January 2005 Esalen Catalog

Transcription

The Esalen Catalog
January– June 2005
®
JAMES WVINNER
January – June 2005
®
The word itself summons up tantalizing visions of adventure, of unexplored frontiers, of human possibilities yet
to be realized. There is the wonder of the place itself, 120 acres of fertile land carved out between mountain and ocean,
blessed by a cascading canyon stream and hot mineral springs gushing out of a seaside cliff. There is the delicate and subtle
Big Sur air of a late afternoon in May, the midnight mist of July, the drenching February rain. There are October nights so
clear the Milky Way can light your walk along the darkened garden path. And always there is the sound of the sea.
And then there are the people—the people who live there and love the land, and the 300,000 more who have come
from all over the world to participate in Esalen’s forty-year-long Olympics of the body, mind, and spirit, committing
themselves not so much to “stronger, faster, higher” as to deeper, richer, more enduring.
They come for the intellectual freedom to consider systems of thought and feeling that lie beyond the
current constraints of mainstream academia. They come to discover ancient wisdom in the motion of the body, poetry
in the pulsing of the blood. They come to rediscover the miracle of self-aware consciousness. At best, they come away
inspired by the precision of a desire to learn and keep on learning through all of life.
Esalen is a place with a global reach. It is a place, as Thomas Wolfe said about America,
where miracles not only happen but where they happen all the time.
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contents
Volume xliv, Number i
Esalen Institute
55000 Highway 1
Big Sur, California 93920-9546
Catalog Requests: 831-667-3000,
ext. 7100
Esalen Board of Trustees:
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
Lawrence Downing
Mary Ellen Klee
George Leonard
Nancy Lunney-Wheeler
David Lustig
Michael Murphy
Lyle Poncher
Marilyn Schlitz
Gordon Wheeler
Executive Director:
Andy Nusbaum
Executive Director of Programming:
Nancy Lunney-Wheeler
Catalog Subscription Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Gazebo School Park Early Childhood Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Esalen Catalog Staff:
Editor: Peter Friedberg
Administrative Liaisons: Pamela LeRoy
& Lena Axelsson
Design & Production: Terry McGrath
Guide to Workshops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
The Esalen Catalog is published
triannually by the Esalen Institute,
Big Sur, California 93920-9546.
Printed on recycled paper.
©2004 Esalen Institute.
All rights reserved.
ISSN 1088-2782
Seminar Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Subscription Information:
Esalen Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Friends of Esalen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Continuing Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Esalen Seminars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
The Heart of Yoga: A Festival of Practice and Devotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Special Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Work Study Program and Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75-78
Biographical Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
Reservation Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86
Scholarship Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86
Reservation Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
Subscription cost for one year is $15
for the United States and $25 for all
other countries. Please send a check
or money order (U.S. currency) in the
enclosed subscription envelope, or
mail it to: Subscriptions, Esalen
Institute, Big Sur, CA 93920.
Although we’re delighted to provide
you with this issue of the catalog, if
you are not currently a subscriber we
would appreciate a $5 contribution to
defray postage and production costs.
Please use the enclosed subscription
envelope.
cover photograph: © 2004 Les May
Learning is like rowing upstream:
not to advance is to drop back.
—Chinese proverb
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This catalog is printed on New Leaf Opaque, made
with 30% post-consumer waste, processed chlorine free.
By using this environmentally friendly paper, Esalen
saved the following resources:
trees: 64 fully grown
solid waste: 3,014 lbs.
water: 44,389 gallons
greenhouse gases: 7,519 lbs.
energy: 51 million BTUs
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general information
T
he esalen institute was founded in 1962 as an alternative educational center devoted to the exploration of
what Aldous Huxley called the “human
potential,” the world of unrealized human
capacities that lies beyond the imagination.
Esalen soon became known worldwide for its
blend of East/West philosophies, its experiential/didactic workshops, the steady influx of
philosophers, psychologists, artists, and religious thinkers, and its breathtaking grounds
blessed with natural hot springs. Once home
to a Native American tribe known as the
Esselen, Esalen is situated on the spectacular
Big Sur coastline with the Santa Lucia
Mountains rising sharply behind.
There are various ways to experience Esalen,
ranging from an overnight visit to a long-term
stay as a seminarian. The weekend and fiveday workshops described in the Seminars section of the catalog are the standard route for
coming to Esalen. The “Experiencing Esalen”
workshops, scheduled periodically, offer an
introduction to practices such as Gestalt, massage, sensory awareness, and meditation.
From such a sampling, participants can then
choose those approaches they are most
attracted to and pursue them in subsequent
seminars.
Another way of being at Esalen which allows
a greater involvement at a lower expense is
the Work Study Program, an intensive 28-day
work-oriented program for individuals who
want to make a directed commitment to selfexploration and growth, and a contribution to
the Esalen community. For a full description
of the Work Study Program, please turn to
page 75.
For those who wish an extended stay, there
are periodic long-term programs which
involve didactic seminars or professional
trainings as well as experiential workshops.
Yet another way to experience Esalen is a
Personal Retreat, which gives guests the
opportunity to nourish body, mind, heart, and
soul without participating in an Esalen workshop. Those on Personal Retreat may use the
baths, attend yoga and movement classes,
meditate in the Round House, create in the
Art Barn, and enjoy the Esalen grounds.
Finally, there are other events that enrich life
at Esalen. There are occasional forums in
which writers and thinkers, both visiting and
resident, share their ideas with the community. On Wednesday nights there may be lec-
tures, films, dance performances, or other
events. Bodywork of various kinds is available
by appointment with individual practitioners.
There is also a community event schedule
offered. Please check the bulletin board when
you arrive.
Esalen is a center for experimental education.
We offer neither psychotherapy nor assurances
of change.
Esalen is a 45-mile drive south from
Monterey, 11 miles south of Nepenthe, on
Coast Route 1. From the south, we are 50
miles north of Hearst Castle. A lighted sign
on the ocean side of the highway reads:
Esalen Institute, By Reservation Only.
The Hot Springs at Esalen
We would like those people who are planning
their first visit to Esalen to know that swimsuits are optional, and nudity common, in the
hot springs, massage area, and swimming pool.
We encourage each individual to choose what
is most comfortable, either wearing a swimsuit or not, and emphasize that the environment we strive for at Esalen is one of personal
sanctuary and respect for the human body.
match parents’ workshop hours. Daytime
activities for the children include gardening,
pony rides, learning about animal care,
exploring nature, a real boat, the magic castle,
and an Indian tepee. Evenings are spent with
a teacher in the Gazebo Farmhouse, engaged
in activities that are age-appropriate, such as
reading, learning and playing with the computer, baking, arts and crafts, or buildingblock play. See page 87 for Gazebo reservation
information.
Disabled Access
Here at Esalen, many of our paths, though
paved, are extremely steep due to our cliffside
location. We are in the process of increasing
our disability access; however, access to some
parts of our property remains difficult.
Nonetheless, we are committed to accommodating guests who have disabilities. If you
have a disability and think you might need
assistance during your stay at Esalen, please
discuss your needs when making your reservation, at least 72 hours in advance of your
arrival, so that we can accommodate your
needs as best as possible. If you are in need of
sign language interpretation for an Esalen
workshop, please notify us at least 2 weeks
prior to your workshop to enable us to
arrange for an interpreter. In all cases, we
will do our best to meet your needs.
Accreditation and
Continuing Education
Many formal educational institutions recognize the time spent at Esalen as being worthy
of credit in their own curricula; check with
your university or college. We would be glad
to supply information to your school regarding any of our programs.
Friends of Esalen
Esalen is a provider of continuing education
for psychologists, MFTs, LCSWs, nurses,
teachers, and bodyworkers. See page 5 for
details.
• A $50 reduction in tuition for all
workshops over the next 12 months
• Friends of Esalen newsletters for one year
• A tax deduction under IRS section 501(c)3
for the amount of the donation
The Gazebo School Park
Early Childhood Program
The Gazebo School Park is a unique educational experience for children one to six years. It is
open year-round and has an average of 15 to
20 children in attendance each day.
The Early Childhood Program is available to
children who come with their parents to
experience Esalen. The program’s hours
We invite you to become a Friend of Esalen.
Your donation of $50 or more will benefit our
programs and help build Esalen’s long-term
financial base (see page 4). As a Friend of
Esalen you will receive the following benefits:
Esalen Is Tax-deductible
Contributions to Esalen Institute are taxdeductible. The expenses of attending Esalen,
including travel, are deductible for federal
income tax purposes as an educational
expense if incurred to maintain or improve
professional or work skills.
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esalen notes
Mid-Point House Available
to Esalen Guests
Esalen’s Mid-Point House is available as an
upgraded accommodation alternative for seminarians and room and board guests. Nestled
behind the lush Esalen Garden at the edge of
the coastal cliff, the Mid-Point House features
a redwood deck overlooking the Pacific, a
comfortably furnished living room, and a
full kitchen. For details, please call the Esalen
office at 831-667-3005.
Esalen program, drawing on our leaders and
other resources. Ten bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a kitchen, dining room, and meeting
room make it possible to house group members together, thereby enhancing the retreat
environment.
We schedule all conferences a year in
advance. To schedule or discuss possible formats, please contact conference coordinators
Pamela LeRoy and Lena Axelsson at 831-6673038.
Scheduling Private
Conferences at Esalen
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
It is possible to arrange for your group or
organization to hold its conferences at Esalen.
We can accommodate large groups (up to 175)
on a space-available basis.
Smaller groups may schedule private conferences in our renovated Big House. This facility is available for individuals who work
together and would like to design their own
the friends of esalen
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A
s a Friend of Esalen you can help ensure Esalen’s place in
the world. It is through the generosity of friends like you
that Esalen can continue its mission of developing
human potential. Your support not only benefits current
programs but helps secure Esalen’s long-term financial future.
Donations provide support for the scholarship fund, the movement
program, Gazebo School, special projects such as renovations and
equipment replacement, and Esalen’s Center for Theory and Research.
As a way of showing our gratitude, Friends who donate $50 or more
will receive a $50 reduction on all catalog workshops for the next
twelve months. Donors will also receive the Esalen Catalog and a
triannual Friends of Esalen newsletter for one year.
Donor Levels:
• Sustaining Donors ($500+) and above receive a single-use day pass
with lunch for two at Esalen, and acknowledgment in the newsletter (unless the donor wishes to remain anonymous).
• Benefactors ($1000+) receive an autographed copy of Michael
Murphy and George Leonard’s book, The Life We are Given.
• Group 2000 Donors ($2000+) receive invitations to attend special
events at Esalen with staff, board members, and other supporters.
• Founders Circle Donors and above ($5,000+) receive special benefits
which may include additional discounts, complimentary workshops,
and property privileges. Please call 831-667-3032 for more details.
If you would like information on how to make a planned gift to
Esalen, how to donate stock, or if you have any other questions
about gifts to Esalen, please contact Nancy Worcester at 831-6673032.
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Basic Donor...........................$50+
Supporting Donor ............$100+
Sustaining Donor..............$500+
Benefactor........................$1,000+
Group 2000 ......................$2,000+
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Founders Circle ................$5,000+
Partners Circle ................$15,000+
Patrons Circle..................$30,000+
Anniversary Circle ........$50,000+
Trustees Circle ..............$100,000+
Name_________________________________________________ Phone_______________________
Address _______________________________________________________________________________
City _________________________________________ State ____________ Zip ________________
E-mail _________________________________________________________________________________
Please make checks payable to Esalen Institute, in U.S. currency
drawn on a U.S. bank, or use one of the charge cards listed below:
q MasterCard
q Visa
q American Express
Amount________________ Card No._________________________________________________
Signature____________________________________________ Exp. Date __________________
Please complete this form or the inside flap of the envelope insert included in the
catalog and return with your gift. Check the box on the outside of the envelope
marked “Friends of Esalen.” Thank you for your support.
Esalen Institute is a nonprofit public charity corporation, exempt from income
tax under IRC section 501(c)(3). Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent
allowable by law.
continuing education programs
Please note: All two-day workshops offer 10
hours of CE credit and all five-day workshops offer
26 hours. If you wish to receive a certificate, please
notify your workshop leader. There is a $10 fee for
each certificate of completion, payable to the office.
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Visionseeker II: Spirit Medicine
Esalen Massage: A Path to Relaxation
Psychic and Intuitive Healing
The Burning Story
Table Shiatsu I
Drugs, the Mind, and the Body
Choosing Aliveness and Intimacy
28-Day Massage Certification Program
Felt Sense: Writing With the Body
Agents of Therapeutic Change
Understanding and Treatment of Trauma
Upledger Visceral Manipulation I-A
Healing Repetitive Stress Injury with CFR
Images of Desire
Enhancement of Peak Performance
Trauma Consciousness and the Body
Awakening Your Mind
The “Pointing Out” Way—Meditation
Experiencing the Lightness of Being
Embryological Embodiment of Space
Intro to Gestalt Awareness Practice
Being Present for Your Life: Meditation
Yoga—Anatomy and Biomechanics
Eight Weeks to Optimum Health
Basic Acupressure: Clinical Applications
Gestalt Awareness Practice
Advanced Massage Intensive
From Good to Great
Self Awakening: The Ultimate Medicine
Awakening The Creative
Finding Your Voice, Writing Deeper
Eating, Food, and the Body/Self
Focusing: The Inner Relationship
Performing the Personal
Alchemy in Character Restructuring
Balance: You’re Only Young Once but…
The Politics of Trust/Worthiness
Mindfulness and Heartfulness
The Highly Sensitive Person
Integrating Somatic & Psychological Process
Massage Intensive: Elemental Esalen Massage
Esalen Massage Intensive
It’s Time: No One is Coming to Save You
Mind, Mood, and Happiness
Fanning the Embers of the Higher Self
Vocal Power—Harnessing the Power Within
Senses Wide Open
Spring Cleanse: Eat Your Way to Aliveness
The Healing Promise of Qi
Completions and Transitions
The Power of Patience
Harm Reduction: Gestalt Therapy
Pandora’s Gifts: Secrets, Health, and Healing
Feldenkrais, Meditation, and Awareness
Touching from the Heart
Traditional Thai Medical Massage
Free Your Breath, Free Your Life
Developing Love, Leadership, Awareness
Overcoming the Inheritance Taboo
Weekend Massage Intensive
The Four-Fold Way
Drawing with Color
Stone Sole Connection
Visionseeker I: Shamanism
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Mar 20-25
Mar 20-25
Mar 25-27
Mar 27-Apr 1
Mar 27-Apr 1
Apr 1-3
Apr 1-3
Apr 3-May 1
Apr 3-8
Apr 8-10
Apr 10-15
Apr 10-15
Apr 15-24
Apr 15-17
Apr 15-17
Apr 15-17
Apr 17-24
Apr 17-24
Apr 24-29
Apr 29-May 1
Apr 29-May 1
Apr 29-May 1
May 1-6
May 1-6
May 1-6
May 1-6
May 8-20
May 8-13
May 8-13
May 8-13
May 8-13
May 13-15
May 13-15
May 15-20
May 15-20
May 15-20
May 20-22
May 20-22
May 20-22
May 22-27
May 22-27
May 27-29
May 27-29
May 27-29
May 29-June 3
May 29-June 3
May 29-June 3
May 29-June 3
June 5-10
June 5-10
June 10-12
June 10-12
June 17-19
June 17-19
June 17-19
June 19-24
June 19-24
June 19-24
June 24-26
June 24-26
June 26-July 1
June 26-July 1
June 26-July 1
June 26-July 1
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Teachers interested in CE credits (through
Chapman University), please contact Nancy
Knapp, Ed.D., at 831-644-2685, for full details.
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Prayer of the Heart
Retreat as a Spiritual Practice
Releasing the Self and Healing the Exiles
The Transformative Power of Storytelling
Find Your Inner Rhythm
Process Work—Transformation of Everyday
From Spine to Spirit: A Yoga Intensive
Telling Stories
How to Choose a “Good Enough” Therapist
Strengthen the Legs, Extend the Spine
Getting Real: Truth as a Path to Freedom
Writing About Our Lives
The Yin and Yang of the CC Flow
Nature and Sanity: Ecopsychology and Beyond
Growth in Relationship
Finding Your Long-Lost Musician
Cycle of Water: Inner Self and Water Qualities
Couples’ Communication
LaStone Therapy: Hot Stone Treatment
It’s Time—Letting Go and Moving On
The Mind/Body Connection
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
It Won’t Hurt Forever
Stronger at the Broken Places: Relationship
The Subtle Self: Attuning Consciousness
Jungle Medicine—Amazonian Shamanism
The Wellness Group
The Body Keeps the Score
Harnessing the Magic of Body Language
Undefended Love
Sexual Healing
Deep Healing
The Longevity of Massage
Opening to Love: The Healing Relationship
Writing Poems
The High-Performance Mind
Medical Qigong—Awakening the Healer
Communication and Partnership
Not For the Feint of Heart
An Introduction to Rolfing®
Writing from the Senses
The Upledger Institute’s CranioSacral I
The Heart of the Shaman
The Child Trauma Institute
Self-Healing: Awakening Health and Vitality
Transforming Trauma with EMDR (Part 3)
Esalen Massage: The Art of Essential Touch
Somatic Psychology
Speaking Our Word: Presentation for Writers
Upledger Lymph Drainage Therapy I
I-You-Us: Pleasure, Intimacy, Connectedness
Workshop for Advanced EMDR Practitioners
Life Coaching for Results
Who Am I, Really? How Wounds Heal
The Writer’s Way
A Mythology for Your Future
BodyWave and SpiritWeaves
Spiritual Massage: Lightbody Infusion
Philosophy Addresses Important Questions
Survival: After Losing a Partner
Radical Rx for Health Professionals
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The Board of Registered Nursing has approved
Esalen as a provider of continuing education for
registered nurses (provider number
01152). For additional information on CE
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Jan 2-7
Jan 2-7
Jan 2-7
Jan 2-7
Jan 7-9
Jan 7-9
Jan 9-14
Jan 9-14
Jan 9-14
Jan 14-16
Jan 14-16
Jan 14-16
Jan 14-16
Jan 14-16
Jan 16-21
Jan 16-21
Jan 16-21
Jan 21-23
Jan 21-23
Jan 21-23
Jan 23-28
Jan 23-28
Jan 23-28
Jan 28-30
Jan 30-Feb 4
Jan 30-Feb 4
Jan 30-Feb 4
Feb 4-6
Feb 4-6
Feb 4-6
Feb 4-6
Feb 4-6
Feb 6-11
Feb 11-13
Feb 11-13
Feb 11-13
Feb 13-18
Feb 13-18
Feb 13-18
Feb 13-18
Feb 18-20
Feb 18-20
Feb 20-27
Feb 20-25
Feb 25-27
Feb 27-Mar 4
Feb 27-Mar 4
Feb 27-Mar 4
Mar 4-6
Mar 4-6
Mar 4-6
Mar 6-11
Mar 6-11
Mar 6-11
Mar 6-11
Mar 6-11
Mar 11-13
Mar 13-18
Mar 13-18
Mar 13-18
Mar 13-18
Mar 13-18
Mar 18-20
Mar 18-20
Mar 18-20
courses for nurses, contact Mary Anne Will,
R.N., 831-667-3010.
Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) as a continuing education provider under Category A
(provider number 043062-00). Workshops
for which CE credit has been approved are listed
below and also noted in the Seminars section.
For further information, contact Brita Ostrom at
831-667-3040.
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salen is an approved provider of continuing education for: psychologists,
approved by the American Psychological
Association (Esalen maintains responsibility for
the program; California psychologists are
required to report their hours to the NICEP
Accrediting Agency); MFTs and LCSWs by
the California Board of Behavioral Sciences
(provider number PCE1594); and massage practitioners and bodyworkers by
the National Certification Board for Therapeutic
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guide to workshops
T
his is a guide to the workshops
offered in this catalog. Although many
of them could be cross-referenced—
and some resist easy categorization—most
are listed only in their main subject area. If
you have never been to Esalen or taken an
Esalen workshop, you might consider the
“Experiencing Esalen” workshop scheduled
throughout the catalog and listed in the
Integral Practices section of this directory.
Please call the Esalen office if you have
questions concerning a workshop.
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ARTS & CREATIVITY
Visual Arts
Jan 2-7 • Instant Dreams: The Polaroid Transfer
Jan 9-14 • Freeing the Artist: Intuitive Watercolors
Jan 16-21 • Painting From the Source
Jan 30-Feb 4 • Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
Feb 20-25 • Artplane
Mar 13-18 • The Mystical Quality of Stained Glass
Apr 8-10 • Recording Nature
May 8-13 • Awakening The Creative
June 5-10 • Vision Painting
June 10-12 • Moving Pictures: Video Storytelling
June 26-July 1 • Drawing With Color
Writing
Jan 14-16 • Writing About Our Lives
Feb 6-11 • Voice of Essence: Precursor to the Novel
Feb 11-13 • Getting Naked: Writing Erotic Scenes
Feb 13-18 • Writing Poems
Feb 25-27 • Writing from the Senses
Mar 6-11 • Speaking Our Word
Mar 13-18 • The Writer’s Way
Mar 27-Apr 1 • The Burning Story
Apr 3-8 • Felt Sense: Writing With the Body
May 8-13 • Finding Your Voice, Writing Deeper
May 15-20 • New Poems Week
May 20-22 • New Poems Weekend
May 29-June 3 • Double Your Creative Power
June 10-12 • White Lotus Poetry Workshop
Music / Rhythm
Jan 7-9 • Find Your Inner Rhythm
Jan 21-23 • Finding Your Long-Lost Musician
Jan 23-28 • Finding Your Long-Lost Musician
Feb 6-11 • Song of Light and Change
Mar 25-27 • Harmonic Presence: Music of the Spheres
May 15-20 • Voices of Creation
May 27-29 • The Soul of the African Drum
May 29-June 3 • Vocal Power
Creative Expression
Jan 2-7 • Transformative Power of Storytelling
Jan 7-9 • Loving Fun
Jan 14-16 • Telling Stories
Jan 28-30 • Improv Alchemy
Jan 30-Feb 4 • Unmasking the Universal Soul
Feb 6-11 • Filmmaking, Storytelling, Spiritual Journey
Feb 25-27 • West African Bronze Casting
Mar 4-6 • Mosaic Art Intensive
Mar 25-27 • Family Arts Program
Apr 17-24 • Awakening Creativity and Inspiration
6
Apr 29-May 1 • The Art and Soul of Mask Making
May 1-6 • The MAX: Stretching Self-Expression
May 15-20 • Performing the Personal
R
BODY & MOVEMENT
Massage
Jan 7-9 • Weekend Massage Intensive
Jan 9-14 • Esalen Massage Intensive
Jan 16-21 • The Yin and Yang of the CC Flow
Jan 23-28 • LaStone Therapy: Hot Stone Treatment
Jan 30-Feb 4 • Esalen Massage Intensive
Feb 11-13 • Massage for Couples
Feb 13-18 • Longevity of Massage
Mar 4-6 • Esalen Massage: Art of Essential Touch
Mar 13-18 • BodyWave and SpiritWeaves
Mar 20-25 • Esalen Massage: A Path to Relaxation
Mar 27-Apr 1 • Table Shiatsu I
Apr 3-May 1 • 28-Day Massage Certification
Apr 8-10 • Massage Weekend for Couples
May 8-20 • Advanced Massage Intensive
May 22-27 • Elemental Esalen Massage
May 27-29 • Esalen Massage Intensive
June 19-24 • Traditional Thai Medical Massage
June 24-26 • Weekend Massage Intensive
June 26-July 1 • Stone Sole Connection
Somatic Practices
Feb 6-11 • Walking Your Talk
Feb 20-25 • An Introduction to Rolfing®
Feb 27-Mar 4 • Upledger Institute’s CranioSacral I
Mar 4-6 • Aliveness, Pleasure, Joy: Bioenergetics
Mar 6-11 • Somatic Psychology
Mar 6-11 • Upledger Lymph Drainage Therapy I
Apr 10-15 • Upledger Visceral Manipulation I-A
Apr 15-24 • Healing Repetitive Stress Injury: CFR
Apr 24-29 • Subtle Touch and Calatonia
Apr 29-May 1 • Embryological Embodiment of Space
May 13-15 • Focusing: The Inner Relationship
May 15-20 • Alchemy in Character Restructuring
May 15-20 • Balance: You’re Only Young Once But …
May 22-27 • Integrating Somatics with Psychology
May 29-June 3 • Senses Wide Open
June 17-19 • Feldenkrais, Meditation, Awareness
Yoga
Jan 2-7 • Retreat as a Spiritual Practice
Jan 9-14 • From Spine to Spirit: A Yoga Intensive
Jan 14-16 • Strengthen the Legs, Extend the Spine
Feb 18-20 • The Seven Sounds of Creation
Feb 27-Mar 4 • Beyond Vinyasa
Mar 6-11 • Yoga for the Playful Heart
Mar 11-13 • Moving Meditation Practice
Mar 11-13 • Direct Path Yoga: Yoga and Mysticism
Mar 18-20 • Ritual of Renewal: Equinox Yoga
Apr 1-3 • The Blessing of the Breath
Apr 3-8 • Yoga-Tai Chi Fusion
May 1-6 • Yoga—The Anatomy and Biomechanics
May 13-15 • Yoga for the “Yogically Challenged”
May 20-22 • Freedom Yoga: Cultivating Compassion
June 12-17 • The Heart of Yoga
Dance / Movement
Jan 16-21 • Soul Motion™
Feb 13-18 • Butoh: Feeling Free in Movement
Feb 20-25 • Undercurrents
Mar 11-13 • Moving Meditation Practice
Mar 13-18 • BodyWave and SpiritWeaves
May 29-June 3 • The Heart of the Matter
June 3-5 • Salsa Dancing and the Pursuit of Flow
June 5-10 • Soul Motion: Sanctuary
June 19-24 • Mountains and Waves
Martial Arts / Sport
Apr 24-29 • Golf in the Kingdom: The Deeper Game
R
PSYCHOLOGY & RELATIONSHIP
Psychological / Transpersonal Process
Jan 2-7 • Releasing the Self and Healing the Exiles
Jan 7-9 • The Art of Mindful Loving
Jan 9-14 • Process Work and Transformation
Jan 9-14 • Spiritual Dimension of the Dream Master
Jan 14-16 • Choose a “Good Enough” Therapist
Jan 14-16 • Getting Real: Truth as a Path to Freedom
Jan 21-23 • A Tender Invitation
Jan 23-28 • It’s Time—Letting Go and Moving On
Jan 30-Feb 4 • It Won’t Hurt Forever
Feb 4-6 • The Body Keeps the Score
Feb 11-13 • Sexual Healing
Feb 20-27 • Not For the Feint of Heart
Feb 20-25 • Family Constellations, Orders of Love
Feb 25-27 • Setting Your Heart on Fire
Feb 27-Mar 4 • The Child Trauma Institute
Feb 27-Mar 4 • Natural Powers
Mar 6-11 • I-You-Us
Mar 11-13 • Dreamwork
Mar 13-18 • Who Am I, Really?
