Come Home to Yourself

Come Home to Yourself

Come Home to Yourself

Esalen workshops are designed to facilitate self-exploration, personal growth, and healing in a group setting. They are led by visiting faculty who represent a spectrum of disciplines, experiences, and perspectives.

We offer need-based financial scholarships. Apply now.

Come Home to Yourself

Come Home to Yourself

Come Home to Yourself

Esalen workshops are designed to facilitate self-exploration, personal growth, and healing in a group setting. They are led by visiting faculty who represent a spectrum of disciplines, experiences, and perspectives.

We offer need-based financial scholarships. Apply now.

Come Home to Yourself

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Pleasure Alchemy: Deepening Emotional Intelligence Through  Rituals and Sensual Somatics

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Leah Diamond, Tony Holmes and shiloh burton
Pleasure Alchemy: Deepening Emotional Intelligence Through Rituals and Sensual Somatics
September 1–5, 2025
September 1–5, 2025
September 1, 2025
September 1–5, 2025

Pleasure is the measure of your aliveness. It is not frivolous — it is your birthright, your compass, and your healing. — Anonymous

What if your pleasure is the key to your liberation? What if it could be your prayer, your medicine, and your power? When was the last time you felt fully alive in your body — unapologetically?

Pleasure Alchemy is a somatic journey designed to awaken, heal, and empower you through the sacred art of sensual embodiment. By engaging all five senses through sacred touch, movement, and sound rituals, we’ll explore how to rewire shame and reclaim pleasure as a path to healing. Together, we will co-create alchemy through collective care. We invite you to experience yourself in community more fully and authentically by:  

Activating the body temple through guided somatic practices, breathwork, and movement rituals designed to reconnect to your sensual body as a source of truth, beauty, and divine intelligence.

  • Rewiring shame into sovereignty by exploring the roots of erotic shame through compassionate inquiry and release practices.
  • Experiencing the alchemy of touch with guided consensual touch rituals — solo and partnered — that can reawaken your pleasure pathways and open portals to healing and intimacy.
  • Awakening the inner lover through mirror work, sensual self-devotion practices, and energetic cultivation to deepen your relationship with your erotic self.
  • Reclaiming pleasure as medicine through sound healing, journaling, and group integration circles. With tools for integration, you can anchor the wisdom of your pleasure into your daily life as a revolutionary act of self-love and spiritual power.

Join us for an opportunity to reclaim your pleasure as a source of personal power, liberation, and deep connection in community. Pleasure is not just indulgence — it’s medicine.

Please Note: Pleasure Alchemy is best experienced somatically — in the body — and through community ritual. We invite learning through touch and presence. You are always at choice. While sensuality will be invited into the space, no overt sexual behavior will be part of the workshop.

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Hardwiring Happiness: Rewire Your Mind for Calm, Clarity, and Joy

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Shauna Shapiro
Hardwiring Happiness: Rewire Your Mind for Calm, Clarity, and Joy
September 12–14, 2025
September 12–14, 2025
September 12, 2025
September 12–14, 2025

Revolutionary findings in neuroscience have demonstrated that we can literally re-architect the very structure of our brains. In fact, we can even rewire our neurology to be more focused, calmer, and happier.

In this workshop, Dr. Shauna Shapiro — a leading scientist studying the effects of meditation on well-being — will teach you the most powerful science-based practices for increasing the neural pathways of happiness. She’ll explain basic brain science and offer a clear roadmap for living a joyful, connected, and meaningful life. Be prepared for unexpected transformation and delight.

During this weekend workshop, we’ll learn:

  • Science-based practices to increase your baseline level of happiness.
  • How to cultivate greater joy, gratitude, and connection.
  • To integrate these practices into our everyday lives.

Recommended Reading: Good Morning, I Love You: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practices to Rewire the Brain for Calm, Clarity + Joy and Good Morning, I Love You: A Guided Journal for Calm, Clarity + Joy by Shauna Shapiro.

This workshop includes an additional $375 faculty tuition. *For anyone facing financial hardship, Dr. Shauna Shapiro invites you to contact her directly for a tuition scholarship at slshapiro@scu.edu.

