Workshops

To encounter someone, something, or someplace implies that it’s unexpected or a surprise. Encountering the moment means coming face-to-face with the unknown. In movement practice, we train ourselves to stay open, curious, centered, and responsive at the front edge of any encounter — counterbalancing those innate primal reactions to fight, flee, freeze, or please.  

Rather than withdrawing, playing it safe, or tolerating things you shouldn’t, imagine being adept at staying present and standing your ground clearly and authentically. Picture a world where we are able to express opinions, feelings, discontents, and appreciations skillfully while remaining wholeheartedly open to outcome and change.  

In this workshop, within a supportive and challenging environment, we will create “safe emergencies” — situations intense enough to command our attention that are managed with care and support, to help us risk moving beyond habitual self-defeating patterns. Participants can receive real feedback and gain plenty of practice making new choices in relation to others.  

Recommended Reading: https://www.andreajuhan.com/content/open-floor-encounter-dance-therapy-and-transformation
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Information on Continuing Education Credit for Health Professionals

• CE credits for psychologists are provided by the Spiritual Competency Academy (SCA) which is co-sponsoring this program. The Spiritual Competency Academy is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Spiritual Competency Academy maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

• The California Board of Behavioral Sciences accepts CE credits for LCSW, LPCC, LEP, and LMFT license renewal for programs offered by approved sponsors of CE by the American Psychological Association.

• LCSW, LPCC, LEP, and LMFTs, and other mental health professionals from states other than California need to check with their state licensing board as to whether or not they accept programs offered by approved sponsors of CE by the American Psychological Association.

• SCA is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN Provider CEP16887) for licensed nurses in California. RNs must retain their certificate of attendance for 4 years after the course concludes.

• For questions about receiving your Certificate of Attendance, contact info@andreajuhan.com.

• For questions about CE, contact Spiritual Competency Academy at info@spiritualcompetencyacademy.com.

Restore.

It can take time and great effort to move away from the ego affirming busyness of modern day life toward a reflective stillness. In this workshop we will cultivate this slowing, deepening, and going within.

In a community setting, we will allow ourselves to dive below the surface of our thoughts and identities to know ourselves more intimately and untether from the chords that hold us to old behaviors and belief structures. Our practice will include:

• Slow nourishing yoga movements.
• Restorative postures to cultivate regeneration.
• Meditation, mantras, writing, and intentional silence.

With the power of this land, the healing waters, strength of community, and nourishment of slowing down, we will move toward a listening, supple, healing body.

Please bring an eye pillow, and if you are driving, please also bring a bolster and sandbag.

CE Credit Available: 25 hours Continued Education credit for Registered Yoga Teachers (RYT) available through Yoga Alliance; see leader.

This workshop includes $220 in additional tuition.

Join Janet in this nourishing and revitalizing weekend, designed to replenish the nervous system and adrenals, boost the immune system, and ground our hearts and minds in simplicity. We will drop down through body-mind-spirit to find space between effort and surrender, allowing our internal systems to release toxins and integrate the powerful wellness generated by our bodies through our physical practices. Slow and fluid movement, restorative postures, meditation, pranayama (breathwork), and chanting will refill the mind, body, and spirit.

We will create space in our body for introspection and move out of the cyclical fight-or-flight response to cultivate sustainable power, rest, and healing.

We’ll practice:

• Slow yoga to build sustainable power.
• Restorative postures for regeneration.
• Meditation toward stillness.
• Pranayama to balance hormones and the whole being.
• Chanting to awaken the heart’s longing.

Please bring an eye pillow. If you are driving, please also bring a sandbag and bolster.

CE Credit Available: 10 hours Continued Education credit for Registered Yoga Teachers (RYT) available through Yoga Alliance; see leader.

This workshop includes an additional $100 faculty tuition.

Everything I have experienced in my life, I take into my art. —Anna Halprin

What if everything you’ve experienced in your life could be danced? What if an image drawn carried a message for healing? What if a dance inspired a drawing that sparks words for a poem and the poem transforms a difficult story that needs to be told into beauty?

Grounded in the Halprin Life Art Process™, this workshop’s approach enlivens dialogues between body and imagination, life experience and art making, and creativity and healing. With creative explorations of the expressive arts — movement, drawing, and poetic writing — participants will be guided in creative encounters with the symbolic and metaphoric life of the body.  

Each day begins with somatic awareness and movement to awaken and attune the physical body. From there, you’ll navigate your personal material through a model that interweaves movement/dance, visual art, poetic narrative, performative ritual, and witnessing.

Together, we’ll work with Body Part Mapping and the Self Portrait Process: visual and narrative maps to lead us into the themes, memories, and dreams that inform our lives. Individual and collective life narratives will provide material to generate encounters and inspire embodied models for change.

Participants can expect to explore:

• Models of a practice to facilitate embodied art-making for individuals and groups.
• Examples of movement and art making as a healing force.
• A communication tool that supports giving and receiving feedback.

Please make sure to bring a writer's journal and a box of varied and well-supplied Craypas pastels.

Somatic warm-ups will be guided by guest faculty Natan Dascal, with live music provided throughout the workshop by guest musician Miles Lassi.

Recommended reading: The Expressive Body in Life, Art & Therapy by Daria Halprin

Engage the body’s sensorial continuum as a site of somatic inquiry and exploration. Work with breath, the senses, movement, sound, words (mantra), imagination, and feeling to curate somatic experience. Sensitize yourself to the subtle rhythms and energies of the cerebrospinal axis which influence our moods, states and quality of our attention and relationship with the outer world. Attending and awakening to the spine can become a powerful tool in anyone’s personal path and repertoire of psychosomatic practices.

Together, we’ll play with the metaphor of the spine as an “inverted tree,” an organism with its roots “above” (the immaterial realm) and branches “below” (the material body), inviting us to initiate a new relationship with our bodies, senses, and sensorial environment.

Components include:

• Sensitizing to and living from the spine.
• Sessions on breath and energy work (prāṇāyāma).
• Choreographing breath, movement, and attention.
• Exploring somatic dimensions of sound, mantra, and voice.
• Intensive on sitting to meditate (āsana) versus meditative movement.
• Visualizations and readings from ancient texts of yoga and tantra.
• Integrating words and poetry with yoga and movement.
• Finding stillness, curating pleasure and immersion through movement and posture.
• Incorporating inspiration, imagination, and creativity into your own practice.
• Asking and reflecting upon the purpose and promise of your practice (whatever it is).