Mar 18-20 • Survival: After Losing a Partner
Mar 25-27 • Rest, Rejuvenation, and Renewal
Apr 1-3 • Choosing Aliveness and Intimacy
Apr 3-8 • Spirit Medicine
Apr 15-17 • Images of Desire
Apr 29-May 1 • Intro to Gestalt Awareness Practice
May 1-6 • The MAX: Stretching Self-Expression
May 1-6 • Gestalt Awareness Practice
May 13-15 • Focusing: The Inner Relationship
May 15-20 • Alchemy in Character Restructuring
May 20-22 • The Highly Sensitive Person
May 22-27 • Transition—Having What It Takes
May 22-27 • Integrating Somatics with Psychology
May 27-29 • It’s Time: No One Coming to Save You
May 27-29 • Mind, Mood, and Happiness
May 29-June 3 • Fanning Embers of Higher Self
June 5-10 • Circle of Life: Full Spectrum Life Coaching
June 5-10 • Completions and Transitions
June 10-12 • The Power of Patience
June 17-19 • Pandora’s Gifts: Secrets, Health, Healing
June 19-24 • Develop Love, Leadership
June 24-26 • Overcoming the Inheritance Taboo
June 26-July 1 • Creative Problem Solving
Relationship / Communication
Jan 16-21 • Growth in Relationship
Jan 21-23 • Couples’ Communication
Jan 28-30 • Valentine’s Day—For Those Who Can’t Wait
Feb 4-6 • Stronger at the Broken Places
Feb 6-11 • Sacred Lover
Feb 11-13 • Undefended Love
Feb 13-18 • Opening to Love
Feb 18-20 • Communication and Partnership
May 8-13 • From Good to Great
May 13-15 • The Future of Love
June 5-10 • The Power of “Yes/And”
June 24-26 • Close Yet Free
Women’s / Men’s Issues
Feb 20-25 • Find Your True Self—For Gay Men
Apr 1-3 • What It Means to Be Gay
May 1-6 • Sex, Love, and Commitment for Gay Men
May 22-27 • Authenticity, Intuition, and Creativity
June 3-5 • Relationship Enrichment for Male Couples
Children / Families
Mar 25-27 • Family Arts Program
June 24-26 • Overcoming the Inheritance Taboo
Hypnosis / Biofeedback / Intuition
Feb 13-18 • The High-Performance Mind
Mar 25-27 • Psychic and Intuitive Healing
Apr 17-24 • Awakening Your Mind
Professional Growth / Training
Feb 27-Mar 4 • The Child Trauma Institute
Mar 4-6 • Transforming Trauma with EMDR (Part 3)
Mar 6-11 • Seminar for EMDR Practitioners (Part 4)
Mar 18-20 • Radical Rx for Health Professionals
Apr 3-May 1 • 28-Day Massage Certification
Apr 8-10 • Agents of Therapeutic Change
Apr 10-15 • Understanding and Treatment of Trauma
Apr 15-17 • Enhancement of Peak Performance
Apr 15-17 • Trauma Consciousness and the Body
May 8-20 • Advanced Massage Intensive
June 10-12 • Harm Reduction: Gestalt Therapy
R
HEALTH & HEALING
/ SPIRIT
Jan 2-7 • Prayer of the Heart
Jan 16-21 • Meditations on the Unity of Being
Jan 21-23 • Tibetan Alchemy: The Trickster’s Secret
Feb 4-6 • The Subtle Self
Mar 11-13 • Impersonal Movement
Mar 11-13 • Direct Path Yoga: Yoga and Mysticism
Mar 18-20 • Zen and Tao: The Hero’s Journey
Mar 25-27 • Harmonic Presence: Music of the Spheres
Mar 27-Apr 1 • Uncovering Self-Betrayal Retreat
Apr 1-8 • Soul Without Shame
Apr 8-10 • The Visionary State: California
Apr 17-24 • The “Pointing Out” Way: Meditation
Apr 24-29 • The Power of a Loving Heart
Apr 29-May 1 • Being Present for Your Life
May 8-13 • Self Awakening: The Ultimate Medicine
May 27-29 • Mind, Mood, and Happiness
June 17-19 • Be Here (Wow!): For Cynics in Recovery
Health / Healing
Jan 28-30 • The Mind/Body Connection
Feb 4-6 • The Wellness Group
Feb 11-13 • Deep Healing: Mind/Body Medicine
Feb 18-20 • Medical Qigong
Mar 4-6 • Self-Healing: Create Health and Vitality
Mar 13-18 • Spiritual Massage: Lightbody Infusion
Apr 1-3 • Drugs, the Mind, and the Body
May 1-6 • Optimum Health (in Five Days)
May 1-6 • Basic Acupressure: Clinical Applications
May 13-15 • Eating, Food, and the Body/Self
May 20-22 • Mindfulness and Heartfulness
May 29-June 3 • Spring Cleanse: Eat for Aliveness
June 5-10 • Qigong Retreat
June 17-19 • Touching from the Heart
June 19-24 • Free Your Breath, Free Your Life
June 24-26 • Herbal Medicine
JAMES WVINNER
Contemplative / Spiritual Studies
Myth / Ritual / Shamanism
Jan 21-23 • Cycle of Water: Self and Water Qualities
Jan 23-28 • The Way of the Shaman
Feb 4-6 • Jungle Medicine—Amazonian Shamanism
Feb 27-Mar 4 • The Heart of the Shaman
Mar 13-18 • A Mythology for Your Future
Mar 20-25 • At Play in the Fields of the Lord
Mar 20-25 • Visionseeker II: Spirit Medicine
May 8-13 • Dreaming the Soul Back Home
June 3-5 • Gods and Goddesses in Relationship
June 26-July 1 • The Four-Fold Way
June 26-July 1 • Visionseeker I: Shamanism
Integral Practices
Jan 7-9 • The Power of Practice
Jan 23-28 • The Life of Passion and Meditation
Jan 28-30 • Experiencing Esalen
Feb 25-27 • Experiencing Esalen
Apr 8-10 • Experiencing Esalen
Apr 10-15 • Body, Mind, Heart, and Soul
May 27-29 • Experiencing Esalen
June 17-19 • Experiencing Esalen
June 19-24 • Holistic Sexuality: An Integral Approach
June 24-26 • Vision, Practice of Human Transformation
Religious Studies
Jan 28-30 • Buddhist Philosophy: Basic Introduction
Mar 25-27 • The Love of Wisdom
June 10-12 • Sacred Mysteries of Ancient Theology
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SOCIAL ISSUES
/ EDUCATION
Ecology / Ecopsychology / Wilderness
Jan 16-21 • Nature and Sanity
Jan 30-Feb 4 • Making a Difference
Apr 17-24 • Wild Big Sur: Awakening Aliveness
May 22-27 • Walk on the Wild Side: Hiking Big Sur
June 3-5 • Big Sur Wilderness Experience
June 19-24 • Mountains and Waves
Social Responsibility
Jan 30-Feb 4 • Making a Difference
May 20-22 • The Politics of Trust/Worthiness
June 19-24 • Creating Community Vision
Workplace / Education
Feb 18-20 • The Soul of Money
Mar 11-13 • Life Coaching for Results
Philosophical Inquiry / Intellectual Play
Jan 9-14 • Spiritual Dimension of the Dream Master
Jan 28-30 • Buddhist Philosophy: A Basic Introduction
Feb 18-20 • The Philosophical Path
Feb 25-27 • Leonardo’s Brain
Mar 18-20 • Philosophy & Important Questions of Life
Mar 25-27 • The Love of Wisdom
Apr 8-10 • The Visionary State: California
June 3-5 • Brain Velcro: Making Your Great Ideas Stick
June 10-12 • Sacred Mysteries of Ancient Theology
7
Q
Seminar Spotlight—a
I
n our efforts to expand our programming in new directions, we continue to present leaders whose names may not be as
familiar to you as others in the Catalog. On this page we highlight a few of these offerings by providing a bit more information
than you’ll find in the Seminars section.
Bill Jersey—
The Blob and Other Documentaries
“It was our first feature motion picture,” recalls Bill Jersey. “Steve
McQueen was an aspiring young actor from New York. I was an
aspiring young documentary filmmaker with a degree in art. The
film would be called The Blob. McQueen was the star; I was the art
director. It became a cult classic. For McQueen it was the first step
toward a successful
movie career; for me it
was a job. I was destined, or so it seems, to
do documentaries—
stories of real people
living out lives that
involved risk, struggle,
conflict—the stuff of
drama—stories that
revealed something
about the full range of
the human condition.”
Bill’s voracious curiosity has led him to produce a vast range of documentary films, from A Time for Burning in
1966 (called “the best civil rights film ever made” by Fred Friendly) to
Superchief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren in 1989 (Academy Awardnominated and two Emmy nominations) to What About God? in 2001,
part of the NOVA series on evolution.
“I’ve told stories of the famous—Nixon, et. al.—and the little known:
coal miners and cowboys, rice farmers and radical feminists. Through
my films I’ve enabled families of handicapped children, Mafia members, activists, and fundamentalists to tell their stories, and it is
always their stories that interest me. I am at heart a documentary filmmaker. I am less interested in a balanced or objective story (whatever
that is) than I am in probing the emotional archeology of an individual’s experience. For me it’s more a function of insatiable interest.
That interest took me to Esalen in 1976 where I was fortunate
enough to meet my beloved wife.
“Filmmaking has taken me to South America, Europe, Asia, and
beyond, to grand palaces and humble homes, to scenes of tragedy or
celebration, and, along the way, some great meals in places like Florence,
Madrid, Tokyo, and, yes, East Oakland. So I guess the moral of this
story is that for all the headwork it takes to choose a documentary
subject and to understand and tell a story, for all the heartwork it takes
to stay connected and committed, for me, at the end of the day, there
is nothing like a good meal with people you love sharing stories with.”
See Telling Stories, January 14-16.
8
closer look
Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen—
A Living Embodiment
For more than thirty
years, Bonnie
Bainbridge Cohen
has been an innovator and leader in
working with movement, touch, and the
body-mind relationship. Her work has
influenced the fields
of bodywork, movement, dance, and
many other bodymind disciplines.
She is the author of
the book Sensing,
Feeling, and Action,
and in 1973 she
founded The School for Body-Mind Centering® where students from
more than twenty countries have come to study.
Body-Mind Centering is a creative process in which the student
learns to meet and recognize herself and others through the exploration of embodiment. Bonnie’s extensive background in movement
is as deep as it varied, including numerous dance styles, dance therapy, bodywork, martial arts, voice, and yoga. She has a B.S. in
Occupational Therapy and has been certified as a Neurodevelopmental
Therapist by Dr. and Mrs. Bobath in England, as a Laban Movement
Analyst by the Laban/Bartinieff Institute of Movement Studies in
New York, and as a Kestenberg Movement Profiler by Dr. Judith
Kestenberg.
Among her other teachers have been Erick Hawkins in dance,
Marion Chase in dance therapy; Andre Bernard and Barbara Clark in
Neuromuscular Reeducation; Haruchika Noguchi, developer of
Katsugen Undo (a method of training the involuntary nervous system) in Japan; John Upledger, D.O. and Richard McDonald, D.O., in
CranioSacral Therapy; and Fritz Smith, M.D. in Zero Balancing. She
has taught dance at Hunter College and the Erick Hawkins School of
Dance in New York and kinesiology in the Graduate Dance Therapy
program at Antioch College in Keene, New Hampshire. She has
been a guest teacher at Naropa, Esalen, and Omega Institutes, at the
American Dance Festival, and in dance departments of numerous colleges throughout the United States. She has also worked with movement and bodywork at the University of Amsterdam’s Psychiatric
Research Clinic in Holland and helped to establish a school for occupational and physical therapists in Tokyo.
In addition to the certification program at her school, she teaches
workshops throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe and has a private practice specializing in working with infants and young children
with neurological dysfunction.
See Embryological Embodiment of Space: Body-Mind
Centering®, April 29-May 1.
Charlie Bethel—
On Healing Art
Caryn Spain—
Strategic Planning for the Heartful
Charlie Bethel is an actor/writer based in Minneapolis (he has also
worked as a stage manager, producer, electrician, milliner, and properties and set-dressing artist). A native Southerner, he comes from a
long line of talkers. Charlie cultivated his congenital gift into an art
form. He talks about it (naturally):
“I am grateful to the many people who have trusted me to guide
them on a search into the unknown to find a clearer, deeper understanding of their business and organizational vision,” says Caryn
Spain. For the past twenty-two years Caryn has worked with hundreds of organizations in the role of strategic planning facilitator.
During that time she developed and refined the strategic
planning process known as
“Chart Your Own Course®”.
Her workshop here at Esalen
will use a format specifically
designed for people involved
in the human potential movement. In Caryn’s words,
“Strengthening, clarifying,
and distilling your essence is
the very nature and purpose
of strategic planning. The
stronger and more consistently we can send out clear messages of who we are (internally and externally), the more effective we
are in attracting the right people and energy to us.
“Once upon a time, I hoped that by creating healing art, I’d be able to
save the world, or at least a part of it. Then life happened, and I realized that the best I might hope for was to use art to save myself! Talk
about a corner to get stuck in. As soon as that period had passed, I had
yet another realization: you don’t need an agenda. You don’t need an
objective. You don’t even really need a specific, developed opinion.
All you really need is a desire to express. Something. Anything.
Keeping yourself honest in the creative process is what it’s all about,
and everything outside that goal is at best useless and at worst toxic.
“Artists are a strange breed of human. They are the athletes of the
heart, to misquote Stanislavski. And since the origin of art is often
pain or discomfort,
artists can be very
moody, or even
destructive. But it
needn’t be this way.
Art is, of itself, healing to all who participate: creators,
audiences, critics,
whole populations
benefit from the
creation of art, so
long as the art is
honest. And in a
way, creation is a
selfish act as well. I
can’t think of a single artist in my life
who started creating
anything in the
hope of benefiting somebody other than themselves. Expression
heals the artist, and witnessing that act of healing engages another
constructive process for all who witness it. This is the circuit of energy between the performer (shaman) and the audience (client), and it
is this circuit that makes the so-called magic of performance.
“But of course, it isn’t really magic, anymore than a performance on a
stage is real life. It just looks, behaves, and smells like magic, and
appears to resemble and reflect real life. It’s a brand of fakery that
leads to the truth, a representation, a demonstration of the magic that
exists everywhere life takes root. The real magic is in you and in the
actual living. When the artist untangles this, all sorts of possibilities
unfold.
“Of course, none of this can be taught, really. It can only be learned.
I can give you a hammer, but only you can build the cabinet.”
“Strategic Planning, a traditional business tool, is often shied away
from or ignored by people working in ‘alternative’ businesses, healing, educational, or spiritual communities. It saddens me to see individuals and groups with such heartfelt missions reject such an effective tool and, as a result, founder due to a lack of focus or resources.
Being strategic is consistent with working in integrity and heart. In
fact, having a well-grounded strategy is the first and most important
step in turning your vision into action.”
When Caryn first came to Esalen she felt as if she had arrived home.
She became purposeful in the integration of her spiritual work and
her strategic planning practice. Caryn’s intent is to make the power of
the CYOC methodology accessible to alternative businesspeople,
healing and spiritual communities, and others who are ready to
reevaluate, suspend, and clarify their ideas, then playfully combine
them into new, different, and more compelling solutions. As she says,
“We will play and dance with the alchemy of business and attraction
to ensure that what we are saying represents our true essence.”
Though her home base is in Rainier, Washington, Caryn has conducted workshops from Costa Rica to Canada and all over the United
States. Her seminars offer participants a gift they rarely give themselves: time for reflection, and a place of discovery and not-knowing.
The workshop is a space where people can put aside their grasping
and knowing the right answers and instead embark on a true voyage
of discovery resulting in a greater vision of themselves and their
organization.
You can learn more about Caryn by visiting her web page at
www.ChartYourOwnCourse.com.
See Creating Community Vision, June 19-24.
See Performing the Personal, May 15-20.
9
esalen seminars
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
S
Week of January 2–7
Prayer of the Heart
Olga Louchakova
The Spiritual Heart is the most important
subtle energy center in the body, opening into
universal dimensions of the Self. Heart meditation on the Self is central to the mystical traditions of the Christian East, Sufism,
Kundalini Yoga, and Advaita Vedanta.
Awakening the Spiritual Heart leads to deeper self-knowledge and personal growth, and
promotes dialogue and lasting peace between
people of different cultures and religions. In
the West, the Prayer of the Heart was transmitted from the Gnostics to the early Desert
Fathers, Sufis, and Byzantine monks, and is
preserved to this day by Indian saints and
Russian hermits. It transcends formal religion
and can be used by spiritual seekers of any
orientation.
The practice begins with cultivating wakefulness—attention to body sensations, emotions,
energy, and thoughts. Students will be taught
how to concentrate on the Spiritual Heart and
work with the psychological and emotional
10
issues blocking it. They can individualize
their practice by exploring relationships with
spiritual archetypes through sacred images
and guided visualization. There will be periods of silent meditation/prayer. Participants
will learn to understand their experiences in
the light of the developmental stages of the
prayer and meditation.
ways of life. This allows us open space to
reflect on our lives, our direction, and life purpose. Retreat is an invaluable time to engage
the spiritual practices, to spend time alone
and be with uplifting company (the group
field). Making a practice of going on retreat is
itself one of our spiritual practices and a way
to nourish and honor Self.
The format accommodates new students and
deepens the practice for the more experienced. Working in small groups, participants
will be offered individualized guidance and
learn dialogue techniques for the practice of
the prayer. This workshop is useful both for
psychology and health professionals as well as
anyone interested in deepening their selfknowledge and spirituality.
“We will gather together on the cusp of this
New Year to engage the spiritual practices of
yoga: asana, dharina (visualization and mental
focus), pranayama, and meditation. Engaging
the spiritual practices is not about being serious or stern or shut down. The group field is
lively and open, and fun is encouraged.”
CE credit for MFTs and LCSWs; see page 5.
Retreat as a Spiritual Practice
Thomas Michael Fortel
“Throughout the ages,” says Thomas, “human
beings have sought the solace and quiet of
nature as a way of gaining perspective, clarity,
and spiritual connection. When we go on
retreat we remove ourselves from our daily
schedules, from our homes, and our normal
Please have minimum of 3 months’ recent
yoga experience. All props are provided.
CE credit for nurses; see page 5.
Releasing the Self and Healing
the Exiles
Richard Schwartz
All the esoteric branches of the world’s religions agree that within us can be found an
untarnished essence, a Self, from which flows
wisdom, healing, and spiritual energy. Most of
us rarely access our Self, however, because it is
See pages 86–87 for reservations, fees, accommodations, scholarship information, and discounts
obscured by parts (subpersonalities) of us that
have absorbed extreme emotions and beliefs
which govern our life choices. Some of these
parts try to protect us by controlling the
external world or getting us to withdraw from
it. Other parts are swimming in the fear, pain,
and shame of past traumas, so we try to exile
them, locking them in inner closets.
Richard Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems
(IFS) model provides a safe, sensitive way to
help you release your Self and then bring the
natural compassion and confidence of that
state to reassure your protective parts and
heal your exiles. In this process people can
rapidly achieve a profound transformation of
the feelings and beliefs that previously tormented them. Also, as their lives become
more Self-led, they are able to find increased
harmony not only with their parts, but also
with family, community, and planet. Their
lives feel more fulfilled, purposeful, and spiritual.
Through individual and group exercises, participants will have the opportunity to directly
experience their Selves and their parts, and
learn how to continue the transformative
work on their own. Those in the helping professions will discover new tools for working
with clients.
The Transformative Power of
Storytelling
Karen Dietz
Imagine what could be possible for you if you
could reach the hearts and minds of people
every time you speak. Imagine if you could
easily tell stories that inspire others. Then
perhaps it’s time you turned your attention to
learning how to tell magical and powerful stories. If you want someone to remember you
or your material, then tell a story. Stories convey ideas, knowledge, and wisdom faster than
any other form of communication. They are
remembered long after facts and figures fade,
and are inspiring and fun.
In this workshop, you’ll learn to develop powerful, meaningful stories that are uniquely
yours. You’ll also find out just how enjoyable
speaking and storytelling can be. In a safe and
positive environment, you’ll experience the
magic and transformative power of storytelling, no matter what your skill level.
• Learn to transform content into a
compelling message that moves others
• Increase your ability to bring out the best
in people
• Develop material that touches the hearts
and minds of others
• Learn to find and craft the powerful stories
that are all around you
• Deliver your stories authentically
• Discover the deeper meaning of your
stories in work and life
• Clarify your goals and intentions
nization used in most of the world’s music.
Not just for musicians and percussionists, this
training can help anyone with a desire to
improve their rhythmic skills.
CE credit for teachers; see page 5.
Instant Dreams:
The Polaroid Transfer
The Power of Practice: An Integral
Approach to Wholeness
Cynthia Johnson Bianchetta
Barry Robbins & Erik Riswold
Often referred to as “crossover” art, Polaroid
transfers blur the distinction between photography and watercolor, possessing an ethereal quality that transcends photographic rendition and plays on the viewer’s imagination
with dreamlike effect. Each image becomes a
personal statement with a handmade, one-ofa-kind quality.
This workshop will introduce you to the
remarkable practice created by Esalen president George Leonard and chairman Michael
Murphy. Developed through their pioneering
research in the field of human potentialities,
Integral Transformative Practice (ITP) stands
at the leading edge of a cultural shift away
from the quick fix and toward long-term, balanced, evolutionary practice.
Participants in this workshop will learn the
Polaroid transfer process, transferring slides
onto watercolor paper and hand-coloring
them. The emphasis will be on connecting
image-making to internal process so that photography can become a tool for awareness and
growth. Movement, intuition, and play will all
be vehicles for this journey.
Please bring a 35mm camera (not a Polaroid)
with which you are familiar, as well as a journal. The class will include the use of slide
printers to create the transfers. A list of film
and other necessary equipment will be supplied upon registration.
($75 materials fee—for Polaroid film used in
slide printers—paid directly to the leader)
Weekend of January 7–9
Find Your Inner Rhythm by Studying
World Rhythms
Matthew Montfort
Learn the real musical knowledge behind the
sacred music of the world. This workshop—
based on Matthew Montfort’s rave-reviewed
book, Ancient Traditions—Future Possibilities:
Rhythmic Training Through the Traditions of
Africa, Bali, and India—is presented in an easyto-follow, entertaining, yet educational format
for all music lovers. The training focuses on
African polyrhythms, Balinese kotèkan, and
Indian rhythmic cycles as source material
because these three traditions, in combination, cover the major types of rhythmic orga-
Timing is everything, and learning the
ancient rhythms of the earth can help one to
be more in tune with life. No musical background is required.
You will have the opportunity to immerse
yourself in a program involving body, mind,
heart, and soul, and to learn specific ways of
creating an attainable and sustainable daily
practice. This includes making affirmations,
which can activate the awesome power of
human intentionality and effect profound
changes in your life. You will learn a fortyminute series of physical, mental, and spiritual exercises, which includes yoga, aikido,
relaxation and visualization techniques, and
meditation. You will engage in discussions on
the art of peaceful communication of differences and other interpersonal processes.
ITP groups are spreading throughout the
world, and the practice is currently the subject of a major study by Stanford University’s
School of Medicine. Erik Riswold is one of
the original ITP trainers with Leonard and
Murphy, and Barry Robbins heads the largest
and longest-running ITP practice in the country. This workshop is for people interested in
an experiential, interactive weekend and
involves nonstrenuous physical movement.
Simply come with beginner’s mind and an
open heart.
Recommended reading: Leonard & Murphy,
The Life We Are Given; Leonard, Mastery;
Murphy, The Future of the Body.
The Art of Mindful Loving
David Richo
Relationships survive best when the partners
are committed to personal integrity and to a
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spiritual practice. This workshop is about
how that can happen in the context of love—
love not so much as a feeling as a way of being
present.
Love is presence with unconditional
Attention, Acceptance, Appreciation,
Affection, and Allowing others to be as they
are. Love is presence without the conditioned
overlays of ego, such as judgment, fear, control—that which we let go of in mindfulness
meditation. We receive love in the same way—
with the five A’s and without our ego interference. In other words, love happens best in
mindfulness. Thus, a spiritual practice builds
our capacity to love. This workshop will
explore:
• The normal phases of relating: romance,
conflict, commitment
• Fears of abandonment and engulfment and
how to deal with them
• How to distinguish true anger from
manipulation and abuse
• What happens when romance or sex
becomes addiction
• How to let go of ego so that mutual love can
flourish
• How to handle hurt without retaliating
• How to deal with fear, jealousy, infidelity,
disillusionment, and abuse
• How to know when it is time for a major
change or an ending
This workshop will offer specific practices
that help in having a healthier relationship
with a partner and a more loving and open
heart, with the world our beneficiary.
Peggy Horan & Rachel Fann
This weekend workshop will introduce the
core techniques of Esalen Massage. Through
brief lectures and demonstrations, and with
lots of personal supervision of hands-on
work, the workshop will present essential
tools and knowledge that can be effortlessly
applied. Fundamental elements of bodywork,
such as breath awareness, grounding, movement, and quality of touch will also be introduced. The goal will be to create a firm foundation of massage to build upon. The workshop is designed to enable each student to
return home with the ability to give a fullbody Esalen-style massage.
CE credit for bodyworkers; see page 5.
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Loving Fun
Bernie DeKoven
As fun as fun can be, it is remarkably hard to
take seriously. Even though fun is the experience that binds, the purpose that shapes, the
phenomenon that leads into and out of the
body, most organizations and institutions
insist on pretending that fun has nothing to
do with it—even though, if they took it seriously enough, they could heal themselves and
possibly the world.
This is a workshop devoted to fun—to thinking about fun, practicing fun, expanding our
abilities to create and share fun. In other
words, to playing a lot of games—fun, funny,
loving games that help us laugh and love each
other: word games, walking-around games,
“pointless” games in which nobody keeps
score, where the only point to playing is the
loving fun we can give each other.
Suggested (but just for the fun of it) reading:
Csikszentmihalyi, Finding Flow; and (naturally)
DeKoven, The Well-Played Game.
Process Work and the
Transformation of Everyday Life
Til Luchau & Stephen Schuitevoerder
Life is a powerful, inspiring, and, at times,
challenging teacher. In both day-to-day experience and in significant events, life presents
us with opportunities for change, enlivenment, and growth. Sometimes these changes
come easily, and we can shift easily with life’s
direction. At other times, life challenges us to
the depths of our being, and much of what we
have known is no longer accessible. In all of
life’s moments, the mundane, the difficult,
and the extraordinary, we are challenged to
change and develop new ways of approaching
our existence. If we are able to work with
these challenges, any life situation holds
tremendous opportunities for growth, transformation, and meaning.
retical and experiential, with time for work
with our selves and with others.”
This workshop is suitable for helping professionals, as well as for anyone who is compelled, either inwardly or outwardly, towards
transformation.
Recommended reading: Arnold & Amy
Mindell, Working with the Dreaming Body,
Riding the Horse Backwards, and other titles.
Brita Ostrom & Robert Helm
In an age of increasing specialization and
alienation, Esalen Massage provides a simple
return to a unified way of caring and communicating. The emphasis throughout this workshop is on awareness—awareness to promote
change and release, to refresh personal perspective, to deepen interpersonal connection.
As a blind student noted, Esalen Massage provides a way to communicate through the
hands, without any need for words.
The course will offer the basics of massage,
including a simple centering practice, the
how-to skills of the long flowing strokes to
open the senses, and deeper work to unlock
the muscles. There will be plenty of time for
guided practice sessions, including individual
attention to problem areas, feedback, and
questions. The teachers will share their
insights about how to be present and creative
in each session, as well as how to emerge from
the experience more fully energized.
This course is suitable for those wishing to
gain or enhance a basic foundation in massage as well as experienced hands seeking
fresh insights into the field. Bring comfortable shoes, as there will be ample time spent
on Esalen’s beautiful grounds.
The Spiritual Dimension of the
Dream Master
Pierre Grimes
In this collaboration between two noted therapists and teachers, participants will be guided in the use of Process Work tools to unfold
ways of growing and transforming through
our life experiences. “By following dreams,
life experiences, and body symptoms,” write
the leaders, “we will seek the underlying patterns and forces affecting our lives, and reach
for ways to follow the new growth that is
emerging. The workshop will be both theo-
“The path into the intelligible realm is made
clear to us through the study of dreams,”
writes Pierre Grimes, “for the discovery of the
functional way to understand dreams confirms that we participate in a caring universe
guarded by an intelligible spiritual force.”
This workshop explores how dreamwork,
contemplation, recollection, and examination
of idle fantasies weave themselves together
into something wondrous to ponder.
Focusing on the intuitive brings an awareness
that our everyday existence can be the doorway to the profound. To discover this level of
existence is to awaken to what is often
ignored and can be key to our inner development.
Pierre continues: “The self is always seeking
completion: Hence, even the simple fantasies
that occur to us are fragments of unresolved
conflicts. These conflicts manifest themselves
in our dreams. As we become aware of the forgotten elements of our existence, a growing
realization of their importance becomes part of
our lives. In this way, the ancient art of recollecting becomes a natural part of one’s life.
When this is complemented by dreamwork
and self-reflection, our waking days are infused
with a new kind of significance. As we become
our own object of study, our work gains a luster
since we are presenting ourselves with a way to
discover a personal meaning to our existence
in all its particular richness. To ponder and
reflect on this existence unfolds an unexpected
depth and majesty to our lives.”
Please bring writing material and a small tape
recorder to record your dreams.
For the absolute beginner as well as the professional artist. A list of materials to bring will
be provided upon registration.
From Spine to Spirit:
A Yoga Intensive
Tias Little
This yoga program will look in detail at the
spine from both Eastern and Western perspectives: how the spine is the axis of our
awareness, the temple of our spirit, and the
support of our organs. Using both seated
meditation and dynamic asana practice, the
workshop will explore spinal motion.
Particular attention will be devoted to the
“Gateway to Brahma,” the atlanto-occipital
joint where the skull rests on C1, the first
neck vertebra, and the critical L5-S1 junction
at the spinal base.
Tias uses anatomical images combined with
images of nature and expressions of the
divine to give insight into the subtlety of the
spine. This intensive will encourage practitioners of yoga to experience the rasa, or the
inner (spinal) essence, of each pose through
contemplative inner reflection and action.
Please bring your own yoga mat.
Freeing the Artist: Intuitive
Watercolors
Helen Jerene Malcolm
You can learn how to create striking watercolors, unique to your individual expression, by
seeing within the first blends of colors a
theme that is waiting to be developed.
Intuitive Watercolor is a painting practice in
which you learn how to open and listen to
your intuition as it guides you through the
development of your painting.
Each day will begin with a demonstration of
the techniques to be used in that day’s
process. You’ll explore a method of directing
the pouring and blending of colors, saving the
brightest-value whites as highlights. This
process weaves back and forth from negative
to positive painting spaces and creates fresh,
loose watercolors. You’ll learn how watercolors that are worked on thoroughly wet surfaces can combine soft, ethereal areas of mystery with brilliantly vivid, crisp detailing.
Painting meditations will help you understand how intuition is the motivating energy
that allows the painting to come alive
through you. What is going on within you is
reflected in what you see and paint. Intuitive
paintings unfold as you relax into a flow of
creativity.
Telling Stories
Bill Jersey
For over forty years Bill Jersey has been helping people tell their stories on network television and public broadcasting. He has interviewed presidents, killers, cowboy poets, radical feminists, war heroes, scientists, and a
wide range of so-called “ordinary folks” with
extraordinary lives.
This program is based on the conviction that we
are all storytellers, and that telling our stories
more effectively or in a more appealing way, or
helping others to do the same, is a pleasurable
and rewarding undertaking. In the workshop
Jersey will share the techniques he employs to
enable anyone to tell his or her story. Select clips
from over twenty programs will be shown to
accompany the lecture parts of the weekend.
Then you will share your stories. First you’ll
share the stories you were told. Then, using
artifacts and photographs, you will explore
special moments in your life. In the final session, Jersey will revisit the basic tools he uses
to get people to talk and share some of his
best moments in what he calls his “emotional
archeology.”
Please bring an artifact and a photograph
which connects you to a person, a place, or a
particularly special moment in time.