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The Cosmic Dance: Tantra and the Energetic Body

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Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Keith Edward Cantú
The Cosmic Dance: Tantra and the Energetic Body
September 12–14, 2025
September 12–14, 2025
September 12, 2025
September 12–14, 2025

How does your body transform in the vast and ever-changing tapestry of the universe? Join Tantric scholar-practitioners Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Keith Edward Cantú as we explore Tantric practices, including the cultivation of energetic bodies, that have the potential to change our internal and external environments.

Together, we will immerse ourselves in the latest research into Indic teachings and practices that challenge and reframe our conventional understandings of what Tantra was, is, and can be. Staying true to the roots of Esalen, we will also intertwine discussion with authentic South Asian folk musical performances, songs, and guided meditations for a creative, visceral experience for the mind, body, and heart. We will cast light on Tantra’s connections to a wide variety of vibrant artistic and meditative practices in an eye-opening and unforgettable way.

In this workshop, you’ll be invited to:

  • Develop an embodied understanding of Tantra.
  • Creatively explore your divine nature and potential.
  • Enjoy the benefits of overcoming negative projections and self-generated illusions.
  • Learn practical modes of meditation, including internal visualization and externalization through mandalas.

We invite both couples and individuals to join us in this workshop that blends meditation, art, and music with a holistic inquiry into Tantra’s power and therapeutic potential to unlock a happier and more fulfilling life. Bring an open mind as we explore deep questions about our bodies and minds in a safe space and nurturing environment.

Please Note: This workshop is NOT about “Tantric Sex” or experiencing enhanced sexual pleasures, although many discussions will address gender identity and sexuality.

This workshop includes $50 of additional faculty tuition.

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Designing the Life We Want: Self Renewal at Summer’s End

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Mark Nicolson
Designing the Life We Want: Self Renewal at Summer’s End
September 19–21, 2025
September 19–21, 2025
September 19, 2025
September 19–21, 2025

Have you created the impact you want? Are you showing up the way you’d like? Are you going in the right direction? You have never before been where you are right now. You have never been the age you are today, never had the experiences you now possess. This is your time to pause and reflect. We rarely allow ourselves the opportunity to stop and look at what is changing — or discover what we truly need to feel fulfilled.

This very interactive workshop will include lots of experiential exercises. Though we will cover valuable theory and there will be plenty of reflection time, this will not be a series of talks/lectures. There will be movement, coaching, a little dance, and lots of opportunity to share insights. Active participation is strongly encouraged; however, participation will always be voluntary.

Our goal is to step back from our lives and renew. We will create a courageous community to challenge,nurture and express ourselves. Participants will have the opportunity to learn what brings them joy and purpose, and then cultivate a vision to serve as a foundation for both the next year and next phase of life.

We will engage in a progression of individual and group exercises focused on reflection, movement, and listening to our inner wisdom. We’ll discover how to navigate major life transitions and learn skills to access our intuition. We will uncover the behaviors that support our overall success, and reveal which ones undermine our goals and fulfillment. If you are passionate about having a more powerful and authentic impact on the world around you, this program of renewal will be especially valuable.

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Beyond Duality: Healing Wisdom and Ceremony for Personal Health and Well‑being

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Erika Gagnon
Beyond Duality: Healing Wisdom and Ceremony for Personal Health and Well‑being
September 22–26, 2025
September 22–26, 2025
September 22, 2025
September 22–26, 2025

Join ceremonial leader and wisdom carrier Erika Gagnon on a sacred journey as we gather to look beyond the false duality of a divided self and the destructive concept of “self versus nature” to discover how to live in harmony and balance within ourselves and the world around us.

You are your greatest healer and greatest medicine, and this is your opportunity to examine what that means while sharing healing wisdom, practices, and ceremonies. This workshop will offer you tools to transform trauma and unhealthy patterns and to realign your body, mind, spirit, and soul, as we explore the origins of dis-ease in our physical, mental-emotional and spiritual bodies.

