Esalen Video Shorts

Rod Stryker’s new program, Luminous Coherence: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science, Lasting Freedom, invites you into a state of unified awareness where old patterns soften and the deeper self comes into view. Blending tantric practice with modern neuroscience, this workshop offers a rare chance to rediscover coherence, intuition, and the possibility of real transformation.

How can those of us who yearn without belief or ritual find our way? Some of us have experienced our worlds cracked open with dreams, visions, presences, or moments of mystical union and may not know how to make sense of what has happened. Many of us have lost our connection to a mainstream faith, but together we are capable of more deeply understanding the feeling of loss and awe, while still imagining the possibility of a way forward.

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In his workshop, Finn Deerhart invites queer men to explore sexuality, gender, intimacy, shame, pleasure, and liberation from the inside out. Through guided practices, communal reflection, breath, movement, roleplay, and consensual touch, participants will consider questions that rarely receive enough space, such as: How much of my desire is truly mine? Who am I when I stop trying to be the “right” kind of man? What would it feel like to inhabit my sexuality without apology or choreography?

Join scholar and storyteller Raj Balkaran for a weekend exploring the mythology woven into yoga's living tradition, where posture and story illuminate one another in surprising ways. Move beyond technique and discover the mythic imagination that has animated yoga for centuries.

This November, you’re invited into a living field of practices that have supported Israelis and Palestinians in meeting across some of the most profound lines of conflict. Through compassionate communication, listening partnerships, and small-group exploration, you’ll have space to slow down, connect, and experience what becomes possible when we meet one another with curiosity instead of certainty.

Whether you’re a facilitator, educator, healer, or simply someone longing for more authentic connection in divided times, The Heart Remembers: Healing Across Divides offers both personal transformation and practical tools. It invites you to deepen your capacity to navigate conflict with presence, build trust across differences, and reconnect with a sense of hope.

Esalen Massage, born on the cliffs of Big Sur, is today practiced by a worldwide community of bodyworkers and healers. Over the decades, it has become one of the world's most respected forms of bodywork. This practice of listening through the hands continues to evolve while remaining rooted in its founding principles of presence, compassion, and embodied awareness.