See Seminar Spotlight, page 8.
How to Choose a “Good Enough”
Therapist
Leonard Bearne & Eric Erickson
As one of the leaders has been known to say:
“It takes almost as much knowledge to pick a
good therapist as it does to actually be one.”
Psychotherapy is potentially one of the most
important and rewarding experiences a person can go through. Most of us, however, have
had, or know of people who have had, therapeutic experiences that were unsuccessful or
even harmful. The crucial question is: How
does one find the “right” therapist?
This workshop will (1) explore how to find a
therapist who is a “good fit,” and (2) define
qualities of therapists about which one
should be wary. The leaders will draw on their
own experiences—as therapists and as
clients—and will offer both literary and video
examples of what should and shouldn’t happen. They will also present didactic material
taken from the professional literature.
Participants are invited to bring questions and
to reflect on actual experiences they may have
had—good and bad. Psychotherapists will not
be turned away.
Strengthen the Legs, Extend the
Spine: A Beginner’s Yoga Intensive
“When we initially approach the practice of
yoga,” Thomas writes, “we are generally
unaware of the deep and far-reaching changes
which potentially lay before us. Yoga practice
creates a situation in which we start to align
our mental attention in the moment, in the
body. The conscious breath is the most obvious and inherent tool; watching the breath
allows our attention to drop deeply into our
bodies. We focus a lot of attention on the feet
and legs because this our physical foundation.
We learn quickly that the strength of the legs
translates into the extension of the spine. In
addition, we ground the legs and extend the
spine as a metaphor for being grounded on
the earth and connected with the cosmic and
spiritual forces.
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“Discomfort is normal in the yoga room;
beginners should know this. Discomfort is
completely natural as the patterns in the body,
mind, and emotions are addressed. The old
paradigm is shifting and the practice of yoga
assists in making necessary changes.”
Recent yoga experience is recommended.
Everyone is welcome. All props are provided.
Getting Real: Telling the Truth
as a Path to Freedom
Susan Campbell
“Most people are afraid to be totally honest,”
says author and relationship coach Susan
Campbell. “They fear rocking the boat, being
judged, or hurting someone’s feelings. Yet
honesty is the only hope for relationships.”
this expression is unique. And if you block it,
it will never exist through any other medium,
and be lost. The world will not have it. It is
not your business to determine how good it
is, nor how valuable, nor how it compares
with other expressions. It is your business to
keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the
channel open.’
Participants will work with a set of simple yet
profound agreements designed to help practice the ten core skills for living honestly (e.g.,
the ability to distinguish between your actual
experience and your wishes, fears, beliefs, and
judgments). This course is intended for people who want to join with others of like mind
to explore honesty as a spiritual awareness
practice, getting to the essential self that is
beyond conditioned fears, beliefs, and control
patterns—so we can be in intimate relationship with ourselves, with others, and with life.
“This workshop will help keep the channels
open. It will be an inspiring environment in
which to write, share our work, and receive
supportive feedback. We’ll help each other to
become clearer, go deeper, express our feelings and ideas more powerfully. From beginners to experienced, all writers are welcome.
Whether you are interested in poetry, fiction,
nonfiction, or journal writing, this workshop
will provide an opportunity to explore and
expand your world.”
Writing About Our Lives
Ellen Bass
The leader writes: “The philosophy behind
this workshop experience is best expressed by
Martha Graham who said, ‘There is a vitality, a
life-force, an energy, a quickening that is
translated through you into action. And
because there is only one of you in all time,
The Yin and Yang of the CC Flow™
Carl Chase (CC) & Daniela Urbassek
If you are a certified massage practitioner (or
have substantial massage experience) this
workshop invites you to expand your skills
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
Susan will introduce the Ten Truth Skills that
enable people to let go of their need to control
other people (or their own anxiety about how
they are coming across) and communicate
with the intent to relate. It’s paradoxical:
When you stop trying to play it safe or get
others to agree with you, then you wind up
winning the admiration and respect you had
been seeking. In this program, you will learn
skills for living an authentic life, including
how to:
• Get clear about what you really want
• Communicate authentically even when
you’re afraid the truth might hurt
• Be real in tough situations
• Be transparent and vulnerable
• Give and ask for feedback
• Stay present when your fears are triggered
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and explore the creative edge of movement in
bodywork. The course presents the CC Flow,
a form of massage that keeps the body in a
state of constant motion and touch. Based on
the concept that life begins in a fluid world—
the womb—where movement and touch are
elemental, the CC Flow seeks to balance the
muscular and skeletal body container with its
more fluid contents.
Blending yin and yang, female and male energy, the workshop will demonstrate the different elements of each move and show each
practitioner how to individually tap into both
parts of themselves to create a memorable
experience for both the giver and the receiver.
The focus will be on body mechanics for the
more advanced moves, presenting alternatives
to meet the needs of each individual style and
body type.
Expect a singularly playful massage experience.
Nature and Sanity:
Ecopsychology and Beyond
Robert Greenway
This workshop will (1) summarize the rapidly
expanding field of ecopsychology as both a
collection of theories and assumptions and as
a practice; and (2) focus on the ecopsychological assumption that without a healthy relationship with natural processes, humans tend
to be ‘crazy’—that is, they show evidence of
serious psychological malfunctions. Such
malfunctions are manifest in various diseases
and other forms that seem counter to survival
of the human species, not to mention all of
life, as well. Among these are the delusion
that humans can control nature; narcissism
(i.e., nature exists for our personal and/or
species’ benefit); cognitive distortions (almost
an autism with regard to nature); and so on.
The primary workshop method will be to
seek to diagnose the disjunction between
humans and nature, and to work with various
experiential approaches to begin healing the
disjunction on a person-by-person basis.
Methods will be drawn from the following
practices: exploration of bridges between
humans and natural processes (such as
sources of food and eating habits); sexual
practices and habits; modes of providing ourselves with dwelling; breathing practices;
interrelationships between mind and nature
via meditation practices; Gestalt awareness
practices; walks into surrounding wilderness;
and opening to celestial events.
Recommended reading and pre-workshop
preparations will be sent to enrollees.
CE credit for psychologists; see page 5.
Growth in Relationship
Sietze & Nancy VanDerHeide
One of the most profound aspects of our
humanness is our capacity for attachment to
others. Sharing our experiences shapes and
defines our sense of self. Within our relationships we encounter remarkable possibilities
to grow and develop. Our most transformative emotions—both positive and negative—
emerge in relationships with the people we
most love and are closest to. Fully and consciously participating with each other is in
many ways our most valuable vehicle for selfenhancement.
This workshop aims to provide a safe environment in which we can explore ourselves in
the context of an important relationship. It is
in these interactions that fundamental and
sometimes baffling aspects of our nature are
revealed. As we come to understand ourselves
and the patterns of intimacy that exist in the
relationship, we can not only experience individual transformation but enhance our relationship as well. Additionally, the opportunity to fully experience, and be experienced by,
the other in new ways will expand our own
consciousness.
The workshop is designed for any two individuals in a close relationship seeking either
to move through a particular difficulty or to
enhance the quality of their intimacy with
each other. The workshop will employ
humanistic, Gestalt, and psychodynamic perspectives and mind-body tools such as trance
work, guided visualization, and dreamwork,
along with individual, dyadic, and group
experiences.
Meditations on the Unity of Being
Zoran Josipovic
This is a meditation workshop for all who are
interested in experiencing the natural unity
of unconditioned Being. Being is an all-pervading and all-encompassing presence that is
both aware and blissful. It is the root of our
true self-identity.
However, in our daily lives we frequently
experience signs of disconnection from
Being’s natural unity. These can manifest as
depression, avoidance, dependency, grandiosi-
ty, ambivalence, or rigidity. By practicing meditations that restore us to our original oneness, or non-duality, we can resolve these conditions at their root. This frees us from getting fragmented into dualistic fixations, such
as good vs. bad, self vs. other, male vs. female,
and spiritual vs. material.
The workshop will utilize meditations from
the traditions of Vedanta, Dzogchen, and
Yoga, and exercises from Subtle Self Work®.
The aim is to open the central channel, also
known as “the secret pathway of yogis,” to
arrive and abide at the non-duality of our true
nature.
Soul Motion™
Vinn Martí
I move the dance eternal and the dance is dancing
me. I speak the word of recognition and the word is
speaking though me. I breathe the spirit of love
and that love provides the moving force for life.
Writes Vinn Martí: “Soul Motion is a movement ministry devoted to the personal passage from the known to the unknown. It is a
place of sanctuary to rattle the dream and realize the power of this moment. It is a covenant
between the individual and the dancing village, joined in relation to the one, the many,
and the One. Each time we assemble to dance
we are poised at the open doorway to divine
presence. All of creation celebrates as we
dance in the eternal moment. The Universe
takes notice each time we use our body and
mind to shapeshift and tap the forms and textures of creation in one statement of acceptance and inclusion.”
Adds Vinn: “All are welcome. All are needed!”
Painting From the Source
Aviva Gold
If you’ve considered painting but never
thought you could, or if you’re trained in the
arts and would like to explore your source of
creativity, this retreat is for you. As children,
we naturally paint in a powerful, intuitive
way, purely for the joy of expression. This
freedom can be regained…
You face the empty paper, the rich, vibrant
colors; you choose a color, you move your
brush on the paper. The process deepens; you
may hesitate, emotions may surface. With
Aviva’s expert midwifery, in a warm, supportive atmosphere, you begin to paint not from
the intellect but from the ever-present, bottomless creative well of personal and universal images. Soon the movement of the colors,
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the brush, and the water is hypnotic—you get
lost in it. Yet you are awake, allowing whatever needs to happen to happen…
Surprisingly touching and satisfying images
emerge. You don’t have to be trained in the
arts to experience this: It’s your birthright—
the possibility of reconnecting is always
there. To feel the physical sensuousness of
painting, to let yourself play, to go through
whatever blocks you need to go through—this
ritual of creating soul-touching art is a natural
way to stay balanced, healthy, and vital, a spiritual practice that will connect you to your
Inner Wisdom Source.
Recommended reading: Gold, Painting From
the Source: Awakening the Artist’s Soul in
Everyone (available through www.paintingfromthesource.org).
($25 materials fee paid directly to the leader)
Tibetan Alchemy: The Trickster’s
Secret—How to Transform Craving
into Compassion
David Darling
David Darling’s music improvisation workshops have touched thousands of people from
all walks of life, including corporate executives, school children, teachers, professional
musicians, prisoners, and therapists, opening
their hearts to the mystery of sound. David’s
passion is to provide an environment in
which each participant has a chance to discover and work with his/her own unique musical
abilities—to find the tools for lifelong inspired
musical enjoyment. He has spent the last
forty years developing methods that bring
people face-to-face with their own wondrous
sounds and rhythms.
Working in groups and individually, people
will find the classes relaxed and humorous,
yet intensely centered on the profound qualities of the wonders of music. Please bring any
instruments you play or want to play. No
experience is necessary. Piano and percussion
instruments are provided.
This workshop is also presented in a five-day
format January 23-28.
Steven Goodman
“An abnormal journey into Tibetan Buddhist
methods for playing the bewildering game of
being human, using spiritually powerful techniques associated with the archetype of the
Trickster: paradox, provocation, and humor.”
Thus does Steven Goodman describe his program. “We’ll use fantasy, emotion, and poetic
sweat to get beneath the serene surface. We’ll
unearth ancient methods for restoring deep
and sustained compassion. And we’ll have
fun. We’ll see how the Buddha was a trickster—reminding us that our present awareness
is neither very ‘present,’ nor ‘aware.’ And we’ll
see how ‘ego’ is always tricking us, disturbing
the ever present calm with the siren song of
hope and fear.”
This workshop was conceived as a complementary companion to Steven’s previous presentation on how Tibetan Buddhist practices
of compassion can be used to transform energies of trauma and terror. It is also recommended for those who wish to explore the
delights of Trickster in Tibetan Buddhist perspective. Emphasis will be on experiential
and transformational exercises which invite
you to shift and dissolve and let go of rigid,
serious, and boring stories by making up new,
fun, challenging ones. Come join in the serious work of tricking.
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The Cycle of Water: Inner Self and
the Water Qualities
Tina de Souza
Drawing from the spiritual Afro-Brazilian tradition of Umbanda and a sophisticated understanding of human psychology, Tina de Souza
invites participants to experience in body,
mind, and spirit the reality of the Water
Orixás, or distinctive natural qualities of energy associated with water. These Orixás are
Naná, Oxum, Iemanjá, and Ewa.
From the primal water of Naná carrying the
feminine principle to the maternal qualities
of Oxum, the nourishing fertility of Iemanjá,
and the power of Rebirth of Ewa, the workshop will explore how these qualities and
archetypes manifest within ourselves and are
accessed to reach a higher level of harmony
and consciousness.
Rhythm plays an essential role in this work.
Through sacred drumbeat, it is possible to
generate a vibratory field in which a change
of perception may happen, encouraging a
more subtle experience to occur. Dance
becomes a movement experienced in profound levels, allowing a journey to the
essence of our being.
The workshop will be experiential in nature,
utilizing group process, situational role-play-
ing, the natural environment, and free movements. Bring black pants and a red shirt for
Friday night and and a set of white clothes for
the following days, as these will be used during sacred ceremonies.
Couples’ Communication
Warren Farrell
I’ve never heard a couple say, “Warren, I want a
divorce—my partner understands me.”
At the deepest level, most coupled individuals
do not feel understood by their partner.
Promises of honesty and love begin to fade
when we express genuine feelings that our
partner perceives as criticism. Criticism
begets criticism, and soon the fear of escalation leads to stuffing feelings and “walking on
eggshells.” The children consume too much
time to unravel the feelings, even as they also
create a reason to stay together. The result:
Couples remain legally married but psychologically divorced, developing a “silent deal”
that looks too much like their parents and not
enough like the initial promises.
The most important component in this cycle
is the inability to handle what our partner
perceives as feelings and what we perceive as
criticism. Active listening, the best solution, is
rarely used. Dr. Farrell has modified active listening to avoid what prevents most couples
from using it. When conflict can be fully
expressed, he helps couples develop “conflictfree zones.” Once the fear of walking on
eggshells disappears, he works with couples
to replace that fear with an atmosphere of
positive associations. The outcome: reigniting
passion without sacrificing stability.
Once these methods are mastered with partners, Dr. Farrell helps participants apply them
to our children, then our co-workers, and,
finally, our own parents.
Recommended reading: Farrell, Women Can’t
Hear What Men Don’t Say.
A Tender Invitation
David Schiffman
“Our aims for this weekend are simple,” writes
David Schiffman. “To join together and share
the magical, timeless realities of Big Sur’s sea,
sky, and mountains. To feel emotionally and
physically restored, healed, and cleansed. To
rediscover the lovingly creative inner
comprehensive introduction to this unique
blend of deep tissue massage, energy work,
and ritual.
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
Warmed muscle tissue is easier to address,
manipulate, and massage. Using heated
stones to warm the tissue is also grounding
for the client and easier on the therapist’s
hands, forearms, and elbows. It allows the
massage therapist to work deeper without
causing pain. Afterward, the use of chilled
stones promotes reduction of inflammation
caused by deep tissue work or due to injury or
chronic or acute pain.
resources of our own music, poetry, and
prayer. To feel ready again to face whatever
comes next in our lives.
“Together we will create a mood of sanctuary
and a time to be met by kindred spirits. The
approaches utilized will be drawn from a
wide variety of practices aimed toward physical, emotional, and spiritual attunement in
order to restore our gratitude and appreciation for being alive.”
David Darling
For workshop description see January 21-23.
This five-day workshop is an opportunity to
go deeper, further, and higher with your longlost musician.
The Life of Passion and Meditation
pay attention to the world within. Passion
leads us into the heart of experience, and thus
is the power source for meditation.
Meditative practices create a container of
awareness within which the passions can
play, offering their gifts for our creativity, relationships, and health.
The workshop will alternate sitting, standing,
moving, and dancing meditations. Through
movement, sound, breath, visualizations, and
other embodied techniques, you will gently
and gradually open your capacity to let more
life force stream through you. The techniques
are inspired by the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, an
ancient meditation text. Both beginners and
experienced meditators benefit profoundly
from this material. You can go at your own
pace; nothing is forced. You explore with
curiosity and compassion, finding practices
that work best for your individual nature.
Recommended reading: Maurine & Roche,
Meditation 24/7 and Meditation Secrets for
Women; Roche, Breath Taking and Meditation
Made Easy.
Lorin Roche & Camille Maurine
Meditation and passion are rarely mentioned
in the same breath. Yet they are complementary opposites: one enriches the other. This
workshop focuses on how deep meditation
inspires a dynamic range of passionate expression, which in turn contributes to a healthy
inner life.
Love, anger, joy, sorrow, courage, desire—how
can we embrace the rich spectrum of these
powerful energies? Each passion activates us
differently and calls us outward into engagement with the world. At the same time, each
lights up our internal circuitry and calls us to
LaStone® Therapy:
The Original Hot Stone Treatment
Mary Nelson & Ardell Hill
LaStone Therapy is a massage modality that
offers the ability to bring sustained temperature to a massage through the use of hot and
cold stones (heat through basalt stones and
chilled temperatures through marble, sardonyx, or jade). This workshop—led by
LaStone Therapy originator Mary Nelson and
reflexologist Ardell Hill—is an advanced
course for massage therapists. It provides a
The cool stones break the pain-spasm-pain
cycle and reduce the chemical response that
causes muscle tissue damage. Physiologically
this treatment can balance the sympathetic
and parasympathetic nervous systems
through the alternation of short- and longterm temperatures.
LaStone Therapy is designed to enhance muscle relaxation, tissue repair, grounding, balancing, and release of blocked memories.
It’s Time—Letting Go and Moving On
Mary Goldenson
Often in our lives we feel incomplete with the
past. Unresolved issues inhibit us from moving into the present with an open and generous heart. Though we experience them as
“finished,” old memories continue to haunt
us. When we exist more in the past than in
the present, it is time to make the distinction
between “finished” and “complete.”
Transitions without completions foster
unsuccessful marriages, friendships, and
careers, producing sorrow and, some believe,
the causes of illness.
Transitions are crossroads in our lives that
give us the opportunity to complete the past,
reconnect with our present truth, and renew
our passion, courage, and commitment for the
future. The focus of this workshop is an indepth review of our lives to try to discover
what needs to be transformed from “finished”
to “complete.”
The workshop will provide a safe, supportive
environment that includes risk taking,
intense bodywork, Gestalt, imagery, movement, and meditation to keep us committed
to the process of discovering ourselves.
This workshop may have up to 34 participants.
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JOHN WERNER
The Way of the Shaman: Power,
Healing, and our Primordial Alliance
with Nature
David Corbin & Nan Moss
To the shaman’s eyes, the world around us is
alive and inspirited. You can learn to see with
those eyes, to explore the hidden worlds, and
to access the timeless wisdom known to our
ancestors. In this workshop you will be initiated into the shamanic journey, learn skills of
divination and healing, and experience the
shamanic state of consciousness to help awaken spiritual awareness.
This course invites you to explore the
shaman’s way—our birthright—and begin to
learn what it is to become fully human, as cocreators in the dance of life on our planet. You
will work with other group members and
with the sacred in transforming yourself and
your world view, as you learn what it means
to partner with nature and the sacred on
behalf of the Earth. Shamans are healers, and
the Earth, now more than ever, needs healing.
This course includes two Foundation for
Shamanic Studies workshops: The Way of the
Shaman, and Shamanism and the Spirits of
Nature. Participants are qualified to take addi18
tional advanced trainings with Michael
Harner and the faculty of the Foundation.
Buddhist Philosophy:
A Basic Introduction
Please note: Bring a drum or rattle (if you have
one), a bandanna, and a pen and notebook to
record your journeys.
Dale Wright
Experiencing Esalen
Experiencing Esalen Staff
We must answer anew the old questions. “What
are the limits of human ability, the boundaries of
the human experience? What does it mean to be a
human being?”
— From the 1965 Esalen Catalog
This workshop is designed to introduce the
various transformational practices of Esalen
to first-time participants or to those renewing
their acquaintance with Esalen. The emphasis
will be on finding those approaches to selfawareness that work most effectively for each
participant. Sessions may include: meditation,
sensory awareness, Gestalt Practice, group
process, art, movement, and massage. There
will also be time to explore the magnificence
of the Big Sur coast.
Although philosophy has a reputation for
abstraction and impracticality, the point of
Buddhist philosophy is the most practical form
of self-transformation. Buddhist philosophy
begins in the learning of a series of simple principles intended to change the way you understand yourself and the world. In a very relevant
sense, Buddhists make no distinction between
philosophy and meditation—deep and principled thinking about fundamental dimensions
of human life is one form of Buddhist meditation, and the primary intention of all forms of
meditation is to transform the quality and character of your participation in the world.
“This workshop is designed to put Buddhist
philosophy at your service in this practical
way,” says Dale Wright. “We will work to master the basic principles of Buddhism, and then
learn to apply those principles to a variety of
real-life situations. Learning these principles in
the first place includes basic training in awareness meditation and in the various ways that
accomplished Buddhists have learned to keep
focused on what is really at stake in the life sit-
uations we face. No background in Buddhism
is required; we will start from the very beginning and end with a strategy for cultivating
Buddhist skills beyond the workshop.”
Improv Alchemy:
Brewing Something from Nothing
Paula Shaw
The spontaneity of theater games can open
you up to extraordinary surprises, to
unknown abilities, even to brilliance—a brilliance born of generating from a blank slate,
from the nothing and nowhere of beginner’s
mind. This workshop is an exploration of letting go of your programmed patterns and discovering the joy of spontaneous creation.
The first premise of improvisational theater
games (which Robin Williams claims
unleashed him) is to “go in blank.” Within the
game structures, participants are coached to be
receptive: stop, look, and listen; deny nothing;
release control; let go of planning ahead. This
process can help you to trust your own intuition, sense of humor, eloquence, and physical
grace, and it allows you get out of your own way
to convert the raw material of spontaneous
impulse into glittering nuggets of creative gold.
The workshop is also just a lot of fun.
Beginners and shy people are welcome; no
experience is necessary. Prior improv experience will be forgiven.
The Mind/Body Connection:
Enhancing the Body’s Ability
to Heal and Function Optimally
Stephen Sideroff & Michael Sinel
There are many physical and emotional holding patterns and habitual behaviors resulting
from emotional pain and defenses. Along
with stress, they cause muscle tension and
nervous system reactivity. This impacts physical symptoms and interferes with healing and
the body’s optimal functioning.
Pain and other symptoms can also be maintained unconsciously as a distraction from
emotional issues. By addressing the underlying issues and coping better with stress, the
body is able to let go more readily. This
improves blood flow, effects biochemical balance, and improves physical health.
This workshop will help you recognize and
release emotional and physical holding patterns
and learn more appropriate responses to stress.
Thus your body will take care of itself and heal
better. Discussion along with experiential work
will facilitate self-awareness, emotional release,
and body self-regulation. Topics include:
• The connection between emotions, stress,
and physical symptoms including pain
• Identifying and resolving emotional
holding patterns
• Introduction to relaxation and biofeedback
techniques
• Coping with stress and correcting the
chronic imbalance of your nervous system
• Redesigning your body’s “fight or flight”
response to enhance resilience
• Dealing with anger and depression
• Destructive patterns such as perfectionism,
obsessiveness, and addictions
• New and more effective ways of thinking
and controlling thoughts
• Creating your personal program for healing
and optimal functioning
Valentine’s Day—
For Those Who Can’t Wait
Ginger Holladay & Dean Marson
Why wait until February to celebrate your
relationship? Take this weekend to join partners Ginger and Dean in exploring the joy of
connecting with your partner through yoga,
massage, and music. Listening to the beat of
the heart and following the rhythm of the
breath can lead you to a profound experience
of the present moment—the place where partners can truly be present together.
The workshop will introduce gentle partner
yoga to enhance trust and mutual support,
freeing the body while partners open softly to
each other. Applying tender touch, participants
will learn simple massage techniques (fully
clothed) to relieve stress and tension. Singing
sacred sounds and love songs, partners will
explore musical expressions of the heart.
Nurture your relationship in a gentle atmosphere of relaxation and fun while opening to
love with movement, touch, and song,
Week of January 30–
February 4
Making a Difference:
Creating a Sustainable World
Maggie Seeley, Zaida Amaral & Kat Steele
Each and every one of us—6.4 billion in all—
makes a difference. We have the capacity to
live in harmony with our world and to use its
resources wisely. This seminar invites you to
examine your “Personal Footprint” (a sustainability audit of water, gas, energy, food, and
plastics consumption in your home and office)
in order to make informed, conscious choices.
In a world characterized by the globalization
of agriculture, privatization of water, electrical
shortages, and a widening gap between rich
and poor, each of us can be empowered to
make choices that “vote” for a less consumptive lifestyle. Inspired by Buckminster Fuller
and borrowing from Natural Capitalism, permaculture design, Ecovillage Development,
the Triple Bottom Line (people, profit, and the
planet), deep ecology, and Feng Shui, this
exploration leads to the creation of a compelling vision and a dynamic action plan to
create sustain-ability.
What is sufficiency? What is sustainability?
What can I do? These questions are explored
in the context of the Findhorn Foundation’s
Eight Levels of Sustainability: ecological, financial, cultural, educational, spiritual, transportational, communicational, and environmental.
Visits to Esalen’s water-recycling system and a
nearby home will provide some hands-on
learning. Yoga, meditation, art, dance, ceremony, and outdoor exercises will be included to
help balance the rational and experiential. You
will leave with a vision, action steps, a community, and a profound sense of making a difference. Be prepared to learn, to teach, and to have
a blast in a stupendous setting.
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
Lynda Greenberg
In order to draw, neither previous art training
nor manual dexterity is necessary. All that is
required to draw is to learn to see. This workshop
teaches basic strategies of seeing through a combination of studio exercises and lectures that
pack a semester-long art course into five days.
Following the lesson plan of Drawing on the
Right Side of the Brain by Dr. Betty Edwards,
the lectures explain the principles of visual
perception and creativity that allow students
to successfully master the studio exercises.
The studio exercises in turn lead to the integration of perceptual skills and the ability to
produce high-quality finished drawings.
Since it is the right side of the brain that
processes spatial information, the exercises
are designed to “trick” the left side—domain of
linear data like language, naming, and categorizing—into surrendering control.
In a carefully sequenced process, participants
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are taught ways of seeing that enable them to
skillfully draw their perceptions. More
importantly, these new strategies of thinking
are useful in general problem-solving.
Consequently, the workshop teaches more
than “techniques of drawing”—it teaches how
to see in the broader sense, and how to record
one’s perceptions in drawings.
Please note: This workshop will have extended
hours. A list of materials to bring will be sent
upon registration.
Unmasking the Universal Soul:
Awareness, Acceptance, and
Expression through Mask Play
Stephanie Campbell
Complete acceptance of ourselves and others
allows us to safely take risks and fully tap our
creativity. Using professionally-crafted character masks, participants can discover and
befriend the masks they wear, and learn to
express, accept, and even release their various
personas. Through group improvisation, participants can also explore the full range of
human emotions to recognize and accept,
without judgment, the universal soul in us all.
By merging the body with the masked face,
participants will see clearly who they are and
learn to express themselves more comfortably
and creatively through exploration of the
emotional states and archetypes that exist
individually and communally within the
global consciousness.
Participants will have the opportunity to use
twenty-four different theatrical masks for selfexploration and universal acceptance. They
will first use the masks to actively create
imaginative, universal characters, followed by
exercises that invite them to explore the
“masks” they individually wear themselves.
Exercises will include character stimulation
through masks and music, discovery and contemplation of personas, active interviewing of
personas, mask use to explore emotions and
their expression, and paired improvisational
interactions to develop both verbal and physical communication skills.
All are welcome, with no experience required.
It Won’t Hurt Forever:
The Ordinary Miracle of Healing
Peter Levine & Staff
While trauma is a fact of life, it does not have
to be a life sentence. In this workshop partici20
pants will have the opportunity to explore the
possibility that the traumas and obstacles in
their lives also hold the potential for genuine
emotional and spiritual growth and self-transformation. For this to happen, it may mean
having the courage to give up old “victim
identifications” (that have long been our
“friends”) and trust in the emergence of a
deeper, more authentic sense of self.
In this experiential and didactic workshop,
Peter Levine, a pioneer in stress and trauma
for thirty-five years and author of the bestselling book Waking the Tiger, Healing Trauma:
The Innate Capacity to Heal from Overwhelming
Experiences, will work with individuals in a
supportive group setting. In addition, bodycentered awareness exercises, small-group
work, and journaling will be used to support
participants in their healing journey.
This workshop is open to both professionals
and nonprofessionals. There will be the
opportunity, if participants wish, for short discussion of their work to enhance the learning
process. Please bring a notepad and pen.
Laurie Lioness Parizek & Tom Case
Esalen Massage is a healing and enriching
practice that can feel as wonderful to give as
to receive. Esalen bodywork in its many
forms will be presented, practiced, and discussed during five days of learning and relaxation, cradled by the spectacular beauty of the
Big Sur coast.
This workshop will combine specific and
integrative massage skills, gentle and deeper
touch, grounding, stretching, and energy
work. The instructors will present a bodywork style that addresses individual needs,
works to balance the whole person, and honors the healing power of touch. Special attention will be given to self-care, sustaining quality of contact, better breathing, and stress
relief. The workshop uses meditation, music,
and movement, and encourages creative
expression to help bring forth the energy
released by the bodywork.
