Workshops

We are not separate from nature. We are nature. If we separate from nature, then we separate from ourselves.

Join Erika Gagnon and Jovinna Chan for their first collaborative workshop: a dynamic weaving of ancient wisdom, somatic movement and dance, sound healing, breath practices, and traditional ceremonies and rituals.  

The four elements are the basis of life on this planet and the foundational makeup of our human body. Our ancestors understood our interconnected relationship with nature, but in this modern society, we are forgetting to honor this sacred truth. This is an opportunity for us to gather in community, remember our origins, and support one another as we reconnect to the natural and spiritual elements of this planet.

In this workshop:

• We will embody and explore Earth, Air, Fire, and Water and how they relate to the body, mind, spirit, and soul and to the Chakra system.
• We will examine how the elements influence our thoughts, emotions, and physical health and how we can transform and heal unhealthy patterns.
• There will be opportunities to participate in a traditional South American healing ceremony, a sound healing and “doctoring” ceremony, and a water blessing prayer.

When we live in harmony and balance within ourselves, with others, and with the world around us, we naturally realign with our higher purpose. If you feel this call, we invite you to join us for this celebration of life.

Please bring a journal to write in, an eye pillow for sound healing, and items for our altar, including photographs of loved ones or 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 and Jovina embrace the tradition of the gift economy and reciprocity, and their 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, value and their desire to support Erika, Jovinna, and their ongoing work.

Scholarship: Erika has established a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) scholarship fund for her workshops. For more information on receiving a scholarship to participate, please contact her at ErikaGagnon11@gmail.com.

Those who know the secret of sound know the mystery of the whole universe. – Hazrat Inayat Khan

Come away with peace of mind, a joyful heart, and sacred nourishment for your very best summer! Join us for this celebration of the solstice as we tune into the frequency of love through a series of sound journeys with alchemy crystal singing bowls. By working with universal laws, sound journeys have the ability to usher us into an altered state of consciousness. Many physicists call this the quantum field, and often shamans refer to it as unity or cosmic consciousness. From this expanded state we can release stress, blockages, and tension held within to bring forth greater states of joy and well-being.

During our time together, we will delve into ancient sound practices as well as modern scientific research. This will allow us to gain an understanding, on both somatic and cognitive levels, of how the power of sound can transform our lives.

Each day will include specially curated sound journeys, mindfulness practices, movement, bespoke teachings, and community connection. Supported by the earth, healing mineral waters, fresh ocean air, and starry skies, we invite you to slow down and drop into the serenity of rest as the outside world recedes, allowing your soul’s wisdom to shine through.

Together, we will explore the grace states of compassion, courage, gratitude, joy, generosity, and love. As we gain greater awareness of how our frequencies impact our relationships and health on all levels, we can begin to rewire limiting beliefs, befriend our fears, and bring our energy centers back into balance, transforming our world from the inside out.

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 (Monday to Friday) 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.

***Please note: While the retreat space and exercises are conducive to deep inner work, the facilitators and Esalen do not condone the use of or provide substances of any kind.

• Intimate live musical performances by East Forest
• Group co-creative musical process with East Forest
• Daily morning yoga and meditation practices
• Awe-inspiring time in nature
• Yoga
• Pranayama
• Meditation and group insight exercises
• Journaling
• Dance party

This workshop includes an additional $290 faculty tuition.

What if you could use your voice to feel alive and present in your body? What would it look like to discover your own voice and fulfill its unique potential? This November, join sound therapy pioneer Eileen McKusick and transformational voice leaders and international recording artists Isaac and Thorald Koren of the Brothers Koren in a workshop designed to help you find the electric power in your voice.

Eileen, Isaac, and Thorald will combine their disciplines to create an electrified, liberated, embodied experience of vocal expression and play. This program is designed for those with and without previous musical experience — useful for seasoned professionals and first-time explorers of voice.

Using the power of new awareness, breath, sounding, and tuning with interactive immersion into the innate musicality of your human instruments, you will:

• Explore the 12 tones of our sonic anatomy, the resonant zones and the emotional spectrum of your voice.
• Express the range of your emotions with sound and play with musical modes and archetypes
• Learn to use music to express and balance our feelings, bodies, and biofields.
• Learn practical, playful, simple vocal exercises to support your vitality, freedom, and sense of well-being.
• Stretch the boundaries of your expression and liberate your greatest sound healing tool, your own voice!

Leave the immersive retreat feeling recalibrated, uplifted, and sonically invigorated. Previous participants noted dramatic changes in their freedom of voice after this safe and fun experience.

No vocal ability or musical experience required!