This workshop is designed for anyone engaged in or experimenting with some form of embodied practice, including meditation, movement, yoga, breathwork, energy work, voice work, journaling, and writing. Come ready to experiment, reflect, and connect.

Your crown has been bought and paid for. All you have to do is put it on. — James Baldwin

Most people don’t actually fear failure; they fear their own brilliance. In this weeklong journey, we’ll explore how subtle self-sabotage, shrinking, and doubt prevent us from claiming our gifts. Through coherence coaching, embodied exercises, and radical self-honesty, you’ll discover the courage to live as the powerful being you already are.

Participants will:

• Engage in guided movement and meditation to release constriction and embody expansive power.
• Use reflective journaling prompts to surface patterns of self-betrayal and write new declarations of possibility.
• Practice storytelling and peer coaching circles that mirror back wholeness, strengths, and hidden capacities.
• Enter creative play exercises to rehearse new ways of showing up boldly.
• Make commitments to sustained daily practices that anchor your dopeness as a lifestyle.

When we embrace our greatness, we move beyond fear into freedom, clarity, and contribution. You’ll receive practical tools and experience a supportive community for the embodied confidence to live your dopeness with courage and joy.

At the very heart of “belonging” is the word “long.” To be-long to something is to stay with it for the long haul. It is an active choice we make to a relationship, to a place, to our body, to a life because we value it. Even knowing that it may not be all that we hope it to be, we are keeping the long view of what is possible, and our life becomes an offering to making it so. ― Toko-pa Turner, Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home

There is an irony in living in a world with so many “things” to pursue and so many of us feeling a deep sense of disconnection and alienation. Our fierce individualism often leaves us separate from our bodies, one another, and the Earth. “Belonging” is always an integral strand in our many deeply woven threads to self, our communities, and the Earth. We long to belong, and we are created for connection. Building places of belonging begins with the self, trickles out to our wider circles, and ultimately connects us to the entire world.

This five-day workshop will dive into the dynamics of separation and belonging across these many dimensions, utilizing a mix of teachings, dialogue, and embodied experiences. We will draw on the richness of ecopsychology and the playfulness of the 5Rhythms® moving meditation, and we’ll engage in restorative time in contemplation in the natural landscape of Esalen.

Participants in this workshop will experience:

• 5Rhythms moving meditation
• Contemplative meditation
• Teachings within ecopsychology and ecological and social awareness
• Community dialogues
• Time in nature
• Dreaming and journaling

Participants should be prepared to work with challenging material, to encounter difficult and joyful emotions, to engage in experiential practices, including the 5Rhythms movement meditation, and to play within a respectful, compassionate community. We will investigate the ways in which we form connections with others and our various communities, and we will experience the deep fulfillment that comes from greater connectivity.

Recommended Reading: Returning the Self to Nature: Undoing Our Collective Narcissism and Healing Our Planet by Jeanine M. Canty, Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home by Toko-pa Turner, The Power of Bridging: How to Build a World Where We All Belong by john. a.powell, Sweat Your Prayers by Gabrielle Roth

Perimenopausal and menopausal transitions are more than biological phases to endure; they are sacred passages that forge a woman into her fullest expression — as a truth-bearer, a pathfinder, a beauty maker, and a new creation.  

When the monthly cycles end, you’ll undergo tremendous transformations in your body, mind, emotions, and psyche. Crossing this monumental threshold awakens your inner sage, a wild knowing sacredly woven from deep intuition and your soul’s language.

Join Jovinna as she weaves a web of story, nature, movement, and community to capture the magic of this time of life. Anchor the new story for yourself and future generations, infusing meaning and sacredness into this wild and inspired time.  

Over the weekend, there will be:

• Practice of Conscious Dance to recharge the body and mind.
• Time to be immersed in nature and connect with your elemental being.
• Rituals and ceremonies to honor these important thresholds of transformation.

Let this be a time of celebration with reverence and levity as you unfold in the field of endless possibilities without your old roles, identities, and patterns.

Please bring a journal, a small piece of cloth that represents your old self, and an article of clothing that you’d like to wear for the ceremony of renewal.

This workshop includes an additional $35 faculty tuition.

Experience five days of deep rest, reflection, and rejuvenation through movement, guided meditation, and the profound practice of Yoga Nidra. This workshop is designed to restore the body, clear the mind, and shift the habitual patterns that keep us from experiencing a state of calm, clarity, and balance.

Yoga Nidra, which translates to “yogic sleep,” guides you to that liminal state between wakefulness and sleep, where you can systematically release stored physical, emotional, and mental tensions. In this state, you can let go of old beliefs and habits that keep you stuck in the past and fearful of the future. With this practice, you can fully experience your emotions while knowing that there is unchanging, unshakable ground beneath you — a calm inner presence that allows you to see clearly and navigate life with greater ease.

Throughout the retreat, we will work with our bodies and minds, creating clear intentions to shift from living by unconscious, automatic programming and find a new perspective — an aware, deliberate way of being. You’ll explore how to bring this newfound awareness of your true self into your personal life, relationships, work, and moments of solitude and love.

Together, we will cultivate new tools to help us navigate when we feel lost, tired, or confused and forget who we are. These guiding instruments can help us negotiate life’s challenges, welcome them as opportunities, and remember our true nature.

This workshop is a unique opportunity to recognize your wholeness, the truth of who you are, and the inner peace that has always been within you — that unchanging, unshakable ground of being that you are. All that is being asked of you is to show up, lie down, and let go. Yoga Nidra will do the rest.

What to bring: blankets, a yoga mat, an eye pillow, and anything else you need to lie comfortably on the floor for extended periods. We’ll also have opportunities to practice outdoors, so make sure you have layers to stay comfortable in varying conditions.

Recommended Reading: Yoga Nidra: The Art of Transformational Sleep, by Kamini Desai; and Yoga Nidra: A Meditative Practice for Deep Relaxation Healing, by Richard Miller

The March equinox, a time of transition and harmony, is a wonderful opportunity to deepen our practice of yoga. The light is returning from the dark days of winter, and balance is our theme — both on the yoga mat and for our emotional and spiritual selves. Just as the plants are beginning to bud, our own dreams, visions, and creativity are emerging from their winter gestation. The fertile and dynamic land of Esalen is a perfect setting to hold us for this exploration of Spring.