The workshop is for people who want to
develop their ability to give a relaxing, restorative massage and focuses on cultivating the
centered, peaceful inner state that makes
Esalen Massage so effortless and intuitive. It
is for beginners and experienced alike and
will provide a safe environment for learning
and discovery. Please bring comfortable
clothes and your favorite music.
Weekend of February 4–6
Stronger at the Broken Places:
Relationship Challenges as
Initiatory Experiences
Linda & Charlie Bloom
The mind seeks an easy relationship. The heart
seeks a spiritual partner.
Many factors draw us into relationships:
physical attraction, a desire for intimacy,
financial concerns, to name a few. Then there
are our deeper, often unconscious agendas,
matters of the heart that are usually less
apparent, although certainly no less compelling. A soulmate is someone with whom
we can learn the lessons required for our
deeper purposes to be fulfilled. These lessons
have to do with freeing ourselves from limiting patterns of behavior and beliefs that interfere with our ability to be free, whole, and loving beings.
This process of liberation often pits us against
challenges that stretch our capacities, that
confront us with unhealed wounds and
incompletions. This is the deeper purpose of
relationships: to compel us to go beyond the
edges of our familiar reality and into the terrain of the unknown. Each time we successfully move into and through these painful
ordeals of the heart we claim increasingly
larger aspects of ourselves, bringing us to progressively higher levels of consciousness.
In this workshop, participants will be shown
how to embrace and take full advantage of the
teachings that relationships provide for us as
we strengthen the capacity to stand more
firmly and openly in the face of the fire.
Singles as well as couples are welcome.
The Subtle Self:
Attuning to Pure Consciousness
Judith Blackstone
All spiritual traditions refer to an essential
dimension of existence, calling it pure consciousness, true Self, non-duality, and many
other names. This dimension is not an
abstract concept. It is the core of our own true
nature and can be experienced by anyone
willing to approach it with patience and
openness. Pure consciousness is experienced
as clear, mirror-like space, pervading our body
and our environment, transcending the duality of self and object. It is deeper than the
physical and energetic levels of our being and
beyond our psychological defenses, projections, images, and archetypes. Subtle Self
Work® is a precise method of attuning directly to pure consciousness.
This work offers ways to: integrate pure consciousness with the body and breath/energy
system; experience oneness with nature and
people (while remaining grounded in one’s
body); and see, hear, and touch on a subtler
level. Subtle Self Work attunement exercises
will be combined with sitting and movement
meditations, as well sound and breathing
techniques to open the energy channels.
There will also be discussion of the metaphysics of consciousness and how attunement to pure consciousness can facilitate psychological and physical healing. Please come
prepared for deep, concentrated work.
Recommended reading: Blackstone, The Subtle
Self, The Enlightenment Process, or Living
Intimately.
these healing forces and transfer these healing plant-spirit energies to their patients during the healing rituals.”
Do you feel a deep connection with nature
and indigenous healing wisdom? Are you
ready to access the spiritual powers of
shamanic rituals to heal yourself and others?
Connie will share with you the ancient rituals
of Amazonian shamanism to help you
unleash the shaman within. The secrets of the
jungle shamans and their powerful rituals
will unfold as Connie leads you deep into the
jungle in a dramatic slide presentation of
exotic animals and powerful medicinal plants
and invokes tales of visionary spirit doctors
and their healing powers.
As a spirited healer and teacher of the ways of
the shaman, Connie initiates seekers into the
Amazonian shamanic rituals. You will not
only learn how to perform these ancient rituals; you will have the opportunity to experience a healing for yourself as you learn how to
direct the healing principles of nature for
yourself and others. Healers, health-care professionals, and seekers are all welcome. No
experience is necessary.
Recommended reading: Grauds, Jungle
Medicine.
Jungle Medicine—
Rituals of Amazonian Shamanism
Connie Grauds
Cynthia Griffin & Eric Simon
“A shaman’s mysterious healing practices are a
blend of medicine and spirit,” says Connie
Grauds, shamana of the Amazonian jungle
tradition. “The rain forest shamans have an
intimate relationship with the healing spirits
of nature and of the plants. They summon
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
The Wellness Group
Over the past few decades, Western medicine
has become increasingly aware of the value of
alternative models of healing. The Cartesian
view of “Man as a Machine” is being replaced
by a mind-body-spirit view of holistic health.
Health-care providers are shifting perspective
to recognize that the human beings traditionally labeled as “patients” are in fact multifaceted individuals who live in the context of
their unique biological endowment, their psychological perspective, their spiritual beliefs,
and their environment. These elements are
achieving far greater recognition in current
models of wellness.
This workshop will explore multiple techniques that support the process of healing.
Group process will be the primary element of
the workshop, although meditation techniques, hypnosis exercises, and body awareness strategies will be utilized as methods to
improve well-being. Each session will include
group interaction, lectures, and exercises that
focus on various aspects of healing. The
course will borrow from Buddhist tradition,
mindfulness training, and Western medicine
to develop a repertoire of skills that quiet the
mind, strengthen the body, and heal the
heart. There will be ample time for group
members to address specific concerns.
Individuals with chronic or acute health challenges are invited to attend, as are health-care
providers and those who are simply striving
toward wholeness.
The Body Keeps the Score:
Mind, Brain, and Body in the
Transformation of Trauma
Bessel VanderKolk & Peter Levine
This workshop unites two of the leading figures in the field of trauma research and bodyoriented treatment approaches. Together they
will explore the implications of recent findings in the neurosciences, from how the brain
and body deal with emotional information to
an understanding of effective therapeutic
action.
The leaders will show how the trauma
response is a specific defensive bodily reaction that people initially mobilize in order to
protect themselves, and then use against feeling the totality of their horror, helplessness,
or pain. However, in the long range this
response keeps them frozen, stuck in the past,
unable to fully be in the here and now. Fixed
in the defensive trauma response, the shame,
defeat, and humiliation associated with the
original event replays itself over and over
again in the body, detached from history, but
experienced in the present.
Traditionally, therapies have attempted to
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change perceptions of the world by means of
reason and insight, along with conditioning,
behavior modification, drugs, and medications. However, perceptions remain fundamentally unchanged until the internal experience of the body changes. Even after the
death of a loved one, physical injury, rape, or
assault, people can learn to have new bodily
experiences, then come to heal and accept
what has happened and create new lives and
new communities.
Week of February 6–11
Filmmaking, Storytelling,
and the Spiritual Journey
Mickey Lemle
Filmmaker Mickey Lemle has been making
feature films, television series, and documentary specials since 1968. He has made awardwinning documentary films about the Dalai
Lama, Ram Dass, Sir Laurens van der Post,
and the Apollo astronauts. In this workshop
he will show his films as a jumping-off point
to explore the art, the craft, and the creative
process of telling stories about the spiritual
journey. This program is open to anyone
who is curious about the joys and challenges
of making art about the cosmic and the
comic.
Sacred Lover
Karinna Kittles
Many of us desire to experience soulful, heartpounding, erotic, ecstatic love. Although
Sacred Love™ may seem far off or an impossible dream, in actuality the experience is
always available to us. Whether single or in a
partnership, we can enjoy Sacred Love by
skillfully developing our Sacred Lover within.
Our experiences as a lover are extensions of
our emotions and beliefs around sex and intimacy, our physical openness to love and pleasure, and our ability to integrate and cultivate
our sexual/spiritual aspects. The Sacred Lover
workshop nurtures and deepens our personal
sexual/emotional/spiritual relationship to
draw out our Sacred Lover and attract Sacred
Love into our lives.
The workshop—open to both individuals and
couples—is based on ancient Taoist sexology.
The Taoist Art of Love is a form that develops
internal and external skills for love.
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Techniques include sensual kung fu exercises,
intimacy-enhancing meditations, breathing
practices, and sacred rituals. Sacred Lover provides the skills to enjoy greater sexual health
and passionate pleasure, emotional intimacy,
and deeply fulfilling romantic relationships.
The techniques are practiced individually and
learned fully clothed, in a safe, respectful
environment. In this workshop you will
learn to:
•
•
•
•
•
Activate sensual body flow
Open the heart to intimacy
Cultivate sexual vitality, potency, and desire
Enhance sexual pleasure and ecstasy
Enjoy sexual, heart, and spiritual
connectivity
• Choose the right partner with your
emotional body wisdom
The Voice of Essence:
Precursor to the Novel
Lisa Doctor
“Every novel begins with an authentic voice,”
Lisa Doctor writes, “an ‘uber-narrator’ who
speaks from a place of emotional truth. Once
this voice is found the journey of storytelling
begins—and what an extraordinary journey it
is. Through a series of meditations, writing
exercises, and discussion, we will seek the
clear, strong voice of the narrator inside every
writer. We will explore stories from our own
lives that have haunted us, whether they are
emotional milestones or seemingly insignificant moments. By the completion of the
course we will have a deeper understanding
of the storyteller within us as we prepare to
embark on the next step: writing the novel.”
This workshop is recommended for writers of
all levels of experience, particularly those
interested in beginning a novel or memoir.
Walking Your Talk: Harnessing the
Magic of Body Language
Lavinia Plonka
The raised eyebrow, the sharp inhalation, the
inadvertent smirk—each nonverbal expression is tied to neurochemical responses that
constantly communicate what cannot be said
in words. Back pain, anxiety and immune disorders, headaches, and more result from how
you use your body every moment of your life.
Body language affects everything—your relationships, successes and failures, even your
self-image. These, in turn, affect your happiness, personal power, and, ultimately, your
health.
This deep immersion into body language is
designed to change forever the way you see
yourself and others. The physical, emotional,
and intellectual vocabularies of each body
part—from head to toes—will be investigated.
You will learn to recognize your own self-sabotaging postures related to fear and its many
masks. Lavinia Plonka combines a lifetime of
research with practical exercises from many
disciplines including The Feldenkrais
Method® and the theater. From the 19th-century teachings of Francois Delsarte to Paul
Ekman’s Facial Action Coding System, from
commedia dell’arte to Aikido, this powerful
synthesis of teachings offers a key to unlocking the hidden signals you are constantly
sending to the world and to yourself.
Developing this kinesthetic “sixth sense”
empowers you to effortlessly command your
postures and gestures—enabling you to
embody your words and literally “walk your
talk.”
No movement experience is necessary.
Recommended reading: Plonka, What Are You
Afraid Of? A Body/Mind Guide to Courageous
Living.
Song of Light and Change
Rhiannon
Song and improvisation are gifts that shine a
light into our creativity, bring us together to
build community, and teach us to be in the
present and allow the changes in ourselves
that we long for in the world. Rhiannon’s
workshops are designed to help students find
their own place in that world of music where
invention and intuition meet skill and heart.
Song of Light and Change is for strong singers
who have developed basic skills in rhythm
and pitch and are comfortable singing in a
group setting. Working alone, in pairs, and in
ensemble, singers delve deeper into the possibilities of spontaneously composed music,
strengthening their skills in rhythm, vocal
technique, body integration, harmony, and ear
training. Improvisation exercises put these
tools into context, encouraging deep listening,
musical awareness, and expanded creativity.
Sessions are often conducted in an a cappella
circle, reinforcing group dynamics, full presence, and allowing the group to create a vocal
orchestra of interlocking parts. Students will
also experiment with words, personal scat language, movement, and a variety of other innovative exercises that foster greater freedom,
joy, and unself-conscious expression.
The extraordinary natural environment of
Esalen allows the music to unfold in many
settings—from indoor studio to the baths,
from wild, rocky beach to gardens—to find the
songs that live there.
Undefended Love:
When Close is Not Close Enough
Jett Psaris & Marlena Lyons
The capacity exists in all of us to love without
defenses or requirements, so that real intimacy—direct, unmediated, heart-to-heart connection with ourselves and with our partner—
becomes a lifelong expression of our deepest
nature. This is the power of Undefended
Love, a transformative path that guides us
beyond close, companion-based partnerships
toward intimate relationships, where each
moment is a fresh, spontaneous expression of
who we genuinely are.
This workshop, open to couples and individuals, offers a vision to cut through personal
differences and reach the direct connection—
with ourselves and others—that can only
occur when the heart is undefended. The
focus is on shifting our center of gravity
away from our conditioned personality
(the places where we feel stuck, confused,
hurt, and defensive) toward our essential self
(the part of us that is free, whole, connected,
peaceful, powerful, and joyful). Through
lively experiential practices, participants
will learn:
• What unconditional love really is and how
to achieve it
• How to sustain our experience of ourselves
regardless of what our partner is feeling
• How to “dissolve” rather than “resolve”
relationship problems
• When “needs” can be unexpected guides to
undiscovered inner resources
• How problems can be entry points to
deeper connection
• Why there is no difference between men
and women when it comes to intimate
loving
• How comfort and safety can prevent rather
than promote intimacy
Please bring a pen and a pad of paper.
Recommended reading: Psaris & Lyons,
Undefended Love.
Sexual Healing:
Transforming the Sacred Wound
Peter Levine, Maggie Phillips
& Laura Regalbuto
Sexual trauma and abuse can wound us
deeply, leaving scars that are physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual.
Fortunately we are endowed with innate
capacities that allow us to move through trauma. But why doesn’t our natural healing
process work more naturally for us? In part,
because we’re unaccustomed to the sensations
of healing; they feel alien to us. We don’t realize the signals our body and mind express in
attempting to return to balance and wholeness. When we experience the intense energy
associated with survival we may be intimidated by its raw power. In addition, because of
shame and self-blame, we may shut down and
retreat further in isolation or act out promiscuously. Past negative messages that have
become habitual beliefs as well as unconscious urges to reenact trauma may also play a
part in blocking healing. However, as we learn
to own our instinctual power and trust surrender to certain subtle energies, we find that
traumatic emotions can transform to feelings
of empowerment, ecstasy, and oneness.
This workshop will explore tools to harness
and transform the energies of trauma. This
will be done through guided awareness exercises, some individual work in the group setting, Yoga, and selected video material.
unfed, grows weaker, shrivels, and may even
die. At every level—personal, family, community, cultural, and planetary—this spirit has
been wounded deeply, and is still being
wounded. The result: stress, illness, violence,
and dysfunction, visible everywhere.”
Dr. Miller’s goal is to go past the symptoms to
the source to reconnect with the spirit, the
vital force of love, life, wholeness, and healing. In this workshop, Dr. Miller guides participants in awakening the healer within,
both personally and as a community of beings
on a small planet. The workshop focuses on:
• Letting go of stress, relaxing deeply, and
entering the Healing State
• Exploring how beliefs and images become
physical and behavioral events (symptoms)
• Allowing the inner healer to channel
thoughts, developing beliefs and images
that lead to wellness and peak performance
• Learning tools for integrity of thoughts,
feelings, and behavior
• The direct experience of joyful selfawareness, healing, and peace
The workshop features hands-on experience,
deep relaxation, imagery and movement,
group discussion, and lecture. It is designed
for professionals and lay persons, beginners
and experts alike.
Recommended reading: Articles and excerpts
at www.DrMiller.com; Miller, Deep Healing: The
Essence of Mind/Body Medicine.
This workshop is open to health and mentalhealth professionals as well as to interested
nonprofessionals who meet enrollment criteria (please contact the Esalen office for information).
Recommended reading and listening: Levine
(book), Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma;
(audio tapes) Healing Trauma: Restoring the
Wisdom of the Body; It Won’t Hurt Forever:
Guiding Your Child through Trauma; and Sexual
Healing: Transforming the Sacred Wound.
Vicki Topp & Lawrence Jenkins
Deep Healing: The Essence of
Mind/Body Medicine
Emmett Miller
“At our essence is a divine ‘Knower,’” says Dr.
Emmett Miller, “an inner healer and guide.
Invalidated and injured by trauma, stress, and
neglect, this abused spirit retreats, depriving
us of its wisdom and healing. Separated from
this spirit, something in us hungers and,
Massage for Couples
Come with your partner to discover the creative, loving connections available to your
relationship through Esalen Massage.
This workshop will provide a safe and supportive environment for you to explore and
connect, to enhance sensitivity, and to
reawaken intimate touch. The fundamental
elements of Esalen Massage, such as breath
awareness, quality of touch, and long integrative body strokes, will be combined with creative stretches and table movements to support partners in giving and receiving a pleasurable full-body massage. Sessions will
include demonstrations and hands-on
instruction, with plenty of assisted practice
time and opportunity to focus on breath,
trust, and staying present.
The practical massage skills offered here are
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easily integrated into daily living, useful for
relaxation and relieving stress, and appropriate for children, friends, and family as well as
partners. Come play and reawaken your senses and your inner spirit.
Getting Naked: Writing the
Emotional Truth of Erotic Scenes
Lisa Palac
EL
LE
D
Lisa Palac has been writing about and discussing sexuality for sixteen years. “I believe
that honesty encourages honesty,” she says.
“Telling the truth about sex—the most intimate, contradiction-filled, hard-to-be-honestabout subject of them all—has given me the
courage to face the rest of my life as honestly
as I can.”
CA
NC
In this workshop—for both men and women,
beginning and experienced writers—you will
find the inspiration to write more honestly.
Whether you’re working on a screenplay,
novel, memoir, or simply writing for self-discovery and personal transformation, this
workshop provides a process for crafting powerful sexual narratives. By examining your
own personal erotic development, you’ll discover how to create compelling erotic lives for
characters in any genre. The atmosphere is
supportive, thought-provoking, and fun.
Through writing and candid group discussion, you will learn:
• To harness the creativity of your sexual
shadow self
• How to overcome vulnerability and selfdoubt
• The courage to speak the unspeakable
• A new level of skill and comfort using
explicit language
• A greater understanding of story structure
and character
Ultimately, writers learn to capture the emotional truth of any sexual situation—“What do
we really want? What are we afraid of? What
were we thinking?”—adding texture and
essential depth to their work. This workshop
precedes Valentine’s Day and is a wonderful
experience for lovers to share.
sage practice, turning it into a vehicle for
mindfulness, centering, and transformation.
The focus will be on body mechanics for the
more advanced moves, presenting alternatives
to meet the needs of each individual style and
body type.
Come and explore the creative edge of movement in bodywork.
Opening to Love:
The Healing Relationship
The Longevity of Massage: An
Advanced Massage Workshop
Carl Chase (CC) & David Streeter
If you are a massage professional or an
advanced student of massage, this workshop
is designed for you. Bodywork is a lifelong
exploration and with proper preparation and
self-care the practitioner’s body can be a lifelong instrument.
Carl Chase (CC) and David Streeter both have
strong practices in Chi Gung and Asian movement disciplines; they make it part of their
daily practice not only for their personal
growth and maintenance but also for their professional careers as massage therapists. They
believe that it is possible to work productively
and efficiently in a demanding workplace and
still avoid burnout or injuries to the hands,
wrists, forearms, and other parts of the body.
In this workshop they will demonstrate how
to incorporate movement forms into a mas-
Howard Joel Schechter & Barbara Lee
“The quality of our relationships in large part
determines the level of satisfaction we have in
our lives,” say Howard and Barbara. “The joy
of intimate relationships, the character of our
friendships, the quality of our associations in
the workplace, even the nature of our casual
connections have a tremendous impact on
our happiness. Our focus will be opening to
love by developing a healing relationship
with ourselves and those around us.
“The purpose of the healing relationship is
emotional and spiritual expansion for ourselves and those we touch. The heart of this
workshop is transforming intimate relationships as well as other forms of human connection into healing, love-centered relationships.
Through demonstrations, individual and couple work, practical exercises, and inner exploration, we will learn the key characteristics of
the healing relationship and practice its use.
With this experience and knowledge, relationships grow richer, deeper, and more joyful.
“Guiding our interaction in this way, we
become a force for healing and love wherever
we are. Others feel better in our presence;
they feel they can drop their masks and share
themselves more easily. We find less aggression in our lives as people realize that their
habitual self-protective behaviors are unnecessary in our presence.”
The workshop is for couples, singles, people
in the healing arts, and anyone interested in
learning how to transform relationship into a
growth-centered, joyful practice.
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
Writing Poems
Sue Wheeler
The writing of poetry is a craft, as well as a
way of seeing and knowing. The craft has
tools (such as image, sound, language, timing,
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line, rhythm) that can be learned. Using the
work of published poets as examples and
models, this workshop will examine how
vision, idea, event, and emotion can be translated into the poem on the page. Participants
will write new poems and, through sharing
work, begin the process of revision to take
each poem to its place of best expression.
Butoh—meaning “to step” or “to dance”—
emerged out of post-Hiroshima Japan. It seeks
to express the contradictions and ambiguity
of being human in the body. At the root of
Butoh is “feeling free in movement.” Its grace
arises through the practice of giving up the
self, moving without willing, anonymous as a
dry leaf.
Participants may, if they wish, bring up to five
pages of recent work for critiquing in one-onone sessions with Sue Wheeler.
In the mornings students will bring the physical body into an experience of emptiness
through simple exercises that increase flexibility, endurance, and sensitivity. In the afternoons they will track movements that are
unmarked by social history, searching for
something prehistoric. These movements create a personal movement pathway that is
highly individual. In the evenings students
will perform the personal movement pathways in ensemble—all at once, forward and
backward, inside and outside, fast and slow—
with no particular relationship between the
movements except that the dancer has chosen
them very carefully.
•
•
•
•
•
The High-Performance Mind:
Awakened Mind Brainwave Training
Anna Wise
The high-performance mind is clearer, sharper, more flexible. Emotions become more
available, easier to transform. Information
flows readily between the conscious, subconscious, and unconscious levels, increasing
intuition, insight, and empathy. Having a
high-performance mind means being able to
enter at will the state of consciousness most
beneficial for any given circumstance—and
then understanding how to use that state.
Through brainwave training for beta, alpha,
theta, and delta, this workshop teaches you
how to produce the components for an awakened mind, the brainwave pattern of peak
experience, optimum creativity, and spiritual
awareness. Working with both the state and
the content of consciousness, you can learn to
use these brainwaves to help develop a highperformance mind for self-healing, increasing
creativity, improving relationships, and developing greater awareness.
The workshop combines biofeedback monitoring with meditation, visualization, and
deep psychophysiological relaxation to help
you master your own states of consciousness.
The Mind Mirror EEG will be used to measure brainwave patterns, and Electrical Skin
Resistance Meters will measure the depth of
arousal and relaxation of your autonomic nervous system, illuminating the interrelationship between your body and your mind.
Butoh: Feeling Free in Movement
Marjorie Malone
By giving up the notion of oneself, the dancer is
able to revert back to the original memory of the
body, there to discover the soul stifled within.
— Kazuo Ohno, Butoh cofounder
•
•
•
•
For what may I hope?
Whom do I love? Why?
What curtails my freedom?
How can I escape from the constricting
social, political, sexual, and economic
myths that were imposed on me by my
family and culture?
To what cause, ideal, or faith may I
surrender without destroying the integrity
of my ‘self ’?
What does it mean to experience the sacred?
How can I live a spirited life in a world
dominated by a secular-technologicaleconomic vision of reality?
How can we create a more just and peaceful
world?
What is my credo? My philosophy of life?
Medical Qigong—Awakening the
Healer Within: Medical Breakthrough
for Healing and Empowerment
Roger Jahnke
The workshop culminates in a community
performance. Seen all at once, the movement
pathways produce an image of life that is
beautiful, surprising, and deep, with no middle, no end, no causes, no effects, but rather
the depths of many marvelous moments seen
all at one time.
The workshop is open to anyone interested in
exploring the borders and regions of the body.
All levels of experience are welcomed. Please
bring a dance journal, writing implement, and
your favorite poetry.
The Philosophical Path
Sam Keen
Always the beautiful answer.
Who asks a more beautiful question?
— ee cummings
“The practice of philosophy,” Sam Keen
writes, “is a way of life that results from
falling in love with questions—the great mythic questions that can never be given definitive
answers. Who we are and what we will
become is determined by the questions that
animate us, and by those we refuse to ask.”
Bring your urgent questions to this seminar
which explores:
• What is the purpose of my life?
• What can I know?
• What ought I to do?
The National Institutes of Health have finally
agreed that Chinese medicine is a treasure
chest for the emerging new era in integrative
and complementary medicine. If acupuncture
optimizes healing resources that are naturally
present within the body, then shouldn’t the
person who owns the body be able to awaken
and enhance healing and pain-relieving
potential through self-healing practices? Over
one hundred million people do this every
morning in China’s parks with Tai Chi and
Qigong (Chi Kung), ancient forms of moving
meditation with Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist,
and martial arts roots.
You can heal yourself at home, for free, using a
remarkable medicine that is produced within
the human body and has no negative side
effects. This is a medical miracle. The Chinese
are sure that acupuncture and Qigong are
based in maximizing Qi (Chi, life energy);
however, research has made it obvious that
the Chinese healing modalities have profound physiological effects as well.
Dr. Jahnke will lead a highly experiential
weekend retreat, drawing primarily from his
acclaimed first book, The Healer Within, based
on a very practical form of medical Qigong
known as the Vitality Enhancement Method
(now used in many hospitals).
For more information visit
www.HealerWithin.com.
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The Seven Sounds of Creation
Sarah Mata
The practice of yoga is a balance of revelation
and creation. Each time we practice we reveal
the quality of our attention, the balance of
strength and flexibility in our body, the depth
or shallowness of our breath. Earnest attention can reveal our most heartfelt aspirations.
Thus, each time we explore a pose or think a
mantra, we open to a fresh and revitalizing
experience of what it is to be here.
At the same time there is a creative element:
We create calm, we create strength and openness, we create freedom in our breath, we create devotion to the expression of our life.
Yogic practices are what can be done to make
room for the grace of what can be.
The Seven Sounds of Creation is an ancient
practice using movement, breath, and sound
to reveal and create a unification of body,
breath, and mind. A central task in yoga practice is to clear the core axis of the spine in
order to realize one’s inherent potential. The
Seven Sounds of Creation correspond to the
cakra model and provide a tool to direct attention progressively along the spine. Chanting
simple, classical sounds can help one to
engage breath, focus attention, and bridge the
timelessness of yogic wisdom with the precise
moment of your own life.
In this workshop participants will explore the
interrelationship of dynamic sequenced postures/vinyasas, breath/pranayama, and simple
chanting as a way to enter the more internal
realms of contemplation. Please bring your
own yoga mat.
The Soul of Money
Lynne Twist
Lynne Twist, author of The Soul of Money:
Transforming Your Relationship with Money and
Life, is founder and president of the Soul of
Money Institute, a center for exploration of
theories, attitudes, and best practices that
enable people to relate to money and the
money culture with greater freedom, power,
and effectiveness. This Soul of Money workshop is based on the insights and principles
Ms. Twist has developed from a long career in
service as a global activist, fundraiser, speaker,
and mentor to end world hunger, empower
women, nurture children and youth, promote
economic integrity and spiritual authenticity,
and preserve the natural heritage of our planet.
Participants will engage in a process of nonjudgmental self-examination to bring their
26
relationship with money and the money culture into conscious view, examine our culture’s dominant mind-set and myths of scarcity, and explore the alternative “domain of sufficiency” that enables them to merge the arenas of money and soulful commitment to create a single, rich expression of life.
Participants will learn the key principles of
sufficiency through a mix of lecture, group
discussion, and experiential and interactive
exercises and activities.
The workshop is open to all. Please bring a
copy of The Soul of Money: Transforming Your
Relationship with Money and Life, which will be
used interactively throughout the program.
Communication and Partnership
Mary Goldenson
Underlying all our relationships—husband,
wife, lover, friend, daughter, son, mother,
father—is the need to communicate. Too often
we learn to express our needs through control, power struggles, addictions, dependency,
guilt, denial, and unreasonableness. This
workshop is about healing the soul-wounds
sustained in our attempts at partnership. The
focus will be on:
• Exploring the possibilities of equal soul
partnership
• Learning new ways to express our fear,
sadness, grief, and love
• Defining what we need to change in our
relationships
• Learning different language styles to better
connect with our partners
• Learning ways to heal, forgive, and move on
to a mutually beneficial relationship
Come alone or with a partner. The workshop
will provide a safe, supportive environment to
learn new practices of breathwork, communication skills, movement, and Gestalt, making
it easier to express your truth and take
responsibility for your feelings and issues.
February 20–27
Not For the Feint of Heart
Mariah Fenton Gladis
This workshop is not for the feint of heart.
Nor for the faint of heart. It is designed for
people with a passionate commitment toward
creating healthy relationships within healthy
lives. It offers each participant the opportunity to benefit from intensive individual work,
which may involve emotional injuries rooted
in the past, recurring themes or patterns of
dysfunction, or personal longings in the hereand-now. Whatever the content of your work,
this workshop will help you:
• Discover the issues that are immediately
obstructing the quality of your life
• Learn contact skills and understand their
importance as a measure of healthy
functioning
• Risk working more deeply in an
atmosphere of trust and mutual support
• Develop more authentic and vital
communication skills
• Expand your capacity for generosity and
compassion for yourself and others
This workshop is particularly helpful for
adult children of dysfunctional families,
human-relations professionals, and those on a
path of personal betterment. This experiential
and didactic workshop will blend individual
and group Gestalt work, spiritual practice, and
bodywork. Mariah is also well known for her
effective and innovative use of music to
enrich the workshop experience.
A twenty-three-year survivor of ALS, Mariah
speaks with what she calls her “ALS accent.”
She will be assisted by Bruce Cornwell, who
has a background in psychotherapy and professional acting.
Family Constellations and the Orders
of Love
Jane Peterson
This workshop offers you an opportunity to
experience directly the family constellation
work of Bert Hellinger and to bring to light
the hidden dynamics that govern your own
family system and life patterns. Using a phenomenological approach, the work will show
that families have an unconscious mind that
flows through the generations, entangling
those who follow in the fate of those who
came before. Accessing this invisible current
is directly possible with family constellations.