How can we honor the gifts, and heal the wounds that we have inherited from our ancestors? How can we identify any social, cultural, racial, religious, and historical energies that may be influencing our lives? We will explore all of this, and discuss the importance of ceremonies, sacred altars, and medicinal plants.  You will have the opportunity to participate in a traditional South American healing ceremony, a sound healing and “doctoring” ceremony, and a water blessing prayer ceremony.

You will be 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.

We are all interconnected in this giant web of life, and every day is a gift in the service of unconditional love for yourself, your community, humanity, and our planet. If you feel the call to be a part of a new humanity that lives in harmony and balance upon this Earth, we invite you to join us in this celebration of 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 feeling of gratitude, value, and 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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Moon Lodge: Honoring the Sacred Feminine

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Lucia Horan and Dr. Julie Von
Moon Lodge: Honoring the Sacred Feminine
September 26–28, 2025
September 26–28, 2025
September 26, 2025
September 26–28, 2025

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

Dr. 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.

This workshop includes an additional $100 faculty tuition.

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Authenticity Unleashed: The Science and Soul of Unlocking Your Power, Confidence, and Truth

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Justin Michael Williams
Authenticity Unleashed: The Science and Soul of Unlocking Your Power, Confidence, and Truth
September 26–28, 2025
September 26–28, 2025
September 26, 2025
September 26–28, 2025

What does it truly mean to show up as your authentic self at work, at home, and in all your relationships? How can true authenticity enhance your relationship with yourself and others? What does science have to say about the practice of authenticity?

The good news, research conducted at Harvard University has proven that authenticity is a skill, not a trait—which means you can learn practical methods to become more confident, express your true self, and go after your biggest goals.  When you embrace your authenticity, you unlock the confidence to ask for what you truly want, the courage to step into your power, and the freedom to live a life that feels true to you.  This potent music-infused workshop delivers science-backed, actionable strategies to help you bring your most powerful, authentic self into all areas of your life.

Called an “Inspirational Powerhouse,” Grammy-nominated musician and bestselling author Justin Michael Williams introduces the four skills to build true authenticity that work at every level of your life. Explore tools to enhance your personal and professional relationships, boost confidence, and help you navigate conflict without losing yourself.

In this workshop, you will be invited to:

  • Learn the Harvard-backed science of authenticity and how to apply it in every situation–including at home, in friendships, romantic relationships, at work, in leadership roles, or navigating your next big move in life.
  • Gain the most effective skills to boost confidence and silence inner doubts, overthinking, and anxiety.
  • Discover how to stay authentic during conflict, even in high-stakes conversations.
  • Understand what it means to be your truest, most authentic self and how to express it in any environment—and how to use authenticity to drive success.

This program has been designed from the ground up to include people of all genders, races, identities, and socioeconomic backgrounds and empower everyone to bring their full selves, build lasting connections, and create lives that reflect their deepest truths.

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Resource and Renew: 5Rhythms and Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness

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Lucia Horan
Resource and Renew: 5Rhythms and Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness
September 29 – October 3, 2025
September 29 – October 3, 2025
September 29, 2025
September 29 – October 3, 2025

Through the practices of 5Rhythms dance, mindfulness meditation, and self-care, we weave together a retreat focused on healing and celebration. Looking back over the past few years, it is clear that many of us are exhausted. In times of turmoil and change, self-care and kindness are needed to connect us to the ability to recharge and renew. In order to move forward with energy, passion, and creativity, it is vital to seed these qualities in our daily life so that we may cultivate resilience.

Do you need to integrate more self-care into daily life? Would you like to be better resourced and have more energy? If the answer is yes to either of these questions, you are in perfect alignment to participate in this workshop.

The 5Rhythms is an externalization process that releases and balances the systems of the body through movement. It is a method of dance focused on presence versus performance. We pair this process with seated meditation to quiet the heart and mind, allowing for stillness and integration. Bringing both together mirrors the dance of life. We come together to create an environment that cultivates and nurtures joy, calmness, and ease.

Each session will be primarily focused on Gabrielle Roth’s 5Rhythms moving meditation practice. We will complete each practice with a 10-15-minute seated meditation. Included will be a discourse on 5Rhythms, mindfulness, and self-care. All practices taught during this course lend to the experience and wisdom of resourcing and renewing vital life energy to send you home with skills and tools to apply to your daily life.