During this retreat, we will combine three healing practices to revitalize the body and calm the mind in the exquisite and rejuvenating natural environment of Esalen. Together, we will focus our attention on the practices of:

• Yoga to yoke body and mind for present-moment awareness.
• Meditation to cultivate concentration and empathy.
• Chanting, or bhakti yoga, the practice of the heart.

This immersive weekend will leave us balanced, revitalized, and ready for the full and active days of Spring and Summer.

This workshop includes an additional $20 fee for workshop materials.

Immerse yourself in the eros of creation. Enter the divine dance between consciousness and form to explore the generative relationship between Shiva, the principle of pure awareness, and Shakti, the principle of creation and form. As these energies are engaged in the body, new layers of intimacy with self and the living world may be revealed.

This workshop calls to seekers, artists, healers, those in transition, and anyone longing to feel more deeply resourced, creatively sparked, or attuned to the rhythms of life. It offers a field for exploration rather than performance — a space where the mystical meets the embodied.

Throughout our week together, an intentionally curated arc of practices will open pathways into this inquiry. We’ll explore movement, somatic and subtle energy explorations, process art, journaling, meditation, relational play, ritual, and land-based practices to create a living tapestry of experience. Each thread is designed to engage different dimensions of being — body, mind, spirit, and relationship — while weaving greater collective coherence.

Out of a sea of spaciousness (Shiva) arises radiant light (Shakti). To enter this mystery is to rediscover life as it is — wild, tender, and whole. Embark a love affair with creation itself and walk away with practices to nourish you beyond our time together.

This workshop includes a $15 material fee.

Be inspired by the flame / where everything shines as it disappears. – Rainer Maria Rilke

What part of your life could use some breath, space, movement, flow, and a sprinkle of humor? Where in your work or relationships are you called toward a more passionate participation — or a deeper letting go?

What if you had ways to show up when faced with change, impermanence, loss, and the whole everyday mess of the human condition while remaining in touch with the deathless presence in which everything dances?

Join us in a leading-edge exploration integrating conscious movement, somatic inquiries of embodied gestalt, and the stillness of nature for a transformative process that touches body, heart, and spirit.

In this workshop, we will:

• Dance, inspired by a wide range of music and the great sound of silence and supported by the benevolent presence of earth and sky.
• Build resonance with the life around us by moving from the inside out — alone, in pairs, in trios, and as a group, sometimes indoors, sometimes in nature.
• Explore and express what is alive inside us through movement, awareness practices, and sharing in pairs and in the circle.
• Experience in motion all the landscapes of relating — to self, to the world, and to the great mystery that we also are.
• Learn skills for stress reduction, relaxation, and renewal through somatic awareness and practices.
• Spend time on the land in sitting and walking meditation, allowing ourselves to dissolve a little into space.

By relating to one another in real time in the presence of the natural world, we can not only return to a semblance of sanity but also find ourselves healed and held in the great heart of belonging. This workshop is open to everybody willing to move, pause, listen, and relax, relax, relax one timeless movement at a time.

Zuza Engler is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) to sponsor continuing education programs for LMFT, LCSW, and LPCC. This workshop offers 10 CE credits for therapists and social workers. Please email  angel@zuzaengler.com for more details about CE credits. There will be a $25 fee for the certificate.

Revamp, reinvigorate, and polish your luminous self this season with innovative yoga practices for body, mind, and spirit! This yoga renewal workshop includes energizing movement, flow yoga, core activations, meridian sequencing, tapping, rejuvenating holds, and cleansing rituals based on the five elements.

Yoga for the skin sloughs off the old with a potent five-step cleansing ritual. Revitalizing and fluid yoga sequences stimulate the body before thoughtfully weaving muscles and mind together into a recreated and radiant being. We will even take advantage of the potent Esalen springs with a specific bathing ritual. The daily practices of the sparkling Yoga Spring Renewal workshop will be fresh, fun, and rejuvenating — and will leave you feeling the same!

Certified in Anusara Yoga and the Halprin Life Art Process, Ulrika blends holistic practices of yoga, somatic movement therapy, and Swedish skin rituals with the elements of nature for movement medicine. The many layers and systems of the body are addressed, with balanced attention given to the physical and the energetic, the form and the formless,  the unique individual and the collective universal patterns.

Participants should bring a dry brush, coconut oil, and a facial clay mask.

Know from the rivers in clefts and in crevices: those in small channels flow noisily, the great flow silent. Whatever’s not full makes noise. Whatever is full is quiet. — Buddha

We treasure this life, and yet we rarely can hear ourselves think. We are constantly being bombarded and absorbing information at a dizzying pace. In the 21st century, where stillness and silence are scarce, fast-paced living keeps us bouncing from one task to the next. What might happen if you simply sat and allowed yourself to be? What would arise in the spaces between your thoughts, your breath, and your heartbeat?

Join internationally celebrated teacher, author, and documentary filmmaker Hawah Kasat to explore the depths of silence and solitude. Hawah will guide you with a culturally sensitive soft touch and a compassionate heart toward the bounty of silence. Participants will be guided through silent meditation practices, pranayama (breathwork), asana (movement), and dharma talks, to support the following process:

• Still the “monkey mind” through pratyahara, the withdrawal of the senses.
• Experience the profound connection between physical stillness and silence.
• Sit with what comes up in the spaces between your thoughts, breath, and heartbeat.
• Explore the subtle nuances between Yogic and Buddhist meditation traditions.
• Unravel the mystery of Vipassana Meditation.

This workshop is suitable for those who have never taken a vow of silence and want to explore what it feels like to observe noble silence in small doses, as well as veteran silent retreaters who want to refine their senses of awareness and perception.

NOTE: For small portions of this workshop, participants will be encouraged to take a vow of silence — during which there will be no writing, reading, or talking.

BIPOC SCHOLARSHIP: Hawah has established a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, person of color) scholarship for his workshops.  For more information on receiving one to participate, please contact him at Everlutionary@gmail.com.

This workshop includes a material fee of $4.50.  

A weekend of transformative exploration to bridge physical movement with the subtle layers of internal flow, connecting body, energy, and perception. This retreat goes beyond traditional practices and invites participants to discover the intelligence and freedom inherent in all forms of movement,  not only in the body’s gestures but also in its inner energy and shifting perspectives.

Together, we’ll blend imaginative, expressive movement (Bohemian) with grounding, introspective practices (Gravity) to create a holistic and adaptable approach accessible to anyone, regardless of age or experience. Through a fusion of yoga, somatic therapy, dance and movement meditation, we will explore both dynamic and deeply relaxing states, accompanied by carefully curated ethnic, electronic, and instrumental music that supports our journey.

