She keeps coming back to see what else is possible.

Theda has been returning to Esalen since the 1980s, drawn again and again by curiosity about practice and what it makes possible over time. She first arrived as a student and seeker during a period of academic intensity, looking for a way to reconnect with herself beyond structured study.

A formative early experience came when she joined a workshop with Babatunde Olatunji. Through movement, drumming, and collective rhythm, she encountered something she had not felt before. A sense of freedom and recognition in the body. She has described it as the first time she experienced dance not as performance, but as something that unified mind and body rather than separating them.

Over the decades, she has returned in many forms, as a seminarian, work scholar, workshop participant, and assistant. Each return deepening a practice of inquiry and embodiment. What brings her back is simple and ongoing. It is a place where she can reset her nervous system, reconnect with her center, and return to herself.

In a world that often feels fast and unrelenting, Esalen remains a kind of refuge. A space to rest, practice, and continue beginning again.