This workshop will include:

  • 5Rhythms dance
  • Seated meditation
  • Sharing circles
  • Discourses on mindfulness and 5Rhythms

No experience is necessary. All workshop hours contribute to 5Rhythms® Teachers Training.

This workshop includes an additional $100 faculty tuition.

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You Are Not Your Fault: Meeting ADHD with Mindfulness Wisdom and Compassion

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Mark Coleman
You Are Not Your Fault: Meeting ADHD with Mindfulness Wisdom and Compassion
October 3–5, 2025
October 3–5, 2025
October 3, 2025
October 3–5, 2025

Do you face challenges with focus and time management? Do you struggle with emotional hypersensitivity or frustration tolerance? Do you find it hard to follow through on tasks or commitments? Or to be reliable and consistent? If so, you are not alone.

Millions of people suffer daily from conditions associated with these executive function challenges. Though commonly referred to as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), these symptoms are not limited to this single condition, and they are often exacerbated by our complex, fast-paced, high-tech lives.

ADHD and related issues often leave people with a sense of self-doubt, shame, or unworthiness. The good news is that with mindfulness, compassion, and the application of skillful techniques, it is possible to move through life more effectively with care and wisdom.

In this workshop, through engaging in various mindfulness meditations, loving kindness and forgiveness practices and contemplative inquiry, you will discover how these challenges interrupt our functioning, how to navigate them, and how we can meet ourselves with compassion, forgiveness, and a good sense of humor.

This workshop includes an additional $100 in faculty tuition.

October
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The Art of Non-Sleep Deep Rest: A Rejuvenating Yoga Nidra Retreat

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Kelly Boys
The Art of Non-Sleep Deep Rest: A Rejuvenating Yoga Nidra Retreat
October 3–5, 2025
October 3–5, 2025
October 3, 2025
October 3–5, 2025

In this retreat, you will get in touch with a deep relaxation to rejuvenate the body and the mind through non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) and yoga nidra. No matter your reasons — whether you need a break from the constant pressure, are in a life transition, or just want to delve deeper into your meditation practice — this retreat will provide space and time for contemplation and reflection.

The term non-sleep deep rest, coined by Stanford neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, refers to a waking state of deep relaxation that maintains awareness. Evidence suggests reaching this state through NSDR protocols such as yoga nidra can reset dopamine levels and provide other physical and mental health benefits — including better sleep and enhanced neuroplasticity.

We’ll go on an inner journey together, and the hope is we’ll emerge more connected to both ourselves and our life paths to leave feeling refreshed and deeply rested.

Together, we will:

  • Practice yoga nidra for restoration and rejuvenation.
  • Discover the connection between nondual meditation and yoga nidra for deepening our meditation practices.
  • Reflect on where we are in our lives and leave with a greater sense of self-connection and clarity.
  • Dialogue about meditation for connection and community.
  • Learn about the link between non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) and better sleep.

Suggested Reading: The Blind Spot Effect: How to Stop Missing What’s Right in Front of You, By Kelly Boys

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Integrative Gestalt Practice™: Presence, Authentic Connection, and Trust in Times of Change

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Perry Holloman and Johanna Holloman
Integrative Gestalt Practice™: Presence, Authentic Connection, and Trust in Times of Change
October 6–10, 2025
October 6–10, 2025
October 6, 2025
October 6–10, 2025

Gestalt is, at its heart, an awareness practice — one that invites us to be fully present with what is. This presence becomes the portal through which insight, inner guidance, and emotional regulation naturally emerge.

Gestalt practice allows us to connect with what is real and true for us — beyond old patterns, assumptions, habitual self-judgments, or the need to fix ourselves. Integrative Gestalt Practice™, developed by Perry and Johanna Holloman over the past 30 years, combines deep awareness with embodied exploration, offering practical tools to navigate life’s transitions, relationships, and inner questions with greater clarity and authenticity.