The experience fuses a diverse array of techniques, including:

• Body language listening
• Movement meditation
• Imaginative and somatic movement
• Breathwork
• Fusion dance
• Sound baths
• Yin Yang yoga

Led by Czech-Nigerian multidisciplinary artist Yemi A.D., founder of Moonshot Platform, these sessions are designed to awaken awareness and align the head, heart, and gut. Participants often experience the release of long-held tension rooted in unconscious patterns, creating space for greater creativity, joy, and inner freedom.

When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop being comforted by the sweet territory of silence? —Gabrielle Roth

Your life is not simply a task to be managed but a mythopoetic mystery to be lived. Take a break from the mundane and let yourself be enchanted again. This workshop offers a profound opportunity to commune with the deeper aspects of Self through movement, inquiry, and mythology. To dream. To play. To feel alive.

Since the beginning, humans have looked to stories to make meaning of our lives. Revered mythologist and 1960s Esalen faculty Joseph Campbell wrote, “Mythology is the penultimate truth — penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words. It is beyond words.” On this retreat, we’ll engage with daily stories that have the power to help us make sense of our lives, nourish, teach, inspire, empower, and heal us.

Experiential practices include:

• Archetypal wisdom and nondual yogic mythology
• Breathwork and meditation
• Yoga (all levels), dance, and somatic journeys
• Self-inquiry and writing
• Rewilding, song, and nature ceremony

Music, nature, poetry, connection, and ritual are exquisitely curated for your hero/heroine’s journey. Our nourishing schedule is balanced harmoniously with relaxing meals, community care, and soaks in Esalen’s healing baths.

Whether you’re searching for renewed meaning in life, navigating life’s complex transitions, or simply enjoy being enchanted, this workshop will help awaken your spirit to courage, gladden your heart, calm your mind, and widen your perspective to vast possibilities. You might just fall in love with existence again.

Grace awaits.

The wound is the place where the light enters you. – Rumi

This workshop is designed for men to help you recharge and reset your body and mind, easing the heaviness of life's challenges — whether they involve self-worth, career, or relationships.

We will focus on your future vision, cultivating intuition, trust, resilience, and confidence through movement, dynamic breathwork, guided meditation, and lighthearted yet meaningful conversations. Practice with shadow work tools to access your inner wisdom and power, aiding you in overcoming blocks like fear, doubt, rejection, or self-sabotage.

“Rasa” is Sanskrit for “essence.” So, soak your icy armor in healing hot springs, walk amidst spectacular nature and ocean air, eat nourishing food, activate, and reveal the Rasa Heart Warrior of you.

You are invited to:

• Explore the archetypes of warrior, magician, lover, king, your shadows and wounds. This illumination can help shift your mindset and break free from outdated conditioned patterns to cultivate clarity, discover your purpose, know boundaries, and encourage genuine leadership development for true freedom.
• Participate in drumming, vocalizing, and mantras, and share in a circle to nurture your emotional skills, imagination, and intuition to foster deeper connections.
• Boost your energy and back strength with functional movements from Rasa Yoga, Foundation training, and dynamic breathwork. 
• No army drills here, but you might sweat.

Leave feeling refreshed and embodied, enriched by the camaraderie among men, with skills for resilience, emotional presence, and awareness. 

This workshop is specifically designed to create a space for sacred brotherhood for participants who identify as male. 

Recommended Reading: Bringing Your shadow out of the dark and To Be A Man by Robert Augustus Masters

Dance is one of the world’s most ancient transformative rituals. From the whirling dervish to the Shamans, the waltz to the rave, we dance for joy, healing, and connection — guided by wisdom that transcends the thinking brain.

This five-day retreat is an invitation to come together to awaken the forgotten wild, ignite your creativity, and dance our way to wholeness. Through an alchemical combination of movement, nature, and sound healing, we’ll reconnect our bodies and minds,  digest our feelings and emotions, and open ourselves to the wisdom of our hearts. Most of all, we’ll expand our vision to include a bigger perspective on our spiritual and human interconnectedness.

The practices we’ll cultivate this week will help you:

• Release fear, inhibition, and judgment.
• Trust your body’s innate wisdom to guide you.
• Revive a sluggish nervous system.
• Clear energetic blockages.
• Step into your uniqueness and self-expression with confidence.

Allow yourself to be nourished by this sacred land, the hot spring waters, the time we share together, and the friends you’ll make. Experience the beauty, awe, and wonder of being alive so you may return home rejuvenated and inspired to continue walking your unique life path.

This workshop includes an additional $55 faculty tuition.

What if what we experience wasn’t always a serious endeavor, but rather an invitation to play, to grow and to learn? Hindu philosophy encapsulates this idea in the Sanskrit word Lila, which means “divine play.” Lila suggests that creation isn’t an obligation but an ongoing, spontaneous, joyful expression of the divine. Perhaps we’re so deeply immersed in the drama of it — like actors lost in our roles — that we’ve forgotten it’s a playful dance? Suppose existence is just a cosmic joke, a juggling act of the relative and the absolute. This unique workshop is designed to help you learn to dance between the everyday mundane and the spiritually sublime.

Each day will begin with the ancient technology of yoga, breathwork, and meditation. Morning classes will be energizing and dynamic to cleanse the blocks of stress, physical/mental patterns, and common discomforts. These sessions are designed to help you access peace, resilience, and a playful state to gently unravel the genius of your authentic self.

You’ll then be guided through various exercises to develop highly nuanced body awareness, followed by physical games and rituals that give birth to organic impulses inspired by the child within. In this, there is no pressure to perform, just an invitation to get lost and found inside yourself, an openness to go beyond your comfort zone, and a willingness to play within the moment.

Each day will close with a soft, contemplative yoga practice and an opportunity to share and hear one another’s interpretation of the day. This helps to absorb the benefits, make sense of your experience, and allow for genuine healing and connection through community.

This workshop is physical, but open and accessible for all levels and diverse bodies. Practices will be adapted and tailored to support you. Please come unprepared, ready to explore, and open to an entirely new outlook on life.

Mindfulness can help us understand the patterns of the mind. Movement can help us understand the patterns in the body. By bridging the two, we begin to develop a clearer, more embodied understanding of who we are.

In this three-day retreat, we’ll explore meditation, breathwork, and improvised movement as an integrated toolkit. We’ll approach these tools as creative research — a playful inquiry into what it means to be human.