Over several years of working in this way,
Hellinger discovered the Orders of Love, a set
of tendencies that, when followed, allow love
to flow freely in a family system. Often, for
social or personal reasons, members of our
anyone who would like to experience the wisdom of embodied dance in relationship to the
challenges and blessings of life.
An Introduction to Rolfing®
Ed Maupin
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
This workshop is an introduction to the principles of Rolf Structural Integration, especially designed for body-therapy professionals.
Strongly influenced by his research in Zen
Buddhism, Ed Maupin considers the Rolf
Method a meditation on physical presence as
well as a physical therapy. This approach,
based on thirty-five years of Rolfing practice,
strongly emphasizes movement, balance in
gravity, and receptive touch. The workshop
will combine regular movement classes with
hands-on instruction in the first three sessions of Ida Rolf ’s original ten-session series.
Nonprofessionals are also welcome.
families made or continue to make choices
that interfere with these Orders of Love.
Family constellations will uncover these
blockages and also reveal conscience for the
trickster that it can play in our families.
With your families and personal issues as a
guide during the course of the workshop, Jane
invites you to discover how these principles
are at play in your own life and family history.
Using simple gestures and the language of the
soul, you are invited to release the long-held
family patterns that have constrained your
life’s course.
and learn how to evaluate and improve upon
our own work.”
Come prepared for a whirl of creative selfexpression and the weary, wonderful feeling
of leaving a workshop with a collection of
your own paintings which celebrate the
process of inspiration, reclamation, and the
journey of self-discovery. All that’s needed is
life experience and a willingness to play. For
more information, call Studio Zocolo at 415488-4710, or visit www.NicholasWilton.com.
Recommended reading: Bayles, Art and Fear.
Artplane
Undercurrents
Nicholas Wilton
Andrea Juhan
This workshop is a playful exploration of the
creative image-making process. It presents
practical principles of painting coupled with a
fresh approach to working more freely and
intuitively. In addition to demonstrations, critique, and extensive hands-on painting, this
course offers clear, concise explorations of
color theory, harmony, value, and design.
“There will be little time to worry about success or failure,” Nicholas Wilton writes, “as
our process will take the form of a flowing
series of small paintings or multiples. We will
sometimes be painting on two or three pictures simultaneously. Working in this way
helps to avoid the tendency to overly focus
and constrict the creative process. The fundamental idea of this class is to recognize and
remain in this state of high creativity—the ‘artplane.’ This process enables us to see the
opportunities made possible by our mistakes
Moving the body in a state of awareness has
proven to be a powerful catalyst for deep psychological exploration. Movement is, in and
of itself, an integrating and healing force
within the psyche. This movement program
is designed to explore the unconscious personal undercurrents that shape our movement, both on the dance floor and in our
daily lives.
The workshop will utilize the 5Rhythms™ as a
daily movement practice. Most people find
patterns and themes from their personal life
emerging easily and spontaneously from the
movement of their bodies. This program will
couple the 5Rhythms and the Open Floor™
process, a combination of individual sessions
and intensive group process, to deeply investigate, challenge, witness, and honor what naturally arises when we are immersed in a creative dance meditation. This program is for
Ed Maupin’s book, A Dynamic Relation to
Gravity, will be the text for the workshop.
Reach Out to Find Your True Self—
A Workshop for Gay Men
Rob Bauer
“As gay men,” writes Rob Bauer, “we constantly hear about ourselves from others. Icons in
the new century, we have become an obsession of the media, entertainment, religious,
and political machines. Yes, Gay Men of the
21st Century, for better or for worse, we are
stars!
“But whether we are damned or applauded,
we must not lose awareness of who we are
within, nor be deluded by society’s need to
label us with a false identity. We simply are
who we are—men of many stripes and colors,
with hearts and souls, surviving the wounds
of childhood, prejudice, and ignorance. We
have learned new ways to communicate and
be in relationship. We have found new ways
to touch each other—emotionally and physically—in safe, nonthreatening ways. Yet many
of us still live in frustration at finding that
special someone, and have given up trying or
are living in a relationship without intimacy.
How can we find or trust someone else when
we have not found or accepted ourselves?
“This is a workshop to honor a vision of gay
male wholeness, to reclaim the souls hidden
beneath our personas. We will experience our
diversity and claim our birthright to be fully
both sexual and spiritual beings. We will rec-
27
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
ognize that love begins within ourselves.
Through self-listening, meditation, healing
touch, and hearing each other’s stories, we
will reach out to ourselves and discover our
unique contribution to planet Earth.”
All gay, bi, and trans men are welcome, regardless of age, HIV status, single or in relationship. Bring a generosity of spirit, your laughter, stories, and feelings, your hearts, and especially your uniqueness.
Experiencing Esalen
Leonardo’s Brain: A Weekend
with Leonard Shlain
Leonard Shlain
Leonard Shlain is the author of three national
bestsellers, Art and Physics, The Alphabet Versus
the Goddess, and Sex, Time, and Power. A unifying theme connecting the trilogy is the duali28
ty inherent in the human brain, manifested
in the extraordinarily different functions
performed by the right and left hemispheres.
His work in progress, Leonardo’s Brain: The
Right/Left Roots of Creativity, will continue to
mine this rich lode. Shlain’s day job as a vascular surgeon has afforded him the opportunity
to perform many operations on the arteries to
the brain, and he has pondered this unique
neuroconfiguration for years. The result: a
midnight writer who has put forth startling
and compelling theories and observations
linking hemispheric lateralization to the battle of the sexes, culture and history, art, religion and science, and the taproots of patriarchy and misogyny.
This freewheeling give-and-take workshop
will explore the evolutionary reasons behind
the rapid propulsion of the human species
away from the other animals and the direction toward which the human species is
evolving. Some of the topics covered include:
homosexuality, the strange rite of circumcision, the roots of creativity, the neurologic differences between the sexes, the appeal of religions, fear of death, the longing for immortality, the search for meaning, universal mind,
and artistic intuition. Cameo appearances by
Picasso, McLuhan, Augustine, Plato, and
Leonardo will enliven the experience. In
other words, be prepared to let your brain ride
through a car wash in a convertible with the
top down.
Writing from the Senses
Lynne Kaufman
God is in the details.
“We all have important stories to tell,” says
Lynne Kaufman. “Too often, though, we don’t
know how to shape them, how to choose
which moments to tell, and how to bring
those moments vividly to the page. In this
workshop, in the words of mythologist
Joseph Campbell, we will focus not on the
meaning of life but on our ‘experience of
being alive.’ Through sensory awareness exercises we will rekindle the world of our creative imagination. Drawing upon that inspiration we will choose compelling stories from
our lives and learn to transform them into
moving and universal narratives.
“In each session we will write not exercises or
fragments but a section of our ongoing stories, read them aloud, and receive honest and
supportive responses. By the end of the work-
shop, we will each experience the pleasure of
having written one or more complete short
stories and participating in the creation of a
number of others.”
This workshop is for writers of all levels of
experience who wish to communicate the stories of their lives through the lens of art.
visualization, guided writing, and the beauty
of Big Sur to support group members in carrying their ideas forward to completion.
Participants will return home with a finished
bronze of their own design. All levels of experience, from beginner to professional, are welcome.
Setting Your Heart on Fire:
An Invitation to Live the Questions
Week of February 27–March 4
Raphael Cushnir
The Upledger Institute’s CranioSacral I
What if you could fall absolutely in love with
every moment of your life? What if you could
use love’s transformative radiance to break
though any personal block, including those
about career, relationships, family, weight,
self-esteem, and addiction?
Patrick Speer
All of this is possible when you learn how to
ask and answer two simple questions. Doing
so requires you to become more open and present than ever before. Based on both of
Raphael’s books, this safe and supportive
workshop will help you to:
• Experience all emotions with willingness
and compassion
• Uncover and transform your limiting
beliefs
• Employ acceptance as a tool for positive
change
• Allow the immediacy of death to bring you
fully to life
• Unleash the power of your dreams while
wide awake
• Turn any relationship into a dance of selfdiscovery
• Treat the entire global community as your
very own beloved
For more information, visit www.heartonfire.org.
Recommended reading: Cushnir, Setting Your
Heart on Fire, and Unconditional Bliss.
West African Bronze Casting:
The Alchemy of Creativity
CranioSacral Therapy is a gentle, noninvasive,
hands-on technique to help detect and correct
imbalances in the CranioSacral System that
may cause sensory, motor, or intellectual dysfunction. It is used to treat a myriad of health
problems, including headaches, neck and
back pain, TMJ dysfunction, chronic fatigue,
motor coordination difficulties, eye problems,
endogenous depression, hyperactivity, and
central nervous system disorders.
Participants will learn the detailed anatomy
and physiology of the CranioSacral System,
its functions in health, and its relationship to
the disease processes. Half of the class time
will be hands-on, developing the sensitive
palpatory skills needed to detect subtle stimuli in the human body.
Class material will concentrate on palpation
and its potential as an evaluative and therapeutic process; fascial and soft-tissue release
methods; and the pressurestat model which
explains the mechanism of the CranioSacral
System. Participants will learn a ten-step protocol for evaluation and treatment of the
entire body. By the end of this intensive program, participants will be able to identify and
localize significant restrictions and imbalances in the CranioSacral System.
Please note: Registration for this workshop is
through The Upledger Institute only. Please
call 1-800-233-5880.
Recommended reading: Upledger &
Vredevoogd, CranioSacral Therapy (chapters 1-6);
Upledger, Your Inner Physician and You.
Bob Lamp & Annee Delaware
This workshop is for all those looking to
jumpstart their creativity. It will introduce
the ancient West African process of openfaced sand casting and explore the allure of
molten metal as a metaphor for transforming
your fluid ideas into artistic form. The program
will explore the creative potential of using a
charcoal-fueled furnace to produce small-scale
bronze objects. The workshop will also utilize
The Heart of the Shaman
Richard Yensen Pérez-Venero & Donna Dryer
Pérez-Venero
“The shamanic awakening,” write Richard and
Donna, “is a mythic and poetic spiritual jour-
ney of initiation. In this work we learn to
honor our innermost wounding experiences
and use them as a portal into the spirit world.
The journey of death and rebirth awakens our
capacity to be compassionate and loving. A circle of trust developed through ritual will carry
us through the crack between the worlds.
Both ancient and modern practices will be
used to enter shamanic trance, experience
deep catharsis, and find the path with heart.”
Come prepared to use this shamanic environment as a sacred vessel for deep personal
exploration and spiritual growth. This workshop is physically demanding, personally
revealing, and includes an all-night ceremony.
Because of the special nature of this work,
enrollment is limited.
The Child Trauma Institute
Ricky Greenwald
This is an in-depth, hands-on, clinical-skills
training for working with children and adolescents exposed to significant trauma or loss.
The training will cover child trauma theory,
impact of trauma and loss, therapeutic relationship, self-care for counselors/therapists,
identification and assessment of traumatized
kids, working with parents and other caregivers to help traumatized kids, and directly
helping kids to manage their symptoms and
to resolve their trauma/loss memories.
This program is both innovative and wellgrounded in research. Participants learn
proven, effective methods that represent the
state of the art in child/adolescent trauma
treatment. There is also an emphasis on therapeutic relationship and on therapist self-care.
Additional methods that enhance treatment
effectiveness, such as motivational interviewing and relapse prevention, are included. The
approach may be described as “cognitivebehavioral with a relationship base.”
The program involves lecture, demonstration,
discussion, and in-class practice. Since this is
an experiential training, part of the learning is
to practice the interventions with other participants. Participation may lead to facing personal issues (participants are always in charge
of what they disclose).
This workshop is intended for Masters and
Doctoral-level mental-health professionals
who work with, or are in training (graduate
students accepted) to work with, kids of any
age.
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Natural Powers: Making a Real Life
out of Our Heart’s Desire
David Schiffman
“This workshop,” writes David Schiffman, “is
for people who seek the courage, skill, and
support to live their lives with true originality, passion, and integrity. It will be a time to
explore the realms of unconventional logic
and the mysteries of spirit, the fundamental
realities of those who are self-made, spiritually independent, and visionary in orientation
and ways. Our aim will be to cultivate the
resources, rhythms, and wisdom that come
from deep self-knowledge and self-mastery.
“In a climate of mutual support, simple trust,
and honest interest in each other, our aim will
be to bring ourselves entirely toward whatever we hope for and cherish. A wide variety of
psychological themes and attunement practices, both dynamic and meditative, will be
used to illuminate the character of our commitment to ourselves and our style of relating
to others. Together we will see what we can
do to strengthen our faith and adeptness at
applying the logic of our hearts to our own
self-care as well as to our relationships,
careers, community, and the understanding of
our life’s true mission.”
Beyond Vinyasa: The Three Realms
of Consciousness
Seane Corn
This week, go beyond vinyasa and explore the
interconnectedness of the three vital realms
of consciousness—the physical, the energeticemotional, and the psychic-symbolic. The
merging of these three realms through asana,
meditation, reflection, and prayer can teach us
how to heal and strengthen our bodies, communicate with Spirit, understand our own
resistance and attachments, and move us
toward a deeper relationship with Self.
Each day will include (along with discussion)
a challenging, creative flow practice which
includes sun salutations A and B, standing
asanas, back and forward bending poses, hip
openers, and inversions exploring the three
realms. In the physical realm, you will learn
the principles of a pose—how asana can
strengthen, tone, and stimulate all the various
systems of the body to create a holistic
approach toward wellness. In the energeticemotional realm you will learn the language of
the Chakras and witness within yourself how
negative patterning and blocks in our Chakras
can affect our physical and emotional health
and keep us attached to old behaviors. In the
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psychic-symbolic realm you will explore the
connection between body and mind—and how
opening our hearts to Spirit can transform all
challenges into opportunities for Grace.
This workshop is designed to teach you how
to transform your daily practice into a divine
ritual that celebrates life and connection to
God. It will be a journey merging body, mind,
and soul, recognizing that our one true purpose in this embodiment is to learn about
love—to embrace, with compassion and wisdom, all that life may bring us.
Weekend of March 4–6
Self-Healing: Awakening Your Power
to Create Health and Vitality
Meir Schneider
Did you know that the body has over 600
muscles and most people only use 50?
Learning to use more muscles, relax chronically overused ones, and enhance circulation
can prevent many of the degenerative and
debilitating disorders that plague society
today. Meir Schneider’s Self-Healing Method
has helped thousands of people with a wide
range of “incurable” conditions and injuries
make remarkable gains in health and function. People with nearsightedness and other
eye conditions, diseases, and injuries of the
eye, have used this method to improve their
eyesight. Computer users and health-care
professionals can learn how to prevent and
overcome repetitive strain injuries. Athletes,
artists, and musicians can use Self-Healing
to enhance performance.
Self-Healing exercises teach you how to listen
to your body and respond to its needs. It
developed out of Meir Schneider’s own journey from a teenager with congenital blindness to a man with functional vision who
holds an unrestricted California driver’s
license. During this period of intense self-discovery, Meir used his Braille-sensitive hands
to craft massage and movement regimens for
disabled people that often bring about dramatic improvements. This workshop will present movement, massage and self-massage
visualization techniques, and breathing exercises to nurture various systems of the body
and to stimulate and strengthen neural connections between the brain and the body.
Highlights include:
• Techniques to release tension and stress
• Natural vision-improvement exercises
• Pool/hot tub exercises for joint mobility
• Exercises to overcome back pain
Recommended reading: Schneider, Movement
for Self-Healing.
CE credit also available for physicians, psychologists, and
other health-care professionals.
Transforming Trauma with EMDR:
Advanced Clinical Workshop and
Refresher Course (Part 3)
Laurel Parnell
In this workshop participants will have the
opportunity to refresh their technique and
review EMDR protocols and procedures, consult on their difficult cases, watch demonstrations, and practice EMDR in small supervised
groups. Instruction will focus on using
EMDR with complex cases, resource development and installation, target development,
and cognitive interweaves.
This EMDR course is for participants who
have completed either Level II training or an
equivalent EMDRIA-approved course.
Recommended reading: Parnell, Transforming
Trauma: EMDR, and EMDR in the Treatment of
Adults Abused as Children.
Aliveness, Pleasure, and Joy:
A Bioenergetic Approach
Brooke Deputy
It is the opening of eyes long closed.
It is the vision of far off things
seen for the silence they hold.
It is the heart after years of secret conversing
speaking out loud in the clear air.
— David Whyte
What is it like to feel grounded? What is it like
to feel alive? What is the experience of having
energy? Freedom of movement? Awareness?
Working with the body and mind to find new
ways of being can bring about a new aliveness
that leads to increased pleasure and joy. Once
we begin to discover the nature of our character armor—the chronic muscular shapes and
bodily tensions of which we are largely unconscious—we can begin to release the flow of
energy that has been held in our bodies. Once
open, we experience more pleasure and vitality.
In this workshop, participants will focus on
finding those sensations and feelings that
have been held inside, often beyond our conscious awareness. Individuals will work to
bring about the healthy integration of the
body, heart, mind, and spirit to find new energy—energy rechanneled to discover pleasure
instead of used to maintain the defensive
processes. Focusing on understanding patterns of defense, holdings, and tension, and
on releasing emotion and freeing energic
blocks, the workshop will apply bioenergetics, meditation, and dance, as well as bodywork and conscious movement, to expand
our ability to see, hear, sense, and feel.
In this workshop, students will be provided
with a wealth of colorful tiles and stones,
stained glass, jewels, and trinkets with which
to create. (Soon the sound of your favorite
dish shattering will ring with the delight of
artistic possibility.)
Mosaic Art Intensive: From the
Ordinary to the Extraordinary
Laurel True has been making mosaics for
more than thirteen years. You can see her
work at www.Truemosaics.com.
Laurel True
Participants may work on a range of projects—
a hanging mirror, a lamp or small table, a
sculpture, a garden stepping-stone. By the end
of the workshop students will have completed several projects to take home with them.
To invent you need a good imagination
and a pile of junk.
— Thomas Edison
Carl Chase (CC) & Ellen Watson
One of the keys to the art of Esalen Massage
is tapping into the flowing, creative energy
present in a living body and letting one’s massage technique emerge from that experience.
Ellen and CC will guide participants into connecting with and embodying this aspect of
Ellen will help students discover the subtle
movement at the core of their bodies. This
movement, used as the basis from which a
massage is given, can transform one’s touch
and increase the ability to effect change
through massage. CC will show students how
to harness gravitational energy as a source for
flowing into, over, and around bodies, much
as a Tai Chi master might. His knowledge of
anatomy will enrich the student’s understanding of how bodies change when touched, and
why slow, flowing work is one of the most
effective tools in releasing pain and restoring
flexibility.
This class is designed for all levels of massage
experience. The novice will gain a sense of
what it is like to give a flowing Esalen
Massage, grounded in a sense of one’s own
body. The experienced practitioner will discover how to break with customary routines
to work from deeper, more essentially-guided
principles of healing and touch.
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
Mosaic is the ancient art of assembling and
adhering variously colored and textured
material, such as tile, stone, and stained glass.
Known for its rich texture and visual depth,
mosaic is found throughout the world.
Whether an intricately-tiled portrait or a table
in your home, mosaic is a medium that transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Adults and children alike can quickly produce striking results.
Esalen Massage: The Flowing Art
of Essential Touch
essence, bringing it into expression as the
healing art of Esalen Massage.
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Week of March 6–11
Somatic Psychology: The Essentials
for Embodied Psychotherapy Practice
Dyrian Benz & JoAnna Chartrand
This workshop, presented by the Santa
Barbara Graduate Institute, is an integrative
study of the practice of body-oriented psychotherapy, addressing the whole human
being: body, psyche, and soul, as well as
transpersonal dimensions. Participants will
become acquainted with basic theories and
methods that constitute some of the major
somatic-psychological practices and their
clinical application. As Dyrian Benz writes:
“We will work with the issues in the tissues.”
Topics include body and breath awareness,
self-regulation, the embodied therapist, the
facets of experience, and the body as gateway
to presence.
For further information, including special
registration instructions, see Special Progams,
page 74.
freedom, expansion, and flexibility.”
Judy Narvid & Tim Waters
Along with asana practice there will be time
for pranayama, meditation, and Rajanaka philosophy, all of which will help to create a community of the heart. From this opening
together into the radiance of the heart you
can step into the current of Grace, aligning
with the flow of supreme consciousness and
the playfully joyous dance of the heart.
Enjoy a week of Anusara Yoga with Judy
Narvid and Tim Waters. Explore how the
universal principles of alignment can
unleash the natural power and freedom of
your body. Join in a playful exploration of
the heart and experience your own true
power and beauty.
Judy and Tim write: “Beginning with the 3 A’s
(Attitude, Alignment, and Action), we will
explore the integration of body, mind, breath,
and spirit. Through Attitude we will align our
intention and will with the Divine, remembering the deepest purpose of Yoga. By examining the science of Alignment we will not
only increase our ability to work in harmony
with the intelligence of the body, we will cultivate the deep wisdom of the heart. Through
Action we will study the power of the harmony between muscular energy (drawing energy
from the periphery of the body to a focal
point) and organic energy (which expands
from the core to the periphery). We will learn
how to maximize our expression of muscular
energy to increase stability and strength and
the expression of organic energy to promote
Speaking Our Word: A Presentation
Workshop for Writers
Julie Daniels
“As writers our work is often done in isolation,” says Julie Daniels. “Therefore, when we
are called upon to give readings and present
ourselves to the public, there is often a feeling
of fear, or being out of one’s element.” In this
workshop you will learn to empower yourself
with these presentation techniques:
• Physical and vocal relaxation—change
nervousness into excitement!
• Diaphragmatic breathing—find that
powerful and resonant voice within you
JAMES WVINNER
Yoga for the Playful Heart
32
• Voice coloration—learn to distinguish your
narrative from your character voices by
using pitch, resonance, humor, and timing
• Body language—develop gestures that are
authentic to your work and appropriate for
your audience
• Improvisation—theatrically improvise your
writing for greater depth of story and
character
This is a hands-on workshop that encompasses both writing and presentation exercises.
The goal is to enable you to let go of speaking
and writing inhibitions, to be fully free to
express yourself and your work, on and off
the page.
Please bring a piece of writing you are currently working on, or ideas for a new project.
Writers and speakers of all levels are welcome.
For further information, you can contact Julie
at voicegal@aol.com or visit
www.teechspeech.com.
The Upledger Institute’s Lymph
Drainage Therapy I
Molly Clark
Proper functioning of the lymphatic system is
critical to our body’s ability to detoxify and
regenerate tissues, filter out foreign substances, and maintain a healthy immune system. If lymph circulation stagnates, toxins
accumulate and cellular functioning is compromised, opening the way to physical ailments and hastening the aging process.
Lymph Drainage Therapy (LDT) is highly
valuable when such dysfunctions occur.
Developed by Dr. Bruno Chikly, LDT is an
original hands-on method of lymphatic
drainage incorporating techniques from general medicine, osteopathy, and oriental medicine. The LDT process uses methods of manual listening to teach practitioners how to tune
to the rhythm, direction, and quality of the
lymph flow. This enables advanced practitioners to perform a “lymphatic mapping” with
their clients to find the precise pathways for
draining the lymph.
The LDT procedure involves subtle manual
maneuvers applying light touch, easy to use
and not tiring to perform. Practitioners work
with flat hands, using all the fingers to simulate gentle, wavelike movements. This enables
them to feel the rhythm of the body fluids
and thereby stimulate circulation in connective tissue as well as muscles, articulation,
periosteum, bones, and viscera.
call 1-800-233-5880.
I-You-Us: Pleasure, Intimacy,
and the Search for Connectedness
Terry Hunt
This workshop is about healthy relationships—in love, in friendship, in daily life. The
focus is on how to nurture our own vitality in
situations where we long for connections that
are more real, more safe, or more rewarding.
Pleasure is essential for healthy relationships.
Add the erotic element and the potential for
pleasure grows exponentially. But whether in
love or friendship, in same- or opposite-gender
relationships, the reality of sustaining delight
in one another over time is often a mystery
and a struggle. We substitute old avoidance
patterns for intimacy as we play out the Good
Girl and Super Guy roles we developed during
traumatic childhoods and adolescences. Or we
repeatedly act and react out of fear, sadness, or
rage, keeping our relationships locked in the
“cultural missionary position.” Giving up carefully honed “pain avoidant” habits releases
new energies for the pursuit of personal fulfillment in relationships.
This workshop is designed to help individuals
and couples identify myths that block the
flow of joy. Terry Hunt writes: “Together we
will redefine the role of pleasure in our lives
and create updated images of our sexual and
sensual selves. We will explore new language
that more honestly communicates our
desires. We will encourage each other to
approach our gender gaps with intention
rather than fear, assertion rather than suspicion. We will follow our instincts for pleasure
into enriching and creative moments of
wholeness.”
Come alone or with an intimate.
Recommended reading: Hunt & PaineGernée, Emotional Healing and Secrets to Tell,
Secrets to Keep.
Clinical Case Seminar and Workshop
for Advanced EMDR Practitioners
(Part 4)
Laurel Parnell
consultation, discussion of selected topics,
and practicum with colleagues at their experience level. Meditation instruction will be
given each morning, followed by presentation
and discussion of a topic. Topics will include:
creative use of interweaves and resources,
working with people with somatic disorders
and physical illnesses, EMDR with challenging cases, EMDR as a transpersonal psychotherapy, and EMDR and creativity. In the
afternoons, cases will be presented and discussed followed by practicum experience.
This workshop is for EMDR therapists who
are certified, EMDR consultants, or EMDR
therapists who have completed an Advanced
Clinical Workshop (Part 3) with Laurel
Parnell.
Recommended reading: Parnell, Transforming
Trauma: EMDR, and EMDR in the Treatment of
Adults Abused as Children.
Moving Meditation Practice:
Chi Gong, Chi Dance, and Yoga
David Streeter & Ellen Watson
There is a strong, continuous thread that runs
through the traditions of Chi Gong, Chi
Dance, and Yoga. In the West we have the
privilege of modeling these traditions in such
a way that each modality becomes even more
effective.
By combining Chi Gong with Yoga we gain
deep access to the intrinsic life force that
flows through our energy system; by Chi
Dancing with these energies, we can find a
wonderful way to keep our practice alive and
new, always opening to the new revelations
that are part of—the highest attainment of—
every spiritual tradition.
Both Ellen and David offer regular classes and
workshops as part of Esalen’s Movement Arts
Program, and have collaborated as teachers of
Esalen Massage and Movement for over 15
years. They are delighted to offer this combination of ancient practices, with roots as deep
as human history.
This workshop is open to all who are interested in these art forms, and to those who love to
move, want to move, or need to move. Please
wear loose, comfortable, clothing.
This workshop is for advanced EMDR practitioners who want the opportunity for case
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Life Coaching for Results: An
Introduction to The Inquiry Process
Amaran Tarnoff
Whether you are a professional manager,
therapist, consultant, or coach, or find yourself wanting to help your children, family, or
friends deal with what’s stopping them from
producing results, this course can give you
the tools. It offers the same fundamental
coaching tool—the Inquiry Process—that professionals have used for years to support
employees or clients with life issues such as
career, relationship, and well-being.
Einstein said, “We cannot solve problems at
the same level of thinking at which those
problems were created.” The Inquiry Process
is a particular kind of conversation, composed
of asking and answering questions, which
provides us with a post-psychological way of
thinking and being. It is based on these
premises: (1) Most of the time people already
have the answers; what’s missing are the right
questions; (2) It is much easier for people to
listen to questions than to be told what to do;
and (3) Something powerful happens in relationships when people ask questions of others instead of already “knowing all the
answers.”
This course is designed to teach you how to
coach others to:
• Think through their issues and problems
• Manage from support instead of “authority
and control”
• Listen powerfully
• Create partnership and trust in
relationships
For more information on the Inquiry Process
visit www.theinquiryprocess.com.
Impersonal Movement®:
A Path of Healing and Awakening—
An Introduction
Jason Shulman
Awakening is that moment when we become
completely human, no longer suffering needlessly,
yet accepting the suffering we must endure… and
knowing the difference. It means that we act with
kindness, not because we have learned this, but
because it is our true nature. To awaken is not to
achieve anything: It is to return to what we
always were.
Every being on the planet is called to awaken
to the Real by the nature of life itself.
Awakening is not something extra or a special
34
pursuit, but our primary mission, whether we
are conscious of it or not. It is in the very fabric of our being.
Impersonal Movement (IM) is a new form of
spiritual work that leads the practitioner to a
clear, body-centered awareness of the awakened state. This awakening into our always
present True Self is the great healing of the
human predicament: separation from the
Divine. This workshop is an introduction to
the yearlong Impersonal Movement training.
Whether you are interested in Impersonal
Movement as a main practice or as a way of
supporting spiritual work you are already
doing, IM brings profound insight to the
journey of becoming whole and the joy of
being Real.
Direct Path Yoga: The Sacred
Marriage of Yoga and Mysticism
Andrew Harvey & Karuna Erickson
Celebrate the joyful and passionate union of
yoga and mysticism! Participants will have
the opportunity to taste the beauty of their
true spiritual nature and embody its power
with inspiring yoga poses appropriate for
everyone. Andrew Harvey and Karuna
Erickson teach that the unity of spirit and
body, heart and mind can be achieved
through the fusion of simple yoga postures
with simple spiritual practices.
The workshop will experientially unfold
their vision of the Sacred Marriage, the
peaceful and passionate union of body and
soul, feminine and masculine, immanence
and transcendence. This union helps human
beings realize and release their most profoundly creative and transformative energies of life and love. Powerful spiritual practices from Tibetan, Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi,
Jewish, and Christian sources will be interwoven with mystical teachings, ecstatic
dancing, poetic writing, and strengthening,
calming, and heart-opening yoga exercises.
