Voices of Esalen Podcast

Zak Dychtwald is the author of Young China: How the Restless Generation Will Change Their Country and the World. Zak, a second-generation Esalen thought leader, came to Big Sur as part of Esalen's Conversations on the Edge Series, where we bring together leading experts and visiting teachers to explore a pressing issue of our time. Zak is a leading expert on youth culture in China.

Together we discussed many aspects of Chinese millennials, including common misconceptions on either side, how the project of childhood functions in China, how the Chinese real estate market is propped up in many ways by the marriage market, what it’s like to be young and gay in China, Chinese hip-hop, censorship, internet, the culture of dissent, how Chinese millennials have redefined the marketplace internationally, who their sports heroes are, why Steph Curry is a more relatable NBA hero than Lebron, what Chinese millennials might think of their United States counterparts, and what the next hundred years may bring for us all.

Chungliang Al Huang is a tai chi master, writer, philosopher, dancer, and one of the most important and enduring teachers in Esalen’s history. Born in Shanghai, China, Huang moved to the United States to study architecture and cultural anthropology.

In Los Angeles, he fell into a career as a professional dancer through a chance meeting with Sammy Davis Jr. In the mid 1960’s, Huang became a close collaborator with the philosopher Alan Watts, who would introduce him to the Esalen Institute.

He soon became a beloved teacher at Esalen, known for his tai chi teachings on the deck of the Esalen pool, as well as his collaborations with Watts, mythologist Joseph Campbell, Huston Smith, Gregory Bateson, Laura Huxley, Carl Rogers, and more.

Huang is a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, Director of the Hong Kong Dance Company, and author of 18 books. At age 82, he continues to teach Tai Chi every year at Esalen on the pool deck which bears his name.

Look for upcoming workshops with Chungliang Al Huang.

Cassandra Vieten is a senior fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, as well as the Executive Director of the John W. Brick Foundation, and Scholar-in-Residence at the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination at the University of California, San Diego.

She is a psychologist, mind-body medicine researcher, author of numerous articles in scientific journals, and an internationally recognized keynote speaker. Cassandra came to Esalen to teach about the art and science of transformation. She is dedicated to helping others consider how peak experiences, extraordinary moments, and awe stimulate growth.

Dr. Vieten lectures widely about the transformative potential of pain: how sometimes hitting bottom can help us shake free from periods of inertia. In this wide-ranging discussion, we also touched upon the importance of a holistic approach to psychotherapy, how to engage in productive argumentation in order to persuade others to change their consciousness, and how to create a realistic yet aspirational vision for the future.

Lisa Littlebird is a singer, composer, writer, voice coach, and visionary, as well as the former executive director of the Denver Women’s Chorus and the founder of the Wholehearted Chorus, a heart-led, joy-based community chorus, open to all voices on the central coast of California.

During our conversation at Esalen Institute, we talked about how she is able to invite singers of ALL abilities to explore the full potential of their voice. She views group singing as a transformational personal practice and a healing art, and this comes through in the sincerity of her work, and in the pureness of her voice.

This episode is laced with beautiful bits of live singing from Lisa's workshops and from her chorus's performances.

Look for upcoming workshops with Lisa Littlebird.

Dr. Emily Silverman came to Esalen to help facilitate Through Our Own Eyes, a retreat for and by women physicians. She’s the host and creator of the Nocturnists, a medical storytelling live show and podcast whose aim is to demystify doctorhood and bring to light the real people who toil behind the mask as our modern-society healers.

We discussed what it means to be a woman and a physician in our contemporary health care system, how the inner world of a doctor continues to change in an increasingly capitalistic society, how health care and human connection may interact in the near future, and more.

In this episode of Voices of Esalen On the Road, our intrepid correspondent Greg Archer took a jaunt to the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, where the film "Fantastic Fungi: The Magic Beneath Us" was having its California premiere.

While he was there, he spoke to renowned filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg about the mysteries and magic of mycology. Together they discussed Louie’s unique stop-motion filmmaking technique he's been employing for the better part of 40 years, the healing potential of mushrooms, how psychedelic mushrooms may be our allies, and much more.

We’re pleased to introduce Voices of Esalen Archive Edition, where we dive deep into the history of Esalen Institute and focus on a lecture previously recorded here in Big Sur. The subject of this episode is Terence McKenna and his talk entitled “Tryptamine Hallucinogen Consciousness”, recorded in December, 1982.

McKenna was an American ethnobotanist, author, lecturer and widely-respected psychonaut known internationally for his work with shamanism, metaphysics, consciousness, and of course, psychedelic medicines. He is the author of The Invisible Landscape, The Archaic Revival, Food of the Gods, and True Hallucinations.

His playful yet highly powerful mode of intellectual inquiry around the topic of plant medicines made him a well-loved and highly-respected countercultural figure. While Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey, and Ram Dass were better well-known in psychedelic circles for their pioneering and often rebellious leadership during the first psychedelic wave of the 1960’s, McKenna rose to prominence later, first enjoying notoriety during the 1980’s.

One of the most frequent stops on his lecture circuit was Big Sur and Esalen Institute, where he lectured nearly 100 times over the years on subjects as diverse as “Dynamics of Hyperspace,” “Reflections on Eros,” “Our Cyberspiritual Future,” and “Biotech and Nanonfungal Futures.”

Further commentary is provided by the author and environmentalist Allan Badiner, who is also the convener of the 2019 Psychedelic Integration conference at Esalen. Badiner knew Terence McKenna intimately, and thus was able to shed some light on the man behind the message.

Yoga Nidra is a conscious relaxation process intended to induce physical, mental, and emotional restoration. It has been shown to ease anxiety, heighten awareness and focus, transform negative habits, and foster feelings of peace, calm, and clarity.

John Vosler is a senior teacher at the Amrit Yoga Institute, where he leads Yoga Nidra certification programs. His infectious humor and compassionate heart make working with him a joy-filled experience. In this podcast, he leads us through a conscious relaxation.

Look for upcoming workshops with John Vosler.

Gordon Wheeler is the president of Esalen. He's also a licensed clinical psychologist, as well as the author of numerous books on Gestalt psychology, including Gestalt Reconsidered, Beyond Individualism, and The Heart of Development.

He is noted for his work integrating the Gestalt tradition with relational and developmental psychology. Gordon teaches and trains clinicians around the world, also serving as editor and director of GestaltPress. Today we invited him to educate us about the history of Gestalt psychology at the Esalen Institute.

This episode is part three of a series of panels presented at the 9th annual Blue Mind Summit at Esalen in the summer of 2019. Representing the "mind" in Blue Mindfulness is Dr. Dan Siegel, clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA.

An award-winning educator, he is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and recipient of several honorary fellowships. Dr. Siegel is also the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute, an educational organization that focuses on how the development of mindsight in individuals, families and communities can be enhanced by examining the interface of human relationships and basic biological processes.

Dr. Siegel's unique ability to make complicated scientific concepts exciting and accessible makes him an entertaining and useful resource.