Through guided sessions in stillness and motion, you will:

• Deepen awareness of the subtle dialogue between body and mind.
• Explore movement as a form of self-discovery and creative expression.
• Use breath to regulate the nervous system and unlock embodied presence.
• Learn to understand and release habitual patterns in body and mind.
• Integrate mindfulness into daily life through the body.

This retreat offers a grounded and experiential approach to understanding the body-mind connection. It’s an opportunity to step out of autopilot and into direct experience — curious, clear, and fully present. Some prior experience in meditation, mindfulness, and movement is desirable but not a requirement.

Physical Abilities: Participants should be comfortable with moderate physical activity, including standing, moving, and lying down for extended periods. Ability to move freely on the floor is beneficial but modifications can be offered.

Important Health Considerations: Active breathwork is not advised for individuals who are pregnant, have cardiovascular conditions, severe asthma, epilepsy, or a history of seizures. Please consult with a healthcare provider if you have any concerns about participating in intensive breathwork practices.

Experience Level: All levels welcome. Sessions are designed to be accessible to beginners while offering depth for experienced practitioners of meditation and movement.

Sensitivity: This workshop involves deep somatic exploration that may bring up emotional material or stored tension in the body. Active breathwork can be intense and may evoke strong physical sensations or emotional releases. Participants will be supported in working at their own pace, and are encouraged to practice self-care and communicate their needs throughout the retreat. Those with trauma histories should be aware that breathwork and embodied practices can be activating, though all practices are offered with options for self-regulation.

Tibetan yoga is a powerful bridge between ancient wisdom and contemporary somatic healing. Rooted in movement, meditation, and subtle energetics, these practices engage not only the physical body but also the deeper layers of the subtle body — where trauma often lives.

In Tibetan yoga, the subtle body is composed of energetic pathways through which the vital winds flow, regulating both our physiology and consciousness. These winds influence the movement of thought, emotion, and life force. Within this energetic system, the vital essence — traditionally associated with reproductive health and immunity — is also key to stress regulation and emotional well-being.

By deeply understanding these channels, we can learn to work directly with these energies to clear blockages, release somatized distress, and cultivate new pathways for mind-body integration for healing from within.

In this workshop, you will be invited to:

• Experience traditional Tibetan yoga movement and meditation practices designed to regulate the subtle body and promote inner balance.
• Explore the energetic channels of the subtle body, including vital winds and vital essence, to better understand how stress and trauma are held and released.
• Cultivate a deeper connection between mind, body, and essence and develop tools for long-term emotional resilience and holistic well-being.

This extended weekend workshop is ideal for those seeking a deep exploration of subtle energetics, nervous system regulation, and the intersection of ancient yogic traditions with contemporary insights from Polyvagal theory and somatic practices.

Be inspired and transform your yoga practice with the stories of yoga and the power of myth. Awaken the hero’s journey within you as you explore the legends, lore, and archetypes of the yoga tradition. Deepen your love of yoga, elevate your creativity, and infuse your practice with mythic codes that support your purpose in life.

Each day will offer asana, pranayama, mantra, mudra, meditation, and inner transformational exploration to ground myth into your everyday life. Morning sessions will be energizing, followed by reflective afternoon sessions.

Together, we’ll explore the alchemical practices of:

• Asana (physical yoga postures)
• Pranayama (breathing techniques)
• Mantra (healing sound vibration)
• Mudra (energy seals created by the hands)
• Meditation (expanded states of awareness)
• Mythic codes (stories, legends, and lore of yoga)
• Hypnotic trance ritual (inductions to deepen your mythic experience)

Sianna and Masood will guide you on this sacred pilgrimage with five thematic journeys:

Monday: Soma Flow — hips, twists, and tantric stories of Shiva & Shakti with mantra meditation.

Tuesday: Leap of Love — backbends and heart-opening practices inspired by the devotion and courage of Hanuman.

Wednesday: Clear the Obstacles — clear the way with Ganesha’s wisdom to remove blocks with breathwork, balance poses, and shadow work.

Thursday: Expand the Evolutionary Edge — explore and embody the avatar forms of yoga through Vishnu and Durga.

Friday: Invoking Grace — a celebration of the goddesses of yoga through vinyasa flow, mantra, music, and community.

“Once upon a time…” is how it all begins. From there, let your imagination soar and awaken your quest in a whole new way!

This transformative Mythic Yoga Flow® retreat includes 20 CEUs certified by Yoga Alliance. See workshop faculty for more details.

All knowledge / until it’s in the body / is still a rumour. — Anonymous

In a world that constantly pulls us away from ourselves, this is an invitation to return to the living intelligence of the body. Through movement, awareness, and curiosity, we’ll explore the physical architecture of embodiment: the foundation upon which all emotional, cognitive, relational and spiritual experience rests.

Over three days, we will re-member ourselves from the inside out. Open Floor practices teach us to include everything — the tense, the tired, the strong, and the shy — allowing each part of our experience to take its rightful place in motion. Held by this field of movement, familiar patterns begin to dissolve, giving way to what is spontaneous, fluid, and alive.

Through the subtle play of weight, direction, and contact, we can discover how even the smallest shift can open new pathways for expression and connection. What begins as physical movement becomes a field of awakening — a remembering that embodiment itself is intelligence.

Rooted in the essential structures of Open Floor practice, Bare Bones is an opportunity to place the extraordinary body at the center of experience — to inhabit life not as an idea, but as a lived, moving truth.

Immerse yourself in a restorative workshop designed specifically for male-identifying people of color. This unique experience offers a sanctuary for growth and self-discovery, fostering a supportive community where participants can connect and build meaningful relationships.

Black boys and men of color have limited opportunities to engage in mind-body healing practices, and there are not nearly enough representations of Black male wellness; this workshop provides tools for transformation, healing, and empowerment while also addressing the interconnected issues of mental health, racial disparities, and community well-being.

Danny and Darnell combine meditation, yoga, and reflective writing to create a nurturing space for participants to explore their inner selves and cultivate mindfulness. Through guided meditations and intention-setting exercises, participants will center their energy and focus on their personal growth journey.