The fiery core of Rumi’s heart will be
explored with sacred poetry and music, and
integrated with yoga practices that embody
his message.
The intention of the leaders is that all participants “experience a radiant and renewed
commitment to spiritual growth and service
to all beings … empowered with the sacred
practices they need to sustain their lives in
the harmony of power, peace, and sacred
passion.”
Dreamwork
Seymour Carter
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream...
As anyone who has ever awakened from a
startlingly lifelike dream knows, dreams have
the ability to move us to our very core.
During sleep, dreams emerge as emotionally
compelling dramas or symbolic episodes.
Often mysterious, absurd, or confusing, these
nightly home movies need to be interpreted,
for they contain resolutions to our current
dilemmas.
This workshop will provide participants with
methods to unlock the power of their nocturnal visions. Dreams reflect our subconscious
processes of evaluation and planning, presented as visual metaphors. This seminar will
introduce practices to identify the hidden
energies dormant in these imagistic events.
Participants will learn to work with dreams—
their own and others’—using techniques
drawn from Gestalt imagery work,
Ericksonian hypnosis, and contemporary
maverick approaches.
Who Am I, Really? How Our Wounds
Can Lead to Healing
Joe Cavanaugh
Through love all pain is turned to medicine.
— Rumi
Most of us,” writes Joe Cavanuagh, “have experienced some degree of loss, betrayal, or
wounding of our hearts from simply being
human in a world of drama, uncertainty, and
change. It is easy to overidentify with our
pain, get caught in our personal drama, and
reinforce a false identity based on our past
wounds. Or we may deny the drama altogether,
detach from our pain, and attempt to live
‘happily ever after’ in our heads. And then, to
paraphrase Carl Jung, what we don’t handle
consciously is relegated to the unconscious
and happens to us by fate. Either way, we lose
touch with who we really are and suffer the
greatest wound of all—the illusion of separation from the sanctity of our soul.
“Through personal and interpersonal processes we will create a safe space to heal our
wounds, let go, and move on. Using selfawareness tools, we will learn how to access
our Authentic Self and penetrate into the
essence of our soul, which is simply love. This
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
frees our energy to love and accept ourselves
for who we really are and develop empathy
and compassion for the suffering of others.”
Prerequisite: The willingness to abstain from
alcohol and nonprescription drugs for the
duration of the workshop.
Recommended reading: Cavanaugh, Who Am
I, Really? How Our Wounds Can Lead to Healing.
The Writer’s Way: Exploring the
Treasures of Personal Truth
Nancy Bacal
Imagine five days of writing where truth is
the goal rather than perfection, where you are
invited to claim everything you know, everything you are, or have been, as material. The
writer’s greatest inspiration comes from the
chaos and blessings of his or her life.
Whatever the terrain—love, loss, family,
health, work—writing courageously into the
center inevitably offers a fresh, often unexpected perspective of life.
“In the safety of the group,” writes Nancy
Bacal, “a series of exercises will ease us into
the process of excavation. As the details
emerge, they bring imagery and vitality to our
writing; as we recognize ourselves in each
other’s stories, we come to see that humanity
is nothing other than who we are. This
process invites us to a place where we can
know ourselves and our work in a new and
kinder way. For when we claim our experience for the writer, we substitute curiosity for
shame and open to the light of acceptance.
“The schedule will include movement, meditation, laughter, tears, moments of resistance
and amazing discovery! With caring support
and guidance, we will write daily—in and out
of the group—read, and discuss our material.
We will learn to identify the critic and soften
its hold on our mind. More than skill, investigating the human condition intimately and
fearlessly is the most important requirement
for this week at Esalen.”
Recommended reading: Lamott, Bird by Bird.
A Mythology for Your Future:
Building a Better Internal Guidance
System for a World in Turmoil
David Feinstein & Stanley Krippner
Since 1979, the leaders have been teaching a
powerful workshop that shows people how to
cultivate a new guiding mythology. Your personal myths shape your journey through each
stage of life. If you are to thrive, they must
evolve as you evolve and as the world around
you changes. The more effective your guiding
mythology, the better equipped you are to
meet the challenges your life presents.
Drawing upon methods from a spectrum of
systems, including Jungian psychology,
Gestalt therapy, psychosynthesis, and ancient
spiritual disciplines, this workshop will help
you midwife the birth of a new guiding myth
that is more fitting, more vital, and more spiritually attuned. The course will also introduce
innovations from the field of energy psychology to embed this new guiding myth into
your energy body as well as your consciousness. You will be led through a sequence of
35
JAMES WVINNER
experiences designed to transform dysfunctional myths while reaching into inner
depths for visions that nourish and inspire.
Joseph Campbell often referred people to the
leaders’ workshops, and a prominent reviewer
said of their book: “Neither Carl Jung nor
Joseph Campbell showed us how to use myth
for personal and societal growth. Feinstein and
Krippner begin to answer that question.” This
workshop will show you how to transform
your guiding mythology so it may become an
ever more useful map and carry a more lifeaffirming energy. Please bring a journal and
record your dreams prior to the workshop.
BodyWave™ and SpiritWeaves™
ments. This fluid state reminds us of how our
life began—in the womb—and creates a sense
of relaxation and openness that allows easy
access to the tense places we hold in our bodies—and in our lives. In counterpart, Michael
Skelton’s SpiritWeaves teaches dance as
improvisation, inspiring liberation in the
body through movement, supporting individuals in unmasking the mystery of their own
dance, letting go of that which is resisted, and
moving into the center of the self.
Both teachers are passionate about supporting
others through their different, yet complementary, connections with the body. They invite
anyone who would like to experience more
freedom within and without to come share in
this unique integration of physical art forms.
Carl Chase (CC) & Michael Skelton
In this workshop, Carl Chase (CC) and
Michael Skelton combine their love for bodywork and dance to bring about a union of
flow, motion, inspiration, and a profound connection to our inner selves.
BodyWave, developed by CC, is a style of
bodywork that keeps the body in a constant
state of motion and touch, instilling a deep
state of relaxation using simple rocking move36
The Mystical Quality of Stained Glass
windows in the world. The temple was built
in a community called Damanhur, a vibrant
artistic and spiritual community known for
its advancements in the relationship between
the arts and spirituality.
Each participant will be shown the secrets of
working with art glass: how to turn an idea
into a suitable design, how to cut, mount, and
solder. Participants will take home a piece
that they have made during the week.
Piovra and Esperide will share some of the
techniques used by Damanhur’s artists to
enhance creativity and artistic expression.
Breathing techniques, inspirational drawing,
the use of archetypal symbols and dance
movements, as well as specific preparation for
dreaming will be utilized to encourage a sense
of freedom in the artistic process. This workshop is suitable for the total beginner as well
as the advanced artist. For more information
you can visit www.damanhur.org.
Esperide Ananas & Piovra Caffe
This workshop provides an opportunity to
work with two master artisans and educators
who have devoted more than twenty years to
the construction of the Temple of Mankind, a
five-story underground temple in the Turin
region of Italy, which features some of the
largest stained-glass dome ceilings, doors, and
Spiritual Massage: Lightbody Infusion
Maria Lucia Bittencourt Sauer
Spiritual Massage is a hands-on healing practice that works directly on the energy body,
balancing the chakras, cleansing old thought
forms, and gently facilitating release of emotional, physical, and spiritual blockages, allowing for infusion by the Lightbody.
Ritual of Renewal:
Spring Equinox Yoga Retreat
Shiva Rea
Make me sweet again, fragrant, fresh and wild.
Born into a family of healers with a generations-old tradition, Maria Lucia studied with
healers in her native Brazil, where Spiritism—
receiving healing knowledge from the spirit
world—is familiar to much of the population.
In 1979 she came to Esalen and was sponsored by Esalen cofounder Dick Price while
she learned Spiritual Massage from Brazilian
healer Luiz Gasparetto.
This workshop presents practical methods for
using the hands as instruments of physical
and spiritual healing. Incorporating hands-on
and energetic work, it emphasizes intentionality as the fundamental tool of any healing
art for moving energy. The course includes
exercises for grounding and attuning to energy as well as Afro-Brazilian shamanic practices for self-protection. Emotional release
work and group process will be integrated as
they emerge.
This work is accessible to anyone—nurses,
bodyworkers, businessmen, therapists, and all
those interested in working with energy and
people’s bodies.
Zen and Tao: The Hero’s Journey
Chungliang Al Huang & Robert Walter
For the first time, Tao master/scholar
Chungliang (a longtime collaborator with
Joseph Campbell) and Robert Walter (president of the Joseph Campbell Foundation) will
join together for a lively exploration of the
seminal Zen (Ch’an) “Oxherding Pictures.”
Over the course of the weekend, the program
will delve into the deeper meaning of this classic Chinese teaching and reflect on its application to modern living. It will trace the sequential stages of life, investigate the metaphors,
and chart the symbolic parallels between these
historic pictures and the stages of the “heroic
journey” outlined by Campbell in his best-selling The Hero with A Thousand Faces.
Prepare to be inspired, stimulated, provoked,
and encouraged to be the “Hero” of your own
life and to embark on the Journey of your
own True Bliss.
— Rumi
“Like a snake sloughing off winter’s rough
skin,” writes Shiva, “we will open ourselves to
the creative renewal of spring through the
rejuvenative arts of yoga. With the five layers
of embodiment (koshas) as our map—the physical body, breath body, body of awareness, wisdom body and the body of bliss—we will enter
an arch of potent ritual. Beginning with an
extra yoga session Friday before dinner, the
weekend will gradually intensify the natural
cycles of purification with creative transformational vinyasa flow sessions focusing upon
gentle purification with kriyas, pranayamas,
and circulatory twists. An afternoon session
on Ayurvedic practices to enhance the spring
transition will provide tools to integrate living yoga into daily life. The ritual of movement, meditation, reflection, and creating a
prayer mandala for offering will bring life to
our intentions at this time of rebirth and
renewal.”
This workshop is open for experienced to
beginner yoga practitioners with at least six
months of regular practice who are adventurous and willing to dive into the flow. Please
bring your own yoga mat.
Philosophy Addresses the Important
Questions of Life
Robert Solomon
This workshop opens for discussion such
questions as the nature of spirituality, the
importance of love and friendship, the place
of passion in life, the inevitability of tragedy
in life, and how to think about death.
Participants will return to some of the perennial questions—questions about the meaning
of life, about death and tragedy, about the
respective roles of rationality and passion in
the good life, about love, compassion, and
revenge, about honesty, deception, and betrayal, about who we are and how we think about
who we are.
“My perspective,” writes Robert Solomon, “is
the joy of philosophy, which has been forgotten
in our overly materialistic, ambitious, and
often vulgar culture. We will attempt to save
philosophy from a century-old fiber diet of
thin arguments and logical analysis and
recover the richness and complexity of life in
thought. We will try to put the fun back in
philosophy, recapturing the heartfelt confu-
sion and excitement that originally brings us
all into philosophy. As the great Chilean poet
Pablo Neruda says (of his poetry), the result
should be an ‘impure philosophy, as impure as
old clothes, as a body with its foodstains and
its shame, with wrinkles, observations,
dreams, wakefulness, prophesies, declarations
of love and hate, stupidities, shocks, idylls,
political beliefs, negations, doubts, affirmations, and taxes.’”
Survival: Taking Back Your Life—
Moving Forward After Losing a
Partner
Gary & Kathy Young
The death of a partner can affect you in illogical, unpredictable ways, for an unpredictable
length of time. Countless myths exist about
the condition of grief and loss. Reality, nurturing, and support are needed. The issues are
many and the work toward recovery is difficult. The goal is quality survival—preserving
the cherished memories for yourself and for
the legacy of the person you lost.
You are not alone. Gary and Kathy Young are
national support leaders who both lost young
spouses. Using simple exercises, support methods, and guidance, they will help you reclaim
function as well as the mystery and beauty of
life. Physical and verbal interactions will serve
to clarify your understanding, opening you to
new, unexpected personal growth. Verbal guidance, improvisation, journaling, and hands-on
techniques will bring you back to community.
The seminar is designed to heighten your spirituality and engage your confidence.
The workshop will cover issues ranging from
what is and is not grief to “seeing” the future,
from other people’s expectations to fear of happiness, from anniversaries, debts, and humor
to children and dating. And much more.
Recommended reading: G. & K. Young: Loss
and Found: Surviving the Loss of a Young Spouse.
Radical Rx for Health Professionals:
Heal Thyself
Charlea Massion & Bob Stahl
“We care for others,” write the leaders, “but
how about ourselves? Both in our training
and our everyday work as health professionals, we focus on care of patients, clients, and
their families. Daily we encounter people
who are in pain, suffering intensely, and in
major life crises. As professionals we are
37
expected not only to apply knowledge and
technical expertise but to respond with empathy and compassion, regardless of our own
physical, emotional, and spiritual difficulties.
Typically there are few opportunities to
‘metabolize’ the grief, sorrow, and discomfort
that we intimately experience in our work.”
This workshop—for health professionals—will
focus on identifying, exploring, and improving health practices of the caregiver. Through
mindfulness meditation, transformative writing, group discussion, and other modalities,
participants will learn skills that support
health professionals in caring for themselves
as well as others.
Mindfulness meditation quiets the mind by
cultivating nonjudgmental awareness and
develops our potential to experience each
moment, no matter how unexpected or
intense, with serenity and clarity. Participants
will learn practices such as the body scan as
well as meditations during sitting, eating,
walking, and stretching. These practices support the caregiver’s health and can be extended
to families, colleagues, patients, and clients.
At Play in the Fields of the Lord:
A Mythological Toolbox
(12th edition, revised)
Robert Walter & The Joseph Campbell
Foundation
In Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Carl Jung tells
of the day when he suddenly realized “what it
means to live with a myth, and what it means
to live without one.” Asking himself what
myth he was living by, he found that he did
not know. And so, he writes, “I took it upon
myself to get to know ‘my’ myth, and I regarded this as the task of tasks.”
As did mythologist Joseph Campbell. He
cited Jung’s remarks to explain why he always
celebrated his birthday by leading a workshop
at Esalen. When Campbell died, the Joseph
Campbell Foundation continued his annual
exploration of the myths that shape our lives.
This year attendees will discover and transform the myths that influence how we play
the game of life. Individual exercises, smallgroup activities, and collective projects will
offer opportunities for both reflection and
expression. Participants may dance, discuss,
sing songs, or sit quietly; make music or
masks or or medicine bundles; decode films
or dreams. Yet, always, the talk will be of
transformation.
Who were you? What childhood stories were
impressed upon you? What were your
favorite games? Who are you? What is
enshrined on your mantel, hung from your
rearview mirror? What’s secreted in the attic?
Who do you aspire to be? What new adventures
do you envision? What’s set upon your
metaphoric altar, pursued in your fantasies? If
a “butterfly metamorphosis” is appealing, you
are invited to join this springtime ritual of
rebirth. Bring a favorite game to teach, a tale
to tell, and a small totemic object that’s both
meaningful and expendable.
Foundation president Bob Walter orchestrates festivities, joined by Tai Ji master
Chungliang Al Huang, Caldecott awardwinning author/artist Gerald McDermott,
word-weaver and song-spinner Reverend
Rebecca Armstrong, musical virtuoso Lorin
Hollander, and other special guests. For suggested readings or more information contact
the Foundation at www.jcf.org or 1-800-330MYTH.
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
38
Visionseeker II: Spirit Medicine
Hank Wesselman & Jill Kuykendall
Today interest in complementary and alternative therapies is on the rise, and increasing
numbers of people are rediscovering the healing modalities pioneered by indigenous peoples. Among them, the time-tested techniques
of the traditional shamans are being reconsidered and reworked, providing nontribal
Westerners with effective methods for healing and problem solving.
This workshop provides in-depth training in
shamanic healing. At its core lies a cross-cultural overview of the nature of illness, healing, and healthcare. Hank Wesselman writes:
“We will expand our connections to inner
sources of power and wisdom, and deepen
our contacts with ancestral spirits and healing
masters, as well as the elementals. We will
experience the initiation of spiritual dismemberment, work with shamanic extraction
methods, and Jill will provide her unique
approach to soul retrieval.”
The Visionseeker workshops provide a
shamanic perspective derived from the
Hawaiian kahuna tradition in which knowledge of the personal soul cluster, as well as the
nature of reality, forms the foundation. This
training will be most useful to those who
have completed the Visionseeker I workshop
or its equivalent. If in doubt, please contact
Hank Wesselman before registering at PO
Box 2059, Granite Bay, CA 95746, or e-mail
him at hank@sharedwisdom.com.
Note: Bring a rattle, a drum, a notebook, a bandanna or eyeshade, and a light blanket. Please
refrain from alcohol use during the workshop.
Recommended reading: Wesselman &
Kuykendall, Spirit Medicine; Wesselman, The
Journey to the Sacred Garden, and the
Spiritwalker trilogy.
Esalen Massage: A Path to Relaxation
focus will be on how Esalen Massage, with its
emphasis on long, integrating strokes, promotes relaxation, balance, and well-being. The
workshop offers centering and grounding
techniques for self-care as well as plenty of
demonstration of different modalities of
touch. Awareness of body posture, breath, and
movement will be added to the equation to
support you in developing a personalized
massage practice and establishing a safe, nurturing, and pleasurable experience between
giver and receiver.
Recommended reading: Todd, The Thinking
Body; Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.
The Love of Wisdom
Huston Smith & Peter Kingsley
This workshop will explore the extraordinary
spiritual tradition that lies forgotten right at
the origins of our Western civilization, and will
examine its crucial significance for us today.
Without discounting the treasure-houses of
other traditions, the workshop will try to
understand how and why we have become so
alienated from the sacred wisdom once known
to the earliest philosophers of ancient Greece: a
wisdom that not only exists at the very roots of
Western culture but also shaped and helped to
create it over two thousand years ago.
Huston Smith, author of numerous books on
the sacred traditions of the world, and Peter
Kingsley, author of three books on ancient
philosophy and religion, will draw on their
different areas of expertise to bounce their
ideas off each other and create a field of rich
and fresh inquiry. There will be periods of
meditation to allow new ideas to sink into the
depths of our being. The sessions will be
highly interactive. Participants will be
engaged in a shared, serious search for wisdom that can enliven our lives.
C. Jay Bradbury & Sylvia Guersenzvaig
Relaxation is equilibrium of the rest and activity
phases in the rhythms of living, rest being the
passive phase between the active phase of these
rhythms. As for example in the rhythm of
the heart…
— Mabel Todd, The Thinking Body
This program provides basic and intermediate-level instruction in Esalen Massage practice. It is an opportunity to explore touch as a
way of communicating and listening. The
Harmonic Presence: Music of the
Spheres and Listening’s Revelations
David Hykes
From the harmonic sound waves of the stillechoing Big Bang to healing sounds, from
String Theory to sacred chant, the harmonic
nature of vibrational reality, heard inside and
out, resounds in heart, mind, and spirit. Tune
in on that eternal source through Harmonic
Chant, with the original Western overtone
pioneer, meditation accompanist, and teacher
David Hykes.
Harmonic Chant is a universal sacred music
integrating key principles common to
Tibetan, Indian, Tuvan, Mongolian, and
European sacred chant. You’ll undertake a
deep journey to the original template of all
music and harmony: the harmonic series,
present in all our voices, and an awareness
key to harmonious relationship on every
scale. You’ll experience in a new way,
through chant and contemplative exercise,
movement and visualization, something
deeper about the harmony at work right
now—and the silent listening awareness from
which it arises…pure mystery!
The (nonverbal) musical work includes deep
sound-meditation practices and yogic awareness exercises with the breath, listening, and
sound sensation. The sessions present the
essence of Harmonic Chant and the harmonic presence work, and cover wide ground
musically and spiritually. All those interested
in source teachings relating music, meditation, and healing practices are invited. For further information, see www.harmonicworld.com.
Recommended listening and reading: CDs
and writings by David Hykes, including
Harmonic Attunement.
Rest, Rejuvenation, and Renewal:
The Courage to Pause
David Schiffman
This is a workshop for people who need to
have a break—from working too hard, from
concentrating too much, from being stuck
under pressure too long, or who are just plain
tired from the perplexity and strain over what
comes next.
“While we pause,” writes David, “we’ll study
the three R’s and how they can be used to cultivate a climate of renewed energy and enthusiasm, the ability to think wisely ahead, and
the presence to relate honestly and authentically with others. This weekend will emphasize breathing space and ease of being for
deep contemplation. There will be soulful,
encouraging company as well as wise counsel
available for emotional nourishment.
“We will draw on the power and spirit medicine of Big Sur’s natural gifts for healing and
inspiration. A special blend of music and
movement will create a mood of playfulness
and spontaneity for the rejuvenation of spirit.
Simple activities including ceremony and personal practices will be used to deepen our
39
JAMES WVINNER
feelings of being lively and hopeful about our
futures.”
This workshop is especially useful for people
who are seeking good influences to get clearer
and move further.
Psychic and Intuitive Healing
Shelley Hodgen
Knowledge about how energy works—
whether from the level of spirit, body, or the
manifested world—has been part of human
traditions for thousands of years. It has often
been part of secret societies and religions
where access could be controlled. In modern
times, this awareness of energy has been
rediscovered through different frontiers of
science as well as through more personal
explorations. The current term approved by
science for psychic healing, prayer, and energy work is “intentional healing.” The rediscovered truth is that intention shapes energy, and
energy shapes reality.
In this workshop, Shelley Hodgen will teach
you how to pay attention to energy and open
up your ability to enhance your everyday life
with your intentions. She will teach you how
40
to stay centered (even when life seems to
bombard you), protect yourself when necessary, increase your overall energy level, and
develop your natural clairvoyance and intuition. You will explore the meaning of terms
such as aura, chakra, clairvoyance, telepathy,
and spirit guides, as well as learn how to do
energy healing on yourself and others,
enabling you to create positive changes in
your life.
Family Arts Program
Jayson Fann & The Esalen Arts Center Staff
This workshop at the Esalen Art Barn is for
parents, children, and any and all family
members who want to immerse themselves in
a weekend of fun and creative expression.
Painting, clay sculpting, mask making, drumming by a bonfire, games, and outdoor explorations of the magnificent Esalen grounds are
some of the activities participants will explore
during a weekend made memorable by sharing it with loved ones.
All children must be accompanied by an adult.
Week of March 27–April 1
Uncovering Self-Betrayal Retreat
Gangaji & Eli Jaxon-Bear
Many people have experienced deep
moments of profound realization. Yet even in
the face of this knowledge of the truth of oneself, subconscious patterns of misidentification often persist. Insights gained from the
Enneagram can help uncover these latent patterns and bring them to the foreground. The
Enneagram clearly describes the nine variations of self-betrayal—the nine ways the ego
veils the true Self, which is a limitless expanse
of conscious intelligence. Once these patterns
of subconscious ego are brought to light, they
can be seen through as false identification.
Uncovering Self-Betrayal is the fresh selfinquiry that uncovers these subconscious tendencies of mind. When all false identification
is seen through, the eternal silent truth of
oneself is revealed. In this way, enlightenment or Self-realization is possible.
A large enrollment is expected. Audio and
video recordings will be made at this retreat.
The Burning Story
participants’ awareness of their own and others’ energy bodies.
Akuyoe Graham
Ghanain-born Akuyoe Graham told her own
burning story in her one-woman autobiographical show Spirit Awakening, a performance that “lifts the solo dramatic genre to
heights rarely reached,” according to the Los
Angeles Times. It was a spiritual odyssey that
led from a childhood in Africa, emigration to
London, then Spanish Harlem, and today Los
Angeles.
Now she puts this question to you: What is
the story that you need to tell, the story that
burns inside your soul? Take a five-day journey of remembering, and:
• Discover the sound of your true voice
• Participate in creative writing exercises and
improvisations that will empower you
• Get inspired and infuse your writing with
passion
• Take ownership of your intuitive authority
and learn how to hold your story as a sacred
gift
• Learn how to shape your written work into
a tool for healing and transformation
Table Shiatsu I
Jim Gallas
Table Shiatsu is a contemporary adaptation
of traditional Japanese Shiatsu, with an
awareness that focuses on proper body
mechanics. In this workshop, practitioners
will learn to give a deeply rejuvenating session while remaining relaxed themselves. By
using one’s body weight instead of strength
and by learning varied techniques for release
along meridian pathways, practitioners will
learn to facilitate deep relaxation and
enhanced vitality.
Generally practiced with the client comfortably clothed, Table Shiatsu can be easily integrated into any table modality including
Swedish, acupressure, polarity, and various
forms of energy work. Using the material covered in the class, a practitioner can create a
session ranging in length from fifteen minutes to two hours. In this way, Table Shiatsu is
excellent for brief on-site work as well as for
longer private sessions.
The workshop will be mostly hands-on. Selfcare will be taught as an integral part of the
Table Shiatsu practice. Gentle yoga stretches,
Chi Kung, self-massage, silent meditation, and
improvisational games will be used to open
($20 materials fee, for Table Shiatsu manual, paid directly
to the leader)
April 1–8
Soul Without Shame:
A Compassionate Confrontation
of Self-Judgment
Byron Brown
The superego—our inner critic or judge—
shapes and limits our daily life. A psychic
entity that praises, cajoles, accuses, promises,
and threatens, it sits on our shoulder and
watches to see if we measure up. In addition
to invading our relationships and undermining our self-esteem, self-judgment interferes
with our personal spiritual work. It warns us
that deep questions and expanding awareness
create trouble. It attacks us for not changing
and makes us anxious when we do change.
This workshop is an introduction to the
Diamond Approach®, a spiritual teaching that
directly addresses the superego to create space
for inner work. Byron Brown writes: “Through
embodied awareness (to support presence) and
open-ended inquiry (to bring about understanding), we will recognize and confront the
assumptions and principles that keep self-judgment in place. We will cultivate aspects of our
True Nature that are antidotes to self-judgment:
compassion, will, and strength. Most important, we will practice disengaging from the
judgment process through understanding and
deliberate action. Throughout we will develop a
felt sense of the contrast between being under
the judgment spell and directly experiencing
the joy and freedom that arise in its absence.”
Sessions will include meditation, lecture, discussion, exercises, movement, and smallgroup process.
Recommended reading: Brown, Soul Without
Shame.
Weekend of April 1–3
Drugs, the Mind, and the Body
David Presti
Chemical substances that influence the mind,
brain, and body are more popular today than
ever. From Prozac to melatonin to Saint John’s
Wort, kava to coffee to Viagra, chocolate to
marijuana to LSD to ayahuasca, drugs are a
central part of contemporary society.
This seminar provides a comprehensive
overview of the biological, ethnobotanical, psychological, behavioral, and sociological properties of a variety of familiar and perhaps unfamiliar drugs, ranging from chemicals that are
used to alter consciousness, to ones that are
used to regulate mood and modify personality,
to substances that are used to promote sleep,
lose weight, and maintain a youthful body.
Participants will develop a comprehensive
and deep understanding of drugs, the mind,
and the body, from molecular and chemical
properties to historical and ritual relationships. The workshop will be of interest and
value to anyone, including health professionals from all clinical areas, wishing to expand
their knowledge about drugs that influence
human behavior.
Choosing Aliveness and Intimacy
Mary Goldenson
We have all experienced moments of feeling
totally alive, yet much of our life is spent in a
half-asleep, half-committed state of being.
While there are many life-situations beyond
our control, we choose how we respond to
these events. The choice to be passionately
alive is an act of courage. To choose life is to:
• Open ourselves to all of life—suffering, joy,
success, failure, love, and grief
• Fully acknowledge the truth of who we are
• Commit to living our deepest values and
dreams
• Define what we must change in our
relationships
• Learn new ways to heal, forgive, and
communicate
The challenge is to honestly address the ways
in which we have compromised, given up, or
lied to ourselves and others. This workshop is
designed to bring to awareness our unconscious choices of how we deaden ourselves
and to create the possibility for new aliveness
and passionate involvement.
Come alone or with a partner. A safe, supportive atmosphere will be provided, using communication skills, movement, Gestalt, and
Reichian work.
41
The Blessing of the Breath
“Through the philosophy of yoga,” writes
Thomas, “we understand that the Supreme
Source/God-Goddess/Divine Oneness is
imbued into all of life. The teaching is that
the rhythm of the breath is the easiest and
most natural way to receive this pranic energy
and to be in connection with the formless
dimension of being. Prana is a Sanskrit word
which means life-force, energy, or the vitality
of the environment. Prana is electrical in
nature, though unseen and imperceptible to
the five senses.
“As we focus our awareness on the rhythm of
the inhalation and exhalation in a natural,
organic, and simple way, we experience communion with this life-force, the Prana. The
basis of pranayama is remembering to
breathe consciously and to access this continual flow and Prana-Shakti. Conscious
breathing can be utter delight, bringing
buoyancy and deep calm, yet it also allows
issues in the subconscious to emerge. The
breath is both the catalyst and the guru: It
creates change, yet by its very nature is profoundly healing, loving, and protecting. The
breath is our deepest connection and closest
friend. The very energy of Supreme
Consciousness is flowing here.”
Each session of this yoga retreat, morning,
late morning, and afternoon, will focus on the
breath. Please have a minimum of 6 months’
recent yoga experience. All props provided.
All are welcome.
Understanding and Celebrating
What It Means to Be Gay
Arnie J. Vargas
Although the Gay Movement has come a
long way since its beginning in 1969, various
factors in society at large continue to contribute to a negative image of what it means
to be gay in today’s world. In this workshop,
participants will have the opportunity to
reflect on the messages they have received
about what it means to be gay, how these
messages have been internalized and continue to play a role in every gay man’s life, and
how to embrace one’s identity in order to celebrate and live a happy, integrated life with a
self-image in which sexuality plays such a
major role.
