.

Immersed in the beauty of the Esselen tribal lands now known as Big Sur, we will humbly walk the trails in pursuit of reunion with the wild Earth. We will set out each morning for hikes amongst ancient redwoods, golden grasslands, and fragrant chaparral. Our community and teachers will include the plants, animals, stones, and all aspects of the wild landscape. Acknowledging Big Sur to be the ancestral territory of the Esselen tribe, we will endeavor to behave as reverent and respectful guests on sacred land.

Along the trail, we will cultivate innate capacities for presence and wonder, build ecological knowledge, and explore pathways of reciprocity and connection with the natural world. Pausing together to learn from the land, we will participate in some of the most potent work of our time: rejoining our great family on this wild Earth.

Hiking notes:

• Answers to frequently asked questions about the workshop can be found here.
• Various hiking abilities can be accommodated, bearing in mind that day hikes are three to eight miles long with uneven and often steep terrain. If you have any questions about your ability to participate, please read the workshop FAQs or email info@wildtender.com.

This workshop includes an additional $60 of faculty tuition and $40 park fees.

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In many shamanic societies, if you came to a medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions: “When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop being comforted by the sweet territory of silence?” —Gabrielle Roth

Take a break from the mundane and let yourself be enchanted again. You are not a project to be solved but a remarkable mythopoetic mystery to be lived! This yoga workshop offers a profound and playful opportunity to commune with the deeper aspects of self through movement, inquiry, and storytelling.

Since the beginning, humans have looked to stories to make meaning of our lives. By learning the stories and songs of the ancestors, we reclaim a sense of belonging. Revered mythologist and 1960s Esalen faculty Joseph Campbell wrote, “Mythology is the penultimate truth—penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words. It is beyond words.”

Our experiential practices will remind us how precious our lives truly are. Experiences include:

• Storytelling and archetypal wisdom
• Rewilding, fireside ritual, and song
• Yoga (all levels) and somatic exploration
• Breathwork and meditation
• Self-inquiry and writing

Our nourishing schedule is balanced harmoniously with relaxing meals, community care, and soaks in Esalen’s healing baths. Music, nature, poetry, connection, and ritual are exquisitely curated for your hero/heroine’s journey.

Whether you’re searching for renewed meaning in life, navigating life’s complex transitions, or simply love being enchanted, this workshop will help awaken your spirit to courage, enrich your heart with devotion, and widen your perspective to vast possibility. You might just fall in love with existence again.

Grace awaits.

Nature provides us with space to quiet our souls, gain perspective, and harness our creativity. Explore Esalen’s stunning grounds to find places that resonate and inspire your mosaic art, be it big vistas, small individual succulents, or anything in between. Mosaic is a slow and contemplative art form, perfectly suited for Esalen’s restorative setting.

In this mosaic workshop, we’ll discuss patterns found in nature, which translate beautifully into the medium of mosaic. Conceive, develop, and realize your own mosaic project, with guidance offered by mosaic artist Wilma Wyss. You will sketch initial concepts in pencil, and Wilma will work one-on-one with you as you develop your concept into mosaic artwork. We compose with a wide selection of stained glass. Demonstrations include cutting and shaping the stained glass, adhesives, and use of color. Presentations illustrate relevant examples and the power of pattern.

Known for her joyful teaching style and her creative use of materials, Wilma provides individual instruction to foster your creativity. This workshop is designed for participants who may have some experience with mosaic, as well as anyone who has never touched a wheeled nipper. All tools and materials are provided to complete one or more wall-hung mosaics.

Contact wilma@wyssdesign.com if you plan to bring your own tools and materials.

Join us for a weekend to remember as we delve into the depths of the human soul, guided by the visionary founders of Afro Flow Yoga®.

This workshop is an immersive experience weaving together the healing powers of yoga, dance, live music, and the ancient wisdom of African and Indigenous cultures. Together, we will embark on a sacred exploration, connecting with our inner selves and the healing energies of the sacred waters, igniting personal and collective transformation.