This workshop features:

• Rejuvenating Hatha Yoga sessions, engaging participants in gentle stretches, balancing poses, and breathing exercises to promote physical and mental well-being.
• Yoga Nidra sessions to provide deep relaxation and inner exploration for a meditative state of consciousness.
• Reflective writing sessions to offer a profound opportunity for self-discovery and life visioning, guided by thoughtful prompts.
• Shadow work writing sessions to confront and integrate repressed aspects of the self for holistic healing.
• Somatic movement, breathwork, and primal movement exercises to facilitate healing and emotional release.
• Healing circles to enrich the experience, fostering support and collective healing energy.

With reflective writing and a closing circle, participants will be able to process their experiences, express gratitude, and set future intentions to carry them well beyond Esalen.

Join us for an immersive five-day experience where ancient breath practices intersect with contemporary psychology to unlock the transformational power of your breath. For millennia, diverse yogic and spiritual traditions have harmonized breathwork with mindfulness to foster psychological healing and spiritual growth. Today, science validates the profound impact of breathwork and embodied awareness on stress management and immune resilience. Visionaries like Bessel van der Kolk champion the integration of breath, movement, awareness development, and educated touch for healing trauma.

On the sacred grounds of Esalen, under the expert guidance of the Hollomans, participants will have the opportunity to experience how breath can create altered states of consciousness, supporting deep psychological and spiritual exploration. Perry and Johanna use the powerful tool of Gestalt Inquiry to integrate these experiences into a deeper understanding of who we truly are. Participants will engage in various forms of breathwork, including extended two-to-three-hour breath journeys that open expanded states of consciousness and doorways to deeper dimensions of being. We will also begin our days with shorter, 50-minute “daily-dose” breath practices, perfect for at-home use.

Perry and Johanna will create a safe and supportive environment through Integrative Gestalt Practice and group sharing, ensuring that the insights gained from breathwork support your journey of healing and self-actualization.

In this workshop, you are invited to:

• Engage in two extended two to three hour Hologenic breath meditations to explore the unconscious mind and access altered states of consciousness, complemented by shorter, 50-minute “daily dose” breath practices for ongoing use at home.
• Learn the art of self-inquiry through Integrative Gestalt to cultivate “presence-based consciousness” in daily life.
• Apply breathwork and Integrative Gestalt techniques to address trauma and restore our innate capacities for self-organization and healing.

Embark on this transformative journey designed to nurture personal healing and spiritual growth. Learn essential skills that you can practice in your daily life to continue your journey of self-healing and spiritual development. Whether you’re a professional seeking to expand your practice through the power of breath or an individual committed to deepening self-inquiry, we welcome you to join us for this exploration into expanded realms of consciousness!

Recommended Reading: Breath by James Nestor

This workshop includes an additional $50 material fee.

Disclaimer: Esalen workshops do not involve the use, provision, or facilitation of any psychoactive substances. Breath practice can be catalyzing. Individuals with any significant medical concerns, including a history of stroke, seizures, or cardiac issues, should consult with their physician prior to participation. If you are pregnant, or think you might be, please consult your physician.

During this retreat, you’ll be invited to immerse yourself in your own innate wisdom to rediscover your freedom. Through Buddhist meditation, mindful movement, and time in nature, you’ll explore the spontaneous creative essence within you.

Surrounded by the beauty of the natural world, this guided retreat is an opportunity to slow down, listen deeply, and explore what it means to be truly present. By attuning to the elements and rhythms of the earth, you will have the space to cultivate a renewed sense of clarity, openness, and connection.

Explore key practices, including:

• Nature-inspired meditation: Engage in sitting practice, both indoors and outdoors, and allow the natural world to support your inner exploration.
• Mindful walking: Move with intention and cultivate presence through walking meditation, deepening your connection to the present moment.
• Elemental exploration: Experience guided meditations on the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, and space) to reflect on their qualities within you.
• Dharma teachings: Listen to talks that weave Buddhist wisdom with metaphors from nature for perspectives on the freedom already within you.
• Mindful movement: Explore gentle yoga and embodied awareness practices that support connection with the flowing, spontaneous nature of being.

During our time together, you will be able to:

• Explore ways to let go of habitual patterns and rest in innate awareness.
• Cultivate spaciousness, clarity, and ease.
• Tap into your natural creativity and intuition.
• Develop a deeper connection with the natural world and your own true nature.

Throughout the retreat, you’ll be given tools to continue nurturing this natural approach to liberation in your daily life. Join us for this transformative exploration of being natural.

This will be a week of fun, relaxation, and rejuvenation. Whatever your spiritual path or meditation experience, you are welcome just as you are. No prior experience is required. Seated and supine meditations will be offered. All are welcome.

In the words of Carl Jung, “People don’t have ideas. Ideas have people.”

This immersive week-long lab is for creators of all kinds—writers, inventors, filmmakers, musicians, and entrepreneurs—anyone who wishes to integrate their spirituality and creativity to tap into the deepest source of inspiration and higher intelligence as they bring guided work into the world. By breaking down this process of allowing into three stages (Creation, Manifestation, and Transmission), we will walk together along an impactful, sacred path designed for cohesion, connection, incubation, and transformation.

We live in a world of great distraction that doesn’t encourage deep listening. It is imperative to reverse those outer-facing sensory “searchlights” and go inwards. When you dive into the field of all possibilities, ideas surprisingly find you with a very specific intention. As you attune to that purpose, you gain discernment, direction, momentum, and flow.

Over the course of the week, you’ll face the “demons” that get in the way of meaningful work, including inertia, ego, outer blocks, and inner resistance. You will discover how obstacles can become allies in your process, helping you to foster organic, sustainable partnerships, growth, and co-creation.

In this workshop, you’ll be guided through:

• Nonlinear brainstorming to invite new and deeper relationships to ideas.
• “Hotseat Exercises” and small group breakouts to foster vulnerability and creative risk-taking
• Kinetic creation, such as yoga, meditation, and energy balancing, to increase attunement
• Radical pivots and adaptivity to meet obstacles with poise and intelligence.
• Case studies.

Employing timeless principles from Vedic philosophy, this class will use myriad modalities to deepen your inspiration, along with experiential exercises that will help you flow. You will do yoga, breathwork, meditation, and movement to tap into the matrix of your creative capacity. You’ll recalibrate intentions and goals. Every step of the lab will contain practical solutions to push through whatever is in your way.

The lab is open to creators of all levels. You can attend either as an “incubator” (with a specific project or idea that you want to workshop) or as an “observer/participant” (to glean knowledge about conscious creation by watching the process unfold and also participating). If you are planning to workshop a specific project, please tell us about it briefly in one paragraph, describing where you are with it, where you want to take it, and any obstacles (including internal) that are in your way. Kindly email us at: S2S@thisiscounterpointfilms.com.