Through group dynamics, exercises, and
dialogue, this workshop is designed to
enable participants to walk away with
42
greater awareness and positivity in order to
move toward whichever next step they feel
called to take.
practitioners of all levels. Intermediate and
advanced students are preferred. Please bring
your own yoga mat.
April 3–May 1
Spirit Medicine—Living in Balance
with All Creation
David Schiffman
28-Day Massage Certification
Program
Perry Holloman & Peggy Horan
For workshop description, see Special
Programs, pages 74.
Week of April 3–8
Yoga-Tai Chi Fusion
David Schiffman writes: “If you are genuinely
interested in knowing who you truly are and
seek the courage and skill necessary to risk
whatever it takes to make your dreams real; if
you are fascinated and inspired by the timeless mysteries and powers of the natural
world; if you measure your personal fulfillment by what’s heartfelt, real, and lasting; if
faith and wisdom are your deepest goals, and
you’re willing to leave convention behind—
then you are already an initiate of Spirit
Medicine.
Matthew Cohen
Yoga and Tai Chi: two ancient systems of
mastery. Both use breath and intention, stillness and motion. Both improve health while
developing inner peace and spiritual
growth.
“But,” Matthew Cohen says, “Yoga emphasizes the straight, Tai Chi the round. Yoga
reaches to the sky, while Tai Chi sends roots
deep into the earth. Having spent many
years in both realms, I dreamed the marriage
of these two great arts, and what their synergy might create.” The resulting system, YogaTai Chi Fusion, is a unique method that
makes the mind calm, the heart radiant, and
the body filled with life. In this groundbreaking seminar, students will explore the
fusion in three areas:
“Spend a week aimed at cleansing, renewal,
and clarity, in a circle of soulful support,
examining and practicing the essential elements for living a life of capable, passionate
integrity. Activities will be drawn from
sources ancient and modern—meditative,
musical, powerful emotional work, the natural wonders and beauties of Big Sur, and
Dreamtime initiation ceremonies.
“Our goals: to unclutter our minds, tune our
bodies, release our emotions, and be met by
openhearted, clearheaded acceptance and
encouragement. Let us strengthen our adeptness together to keep Spirit alive in all our
relations, so that we are prepared for what we
hope for—and for the unexpected as well.”
• Sacred Postures—Taking classical Tai Chi
postures and Yoga asanas, students will go
deeply into the distinct qualities of
comparable positions (e.g., Tai Chi’s Ward
Off and Yoga’s Warrior 2), ultimately
merging them in a third posture that is
both rooted and lifted, rounded and
extended.
• Sacred Movements—Classical Tai Chi
gestures are blended with Yoga Flow
movements to achieve a synergy of fluidity
and structural integrity, softness and
strength.
• The Fusion Workout—An extended
exploration of breath, movement, and
energy that weaves both arts in a
challenging mix of contraction and release,
stillness and motion, grounding and
transcendence
Felt Sense: Writing With the Body
The workshop is open to Yoga and Tai Chi
Felt sense originates in the work of Eugene
Sondra Perl
Listen to what is at the edge of your thoughts.
Allow what is not yet in words to emerge.
Learn to access felt sense.
Sondra Perl, author of Felt Sense: Writing
With the Body, will guide you in an exploration of your inner world in order to discover images and ideas that will sustain you
on your writing journey. Moving from bodily awareness to words, you will find yourself
listening freshly to the felt edge in your
work. As you craft poems, stories, essays, or
memoir, experimenting with voice and
form, you will deepen your understanding
of the source of your own creativity and
your appreciation of this amazing wellspring in others.
Gendlin whose Focusing technique has been
used in medicine, education, and the arts. Perl
brings Gendlin’s approach to writing. In her
workshop, you will discover a gentle and easy
way to write that calls on and cultivates the
wisdom of the body.
Open to anyone who writes or has ever had
the urge to write, this workshop provides a
protected space for going to the edge of what
you know and waiting to see what comes
next. Be prepared for surprises.
Recommended (but not required) reading:
Perl, Felt Sense; Gendlin, Focusing.
Experiencing Esalen
Erik Davis
Over the last one hundred and fifty years,
California has developed one of the most innovative spiritual cultures on the planet. Many of
our contemporary concerns with deep ecology,
human transformation, body-positive spirituality, and the technoscience of mind are rooted
in the state’s maverick “culture of consciousness.” California has been home to spiritual
mavericks like Alan Watts and Aldous Huxley,
to popular visionaries like Starhawk and
Carlos Castaneda, to spiritual poets like
Robinson Jeffers and Gary Snyder, and to
visionary organizations like Esalen and the
Ojai Institute. Why did all this happen here?
This seminar will explore and try to explain
this rich legacy using poems, film clips,
music, photographs, and slides drawn from
Erik Davis’s own exploration of California’s
hidden temples and sacred spots. The program will examine the idea that California’s
alternative spirituality forms a distinct religious tradition on its own—a kind of West
Coast Hinduism, full of diverse and often
contradictory sects, philosophies, and spiritual technologies, but sharing a a common cultural landscape. In particular, the seminar will
focus on three core concerns of the “California
Tao”: nature, the body, and the evolution of
consciousness. By showing how different
individuals and groups responded to these
concerns, participants will meet unknown
ancestors and secret histories buried in the
landscape around us. These are the “rootless
roots” of California consciousness.
Agents of Therapeutic Change:
The Clinician’s Guide to
Psychotherapeutic Interventions
Martha Stark
The focus of this seminar will be on specific
psychotherapeutic interventions for clinicians who work psychodynamically; conflict
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
The Visionary State: California’s
Spiritual Frontiers
43
JAMES WVINNER
statements that highlight the patient’s resistance; empathic statements that resonate with
the patient’s affective experience; disillusionment statements for facilitating repair of ruptured positive transferences; modification
statements for working through negative
transferences; damaged-for-life, compensation, and entitlement statements for therapeutic impasses; masochism and tit-for-tat statements for patients who demonstrate a refusal
to grieve; and containing statements for acting-out patients.
This program is offered in conjunction with
Harvard Medical School. For more information, including how to register, see Special
Programs, page 74.
Particular attention will be paid to (1) the
patient’s enactment—that is, transferential
activity intended either to provoke a particular response from the therapist or to convey
something deeply important to the therapist
about the patient’s internal world; and (2) the
therapist’s enactment—that is, activity on the
part of the therapist that is either a response
to the patient’s enactment or an effort in its
own right to elicit a particular response from
the patient.
How we respond to being in the natural
world is a personal experience that calls for
personal expression. UC Davis professor and
professional artist Robin Hill will guide participants through a series of two- and threedimensional projects involving a range of
approaches to recording the natural world.
The focus will be on each participant’s
response to a sense of place in the immediate
landscape of Esalen, through multiple vantage
points, from the micro to the macro. The projects will involve drawing, photogram photography, rubbings, collage, and site-specific
interventions in the landscape. There will be
daily discussions, a slide presentation, and a
group-reading.
Prototypical interventions will be offered that
specifically target the here-and-now engagement between patient and therapist; and clinical vignettes will be offered that speak to this
finely tuned process of working at the intimate edge of psychotherapeutic engagement.
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Approved for CMEs for physicians.
Materials to be used include: an assortment of
fine-art papers, pencils, erasers, a journal,
work gloves, a mat knife, and white glue.
Massage Weekend for Couples
Laurie Lioness Parizek & Attila Thomas Vaas
Recording Nature: Explorations in
Visual Representation
Robin Hill
This workshop is designed for loving partners who wish to bring the bonding and
nurturing practice of massage into their
daily lives and to spend a special weekend
together cradled in the beauty of the Big Sur
coast. It is also for couples who wish to create more time in their daily lives for healing
and intimacy.
This weekend intensive will impart basic
massage skills and focus on teaching couples
to give and receive a pleasurable full-body
massage. It will address issues such as keeping love, touch, and a healing interchange
alive at home during busy or stressful times,
how to touch with care and sensitivity, asking for what you need, and reciprocity so
that both partners feel pampered and loved.
Sessions will include both demonstrations
and hands-on instruction with plenty of
practice time.
Although the emphasis will be on loving
touch and communication between couples,
the massage techniques presented are useful
for relaxation, pain, and stress, and can
increase vital energy. They may be used with
sensitivity on your children as well as friends
and family.
Week of April 10–15
Body, Mind, Heart, and Soul:
A Transforming Path of Practice
George Leonard, Annie Styron Leonard
& Barry Robbins
This extraordinary week will be devoted to
Integral Transformative Practice (ITP), an
experimental program founded by George
Leonard and Michael Murphy. This practice is
currently spreading throughout the United
States and to many foreign lands. Studies of
ITP at major universities strongly suggest that
it not only enhances our ability to realize
more of our human potential but also serves
in many cases to increase our capacities for
self-healing.
This primarily hands-on workshop is
designed to be of value to those who have
never heard of ITP as well as to those who
already practice it regularly, for those who
intend to start their own practice group as
well as those who simply want to enjoy a
meaningful experience which can point
the way toward a long-term, proven practice.
You will have a chance to learn a fortyminute series that includes physical movement, transformative imaging, and meditation. You will practice balancing and centering, the use of chi, focused surrender, and
the creation of effective affirmations. You
will be introduced to the principles that
underlie the practice. You will try out a form
of “staying current” as well as other forms of
interpersonal relations which can help you
avoid misunderstandings and enrich your
relationships.
This workshop involves physical movement
but is not strenuous. All that’s needed is a
generous heart and a willingness to participate.
Recommended reading and videotape:
Leonard & Murphy, The Life We Are Given;
Leonard, Mastery and The Tao of Practice
(videotape): Murphy, The Future of the Body.
Advances in the Understanding and
Treatment of Psychological Trauma:
An Overview and Update
Christine Courtois
Over the course of the last twenty-five years,
major advances have been made in the study
and understanding of the human response to
trauma. The field of psychological trauma has
developed rapidly during this time, offering
new understanding and hope to scores of
individuals who have experienced, witnessed,
or been exposed to traumatic events of one
sort or another. Both therapists and
researchers have contributed to this expanding knowledge base.
This course will present an overview of developments in the identification and treatment
of different types of psychological trauma.
Topics to be covered include: assessment
issues and instruments, diagnostic criteria for
different types of posttraumatic stress, attachment and developmental issues, variable adaptations to trauma, treatment philosophy, treatment frame issues, the treatment sequence,
and specific strategies and approaches, especially those directed toward ego-enhancement, symptom stabilization, the maintenance of the patient’s functioning, and processing of the trauma to some resolution.
Treatment of various durations and intensities
will be discussed. Attendees will be apprised
of current advances in treatment as well as
areas of controversy. The importance of the
therapeutic relationship to the treatment will
be stressed; discussion of transference and
countertransference issues will be interwoven
throughout the presentation. The vicarious
traumatization of the therapist will also be
discussed, as will strategies for therapist selfcare.
Programs, page 74.
The Upledger Institute’s Visceral
Manipulation I-A
Dee Ahern
Visceral Manipulation (VM) is a manual therapy that uses specifically placed pressure to
encourage normal mobility, tone, and inherent tissue motion of the viscera (internal
organs) and their connective tissues. The VM
process is based on the concept that each of
the internal organs rotates on a physiological
axis. The VM techniques have the potential to
affect the physiological function of individual
organs, the systems they function within, and
the structural integrity of the entire body.
VM I-A is the first in the two-part introductory level of VM study. Participants will be
given the basic manual skills to locate, evaluate, and normalize primary areas of dysfunction within the abdominal cavity (with the
exception of the deepest visceral layer). Class
work focuses on the dynamics of motion and
suspension and their effects on internal
organs, membranes, and ligaments.
call 1-800-233-5880.
Required reading: Barral, Visceral
Manipulation; Netter, Atlas of Human Anatomy
or Clemente, Atlas of the Human Body.
April 15–24
Healing or Avoiding Repetitive Stress
Injury with CFR®
Harriet Goslins, Laura Kunysz, Sybil Krauter
& Carol Lessinger
Repetitive movement injury is really repetitive nonmovement injury. Damage to the
wrist, fingers, and elbow—sometimes called
carpal tunnel, thoracic outlet syndrome, or
tendonitis—is a result of repeatedly overusing
those smaller muscles (with a mouse or keyboard, e.g.) while the larger muscles of the
shoulder and neck are held motionless. Wrist
problems also result from the body growing
extra tissue in the area in order to continue
performing the very habits that created the
problem, thus impinging on the nerves.
Repairing the area does not change how it
will continue to be used in the future. Thus
reoccurrence is common.
Additional strain is created by scanning the
screen with eye movements while the head
remains immobilized. Continual uninterrupted reliance on the primary visual cortex (or
PVC, used for sharp focus), with no neck
movement, prepares the body for “fight or
flight.” Stress chemicals flood the body.
Evolution designed this decision-making system for early danger warning or successful
food capture. Used today in nonsurvival circumstances, the PVC devotes its capacities to
judgments about right or wrong, better or
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worse, that exclude parts of the self. The chest
caves in, the heart closes, the neck contracts—
we constrict rather than expand.
Cortical Field Reeducation® (CFR) teaches
how to increase kinesthetic perception in
order to change habitual unconscious movement patterns wired in the brain. This workshop consists of floor work and table sessions
geared toward those who seek to avoid problems, already have symptoms, are considering
surgery, or have already had satisfactory or
unsatisfactory intervention. Those dealing
with other upper-body complaints are welcome. Self-care training for working in an
office or at home will be included.
Guest CFR teachers will include physician
June Engle and Dorita Rodriguez, a previously
upper-body paralyzed woman who avoided
multiple carpal tunnel surgeries and recovered using CFR. For additional information email CFRaboutRMI@mindspring.com.
Images of Desire
Jaqueline Lapa Sussman
We all have secret images within us, as unique
as our fingerprints, which can transform us
into the natural, carefree sexual beings we
were born to be. We can uncover those
images in our own minds because our natural
sensuality remains intact, stored within us.
Today many people’s images of sexuality have
been shaped by parents, social upbringing,
television, and fashion advertisements, and
thus no longer arise naturally from their core
selves. The natural images of our original sexuality have been buried under layers of false
social impositions. Eidetic images can heal
and restore one’s natural sensual abilities,
allowing the true self to flourish. Jackie
Sussman writes: “We will learn to restore the
sexual potential we have lost and free ourselves to experience our most genuine sensual
self, allowing us to experience the joy, sensual
passion, pleasure, love, and intimacy which is
our gift from the gods.” This workshop will
guide you through simple, step-by-step
processes to:
• Reclaim your natural sensuality
• Discover the roots of your suppression
• Learn the primary differences between
male and female sexuality
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• Learn to keep passion, whether in new
relationships or after years of marriage
• Discover sexual mysteries of the ancient
Hindus and Greeks
• Resolve intimacy problems
This workshop is for those seeking to enrich
their personal lives as well as for mental-health
professionals seeking new tools. For more
information, visit www.jaquelinesussman.com.
Recommended reading: Sussman, Images of
Desire.
Enhancement of Peak Performance
in Sports, the Performing Arts, and
the Worksite
Daniel Brown
This workshop is designed for health professionals who work with clients wishing to
enhance their performance in avocational or
professional sports, the performing arts, or
their daily work. Participants will learn a variety of psychological methods used in sports
psychology as well as body/mind training
techniques drawn from the meditation traditions. The course will review biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors which
enhance or improve peak performance.
The main emphasis will be on teaching participants a variety of peak performance interventions: (1) psychodynamic, cognitivebehavioral, and hypnotic methods for eradicating factors which hinder peak performance, such as distractibility, scattering, negative emotional states, cognitive distortion,
and dynamic or systemic conflict; (2)
body/mind training methods such as physical conditioning methods, concentration
training, awareness training, mental pliancy
training, methods to correct energy imbalances, techniques for cutting off scattered
thought, and methods to work through perceptual reactivity.
The workshop will be a balance of lecturing,
demonstration of methods, practice, and case
presentation. Case presentations will be
drawn from recreational and professional
sports, dance and music performance, and
managerial worksite training.
Programs, page 74.
Trauma Consciousness and
the Body
Janina Fisher
Our understanding of trauma continues to
evolve and be enriched by recent developments in the neurosciences, by the integration of attachment theory and research, by a
deeper understanding of information processing, and by the development of treatment
techniques that reflect the implications of
the neurobiological research. We now know
that most human experience, especially trauma, is processed at a subcortical level, in the
unconscious rather than the conscious mind.
This finding makes sense of the often puzzling actions and reactions of traumatized
individuals to current, not just past, experience: their affective dysregulation, their troubled interpersonal relationships, their unconscious reenactments of old traumatic paradigms. Unfortunately, the higher cortical
processes involved in the “talking therapies,”
such as insight and interpretation, have only
a limited impact at best on post-traumatic
subcortical processes. This course presents
current research about how traumatic experiences are interpreted by brain, mind, and
body, and about how these interpretations
subsequently affect the regulation of emotional and behavioral responses. In the context of that theoretical understanding, the
program explores the treatment implications
and present models of effective trauma treatment, including the applications of newer
treatment techniques.
This course will teach how to assess and
understand trauma-based symptoms, how to
select the optimal treatment modalities at
each stage, and how to use the neurobiological and attachment research to inform the
treatment and enhance the therapeutic
alliance. With the help of videotapes, handouts, and experiential exercises, the program
will demonstrate how group and individual
therapies, EMDR, stabilization techniques,
and body-centered approaches can help
resolve traumatic memories, decrease hyperarousal and chronic impulsivity, mitigate dissociation from somatic and affective experience, and promote mastery.
Programs, page 74.
writes Steve Harper. “This workshop is an
immersion into the raw, emerging springtime
beauty of Big Sur—and of our selves. Spring is
a season of renewal, a time for the rebirth of
creative energies. From time immemorial,
seekers and mystics have gone to nature for
inspiration, re-creation, and wisdom. We venture out into nature in order to venture
inward, seeking connection, awakening, and
alignment with our aliveness—and life’s
greater calling. This workshop is an opportunity to leave behind our habitual self-identifications—a time to cross the threshold and
immerse ourselves in wild nature, to listen
deeply, to feel the mystery of life, to awaken to
that which is fresh and green.
JAMES WVINNER
“With wild nature as our inspiration we will
set forth on day-hikes (3-10 miles in length)
into Big Sur’s wild backcountry to let our
souls (and soles) be touched. Each hike
begins after breakfast and concludes in time
to enjoy the hot springs and dinner at Esalen.
At Esalen, both indoors and out, we will apply
awareness practices borrowed from aikido,
meditation, and native ritual as well as paired
and group exercises to explore and deepen
our awakening to Spring.”
also work to heal the blocks that keep you
from progressing on your own personal path,
as well as develop a clearer understanding of
your own Tao so that you can proceed consciously in your own spiritual evolution.
April 17–24
Awakening Your Mind
Anna Wise
The Awakened Mind is the state of consciousness found in spiritual masters from all traditions, regardless of belief system, religion, philosophy, or technique. It is the brainwave pattern of the “aha!” experience, found at the
moment of peak performance in top creative
people from all walks of life. You can learn to
develop and produce an Awakened Mind brainwave pattern for your own evolution, spirituality, creativity, self-healing, and higher service.
This week of brainwave training, neurotherapy, meditation, and mastery will cover
the basic protocol of Awakened Mind
Training for developing the beta, alpha, theta,
and delta brainwave combination of an
Awakened Mind, and address the awakening
of the kundalini and chakra systems that is
increasingly prevalent. You will work with
the interrelationship of the two ways of looking at consciousness: the state of consciousness (your brainwave pattern) and the content
of consciousness (your thoughts, feelings,
emotions, the material of your mind). You’ll
You will have the opportunity to be hooked
up to the Mind Mirror EEG for about half the
sessions. During the other half you’ll be able
to use an Electrical Skin Resistance (ESR)
Meter, which monitors the arousal and relaxation of your autonomic nervous system. By
measuring both body and mind, you’ll learn
how they interconnect and how to develop
control of your own internal states to cultivate mastery of both. You will receive feedback on your brainwave patterns and direction for your optimum future development,
leaving with an understanding of how to continue this process at home. This seminar is
suitable for all, from beginning meditators
who wish to use this work as a stand-alone
practice to experienced meditators who would
like to augment their established practice.
Wild Big Sur: Awakening Aliveness
Steven Harper with Michael Newman
“Big Sur in springtime declares ‘Green!’”
Attention will be focused on integrating the
gifts of nature into our daily lives. Participants
should be prepared for the invigorating challenge of physical activity as well as the opportunity to simply sit still in quiet reflection. All
levels of experience are welcome. More information will be sent upon registration.
Awakening Creativity and Inspiration
Jayson Fann & The Esalen Arts Center Staff
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
— Rumi
The most beautiful thing we can experience
is the mysterious. It is the true source of all art
and science.
— Albert Einstein
Jayson writes: “This workshop is for those
wanting to immerse themselves in a weekend
of abundant creativity. Silk painting, clay
sculpting, mask making, mosaic, and print
making are some of the mediums we will
explore to entice what lies beneath in the
ocean of your imagination.”
What makes this workshop special is the
opportunity to work with guest artists who
will share their knowledge in a variety of
artistic approaches and mediums that are
accessible and enjoyable. The workshop is
structured to provide the guidance, the materials, and a supportive environment for you to
47
awaken and explore your creativity and artistic passion. For added inspiration, there will
be live musical accompaniment woven
throughout the workshop.
The “Pointing Out” Way of Tibetan
Buddhist Meditation
Daniel Brown
This workshop—designed for either novice or
advanced meditators—serves as an integrative
approach to the practice of meditation, with
an emphasis on intensive concentration meditation using the traditional Tibetan Buddhist
“Nine States of Mental Calming/Staying,” a
widely-used method for training the mind to
stay on its meditation object and to calm
mental content. This approach was developed
to correct common problems that develop in
meditation practice, such as bad habits that
prevent realizations, or reaching a plateau that
makes progress difficult.
Please bring a meditation cushion, if you have
one.
Week of April 24–29
The Power of a Loving Heart:
Devotional Chanting and
Lovingkindness
Krishna Das & Sharon Salzberg
Lovingkindness meditation and devotional
chanting are complementary practices that
cultivate our natural capacity for faith, compassion, and love. Especially in times of
uncertainty, these techniques can open us to
deeper levels of courage and wisdom.
Through teachings, stories, songs, and guided
meditations, this workshop will celebrate the
power of the heart.
Sharon Salzberg has been teaching meditation retreats worldwide for almost 30 years.
She is a cofounder of the Insight Meditation
Society in Barre, Massachusetts and The Barre
Center for Buddhist Studies. She is the author
of several books, including Faith: Trusting Your
Own Deepest Experience.
Krishna Das first traveled to India in 1970
where he met his guru Neem Karoli Baba
(Maharaji). Through Maharaji, he was introduced to the devotional practice of kirtan, an
ancient method of heart purification. He has
released several CDs and now leads chanting
workshops around the world, helping us to
turn within and find our own inner understanding. Krishna Das has also studied
Buddhist meditation for more than 30 years.
Sharon and Krishna Das originally met in
1971 at a Buddhist meditation retreat in
Bodhgaya, India. Since then, they have traveled many paths and studied with many
teachers.
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
Participants will also be introduced to classic
Tibetan emptiness-meditations as well as the
“directly pointing out” practices about the
nature of mind. A balance of mental-stabilization and realization-of-emptiness practices
will serve as a foundation for many types of
advanced or “extraordinary” practices, such as
tantric meditations based on complex visualizations to transform affective states, and
working with energy transformations within
the body, both of which serve direct realization of the nature of mind. This relationalbased instructional style emphasizes directly
pointing out the meditation methods used
and the states likely to occur, balanced with
actual practice, followed by a description of
experiences and further instructions. The
emphasis is on short, repeated meditationpractice periods, with additional, more
refined instructions interspersed between
each practice set.
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Experiencing the Lightness of Being:
Subtle Touch and Calatonia
Anita Ribeiro, Leda Seixas & Ana Rios
In the original Greek, the verb Khala—
(Calatonia) indicates relaxation and feeding;
retreating from a state of anger, fury, or violence;
opening a door; undoing the ties of a leather
canister; letting go; pardoning one’s parents;
removing all veils; etc.
— Pethö Sándor
Subtle Touch (and Calatonia) seeks to reestablish communication between body and psyche, in a noninvasive manner, respecting one’s
own pace. Through gentle touches to the skin,
Subtle Touch and Calatonia allow patients to
experience new patterns of “living” in the
body, while dissolving and reorganizing traumas, old emotional knots, symptoms, and
pain. Subtle Touch promotes a healthy, centered, self-regulated body, providing patients
with increased confidence, grounding, and a
sense of well-being.
When applied for a period of time, the results
are long-lasting, bringing individuals to a new,
gradual and stable level of consciousness,
which corresponds to insights in some or all
levels of existence: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Due to its gentleness and
profound effects, it has been successfully
utilized with children.
This workshop will be experiential and didactic and is designed for both professionals and
nonprofessionals. In fact, a group with different levels of expertise will greatly enhance the
overall experience.
Dream imagery, along with regular journaling,
will be encouraged during the workshop, to
integrate the experiential aspect with Jungian
theory. To learn more about Pethö Sándor
visit www.calatonia.net/epetho.htm.
Recommended reading: McNeely, Touching:
Body Therapy and Depth Psychology.
Golf in the Kingdom: An Exploration
of the Deeper Game
Steve Cohen & Bill Condaxis
Ye’ll come away from the links with a new
hold on life, that is certain if ye play the game
with all your heart.
— Michael Murphy (as Shivas Irons),
Golf in the Kingdom
The game of golf provides many opportunities to enhance the journey of self-discovery.
It can be experienced not only as an athletic
endeavor, but also as a metaphor for the way
one lives. Just as in life, issues of self-confidence, fear, trust, discipline, and awareness
emerge in the conflict between the ego’s
desire for success and the inner self ’s ability
to achieve.
During these five days, teaching methods
gleaned from a study of the deeper game
will be utilized, as well as principles from
psychosynthesis and Gestalt, to explore the
inner self and how one interferes with its
emergence. Two days will be spent on field
trips to the Monterey Peninsula where participants will practice and play in some of
the most beautiful golf country in the
world. On other days there will be time to
relax and enjoy the natural pleasures of
Esalen and Big Sur.
Recommended reading: Murphy, Golf in the
Kingdom and The Kingdom of Shivas Irons;
Gallwey, The Inner Game of Golf; Shoemaker,
Extraordinary Golf: The Art of the Possible.
(greens fees—about $145—paid directly to the leaders)
Weekend of April 29–May 1
Embryological Embodiment of Space:
Body-Mind Centering®
Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
Body-Mind Centering is an integrated
approach to transformative experience
through movement reeducation and handson repatterning. Developed by Bonnie
Bainbridge Cohen, this work leads to an
understanding of how the mind is expressed
through the body and the body through the
mind.
Exploring our embryonic development allows
us to perceive our internal and external space
as a physical reality and state of consciousness. This process supports and provides
inner nourishment. In the breathing that
emerges from experiencing this stage of
development the inhalation and exhalation
become one. As our embodiment deepens we
are filled with a sense of wholeness and wellbeing.
Body-Mind Centering is appropriate for anyone involved in movement, yoga, bodywork,
education, athletics, and other body-mind disciplines.
Please note: The Friday evening session will
begin at 7:30 PM.
Introduction to Gestalt Awareness
Practice
Christine Stewart Price
The Way, when declared
Seems so thin and flavorless.
Nothing to look at, nothing to hear—
And when used—is inexhaustible.
—Lao Tzu
Gestalt Awareness Practice is a form—nonanalytic, noncoercive, nonjudgmental—derived
from the work of Fritz Perls, influenced by
Buddhist practice, and evolved by Richard
and Christine Price. The work integrates ways
of personal clearing and development that are
both ancient and modern. To the extent that
awareness is made primary relative to action,
Gestalt Awareness Practice has a strong relationship to some forms of meditation. This
form is similar to some Reichian work as well,
in that emotional and energetic release and
rebalancing are allowed and encouraged.
The emphasis is intrapersonal rather than
interpersonal. Participants are not patients but
persons actively consenting to explore in
awareness. The leader functions to reflect,
clarify, and respect whatever emerges in this
process. The aim is unfoldment, wholeness,
and growth, rather than adjustment, cure, or
accomplishment. The workshop will utilize
group exercises, meditations, and discussion.
Open seat work may be demonstrated.
Chris Price will be leading a five-day workshop May 1-6.
Recommended reading: Perls, Gestalt Therapy
Verbatim; Chodron, The Wisdom of No Escape.
Being Present for Your Life:
Introduction to Mindfulness
Meditation
James Baraz
How much are you present for your own life?
Most of us spend more time in our own inner
world—worrying about the future, replaying
the past, or lost in fantasy—than experiencing
what life is offering to us right now. The present moment is where we can most directly
be intimate with our life—touched by beauty
and intimacy, while learning through the difficult lessons how to open our hearts.
Mindfulness—or vipassana—meditation is the
practice described by the Buddha for developing wisdom, compassion, and peace by learning
to be mindful of what is actually happening in
the present moment. Using the breath, body
sensations, thoughts, and emotions as objects of
49
JOHN WERNER
attention, we can learn to be more fully awake.
When we see directly that the nature of reality
is change, we begin to let go of clinging to the
pleasant or avoiding the unpleasant. We
become more capable of meeting each situation
with spontaneity, fearlessness, and love.
Participants will be introduced to this meditation practice and the principles on which it is
based. There will be periods of silent sitting
and walking meditation as well as discussion,
providing a foundation for applying mindfulness practice to everyday life.
