Our workshops are designed to support you in the challenging work of self exploration, in partnership with some of the leading minds of the day. Join us in discovering the next frontiers of individual and societal transformation.
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Learn MoreJoin ceremonial leader and wisdom keeper Erika Gagnon on a sacred journey as we gather to look at our ancestral lineage and how our ancestors continue to influence and affect our lives today.
Gratitude for our ancestors! We are the reality of their dreaming, and we are the tip of the arrow of our entire ancestral lineage, which traces back to the beginning of time.
You are your greatest healer and greatest medicine, and this is your opportunity to explore what that means while sharing healing wisdom and practices. This workshop will offer you healing tools to transform and transmute ancestral trauma, as well as other forms of trauma and unhealthy life patterns.
We are all bridges between our biological mothers and fathers. We need to balance these dual origins and lineages so we may live in harmony and balance. This is especially true for anyone who is of multi-cultural, multi-racial, or multi-religious ancestry. We all inherit our ancestors’ talents along with their traumas so how do we heal and embody these within ourselves?
In this workshop, you will learn how to identify and honor all of your ancestors’ positive attributes and heal the discordant or destructive energies you have inherited from your racial, social, cultural, religious, and/or historical heritage.
Together, we will examine the origins of “dis-ease” in our bodies, minds, spirits, and souls and how to heal and realign them. We will discuss the importance of ceremonies, sacred altars, and medicinal plants in this healing process. You will be offered the opportunity to participate in a traditional South American healing ceremony, a sound healing and “doctoring” ceremony, and a water blessing prayer ceremony.
You are invited to reconnect to your authentic wisdom and power with clarity, gratitude, and forgiveness. When you honor and heal your ancestral lineage and connect to the natural and spiritual elements of this planet, you strengthen your connection to the sacred in everyday life.
Note: Please bring a journal to write in and items for our altar, including photographs of loved ones and ancestors and sacred objects that have meaning for you.
Special Note on Gift Economy: For this workshop, Esalen will not be collecting the typical leader fees. Erika embraces the tradition of the gift economy and reciprocity. The leader’s compensation will be self-determined by each attendee. At the end of the workshop, participants will offer a donation amount that reflects their feelings of gratitude and value and their desire to support Erika and her ongoing work.
BIPOC SCHOLARSHIP: Erika has established a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, person of color) scholarship for her workshops. For more information on receiving one to participate, please contact her at ErikaGagnon11@gmail.com.
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The Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor is an ancient Indigenous prophecy from the people of the “Americas,” that spoke of a time when the Eagle and the Condor — representing the indigenous peoples of the North and the South — would reunite once again with their original knowledge, strength, diversity and connection to the Earth. This would signal a new “Pachakuti,” a time of reconciliation, reunification, and healing of the land and its peoples.
Join wisdom keepers Erika Gagnon (Canada) and Claudia Cuentas (Peru), as they bring together sacred aspects of traditional Indigenous wisdom of the Americas, and guide us through several healing ceremonies. Together, we will learn about the importance of ancestral lineage, rites of passage, ceremonies and rituals, sacred altars, medicinal plants, and the origins of dis-ease in our physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual bodies.
As we explore the healing wisdom of the Americas, you will be invited to inhabit your own authentic wisdom and power, in some of the following ways:
When you honor and heal your ancestral lineage and connect to the natural and spiritual elements of this planet, you will strengthen your connection to the sacred in everyday life. Included in our time together in this workshop is the opportunity to participate in a water prayer blessing, a sound healing journey, and a traditional South American healing ceremony.
We will share healing practices together to transform trauma and unhealthy patterns, and to realign body, mind, spirit, and soul back to vibrant health. We will also discuss the parallels between indigenous perspectives, somatic approaches, embodied practices and art as healing.
Now more than ever, the ancient knowledge of our indigenous earth-based communities is needed to continue existing upon this planet in a healthy and sustainable way — not only for the people of the Americas, but for all beings, all species, and the earth, air, and waters of our beloved Pachamama.
Please bring any sacred items for our altar, including photographs of loved ones and ancestors, sacred objects that have meaning for you, and a journal to write in.