Recommended Reading: The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin, and Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

Our ancestors explored spirit-led movement to embody ecstatic states for generations. Whether as a form of celebration, mourning, or prayer, ecstatic dance has long served as sacred medicine, healing the hearts of individuals and communities. 

Join us on this sacred land for a transformative weekend of ecstatic dance ceremony — a journey to tap into the body’s ancestral wisdom, alchemize stored emotions, and liberate the spirit. Supported by live music provided by an award-winning ecstatic dance DJ, we’ll surrender to freeform movement, awaken our power, and manifest hope.

Together, we will explore:

• Ecstatic dance journeys created by a live DJ.
• Grounding prayers to root into the spirit and awaken ancestral wisdom.
• Partner games that spark joy, connection, and embodied trust.
• Mirroring and witnessing practices that deepen attunement and compassion.

Bloomurian, a world-renowned music producer and ecstatic dance DJ, will create genre-fluid soundscapes designed to support our heart-healing and spirit-awakening dance journeys.

Let’s cultivate collective empowerment and create a fully inclusive dance community rooted in presence, reverence, and prayer to groove with the divine as an offering of love. No dance experience is required.

The Summer Solstice is the moment when light lingers longest — a turning point of illumination, expansion, and renewal. Just after the longest day of the year, we’ll gather on the wild cliffs of Esalen to remember this truth: The spark of your soul has never gone out. It may have flickered through the seasons of your life, but the ember remains — steady, luminous, and ready to rise.

Soulstice Soulfire is a full-body creative awakening with yoga, dance, chakra activation, sound, and ritual that both ignites and nourishes your inner fire. These practices awaken your inner light and reconnect you with the sacred healing intelligence that lives within your body.

Throughout the week, you’ll engage in:

• Dynamic somatic movement, including daily yoga practices, Kundalini kriyas, and transformational dance experiences such as Deep Exhale.
• Immersive musical guidance, with every session powered by Marques Wyatt’s live DJ soundscapes, crafted to uplift, energize, and deepen your movement.
• Supportive sonic healing, including crystal alchemy bowls integrated into yin, soma, and meditation practices for grounding, deep restoration, and amplifying your solstice vision.
• Chakra and subtle-body teachings to explore the chakras as seven flames of consciousness and to dissolve the malas, the veils that obscure inner light.
• Ritual and reflections, including Summer Solstice Vision Setting, guided journaling, contemplation, and simple practices you can bring into your daily life.
• An evening sound journey at the Esalen baths, where movement yields to stillness and sound opens portals of release, clarity, and renewal.

Allow a continuous sonic field — Marques’ hypnotic soundscapes paired with Cristi’s bowls — to carry you through activation, integration, and awakening.

This retreat welcomes all levels and all bodies. Come as you are; leave more awake, more alive, and more connected to the light within. By the end of our time together, you are invited to awaken and balance your chakra energy; reclaim your vitality, clarity, and creative flow; experience deeper embodiment, expression, and self-trust; feel nourished, inspired, and connected to inner illumination; and return home with an inner fire that sets your soul alight, along with simple, powerful tools to sustain that illumination.

Recommended Reading: Chakra Rituals by Cristi Christensen

Have you ever felt, even momentarily, that all is well within and around you? How do we cultivate this sense of deep presence and start to sustain it?

This sense of presence is the foundation of awakening. The ancient practices of qigong, meditation, and breathwork open and harmonize the energy body so we might experience ourselves at ease and in connection with all that is.

In this five-day retreat, we will explore:

• Inner qigong, “where the mind goes, the energy flows,” including “the microcosmic orbit” and “the double butterfly.”
• Outer qigong, a 20-minute short form and a 40-minute full form of wai dan gong.
• Easy-to-learn and energizing movement, sound, and visualization exercises.
• Walking, standing, sitting, and supine(lying down) meditations, including “standing as a tree,” “the three treasures,” and “metta/loving-kindness.”
• Breath practices that strengthen the lungs, calm the mind, and rest the heart.
• Full-body meridian self-massage, including sequences for hands and feet.

No experience is necessary. All levels are very welcome. Please come with the intention to relax deeply and shine from the radiance that you are

Recommended Reading: The Way of Qigong, by Kenneth Cohen

Through yoga and intentional music crafted from ancient beats, we’re thrilled to gather for our annual celebration of our inter-dependence.

We’ll dive into meditation, pranayama, chanting, yoga asana, dance, hot baths, lovingly prepared food, open time, and space for connection, creativity and collaboration.

Meet us at sacred Esalen on the cliffs, in the hot baths, in the redwoods, on the mat, and in the heart. In this divisive time, let’s lean into the power of connection through community.

10 hours of Continuing Education hours are available with Yoga Alliance; See leader.

‍This workshop includes an additional $100 faculty tuition.

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 Breathwork 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.

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

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.

Workshop Disclaimer: While some of our workshops explore the history and potential of psychedelic tools and altered states, Esalen workshops do not involve the use, provision, or facilitation of any psychoactive substances.

This workshop includes an additional $350 faculty tuition.

Join us at Esalen — where land, sky, and sea meet — and gather at the height of summer in devotion to movement, music, and one another.

This retreat is a celebration of bhakti: the yoga of love made tangible through asana, chanting, rhythm, story, and shared presence. Together, we’ll practice beneath the sun, listen to the waves, and let the natural beauty of this place remind us what it means to belong.

Guided by Janet Stone and DJ Drez, our days will weave strong and soulful yoga practice with music, mantra, mythology, and moments of stillness. We’ll sing, move, dance, rest, and remember — creating space to reaffirm intention, soften the nervous system, and reconnect with what matters most.

At the edge of the continent, we’ll turn both inward and outward to honor cycles of light and shadow, effort and surrender, solitude and community. This is a gathering designed to be felt as much as practiced.

Come as you are. Bring your mat, your voice, your curiosity, and your willingness to be moved by the land, by the music, and by the bonds we will form together.

This workshop includes an additional $175

How empowered do you feel as a woman navigating this world? What is your relationship to the feminine? And to female wisdom? Join us inside the Moon Lodge, a place for exploration — for women to find tribal and ritual healing.

The 5Rhythms is a map that teaches us how energy moves. It shows us the patterns, rhythms, and cycles of life — Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical, and Stillness — and can be a direct path to the embodiment and empowerment many of us do not feel in a time of patriarchy.