In this workshop, we’ll guide you step by step in Integrative Gestalt Practice, a deeply experiential approach that engages body, heart, and mind. Through structured inquiries, breath practices, and movement, you will explore how awareness unfolds in real time and how it can bring clarity and a deeper connection to yourself and others. Group exercises, dyadic and triadic explorations, and guided self-inquiry will provide a dynamic space for transformation.

During this workshop, you will:

  • Learn Gestalt-based self-inquiry practices that deepen awareness and connection.
  • Engage in breath and movement-based exercises to access embodied wisdom.
  • Work in dyads and triads to practice deep listening to one another and your own soul’s unfolding wisdom.
  • Participate in guided group processes that create a dynamic space for transformation.
  • Some participants will also have the opportunity to engage in individual “open seat” sessions with Perry and Johanna, supported by the group’s presence.

By deepening your capacity for presence and authentic connection, you cultivate trust in yourself and life itself, even in the midst of uncertainty. Join us for an immersive experience to create a stronger sense of agency, clarity, and connection to your own inner wisdom.

Recommended Reading: Gestalt Therapy Verbatim by Frederick S. Perls and Steve Andreas and The Unfolding Now by A. H. Almaas

This workshop includes an additional $50 in faculty tuition.

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Vibrant Silence: Qigong, Breath and Meditation

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Jim Gallas
Vibrant Silence: Qigong, Breath and Meditation
October 6–10, 2025
October 6–10, 2025
October 6, 2025
October 6–10, 2025

Our awareness of energy both expands and becomes more subtle as we deepen into relaxation.

The ancient Chinese practice of Qigong, often translated as “cultivating Life Force”, is a system of movement that relaxes and energizes the body/mind. You will find this form “Wai Dan Gong” easy to learn and a powerful means of  experiencing Life Force in and around you. We will enjoy moving on the Earth, under the heavens, while gazing at the Pacific. Wai Dan Gong is an excellent preparation for sitting, walking and standing meditation. Two mornings will be held as a retreat, we will keep noble silence until lunch. At other times we will share with compassion and humor our experiences of riding the wild waves of the mind.

In this rejuvenating retreat we will explore:

  • the 25 movements of Wai Dan Gong.
  • shorter Qigong sequences for ease in daily practice.
  • sitting meditation (you may sit in a chair).
  • walking and standing meditations.
  • gentle meridian stretches.
  • a full body self massage routine.
  • the six healing sounds.
  • simple breath practices.

Please come ready to enjoy a deep sense of ease and an expanded sense of the energy body.

Recommended reading: The way of Qigong by Kenneth Cohen

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Return to Belonging: The Heart of Who We Are

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Caverly Morgan
Return to Belonging: The Heart of Who We Are
October 20–24, 2025
October 20–24, 2025
October 20, 2025
October 20–24, 2025

We all long to be happy. We all long to feel at ease, to be at peace, and to know that we’re okay and we belong. When it feels like the world is on fire, when divisiveness is commonplace, it can seem harder than ever to access such belonging — both personally and collectively.

Most of us are deeply habituated to believe that we are separate — from one another, from the world, and even from ourselves. We are habituated to fall for the story that we must fix ourselves in order to earn and experience deep connection.

We forget that belonging is already seated in the heart of who we are — and that it’s always available if only we look within. When we do, we can transform far more than just our own lives.

Ask yourself these questions:

  • Have you ever touched this peace, this contentment, this deep return to belonging but then feared losing this experience?
  • Have you ever struggled because you recognized the world around you did not reflect this experience of your true nature?
  • When faced with the enormity of the collective problems before us, have you wondered how one individual’s spiritual practice can make a tangible difference in our world?

These questions will guide our time together as we explore how meditation, mindfulness, and contemplative technologies can — and must — be applied collectively. Our daily meditation practice will serve as a framework onto which we will begin to weave teachings with personal reflections. You will have the opportunity to connect to yourself, others, and the world beyond in solo and group exercises and discussions that inspire us to put our values into action.

Join us in this return to belonging — this remembering of the deepest truth of who we are — with the intention of using this understanding to transform our own lives and the world we share.

