We humans are curious and since time immemorial, think deeply about non ordinary states of consciousness. This fall, embark on a weeklong campus-wide transformative journey of self-discovery with Esalen community as we delve into the depths of the mind through African ritual and sacred art, dream and sleep yoga modalities, and Holotropic breathwork.
This annual program is a unique opportunity to explore our capacity to reach an altered state of consciousness, expand awareness, and tap into the uncharted realms of the mind through our breath and body. Together with leading edge faculty: Marques Redd, Stacia Butterfield, and Andrew Holecek — through an amalgam of pathways we will experience how when we alter our state of consciousness we can shift personal and global challenges into individual and collective opportunities.
While psychotropic plant medicines can induce altered states of consciousness, humans have been gifted with the ability to induce these states on our own. Using our breath and our dreams as portals, just as ancient cultures have been doing for centuries, we can open up and explore our individual and collective consciousness.
The week-long event features an array of drop-in classes by day and community events by night. Please choose and register for a pathway from the below three options. These pathways offer an opportunity to break out into smaller cohorts and dive more deeply into your selected modality. These experiences are held on Tuesday and as part of Wednesday’s schedule.
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Explore Holotropic Breathwork® as a pathway to reach non-ordinary states of consciousness. For thousands of years and across many cultures, breath work has been used to induce enhanced state of consciousness as a strategy for meaningful transformation and self-exploration. These states can mark life’s major transitions and rites of passage and deepen one’s connection to self, community, and the natural world. Participants will participate in two Holotropic Breathwork sessions, one as “breather” and one as “sitter.”
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According to Nigerian-Igbo myth-science, human history can be divided into Four World Ages: eras of Divine Unity, Separation, Civilization, and Chaos. Blending visual art, traditional African cosmology and ritual, and creative expression, this pathway invites profound engagement with ancient wisdom and personal discovery. Participants will watch a film that explores these four stages, and then experience these stages through guided visualizations and breathwork. Participants will create oracle card decks based on images from the film for dream realm guidance.
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The five nocturnal meditations allow you to explore and stabilize altered states of consciousness with full lucidity every night. Those meditations are a unique form of “night school” and include: liminal dreaming, lucid dreaming, dream yoga, yoga nidra, and bardo yoga. These five meta-meditations can open the aperture of your mind, and give you access codes to hack into previously restricted domains of consciousness. Together we will explore how to take the light of lucidity into the dream world and back into daily life, using it to illuminate and transform our reality.
Stacia Butterfield is a certified Holotropic Breathwork® practitioner with 15 years of dedicated service and close work with Stanislav Grof, the originator of Holotropic Breathwork and a pioneering psychedelic researcher. She has also been a senior staff member coordinating, facilitating, and teaching residential training retreats across the US for many years.
Marques Redd is a traditional African cosmologist, independent scholar, filmmaker, sculptor, and art curator based in Pittsburgh, PA. He has degrees from Harvard and UC-Berkeley and has trained in Afro-Cuban, ancient Egyptian, Yoruba, Dogon, Igbo, and Dagara spiritual systems.
Andrew Holecek has completed the traditional three-year Buddhist meditation retreat and offers seminars internationally on meditation, lucid dreaming, and the art of dying. He is the author of many books, including The Power and the Pain and Preparing to Die.
Additional details will be posted as they become available.
Monday
5:00 pm – 5:45 pm * How to Drop into Esalen *
7:15 pm – 9:30 pm Opening Circle
Tuesday
7:30 am – 8:30 am Drop in classes
10:00 am – 12:30 pm Pathway Specific Breakout
2:30 pm – 6:30 pm Holotropic Breathwork Breakout
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm African Ritual and Sacred Art Breakout
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm Five Nocturnal Meditations Breakout
Wednesday
9:30 am – 12:30 pm Holotropic Breathwork Breakout
9:30 am – 12:30 pm Five Nocturnal Meditations Breakout
10:00 am – 12:30 pm African Ritual and Sacred Art Breakout
4:00 pm – 6:30 pm Drop in classes
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm Drop in classes
Thursday
7:30 am – 12:30 pm Drop in classes
4:00 pm – 6:30 pm Drop in classes
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm Drop in classes
Friday
10:00 am – 12:30 pm Closing Circle
See general schedule information including arrival, departure and meal times.
MONDAY
After 2:00 pm
Arrive at Esalen
5:00 pm – 5:45 pm
How to Drop Into Esalen
7:15 pm – 9:30 pm
Opening Ceremony
TUESDAY
7:30 am – 8:30 am
Optional Morning Movement
10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Path-Specific Morning Session
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Path-Specific Afternoon Session
7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Campus-Wide Evening Event
WEDNESDAY
7:30 am – 8:30 am
Optional Morning Movement
10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Path-Specific Closing Session
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Drop-in Classes TBD
7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Campus-Wide Evening Event
THURSDAY
7:30 am – 8:30 am
Optional Morning Movement
10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Drop-in Classes TBD
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Drop-in Classes TBD
7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Campus-Wide Evening Event
FRIDAY
7:30 am – 8:30 am
Optional Morning Movement
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Closing Ceremony
By 2:00 pm
Depart Esalen
The all-inclusive tuition for this workshop ranges from $1200 to $8300 depending on the type of accommodation selected. Select a Path and click Register Now for more information about accommodations, including availability.
We offer scholarship funds for those with financial need. Learn more.
Choose Your Path