Special Note on Gift Economy: For this workshop, Esalen will not be collecting the typical leader fees. Erika and Claudia embrace the tradition of the gift economy and reciprocity. The leader’s compensation will be self-determined by each attendee. At the end of the workshop, participants will offer a donation amount that reflects their feeling of gratitude, value, and desire to support them and their ongoing work.
Now more than ever, it is important we build practices to strengthen our internal resolve and self-resourcing amidst a dynamically shifting society. Together, we will listen to our heart’s wisdom in this rich four-day journey (Friday to Monday) through sound, ceremony, and self-discovery.
In this intimate and transformative workshop, you will have the unique opportunity to experience multiple East Forest’s live music performances. Additionally, Radha will lead us in embodiment practices of Self-Awakening Yoga, Yin Yoga, and Pranayama to create an all-levels and accessible doorway to inner insights. Through the primacy of our own heart-opening and felt experience, we can discover the inner pathways to fortitude and healing.
East Forest and Radha would like to offer a certain amount of scholarship to those in need. Please apply with this form. If further assistance would be helpful, you may also apply for an Esalen scholarship.
This workshop includes an additional $290 faculty tuition.
For thousands of years across many cultures, enhanced states of consciousness have been used as a strategy for meaningful transformation and self-exploration — marking life’s major transitions and rites of passage and deepening one’s connection to self, community, and the natural world.
In this workshop, we will gather in the rich field of community for an immersive experience and personal exploration of enhanced states of consciousness. Our time together will include strategies for navigating, integrating, and preparing for these experiences. Holotropic Breathwork® offers language, method, and structure for turning inward and working with deeply personal material as it emerges, uniquely, from one’s own intrinsic intelligence. We will be supported by time-honored practices that are simple, yet powerful. These unique states can offer us unmediated access to the self as a deep source of healing, insight, and evolutionary potential. Participants will experience four Holotropic Breathwork sessions, with two as “breather” and two as “sitter.” Your time assisting others in “non-ordinary state” space will complement your personal exploration. Additionally, contemplative practice, movement, expressive arts, and time in community will support the integration process throughout the week.
Originating from the pioneering psychedelic researcher, Stanislav Grof, and his late wife, Christina Grof, Holotropic Breathwork is a particularly useful practice for those interested in or training to work in psychedelic-assisted therapy.
This workshop is suited for all those of heart who are curious about exploring enhanced states of consciousness and opening to an evolutionary process of unfolding. New or novice explorers/breathers are very welcome, along with experienced navigators/breathers. The fundamental urge to grow, to heal, and to be transformed in a truly authentic way drives us not outward but inward, toward the depths of our own being, toward a deep mystery within. This inward journey strengthens and nourishes our senses in a way that can revitalize our daily lives with creative and emergent energy.
Recommended Reading: Holotropic Breathwork by Stan Grof
Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into a sacred bond.
― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
Foraging is the antidote to our too-too-busy lives and convoluted, complex food systems. When we are out in nature, we learn to live by nature’s rules. Check the tides before heading out for clams, sea urchins, or seaweed. Notice rain patterns for optimal mushroom hunting. Learn the plants and trees that are delicious and can heal what ails you. Be very grateful to be an earthling.
What if we receive the generosity of planet Earth with reverence and pass it along? Could we then become a keystone species that improves habitat for ourselves and all other life that share this planet?
In this immersive, experiential workshop, we’ll explore:
Big Sur is a spectacularly beautiful place, and gathering wild food is an intimate and fascinating way to discover it. Come spend a weekend tapping into your right brain, your animal body, your free spirit, your awe and wonder. Come fall in love with nature through wild foods.
This immersive experience invites participants to journey through the seven chakras, guided by the subtle wisdom of medicinal plants and shamanic tea meditations. Rooted in embodied connection to the elements — earth, water, fire, and air — this workshop explores how the energetic and physical systems of the body mirror the natural world.
Each day focuses on one or more chakras, unfolding through practices such as plant meditations, tea ceremonies, guided rituals, and nature connection. Participants will work with herbs like kava kava, rose, blue lotus, tulsi, skullcap, cacao, and others — many sourced directly from Esalen’s Farm & Garden.