Recommended reading: The Heart of Who We Are: Realizing Freedom Together by Caverly Morgan

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The Body of Belonging: An Exploration of Community and Connection

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Rahshaana Green
The Body of Belonging: An Exploration of Community and Connection
October 20–24, 2025
October 20–24, 2025
October 20, 2025
October 20–24, 2025

The Body of Belonging invites you to explore feelings of kinship, acceptance, and community on a somatic level, identifying the elements most significant to you. Through gentle yoga-inspired movement, breathwork, sound, and meditation, we will engage in self-inquiry practices within a group setting. Together, we will create a safe and brave space to experiment with accessing a sense of belonging. Drawing from ancient and Indigenous wisdom, we will work toward dismantling the individualistic ways of being that contribute to our growing sense of separateness.

Loneliness is an epidemic eroding the fabric of who we are as a collective. It is so prevalent in the United States that the surgeon general has issued an advisory to call attention to the importance of social connection for individual and community-wide health. The hyperindividualism that has been promoted as our best way of “succeeding” has left us feeling lost and alienated. In our overfocus on self, we’ve lost sight of how connection, community, and a felt sense of belonging are central to our well-being.  

Participants will be invited to connect with their individual needs as it relates to belonging. They will build skillfulness in advocating for belonging by centering and nourishing connection and community to realize the resilience that comes with healthy interdependence.

October
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Healing Waters: Return to One

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Douglas Drummond and Little Bear Tom Nason with Guest Musicians Sanga of the Valley, Nick Ayers and Guest Faculty Mac Murphy
Healing Waters: Return to One
November 10–14, 2025
November 10–14, 2025
November 10, 2025
November 10–14, 2025

We invite you to step into a powerful, immersive experience weaving the dynamic energy of 5Rhythms® movement with the deep wisdom of Indigenous traditions. Rooted in the teachings of the Esselen people, this workshop is an invitation to reconnect — with yourself, your community, and the natural world.

For millennia, rites of passage and sacred ceremonies have marked the transitions of life to foster deep connection and a sense of belonging. Today, many of these traditions have been lost or fragmented, leaving us yearning for meaning and community.. In this weeklong journey, we’ll honor the wisdom of the past while creating space for a new kind of homecoming — one that transcends gender, background, and experience.

Through guided movement, storytelling, and shared rituals, we’ll celebrate diversity and unity, embracing both what makes us unique and what brings us together. This is a space for authentic expression and deep listening, where every story and background is honored.

This workshop is a collaborative initiative as part of the healing and reconciliation process between Esalen Institute, participating faculty, and the Esselen Tribe.

What to expect:
  • Embodied movement to awaken self-awareness
  • Captivating storytelling that bridges cultures and fosters connection
  • Rituals and ceremonies celebrating our shared humanity
  • A welcoming space where you can fully express yourself

No prior movement experience is needed — just a willingness to explore and connect. No choreography, no expectations, only the freedom to move, feel, connect, and express.

Come as you are. Return to One.

This workshop includes an additional $110 of faculty tuition.

November
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The Beauty of Simplicity

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Jovinna Chan
The Beauty of Simplicity
November 10–14, 2025
November 10–14, 2025
November 10, 2025
November 10–14, 2025

Breathe. Move. Pay Attention. These three simple actions, natural and always available to us, provide potency to our vitality. They are the legs and wings that carry us into the three worlds within us — the physical, the subtle, and the mystical.

Join Jovinna on the sacred land Esalen Institute resides upon to slow down, reclaim the use of your time and mind, and return to that which holds the deepest meaning. Here, you can inhabit your body, refine your senses, expand your mind and heart, and rest in the simplicity of being.

During this experiential week, you will explore:

  • Deep meditative yoga, breath awareness, and conscious dance
  • Time and ceremony in nature
  • Sound healing
  • Contemplation on the subtle body through the lens of the chakra system

Let’s harvest and give thanks to the natural flow of life force, harmony, and magic surrounding us during our time together. And to dedicate the fruit of our time to all sentient beings and the well-being of our lands.

Please bring a journal. Jovinna invites you to detox from or minimize the use of all electronics during your stay at Esalen.

This workshop includes an additional $55 in faculty tuition.