During this workshop, we will explore:

• Yoga and dance fusion, a core element of Afro Flow Yoga that invites personal and collective transformation through movement and rhythm.
• Live music, singing, and storytelling. Let Jeff and Leslie’s soulful melodies and captivating narratives guide you on a journey of self-discovery and connection with the world around you.
• Ancient wisdom immersion. Immerse yourself in the wisdom of our Ancestors for insights into our interconnectedness with nature and all living beings.
• Nature connection. Reconnect with the earth’s grounding energy, the flow of water, and the vitality of the forest to foster a deep sense of unity and belonging.
• Embodied storytelling. Experience Afro-Indigenous embodied storytelling of the 500-year prophecy, remembering and awakening our sacred instructions and healing of our sacred waters through ritual, dance, and live music.
• Community cultivation. Raise the collective vibration and cultivate community in a heart-centered, non-judgmental environment where every participant is honored and supported on their journey.

Join us for a weekend of harmony, healing, and empowerment as we unlock the symphony of our souls and unleash our true potential.

Liminal dreaming is found in the space between waking and sleeping. In that moment, as you pass through hypnagogia and hypnopompia, the zones of liminal dreaming, your mind is in an imaginal place. It meanders between daytime awareness and the depths of the dream. Mystics, poets, philosophers, and scientists have all studied this practice since time immemorial in the hope of catching a glimpse of the mystery of the mind.

The truth is, we all possess the ability to maintain the waking, rational mind while sinking into the free-associative, kaleidoscopic realms of the unconscious. Yet very few of us have ever develop this powerful tool for investigating consciousness.

This workshop will provide an in-depth exploration of the remarkable, transformative, and even mystical mind states of hypnagogia and hypnopompia. You will learn practical exercises for locating and lingering in these astonishing liminal dream states and gain a set of valuable tools to continue your journey and dream practice.

Sessions include:

• Friday Evening: Understanding Liminal Dreams
• Saturday Morning: Deep Dive into Hypnagogia
• Saturday Afternoon: Liminal Dreaming for Creativity and Healing
• Saturday Evening: Liminal Dreams with Other Mind States
• Sunday Morning: Liminal Mind

Together we will explore ways that people across cultures and time have used liminal dreaming for consciousness exploration, creativity, problem-solving, and mental and spiritual healing and balance. Activities will include:

• Yoga Nidra guided meditation
• Exercises for accessing hypnagogia and hypnopompia
• Using hypnagogia/hypnopompia for creativity, healing, and visionary experience
• Experiments with oneirogens (any root, herb, food, scent, sound, etc. that promotes vivid dreaming)

Note: As we will be settling into a dreamy state throughout the weekend, you are encouraged to bring any comforting items that might assist you in relaxing: special pillow, eye mask, blanket, etc.

Our awareness of energy both expands and becomes more subtle as we deepen into relaxation.

The ancient Chinese practice of Qigong, often translated as “cultivating Life Force”, is a system of movement that relaxes and energizes the body/mind. You will find this form “Wai Dan Gong” easy to learn and a powerful means of  experiencing  Life Force in and around you. We will enjoy moving on the Earth, under the heavens, while gazing at the Pacific. Wai Dan Gong is an excellent preparation for sitting, walking and standing meditation.  Saturday morning will be held as a retreat, we will keep noble silence until lunch. At other times we will share with compassion and humor our experiences of riding the wild waves of the mind.

In this rejuvenating weekend we will explore:

• the 25 movements of Wai Dan Gong.
• sitting meditation (you may sit in a chair, 20 minutes maximum).
• walking and standing meditations.
• gentle meridian stretches.
• a full body self massage routine.

Please come ready to enjoy a deep sense of ease and an expanded sense of the energy body.

The hunger to belong is at the heart of our nature. ~ John O’Donohue

Many of us have the experience of not belonging — to ourselves, family, community, workplace, this earth. This disconnect expresses itself in a divided self, dysfunctional relationships and communities, and the destruction of the very planet that birthed and sustains us.

However, a sense of belonging and deep connection is the natural state of our being. To know and feel our belonging asks us to have courage, curiosity, and compassion. A deep longing calls us to risk intimacy, vulnerability, and a willingness to feel how life conspires to let us know our interbeing.

When we somatically know our belonging — experience it in our bodies — we engage in the world feeling supported and with greater ease and grounding as we face life’s challenges, joys, and inherently ever-changing nature. This monthlong workshop will be a whole-organism, experiential inquiry into what belonging might be for each of us individually and collectively.

Although not a linear path, we’ll explore:

• The intrapersonal — our belonging to self.
• The interpersonal — our belonging to others through individual relationships and in community.
• The transpersonal — our belonging to the “other than,” which is perhaps even greater than the human world with webs of communities.