This workshop will be about celebrating the body of Woman and the sacred feminine within us all. Through dance, meditation, massage, acupressure, and ritual baths, we will share in the Sisterhood of humanity. We will poultice our wounds and celebrate the great gifts of our ancestors.

This workshop includes:

• 5Rhythms moving meditation
• Mindfulness meditation
• Restorative acupressure techniques
• Women’s health practices
• Women’s counsel
• Group sharing

Julie Von, a specialist in women’s health, will present the Chinese Medicine perspective on the five elements, psychosomatic process, restorative acupuncture, and self-care. She will teach us to prioritize these pillars and recognize when we are out of balance.

Lucia Horan will integrate the stillness of Buddhist mindfulness meditation with the moving meditations of the 5Rhythms®. In sitting meditation, we have the opportunity to observe the mind and body at rest through silent introspection. In the practice of the 5Rhythms, we engage in mindfulness while in motion. Together, these two polarities mirror the dance of life and open the door to peace, well-being, and balance.

Recommended reading: Spiritual Fertility, by Julie Von; Dancing with the Dharma: Essays on Movement and Dance in Western Buddhism, edited by Harrison Blum; Sweat Your Prayers, by Gabrielle Roth

This workshop includes an additional $100 in faculty tuition.

When we experience moments of ecstasy, we taste what life is meant to be. — Gabrielle Roth

The 5Rhythms® maps hold all the information required to lead us where we want to go. What is your destination? There is a science to achieving ecstatic states, and this is the mastery we have come to share. This workshop is designed for all who want to discover these possibilities for entering altered states in a natural way.

“I want to take you to a place of pure magic … It’s the place athletes call ‘the zone.’ Buddhists call ‘satori’ and ravers call ‘trance.’ I call it the Silver Desert. It’s a place of pure light that holds the dark within it. It’s a place of pure rhythm,” wrote Gabrielle Roth. Her dance and somatic meditation can assist you in navigating your way out of resistance and into ecstasy and help you build a skill set that supports balance, ease, and joy. If you have been looking to increase appreciation, gratitude, and happiness, now is a perfect time to celebrate being alive in the wild, wondrous, natural beauty of Esalen.

This course will include:

• 5Rhythms dance both indoors and outside by daylight and moonlight
• Trauma-sensitive mindfulness, including Dharma talks, sitting and walking meditations

Lucia and Douglas, the dancing duo, invite you to join them for a week of dance and celebration. Together with our team of musicians, bring you inspiration through movement and mindfulness so you can return home feeling nurtured and alive.

Leah Song of Rising Appalachia will lead a collective community song practice! Join voices and feel the collective power of unity through song and breath!

Sanga of the Valley, master drummer and living embodiment of the 5Rhythms cosmology, will be joining along with musical savant Nick Ayers.

Recommended Reading: Sweat Your Prayers by Gabrielle Roth, Maps to Ecstasy by Gabrielle Roth, Connections by Gabrielle Roth, Dancing with the Dharma edited by Harrison Blum

This workshop has an additional $100 of faculty tuition.

In the midst of darkness, light persists. — Mahatma Gandhi

The practice of yoga takes each of us on an interiorizing journey. Step by step we move from the outer and reactive body-mind towards the inner witnessing light of the Self. Here, we observe without judging or running away from sensations, thoughts or memories. The result is active, patient Presencing, which informs all we do and all we are.

Come for a weekend of deep, intelligent yoga surrounded by the natural beauty found at Esalen. Each practice will be a potent mix of essential alignment: body to breath, breath to energy and energy to Self. Each practitioner will be gently guided and adjusted to their own personal edge — the place where we are able to see, know, and be our truest selves. Our yoga will be strong, but infinitely adaptable to everyone’s current needs and abilities. Yoga’s strength is measured in one’s ability to stay focused and present.

Each practice will be a balance of breathwork, active and restorative asana, and meditation, blended together for a clear theme to release old patterns and awaken us to what is — like cleaning the windows to let the sunlight shine in.

10 CEUs available for SmartFlow Yoga, Yoga Alliance and AYC.

Imagine that your body has a voice. What would it say?

The body speaks through movement, where each breath, feeling, and memory becomes a metaphor — a living story longing to be heard and danced. Begin by digging, fearlessly and with tenderness, into the fertile soil of soft skin. Touch bone. Listen to the heart, fluttering its wings against the ribs. Pluck your veins as if they were strings on a violin, playing an ancient universal rhythm.

This workshop is an invitation to return to the wisdom of the body. To listen, to express, to transform. Rooted in the Life/Art Process® developed by Anna and Daria Halprin, we will journey through movement, drawing, poetic narrative, and improvisation as pathways toward personal meaning, healing, and creative renewal.

Each day will unfold as a ritual: breath becomes rhythm, movement becomes story. We will explore what moves through us, both individually and collectively. Held within the wild beauty of Esalen, and accompanied by the live music of guest musician Miles Lassi, we will explore deeply, play wildly, and harvest what we find. No prior experience in dance or art is needed, only a willingness to express, feel, and listen.

Originating in the 1950s, the Halprin work has played a pivotal role in the groundbreaking human potential, postmodern dance, and healing arts movements, and has been offered at Esalen since the 1960s.

Recommended Reading: The Expressive Body in Life, Art & Therapy by Daria Halprin; Dances That Matter by Anna Halprin with Rachel Kaplan.

The latest research clearly demonstrates the powerful impact emotional experiences have on our health and longevity. While we know this to be true, we don’t always know how to be emotionally well.

During this weekend, we’ll open the door to greater emotional intelligence and perception. With a combination of lectures, interactive exercises, live music, breathwork, movement (yoga and dance), and meditation, we’ll practice understanding our feelings — and how to respond to them.

We’ll explore emotional wellness through the lens of Ayurveda, customizing our healing based on what we are experiencing in real time. This, in turn, increases our depth of connection with ourselves and others.

In this experiential workshop, we’ll be invited to learn Ayurvedic approaches to:

• Emotional wellness
• Self-assessment
• Psychospiritual healing
• Customizing healing tools

The music and movement will be guided by guest faculty Sunshine Zerda and QVLN, featuring a transformational dance experience with somatic release. Everyone, from beginners to advanced students of Ayurveda, is welcome.

Recommended Reading: Ayurveda for Yoga Teachers and Students by Dr. Siva Mohan (Chapter on Emotional Wellness)