November
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Meditation and Modern Life: A Zen Meditation Retreat

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Dan Zigmond
Meditation and Modern Life: A Zen Meditation Retreat
November 14–16, 2025
November 14–16, 2025
November 14, 2025
November 14–16, 2025

When was the last time you gave something your undivided attention? Nearly 2,500 years ago, Buddha worried we had become too distracted — and that was before paper, let alone smartphones. In 2022, our days are filled with convenient distractions that promise happiness while mostly delivering busyness and frustration. So many of us today live life in a hectic fog, working too much and noticing too little.

There is a different way. For this weekend workshop, we will disconnect, slow down, and meditate together. We will learn the ancient Zen practice of sitting still, bringing our full awareness to what is now.

Our time together will follow a gentle schedule of sitting meditation punctuated by brief lectures, group discussion, relaxing meals, and soaks in the healing baths, all while exploring the process and practice of mindful living. We’ll be listening to our own bodies, noticing the food we eat, and truly engaging with the people around us – exploring what it means to be fully present.

Together we will explore everything you need to start, revive, or deepen your daily meditation practice. You will receive instruction in traditional Zen Buddhist meditation and we will sit together in guided sessions, practicing what we’ve learned. We’ll work together on everything from the mechanics of sitting posture to the mental barriers we all face. We’ll discuss how to overcome common obstacles to meditation and the many ways to incorporate more mindfulness and presence into our daily lives.

Whether you’re brand new to meditation or even if you’ve been practicing for years, join us in learning how to bring meditation into your life and mindfulness to your work and home – today and every day. Come reclaim a healthier and happier way to be.

Recommended Reading: Buddha’s Office, by Dan Zigmond

November
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Awaken Your Extraordinary Potential with Integral Transformative Practice® (ITP)

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Pam Kramer and Max Gaenslen
Awaken Your Extraordinary Potential with Integral Transformative Practice® (ITP)
November 14–16, 2025
November 14–16, 2025
November 14, 2025
November 14–16, 2025

Practice is a seedbed of miracles. —Esalen Institute Co-Founder Michael Murphy

What positive shift would create the most meaningful change in your life right now?

Your extraordinary potential is built into your DNA and awaits your discovery. In this enlivening workshop, experience the essence of Integral Transformative Practice® (ITP), a living platform for growth, well-being, and evolution. Created by Esalen Institute luminaries Michael Murphy and George Leonard, ITP focuses on the interconnectedness of all aspects of the self to support the changes you want most — for yourself and the world.

This experiential journey weaves movement, writing, and sharing circles so you can listen deeply to the wisdom of your whole being, revealing who you are, who you’re becoming, and your next natural steps. Using the body as a guide for learning, we’ll engage in solo, partner, and group energy-awareness practices developed by ITP Co-Founder and Master Aikido Sensei George Leonard. We’ll also explore a revitalizing daily practice to restore balance, boost energy, and invite deep relaxation —one that can be integrated as a supportive tool for everyday life.

You are invited to:

  • See life through a refreshing new lens.
  • Uncover hidden insights.
  • Align with your natural rhythms.
  • Nurture personal autonomy for the journey ahead.

By applying the integral model of body, mind, heart, and soul — a portal to our innate wholeness — we’ll also explore the worldview that gave rise to Esalen Institute, where this transformative practice was developed. This evolutionary framework offers a pathway to our extraordinary potential, our individual connection to wholeness, which is ready to emerge.

Recommended reading: The Life we are Given, by Michael Murphy & George Leonard & Living an Extraordinary Life: The Magic of Integral Transformative Practice, by Christina Grote & Pam Kramer

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Designing the Life We Want: Self Renewal in the Fall

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Mark Nicolson with Guest Faculty Caitlin Wild
Designing the Life We Want: Self Renewal in the Fall
November 17–21, 2025
November 17–21, 2025
November 17, 2025
November 17–21, 2025

Have you created the impact you want? Are you showing up the way you’d like? Are you going in the right direction? You have never before been where you are right now. You have never been the age you are today, never had the experiences you now possess. This is your time to pause and reflect. We rarely allow ourselves the opportunity to stop and look at what is changing — or discover what we truly need to feel fulfilled.