The group will discover and practice contemporary and time-honored wisdom traditions that cultivate belongingness, including:

• Contemporary psychology and neuroscience
• Gestalt Practice in the Esalen tradition
• Meditation and mindfulness practices
• Aikido and Gestalt Awareness Movement
• Direct experience of the natural world

Special attention will be given to “what walks with us” in our daily lives as we weave together an eclectic and holistic experience. When we embody the birthright of our interbeing and the ground of belonging, life lives through us.

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All light arises from darkness. This includes insight, creativity, vision, and possibility. Darkness is not the absence of light, but a vital, regenerative, and healing expression of nature and consciousness. Join us for a restorative and empowering women’s retreat based in embodied meditation, relational mindfulness, and conscious dance.

Together we will shift away from the world of concepts and ideas, and step into the wisdom and poetry of our bodies and connection with the earth. We will slow down, listen deeply, and explore the invitation of endarkenment alongside enlightenment. We will celebrate inner-connection and interconnection, deepening our kinship with ourselves, each other, the more-than-human world, and the invisible realm.

In the dark, we can soften mental effort and open our hearts to fresh perception. We can see and sense more clearly, beyond the mind of separation, in order to remember who we really are. We can release limiting beliefs and bring our whole selves into the circle of compassion. The challenges we face today require us to let go of our familiar compass and re-learn how to meet the unknown with presence, curiosity, courage, and grace. We can learn to access the emergent map that comes from embodiment, receptivity, deep listening, intuition, inner vision, and relational intelligence.

This workshop includes meditation and inquiry, dharma talks, relational mindfulness, ritual, conscious dance, somatic practices, and deep communion with nature.

This workshop is for women of all ages, colors, backgrounds, and disciplines at all phases and seasons of their life’s journey. This includes anyone who identifies as female or non-binary in the wider

Recommended Reading: Relational Mindfulness by Deborah Eden Tull and Luminous Darkness: An Engaged Buddhist Approach to Embracing the Unknown by Deborah Eden Tull

This workshop includes an additional $40 faculty tuition.

Variety may be the one and only truly universal characteristic of human sexuality. — E. Nagoski

The ups and downs of our days, months, and years are unpredictable, but change will always be constant and reliable. The energy we call libido, in all the ways we might perceive it — as sexuality, vitality, creativity, aliveness, pleasure, and more — can shift and often be elusive and hard to maintain. Wanting moves us toward some situations and away from others. The sensations and desires of our libidos change through our different life cycles and relationships. Sometimes, the answer is yes, sometimes no, but the most likely answer is maybe. Libido energy is deeply contextual.

One thing we know for sure is that libido is always on the move. We cannot always know how, where, or why; what turns us on and brings pleasure is always a moving target.

Conscious dance practice offers the skills we need to ride these waves — to stay connected to the emerging truth of our libido energies. We can develop the capacity to move toward and with desires or, when we are on the wrong track, away from them. Open floor movement practice can teach our bodies how to up-regulate, bring more energy to a situation, and down-regulate to settle, create space, or take more time without shutting down or losing focus.

Dancing with others provides opportunities to communicate and track attraction, aversion, consent, and non-consent.

Recommended Reading: Come as You Are By Emily Nagoski

CE units pending for full attendance of this course

• CE credits for psychologists are provided by the Spiritual Competency Academy (SCA) which is co-sponsoring this program. The Spiritual Competency Academy is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Spiritual Competency Academy maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
• The California Board of Behavioral Sciences accepts CE credits for LCSW, LPCC, LEP, and LMFT license renewal for programs offered by approved sponsors of CE by the American Psychological Association.
• LCSW, LPCC, LEP, and LMFTs, and other mental health professionals from states other than California need to check with their state licensing board as to whether or not they accept programs offered by approved sponsors of CE by the American Psychological Association.
• SCA is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN Provider CEP16887) for licensed nurses in California. RNs must retain their certificate of attendance for four years after the course concludes.
• For questions about receiving your Certificate of Attendance, contact Nicole@AndreaJuhan.com.

For questions about CE, contact the Spiritual Competency Academy at info@spiritualcompetencyacademy.com.

