A travel advisory is in effect for Highway 1.
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Learn more.

Due to road closures along Highway 1 to our north and south, Esalen is closed through April 11.
Esalen Institute is open! However, Highway 1 to the south is closed — please review the current travel advisory.
past workshop

Self-Compassion as a Lifeboat Home: Remembering the Heart of Who We Are

October 5–9, 2026

Caverly Morgan

What if the love you’ve been searching for is already here — waiting to be remembered?

In this retreat, you’ll explore self-compassion as a lifeboat home — a steady refuge when self-criticism, striving, or overwhelm take hold.

Rather than trying to “fix” yourself, you’ll be invited to gently shift your relationship to experience, discovering the loving awareness that is already present beneath conditioned patterns that do not serve you.

Through a blend of contemplative practice and experiential inquiry, you’ll find how self-compassion can serve as a bridge — from a limited sense of self to a more spacious, connected way of being. To the heart of who you are. We’ll explore how this practice of compassion can be more than a temporary balm and can become a doorway into deeper remembrance.

During our time together, you will be invited to:

  • Engage in nondual guided meditations and self-compassion practices that support emotional resilience and inner steadiness.
  • Explore experiential inquiries that gently reveal patterns of self-judgment and striving.
  • Learn practical ways to meet difficult emotions with warmth and clarity.
  • Participate in group discussions that foster connection, insight, and shared humanity.
  • Learn how to integrate self-compassion into daily life as a sustainable, embodied practice.
  • Deepen your experiential understanding of nonduality.
  • Find new ways to access the heart of who you are.

Throughout the week, you’ll be supported in reconnecting with a sense of wholeness. Rather than attempting to fix an illusory and limited self, our time together will support us in having a direct experience of remembering, not “improving,” who we really are.

Recommended reading: The Heart of Who We Are: Realizing Freedom Together, by Caverly Morgan & A Kids Book About Mindfulness by Caverly Morgan

Caverly Morgan

A former monk, Caverly Morgan is a teacher of awakening and non-profit founder who blends the original spirit of Zen with a modern nondual and relational approach. She is also the author of The Heart of Who We Are: Realizing Freedom Together, as well as A Kids Book About Mindfulness.

Full Bio