This very interactive workshop will include lots of experiential exercises. Though we will cover valuable theory and there will be plenty of reflection time, this will not be a series of talks/lectures. There will be movement, coaching, a little dance, and lots of opportunity to share insights. Active participation is strongly encouraged; however, participation will always be voluntary.

Our goal is to step back from our lives and renew. We will create a courageous community to challenge,nurture and express ourselves. Participants will have the opportunity to learn what brings them joy and purpose, and then cultivate a vision to serve as a foundation for both the next year and next phase of life.

We will engage in a progression of individual and group exercises focused on reflection, movement, and listening to our inner wisdom. We’ll discover how to navigate major life transitions and learn skills to access our intuition. We will uncover the behaviors that support our overall success, and reveal which ones undermine our goals and fulfillment. If you are passionate about having a more powerful and authentic impact on the world around you, this program of renewal will be especially valuable.

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The Spirit Bridge: A Portal Between Realms

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Aja Daashuur
The Spirit Bridge: A Portal Between Realms
November 17–21, 2025
November 17–21, 2025
November 17, 2025
November 17–21, 2025

There’s a threshold where the seen and unseen meet. A bridge between this life and the spirit world — and we can learn how to access it with openness, practice, and trust.

Join AJA Daashuur, medium and spiritual guide, for this weeklong experience designed to open the veil between worlds and deepen your personal connection to Spirit.  As the creator of the CCCE Method (Connect, Channel, Clear, Embody), AJA weaves together powerful channeling, energetic healing, and soul-aligned embodiment to help you step into your highest intuitive expression.

This workshop bring you to that liminal space—a place to receive, remember, and realign. With AJA as your guide, you’ll cross into this space where messages flow, past and future selves meet, and the love of your Spirit Guides becomes undeniably real.

During your time with AJA, you will be invited to:

  • Expand your intuitive gifts through grounded psychic development and practical daily rituals.
  • Create and connect with your own Spirit Language, a unique channel of communication between you and your guides.
  • Explore past and future life progressions to unlock insight into your soul’s path and purpose.
  • Engage in supportive practice circles that foster trust, feedback, and a sense of sacred community.
  • Discover energetic modalities that align with your natural frequency and deepen your spiritual toolkit.

The Spirit Bridge is more than an experience — it’s a passage back to your deepest knowing. Step across with us. Your guides are already waiting.

Please bring your favorite oracle deck and a journal to use throughout the week.

November
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Are you looking to immerse yourself in the peace, space, and natural majestic beauty of our campus without taking a workshop?

Choose Your Dates
Letting go of entrenched ideas — who we are, how the world works, our place in it — is a challenge. It takes energy. Time. Space. Security. This growth encourages us to examine ourselves and understand our connection to the whole. This more flexible, less structured model of change encompasses both personal and communal, aligning with the core of our mission. Self-Guided Explorations are designed to function outside of the group structures of our workshops for a more freeform, spacious healing journey. These experiences are for those who want to immerse themselves in the peace, space, and natural majestic beauty of our campus, exploring the edges of personal growth and open group classes when compelled. The beauty of our Big Sur campus supports serenity for the mind, the body, the spirit, and offers nourishment for all three. Exploring human potential.Our dynamic open class schedule changes weekly, but always features opportunities to sit in meditation and mindfulness, explore embodiment and movement practices, and connect with nature. An opening circle, hosted by an Esalen Staff member or a visiting teacher, welcomes you as you begin your stay. A closing circle on the final day provides a reflective conclusion to your time with us. Feeding mind and body.Savor three hearty, healthy meals per day. Our kitchen draws on global culinary traditions, using the fruits of the Esalen Farm & Garden and other local Big Sur providers to create delicious meals that support holistic health — for you and for the earth.Creating space for reflection.Esalen’s beloved mineral hot springs perch dramatically over the Pacific Ocean, a juxtaposition of intimate and infinite. A core part of Esalen from its inception, the baths and tubs are an ideal place to reflect, find clarity, and set new intentions.
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