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This immersive week-long lab is for creators of all kinds––writers, inventors, filmmakers, musicians, and entrepreneurs––anyone who wishes to integrate their spirituality and creativity to tap into the deepest source of inspiration and higher intelligence as they bring guided work into the world.

In the words of Carl Jung, “People don’t have ideas. Ideas have people.” By breaking down this process of allowing into three stages (Creation, Manifestation, and Transmission), we will walk together along an impactful, sacred path designed for cohesion, connection, incubation, and transformation.

We live in a world of great distraction that doesn’t encourage deep listening. We must reverse those outer-facing sensory “searchlights” and go inwards. When you dive into the field of all possibilities, ideas surprisingly find you with a very specific intention. As you attune to that purpose, you gain discernment, direction, momentum, and flow.

Over the course of five days, you’ll face the “demons” that get in the way of meaningful work, including inertia, ego, outer blocks, and inner resistance. You will discover how obstacles can be an in your process develops organic, sustainable partnerships, growth, and co-creation.

In this workshop, you’ll be guided through:

• Nonlinear brainstorming to invite new and deeper relationships to ideas.
• “Hotseat Exercises” and small group breakouts to foster vulnerability and creative risk-taking
• Kinetic creation, such as yoga, meditation, and energy balancing, to increase attunement
• Radical pivots and adaptivity to meet obstacles with poise and intelligence.
• Case studies.

Employing timeless principles from Vedic philosophy, this class will use nonlinear brainstorming to deepen our inspiration, along with experiential exercises. You will do yoga, breathwork, meditation, and movement to tap into the matrix of your creative capacity. You’ll recalibrate intentions and goals. Every step of the lab will contain practical solutions to push through whatever is in your way.

The lab is open to creators of all levels. You can attend either as an “incubator” (with a specific project or idea that you want to workshop) or as an “observer/participant” (to glean knowledge about conscious creation by watching the process unfold and also participating). In either case, you must submit a one-page application describing your background and creative goals. If you’re bringing a project to the lab, please describe it in one paragraph, tell us where you are with it, and where you want to take it.

Recommended Reading: The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, and Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki.

While we sometimes draw a division between sitting meditation and how we show up to the beautiful and messy field of socializing and relationships, relational mindfulness helps us bridge this divide. Every relationship we will ever have begins with our relationship with ourselves. Beyond the myth of separation, conditioned beliefs, and false divisions that feed human consciousness, belonging is the radical wholeness that leaves no part out. It awakens us to authentic power — shared power rather than “power over.”

Belonging is the state of freedom in which we know, sense, and feel ourselves both as whole and part of the whole. Belonging is a remembrance of who and what we already are — and a recognition of the unconditional and all-welcoming nature of the living intelligence that holds and animates us. The quality of our life experience is determined by the focus of our attention. This retreat is an opportunity to let everyday life — from the easy moments to our greatest challenges — be our sacred laboratory for belonging to ourselves and one another more deeply.

Through embodied meditation and the nine principles of relational mindfulness from Eden’s Relational Mindfulness: A Handbook for Deepening Our Connection with Ourselves, Each Other, and Our Planet, we will deepen our capacity for receptivity, deep listening, attunement, ease, joy, reciprocity, earth connection, collaboration, and co-creativity with life. By softening effort and getting out of the way, we will allow life to guide us home to our natural state of belonging.

Our exploration will include meditation, relational mindfulness and inquiry, deep time in nature, somatic awareness, and conscious dance. This work spans personal and collective transformation.

All are welcome — from experienced meditators and those new to practice.

Recommended Reading: Relational Mindfulness: A Handbook for Deepening Our Connection with Ourselves, Each Other, and Our Planet, by Deborah Eden Tull

Despite our greatest efforts, some of us still struggle to create happy relationships and live our lives fully.

These difficulties and challenges are often related to unconscious bonds and loyalties to our family. Systemic constellation work is the method we will use to recognize, understand and resolve these unconscious ties and hidden loyalties.

In this workshop we will experience how transgenerational trauma may affect our relationships, our health and well-being, and we will encounter transformative solutions to free ourselves from recurrent patterns or symptoms and illnesses.

Learning, healing, and evolving are all part of the very same movement!

This program is for anyone who wants to learn about trauma-informed systemic constellation work as a holistic approach to health and healing and to restoring relationships.

Recommended Reading: Even if it costs me my life by Stephan Hausner

This workshop has an additional $50 of faculty tuition.