Through experiential practices such as flower essence creation, intuitive journaling, ceremony, and medicine making, the group will explore the art of plant spirit communication. These interactions offer a window into internal landscapes, clarifying intention, revealing heart truths, and awakening relational presence with the more-than-human world.
Time will be spent in the gardens and on the land — walking, harvesting, and creating in community — as well as in more intimate, reflective spaces. Fire rituals, water practices, and song circles will complement the work and provide pathways for integrating the spiritual and the somatic.
This work invites personal insight to arise organically from the interplay between body, breath, land, and plant. Participants will leave with handmade herbal preparations and tools to build a deeper resonance with the natural intelligence of the Earth.
Recommended reading: The Witch’s Herbal Apothecary, by Marysia Miernowska; Eastern Body, Western Mind by Aodea Judith
For thousands of years across many cultures, enhanced states of consciousness have been used as a strategy for meaningful transformation and self-exploration — marking life’s major transitions and rites of passage and deepening one’s connection to self, community, and the natural world.
In this workshop, we will gather in the rich field of community for an immersive experience and personal exploration of enhanced states of consciousness. Our time together will include strategies for navigating, integrating, and preparing for these experiences. Holotropic Breathwork® offers language, method, and structure for turning inward and working with deeply personal material as it emerges, uniquely, from one’s own intrinsic intelligence. We will be supported by time-honored practices that are simple, yet powerful. These unique states can offer us unmediated access to the self as a deep source of healing, insight, and evolutionary potential. Participants will experience four Holotropic Breathwork sessions, with two as “breather” and two as “sitter.” Your time assisting others in “non-ordinary state” space will complement your personal exploration. Additionally, contemplative practice, movement, expressive arts, and time in community will support the integration process throughout the week.
Originating from the pioneering psychedelic researcher, Stanislav Grof, and his late wife, Christina Grof, Holotropic Breathwork is a particularly useful practice for those interested in or training to work in psychedelic-assisted therapy.
This workshop is suited for all those of heart who are curious about exploring enhanced states of consciousness and opening to an evolutionary process of unfolding. New or novice explorers/breathers are very welcome, along with experienced navigators/breathers. The fundamental urge to grow, to heal, and to be transformed in a truly authentic way drives us not outward but inward, toward the depths of our own being, toward a deep mystery within. This inward journey strengthens and nourishes our senses in a way that can revitalize our daily lives with creative and emergent energy.
In an era fascinated by peak experiences and personal revelations, the deeper task of transformation is often overlooked. This workshop offers a grounded path for those who have touched something sacred — through psychedelics, mystical states, or profound life transitions — and are now asking, How do I live in service to what I’ve seen?
Rooted in Jungian psychology and contemplative practice, this week at Esalen will guide participants into the art of integration — not as a checklist, but as a lifelong discipline of becoming. We will explore the difference between having an experience and being changed by one.
Participants are invited to:
This course is not about chasing visions — it is about carrying them with integrity. Come if you are ready to descend, reflect, and reshape your life in honor of what has already begun within you.
Now more than ever, it is important we build practices to strengthen our internal resolve and self-resourcing amidst a dynamically shifting society. Together, we will listen to our heart’s wisdom in this rich four-day journey (Friday to Monday) through sound, ceremony, and self-discovery.
In this intimate and transformative workshop, you will have the unique opportunity to experience multiple East Forest’s live music performances. Additionally, Radha will lead us in embodiment practices of Self-Awakening Yoga, Yin Yoga, and Pranayama to create an all-levels and accessible doorway to inner insights. Through the primacy of our own heart-opening and felt experience, we can discover the inner pathways to fortitude and healing.
East Forest and Radha would like to offer a certain amount of scholarship to those in need. Please apply with this form. If further assistance would be helpful, you may also apply for an Esalen scholarship.
This workshop includes an additional $290 faculty tuition.
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Esalen Institute
55000 Highway 1
Big Sur, CA 93920
US: 1-831-667-3000
info@esalen.org