To make a mask with the intention to wear it
can stir a deep and passionate excitement that
feels different from any other form of art
making. Using a variety of materials, this
workshop will investigate the infusion of
spirit and artistic expression in the mask
making process while learning the basics of
how to make a mask that is truly wearable.
As a group, participants will create a supportive opportunity to wear the completed masks
and surrender into an exploration of their
spirit and nature through dramatic improvisational movement and vocalization.
The Art and Soul of Mask Making
Tim Beckwith
In a vast range of expression and function,
from the lightness of decorative elegance and
humor to the depths of shamanic ritual, people have since ancient times created masks
that bridge the inner and outer worlds in a
uniquely powerful way. They are both works
of art and tools for transformation.
50
Week of May 1–6
Yoga—The Anatomy and
Biomechanics of Asana Practice
Thomas Michael Fortel & Harvey Deutch
This workshop offers an in-depth understand-
ing of the how and why of the physical yoga
practice. Combining the skills of a long-term
yoga teacher/RN and an orthopedic physical
therapist/yogi, the workshop presents efficient approaches to the biomechanics and
obstacles encountered in your yoga practice.
Emphasis will be on alignment and foundation in order to establish a successful static
and dynamic posture. The leaders write:
“Many people who have trouble progressing
in their practice injure themselves by pushing
too hard. Yoga is not about pushing. Rather,
over time we develop a finesse and a softening
into our bodies. Knowing what muscle connects to what bone and understanding the
normal range of joint movement allows for
progression. Too much flexibility in a muscle
may cause overuse of several joints. We will
teach the major joint movements and facilitate self-adjustments in the asanas.”
Emphasis will be on core stabilization and
finding neutral spinal alignment, applicable
to maintaining a healthy spine and a strong
yoga practice. Days will include morning
meditation and conscious breathing, with
anatomy discussion followed by an active
practice applying the discussed material.
Afternoon discussion will focus on core stabilization, postural alignment, and case studies,
followed by a restorative practice. Please have
an active yoga practice.
powerful ways to support the body’s own balancing and healing processes. Based on the
4000-year-old healing tradition of acupressure
and combined with the powerful touch of
Zero Balancing, Basic Acupressure is highly
effective for soothing all kinds of common
stresses and symptoms.
This class teaches you how to locate and use
with confidence 36 special acupoints. The
work is done on a massage table, on clothed
bodies, in pairs or on oneself. The course
presents acupressure formulas which can be
used alone for balancing, centering, and
energizing the body, or applied with another
modality, such as massage or physical therapy, for energetic enhancement. The class
combines acupressure instruction, demonstrations of acupressure formulas, and ample
practice time. Developed by Process
Acupressure originator Aminah Raheem,
the course presents:
Eight Weeks to Optimum Health
(in Five Days)
Dennis Gates
Everyone wants spontaneous healing and
health. This workshop is designed to enhance
what you intuitively know: how to be fit and
healthy in a natural way, and how to incorporate healthy principles into your busy life. The
course is for all seekers of optimum health—
cancer and heart-attack survivors, people at
risk (diabetes, high cholesterol), those desiring
stress reduction or weight control, as well as
people who simply want to improve.
Dr. Dennis Gates, a graduate fellow of Dr.
Andrew Weil’s program, has adapted and
expanded Weil’s book, Eight Weeks to
Optimum Health, to a workshop format. He
will guide you through a nutritional, mental, physical, and spiritual Eight-Week
Program—in five days. You will study nutrition by combining Esalen’s food and kitchen
with Dr. Weil’s principles and recipes. In
interactive sessions, you will be taught the
use of organic foods, toxin elimination, and
supplements. Through breathing, meditation, and other Esalen approaches, you will
practice immune enhancement and stress
reduction. The fitness aspect will emphasize
simplicity: walking, hiking, dancing, and
muscular exercise without machines, amid
the beauty of Esalen.
This is a proven program for taking full
advantage of your body’s natural healing
power. The goal is for you to leave with
knowledge and a sense of purpose, having
already begun a naturally healthy lifestyle.
Recommended reading: Weil, Eight Weeks to
Optimum Health and Spontaneous Healing.
Basic Acupressure:
Clinical Applications
Aminah Raheem & Susan Grant
This course, developed for both health-care
professionals and laypersons, presents simple,
• The special touch method of interface,
taught in Zero Balancing and Process
Acupressure, which promotes clear
boundaries and strong energetic results
• The Process Acupressure whole-body
balancing protocol
• Specific acupressure formulas to address
symptoms and conditions including:
whole-body balancing, stress release, spinal
energizing, immune system support,
headaches, PMS, and overall well-being
• Chakra Tai Chi for centering, balancing,
and energizing body, mind, and spirit
A Study Guide and clinical handbook come
with the course.
The MAX: Stretching the Limits of
Your Self-Expression
Paula Shaw
The MAX is an outrageous voyage through
your own humanity—a journey to turn yourself inside out and explore the extent of your
self-expressive power. It employs a variety of
acting, communication, and observation
methods designed to expand your limits “to
the max” and move you into a new arena of
personal creativity and self-expression.
The MAX is extremely challenging.
Participants must commit to a rigorous exploration of the sources of their emotional limitations. Seminar hours are longer than usual
early in the week (and shorter later in the
week). Participants work individually in front
of the room, playing to and with other group
members. There are exercises that use raw emotion, role-playing, and “dress-up” assignments.
This is an opportunity to experience yourself
in a way you may have dreamed about but
never imagined possible. The game is risk, the
premise: You’re either daring or dead. This
course is not for the faint of heart, but it is full
of heart, humor, and irreverence, constructed
with the understanding that this kind of risk
taking requires a very safe workspace. If your
heart beats faster when you think of taking
this workshop, then maybe it’s just the thing
to do.
Please note: Due to the intense and sequential
nature of this workshop, attendance at all sessions is necessary.
Requirement: Bring a 1-3 minute memorized
piece—monologue, poem, song, etc.
Gestalt Awareness Practice
Christine Price & Guest Leader
The Way, when declared
Seems so thin and flavorless.
Nothing to look at, nothing to hear—
And when used—is inexhaustible.
— Lao Tzu
Gestalt Awareness Practice is a form—nonanalytic, noncoercive, nonjudgmental—derived
from the work of Fritz Perls, influenced by
Buddhist practice, and evolved by Richard
and Christine Price. The work integrates
ways of personal clearing and development
that are both ancient and modern. To the
extent that awareness is made primary relative to action, Gestalt Awareness Practice has
a strong relationship to some forms of meditation. This form is similar to some Reichian
work as well, in that emotional and energetic
release and rebalancing are allowed and
encouraged.
The emphasis is intrapersonal rather than
interpersonal. Participants are not patients but
persons actively consenting to explore in
awareness. The leader functions to reflect,
clarify, and respect whatever emerges in this
process. The aim is unfoldment, wholeness,
and growth, rather than adjustment, cure, or
accomplishment. The workshop will utilize
group exercises, meditations, and discussion.
The format combines introductory group
work with the open seat form in which each
participant will have the opportunity to work
with the leader in a group context.
Recommended reading: Perls, Gestalt Therapy
Verbatim; Chodron, The Wisdom of No Escape.
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Reclaiming the Man in the Mirror:
Sex, Love, and Commitment for
Gay Men
Joe Kort
This workshop focuses on sex, love, and intimacy among gay men. Most people, gay and
straight alike, do not know if their sexual fantasies and/or sexual acts are healthy or
unhealthy. The secret logic of sexual fantasies
and desires can help unlock information
stored away in a gay man’s history that can
help him enjoy his sexuality even more.
There is an erotic intelligence that can teach a
person to know and understand himself in a
deeper way.
This workshop starts out with the sexual
aspects of relationships and moves to love and
commitment. Gay men will learn the mystery
of why they are drawn to Mr. Right and how
to stay connected and partnered with the man
of their dreams. This workshop will focus on
integrating sex, love, and intimacy and on
keeping and maintaining a relationship.
• Myofascial techniques for specific body
areas and layers
• Somatic touch and movement reeducation
• Combination of subtle fluid work with
deep structural work
• Nontraditional client positioning
• Use of active and passive movement to
enhance effectiveness
• Time for discussion/peer exchange
Come play and reawaken your senses, your
inner spirit, and intellect. Come prepared to
move and be moved, to support and be supported.
Friends rate: Standard: $2665; Bunk: $1995
Regular rate: Standard:$2715; Bunk: $2045
Week of May 8–13
From Good to Great: The Secrets of
Extraordinary Relationships
Charlie & Linda Bloom
Weekend of May 6–8
Esalen is hosting a private conference and will be
closed to the public this weekend.
May 8–20
Advanced Massage Intensive:
Current Directions in Esalen
Massage and Bodywork
Dean Marson, Vicki Topp & Daniela Urbassek
This is an invitation for certified massage
practitioners to explore and experience current trends in Esalen Massage and Bodywork.
The focus of this extended course will be on
integrating new movement applications into
your practice, both on and off the table. The
instructors will present fresh approaches to
inspire creativity and innovation. Through
explorations incorporating yoga, self-care,
movement, and supportive client dialogue,
you will work with your own body to more
fully experience suppleness, relaxation, and
vitality, enabling you to more effectively communicate these qualities to your clients.
Throughout, workshop participants will
explore and develop the essential qualities at
the core of Esalen massage: awareness, presence, and intention. The sessions will include:
• Meditation and breath awareness
• Yoga, self-care, and movement work
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The biggest mistake that many couples make
is not in expecting too much from their relationship, but in desiring too little. A true partnership can not only provide security, pleasure, intimacy, and fun, but can be a means
through which our deepest longings are
awakened and ultimately realized. It can be a
vehicle not only for our own transformation,
but that of the world as well.
This workshop is designed for the couples
who have already achieved a degree of fulfillment in their relationship yet know that more
is possible. The workshop will examine the
unique qualities that exceptional relationships embody and identify various means
through which it is possible to develop and
integrate those qualities and experiences into
our relationship. In addition, participants will
identify and engage in practices that can
transform the quality of connection in ways
that promote co-creativity, unconditional
acceptance, and spiritual awakening.
Please note: This workshop is open to couples
only.
Dreaming the Soul Back Home:
Self-Healing and Everyday Magic
Robert Moss
Soul-loss, in shamanic understanding, is a primary source of illness, depression, and mental
confusion. We lose vital soul energy through
pain, trauma, and heartbreak, through
wrenching life choices, and by giving up on
our big dreams and ceasing to live the soul’s
purpose. When we lose the energy of soul, the
magic goes out of life. We are often fatigued
for no apparent reason, we can’t experience
joy or love, and there is a gaping hole we try
to fill with addictive behaviors. Soul-loss can
put us in the procession of the walking dead,
playing roles that other people cast us for, no
longer knowing who we are or why we are in
this world. The Iroquois say that if we have
lost our dreams, we have lost our souls. But
when we reopen to our dreams, they can
show us where our soul energy has gone, and
how to bring it home.
“In this adventure in healing and transformation,” writes Robert Moss, “we’ll help each
other to open the dreamgates, become
shamanic healers for our own family of selves,
and welcome the energy and magic of soul
back into our bodies and our daily lives. We’ll
learn how to grow a dream for someone who
does not have one. We will practice Active
Dreaming techniques including Lightning
Dreamwork, dream reentry and journeying,
shared dreaming, timefolding, dream theater,
and navigating by synchronicity. We’ll learn
how to enter each other’s dreamspace (with
permission) to facilitate soul recovery and
recall our sacred contracts. We’ll grow the
sacred space and compassionate circle energy
that make the extraordinary easy.”
Recommended reading: Moss, Conscious
Dreaming and Dreamways of the Iroquois.
Self Awakening:
The Ultimate Medicine
Leonard Laskow
Do you ever find yourself longing to be so
quiet inside, so at peace, that you can wholly
relax into the moment and appreciate the
sheer wonder of existence? Busy creating
livelihoods, healthy relationships, and meaningful work, many of us feel as if the seams of
our lives threaten to burst from our hectic
pace to “do it all.” We have forgotten how to
simply be who we truly are.
Using the themes of Self Awareness, Love,
and Healing, this retreat guides you toward
awakening to who you are beyond the experiences and perceptions of the personality.
Using step-by-step processes that blend
ancient wisdom with modern scientific
research, you will be encouraged to release the
limitations that veil your essential nature.
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
These processes help to quiet the mind, bring
you more peace, joy, and abundance, and
allow an intuitive, loving presence to unfold.
This loving presence empowers you to:
• Clear past conditioning and “treasured”
wounds that foster illness and suffering
• Release ancestral patterns that have
adversely affected your entire family for
generations
• Support your body to heal, unimpeded by
mental and emotional blocks
As the mind rests and the heart opens, the
truth of who we are is revealed. The search for
love ends the moment we discover it to be
ever present within ourselves.
ition, a leap beyond the predictable, a venture
into color, form, and image where no rules
apply. Free play reflects your true nature, genuinely and gently, without words. What you’ll
discover is your deepest response, free from
comparison, criticism, and self-control.
visit www.processarts.com. You may also send a
request to video@processarts.com for a free DVD
or VHS preview of the workshop.
Join Stewart Cubley, cofounder of The
Painting Experience in San Francisco, in an
adventure of free-expression painting.
Explore the power of spontaneous creation to
touch your core and awaken your passion.
This workshop will appeal to you whether
your interest is in:
Stewart Cubley
• The artistic/creative—Learn to trust your
creative impulse in a safe atmosphere that
honors individual differences.
• The healing/therapeutic—Not knowing
allows innocence. Accepting imperfection
yields compassion. Risking vulnerability
connects us with others.
• The meditative/spiritual—Free-expression
painting is an engaged spirituality, a
practice of learning to stay in the face of
whatever arises. It is a journey into the
Great Mystery.
Awakening The Creative is a journey into the
wild territory of painting directly from intu-
All levels of experience are welcome. All
materials are supplied. For more information
This workshop is suitable for therapists and
helping professionals as well as all those interested in exploring a loving presence.
Awakening The Creative:
The Painting Experience
Recommended reading: Cubley (coauthor),
Life, Paint, and Passion: Reclaiming the Magic of
Spontaneous Expression.
Finding Your Voice, Writing Deeper
Elizabeth Rosner
If not now, when?
This workshop is for beginning writers as well
as more experienced writers who feel they need
opportunities for renewed inspiration. Often,
concerns about choosing a form and finding an
audience can get in the way of a genuine practice of uninhibited self-expression. These five
days of exploration will be focused on inner listening, seeking one’s authentic language, and
(optionally) sharing work with others in the
group. All forms of writing will be welcome—
including formless pieces, fragments, notes—
and the emphasis will be on creating a safe
place for risk-taking in new work. As a group
and as individual writers, the aim will be
53
toward emotional honesty. Each participant
will be encouraged to discover his/her own
goals for the workshop, but the overall goal will
be to trust in the challenging and profoundly
rewarding process of diving deep.
The Future of Love
Daphne Rose Kingma
Relationships are changing dramatically.
More than half of all marriages end in
divorce. Multitudes of people live in relationships that don’t follow the traditional marriage format. On a personal level, all this
change this can be unsettling. Have we
become a culture of relationship failures, or
are these changes like Roman candles lighting the way to a higher love?
This provocative and comforting workshop
will reveal how love is being born anew. As
the old forms fall apart, we have an opportunity to inhabit the powerful place where soul
energy enters our intimate relationships and
invites them to become the chalice for an
even greater love. If your relationship life has
followed an unfamiliar path—if you aren’t still
married to your high-school sweetheart, if
you’ve changed your gender preference midway in your relationship life, if you’ve had a
series rather than a single, lifelong intimate
relationship—you may have wondered why
the norm has eluded you.
using the practices and metaphors of food
and the body can lead to healing, transformation, and awakening. In a retreat atmosphere,
you’ll be taught contemplative, somatic, and
psychological tools for feasting on the experience of being alive.
Dimensions of eating and food that are experienced with mindful awareness can lead to a
reopening of psychological depth, a fuller
embodiment, and a deeper sense of the creative, relational, and spiritual aspects of being
alive. Otherwise, unacknowledged hungers,
unrecognized feelings, trances, wounds, and
personal mythologies around eating and the
body misdirect our energies into filling these
voids and away from being free and fully
alive. This workshop offers neither a diet plan
nor medical advice, but it does provide tools
to help you focus on sources of true nourishment. Topics include:
• Your unique food mythologies, patterns,
and trances
• Interconnectedness of Self, Other, and Cosmos
• Communal stories and release of shame and
secrets
• Eating and the body as practice for renewal,
contemplation, and meditation
There will be silent community meals, selfassessment stories, music and ritual, meditation, and deep relaxation. Teachings and activities will alternate with periods of silence.
Open to all, the workshop is an especially rich
resource for therapists and nurses.
Yoga for the “Yogically Challenged”
Deborah Anne Medow
Do you avoid yoga classes because you’re “of a
certain age,” or you’re just too stiff, or you don’t
have a “yoga body”? Here is a yoga workshop
designed with you in mind.
In this program—for people who ordinarily
wouldn’t be caught dead doing the “corpse
pose”—participants will be gently guided
through breathing exercises (purifications),
meditation, asanas (yogic body postures), and
the coordination of breath and movement
within the asanas. Additional emphasis will
be on yogic philosophy and theory.
With regular practice, yoga not only strengthens, rejuvenates, and helps to heal the body, it
also calms the emotions, focuses the mind,
and uplifts the spirit. Although this workshop is designed for the “yogically challenged,” everyone is welcome. With Big Sur’s
coastal beauty, the power and spirit of the
Esalen land, it is easy to fall into the natural
rhythm of practicing yoga.
Please bring a yoga mat (available in the
Esalen bookstore) and a sense of humor (not
available in the bookstore).
Focusing: The Inner Relationship
Ann Weiser Cornell
Focusing is a body-centered technique for
reaching beyond familiar thoughts and feelings to an underlying “felt sense” of something. Instead of the usual internal chatter,
you start to listen in a relaxed and friendly
Through meditation, lecture, exercises, and
conversation, this workshop will uncover the
deeper meaning of these new relationship
forms, explore what it means to be a relationship pioneer, and reflect the peace and illumination that come when we realize that the
soul itself is urging us to expand our capacity
for love. This workshop is for all people—those
who are baffled or inspired by their seemingly
unusual relationships, singles whose paths
clearly haven’t followed the norm, those in
committed relationships (marriage or otherwise)—who want to take their relationships to
a place of greater spiritual depth.
Eating, Food, and the Body/Self
Jerome Front
Eating, food, and the body/self are intimately
intertwined. Tapping into these connections
54
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
Recommended reading: Kingma, The Future of
Love.
way to the parts of yourself that do not normally get attention. Out of this deeper bodily
listening, creative and transformative openings can emerge.
This highly experiential workshop is a deep
introduction to the spirit, attitudes, and methods of Focusing. You’ll learn how to tune in to
“felt senses,” messages from your deeper self
that are held in your body. You’ll learn how to
create a climate of acceptance and welcome
within so that you can hear from these parts
of yourself without judgment. You’ll learn
how to receive the messages that lead to relief
and release in your body when you do.
The workshop will provide a safe and supportive atmosphere in which your inner
sense of rightness is respected, even to
whether and when you speak in the group.
You’ll learn how to guide yourself through a
Focusing process, and you’ll practice partnership skills that support making Focusing a
regular and trusted part of your life.
Participants will be notified of their acceptance by March 25, 2005.
This workshop is offered in a weekend format
May 20-22 (if accepted into either workshop,
it is not possible to switch).
Performing the Personal
Charlie Bethel
Are you a performer or a public speaker? A
teacher or an artist (of any stripe)? Have you
ever been called upon to speak before a crowd
and felt your body and voice tighten like a
drum? This workshop is designed for all
those—from beginner to professional, from
the self-confessed ham to the terminally shy—
who wish to explore the connection between
text and the body.
The workshop instruction centers around
freeing your innate vocal and physical
impulses, preparation for dramatic expression, and the actuation of your repeated
expressionistic impulses. Since the springboard for the performance will be text, you
are requested to bring along any works-inprocess to use as raw material. (Those without
personal material may bring other text, or be
assigned material to use.)
Week of May 15–20
Come and discover who lives inside you
when you’re in the spotlight. No experience
or previous training is necessary.
Those who aren’t familiar with the Focusing
process will begin to learn to use it immediately. Those who are familiar with it will go
even deeper. Helping professionals will learn
powerful tools for working with clients.
New Poems Week
Sharon Olds
Critics who love imagery, risk taking, and an
accessible voice have praised the poetry of
Sharon Olds. Michael Ondaatje has called
Olds’s poems “pure fire in the hands.”
Writes Sharon Olds: “This workshop is a time
for writing new poems and practicing a deep
openness and alertness to each other’s work.
Each of us will hope to write first drafts
which in some way move beyond what we
have written before.”
There will be no writing exercises or assignments, and during the gatherings no xeroxed
copies.
To apply, send a letter with your name and
address, and three pages of recent poems,
typed (no more than one poem per page). Do
not include a SASE; poems will not be
returned. Send them to Olds 5-Day Poetry
Workshop, c/o Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA
93920. Be sure to specify that you are applying for Sharon Olds’s 5-Day workshop. Your
poems must be received by March 4, 2005.
Alchemy in Character Restructuring
Richard Blasband & Patricia Frisch
The trap is man’s emotional structure—
his character structure.
—Wilhelm Reich
When we are open we experience pleasure,
liveliness, and vitality. All too often, however,
we are contracted and feel tension, lack of sexual desire, frozen, heavy, trapped, and ill.
These symptoms are communications from
the depths of our past rooted in the present in
our character structure and body armor. To
free up our life energy we must become conscious of our most habitual styles that twist
our body/mind into distortions of who we
really are.
This workshop is an intensive, confrontational, personally demanding process for those
who wish to restructure their character style
at deep levels of psychophysical being. The
course will discuss Reich’s findings of a bioenergetic basis of character formation and uti-
lize direct interventions in the body armoring
to mobilize blocked bioenergy. Carl Jung’s
findings of alchemical processes in transformative healing will provide a complementary
process by which personal change can be
understood. Dr. Richard Blasband, and Dr.
Patricia Frisch have a combined clinical experience of over fifty years in the orgonomic
approach.
Within a dynamic, supportive group process
individuals can experiment with their structure in bold and profound ways that insist on
change. Dreams, guided imagery, and movement will deepen the exploration and provide
material for a trusting exchange within the
workshop community. As we shed unnecessary layers of armor and facade we discover
our true, naturally sexual and spiritual
natures.
Balance: You’re Only Young Once
But You Can Feel That Way Forever
Jean Couch
How do you walk through the world? Are you
open, strong, expansive, active, alive? Or are
you closed off, weak, in pain, constricted, passive? How you walk, stand, and sit in the
world reveals who you are.
This workshop is for anyone from yoga practitioners to runners, walkers, or computer
nerds, and everyone in between. The goal is to
teach you—no matter what your age—the fundamentals of using your skeletal system to
support your body in balance so that your
muscles remain pliant, flexible, and powerful
throughout your life.
Aging is usually associated with stooped,
shortened, weakened bodies. In this workshop, you will be shown how to achieve a balanced posture that increases your flexibility,
maintains length in your torso, and dramatically reduces the stresses and strains that
cause chronic pain and discomfort. You will
learn to walk and sit in a way that frees you
from pain and constriction, and empowers
you with strength and self-confidence. Other
benefits:
• Learn how to realign your bones as you
walk, stand, sit, bend, and sleep
• Dramatically improve your walking and
running as you acquire balance
• Dissolve aches and pains
• Receive personalized feedback thoughout
the class
55
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
Voices of Creation: Native American
Instrument Making and Playing
Guillermo Martinez
This multifaceted program will unravel—
through music—the connection that the
original people of the Americas had with the
earth. Experiential, informative, and creative,
the workshop will intensively explore the
historical significance of the musical trinity
of flute, drum, and rattle.
You’ll begin this musical journey by making
your own Native American flute using aromatic cedar, the traditional wood for a
Northern Plains-style flute (no woodworking experience is necessary—basic woodworking skills like gluing, clamping, and
planing will be thoroughly covered). Next,
you’ll fashion a 16” hand drum of elkskin
and maple, weaving a medicine wheel into
the back of your heirloom-quality drum to
make it something to cherish always. Finally,
to complete the musical journey, you’ll create
bull-kelp and gourd rattles. The end of each
day will be devoted to learning how to play
these unique creations.
All workshop materials will be provided.
56
New Poems Weekend
Sharon Olds
For workshop description see May 15-20. This
weekend workshop differs from its five-day
counterpart in duration only.
To apply, send a letter with your name and
address, and three pages of recent poems,
typed (no more than one poem per page).
Do not include a SASE; poems will not be
returned. Send them to Olds Weekend Poetry
Workshop, c/o Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA
93920. Be sure to specify that you are applying for Sharon Olds’s Weekend workshop. Your
poems must be received by March 9, 2005.
Participants will be notified of their acceptance by March 30, 2005.
The Politics of Trust/Worthiness
John Vasconcellos
“For the past four decades,” writes John
Vasconcellos, “we Americans have been proclaiming our longing, searching for a new politics—Right, Left, or Center. The profound
divisions among our people today demonstrate that such efforts have failed.
“All the while, grounded in both our liberation and therapeutic movements of the 1960’s,
millions of us have been deeply searching for
how to recognize, then to realize, a whole new
faithful vision of ourselves, our human nature
and potential. So as we boast of our resultant
New Economy, cherish our New Demography,
and revel in our New Consciousness, we’ve
been stuck in our Same Old Politics.
“No more! Finally, we’ve begun to discern and
describe, design and develop a wholly new
politics—beyond Left or Right—based upon
the principles of humanistic psychology, best
articulated by pioneer Carl Rogers: ‘We
human beings are innately inclined toward
becoming life-affirming, constructive, responsible, and trustworthy.’
“Talk about empowerment! We call it ‘The
Politics of Trust,’ based in our innate trustworthiness. We’ve developed a 16-point Expanding
Human Agenda. Our workshop will explore,
intellectually and experientially, developing a
Strategic Action Plan for bringing our ‘Politics
of Trust/Worthiness’ to life soon.”
For more information visit www.politicsoftrust.
net.
Recommended reading: Ray & Anderson, The
Cultural Creatives; Harman, Global Mind Change:
The New Age Revolution in the Way We Think.
Mindfulness and Heartfulness:
The Healing and Transformation
of Mind and Body
Mark Abramson & Fred Luskin
This program is designed to integrate the
practice of mindful awareness with directed
heartfulness in order to facilitate growth,
healing, and change. It is based on Dr.
Luskin’s research at Stanford Medical School
on the healing effects of forgiveness and
heartfulness and Dr. Abramson’s work as the
director of Stanford’s Mindfulness Based
Stress Reduction Program.
The workshop introduces the practical
application of techniques of mindfulness
and heartfulness to transform emotional
states and unleash the great potential for
deep healing of the body. The goal is to learn
new ways of relating to experience that
allow greater opening, understanding, and
the possibility of transformation. “Our
work,” write the leaders, “has shown us that
this creates an increasing experience of gentleness, kindness, and respect for oneself
and others.”
The program offers guided practice in mindfulness meditation, body movement, breathing practices, and heart opening, interspersed
with lecture and interactive discussion. While
the practices are especially helpful for people
who are experiencing emotional or physical
concerns, the universality of the experience
makes this program valuable for all.
Freedom Yoga:
Cultivating Compassion
Hala Khouri
“One of the greatest lessons that yoga can
teach us is compassion,” says Hala Khouri.
“Compassion for ourselves is the foundation
for our healing and opening to authenticity
and joy. Yoga asanas are valuable tools that
bring to the surface our unhealthy—and
healthy—thought patterns and beliefs.
Practicing yoga is one way to begin to discover and transform the ways in which we keep
ourselves stuck and unhappy. The root of this
healing is in cultivating compassion.
us from experiencing the ease and flow we so
desire. Fear and resistance keep us constantly
battling with ourselves. What we all ultimately crave is freedom, freedom to love and be
loved, freedom to play. When we release the
thought patterns and behaviors that prevent
us from fully loving ourselves, a wellspring of
energy becomes available to us for healing,
growth, and pure joy!”
In this workshop, participants will be led
through a creative asana practice that includes
music, dance, and spontaneous movement,
followed by discussion, journaling, and interactive exercises. Participants should have at
least 3 months of yoga experience, a basic
knowledge of yoga asanas, and should bring
their own yoga mats.
The Highly Sensitive Person: How to
Thrive in a Not-So-Sensitive World
Elaine Aron
Do you have a keen imagination, rich inner
life, vivid dreams? Is time alone each day as
essential as air? Do others call you “too shy”
or “overly sensitive”? Are you easily overwhelmed by bright lights, loud noise, or your
own emotions?
If you answered yes, you are probably a
Highly Sensitive Person, or HSP. (If still not
certain, you may take the complete self-test at
www.hsperson.com or in one of the books mentioned below.) Twenty percent of us are born
highly sensitive; the percentage is the same
for men and women. It is a valuable trait:
Many great artists and thinkers were HSPs,
and HSPs are generally highly conscientious
and intuitive.
But there are some drawbacks. You become
easily frazzled and overaroused. You may be
perceived as timid, moody, aloof, or fussy. And
you do not possess our culture’s “ideal” personality. This course explains the trait, then
offers coping strategies, help with close relationships, and ideas for careers and the workplace. This workshop can be a life-changing
experience. It’s a chance to reframe selfrecriminations and past “failures.” It’s also
three days spent with others like yourself—
after feeling “different” all your life, this is
often the most healing part of all.
This workshop is useful for those in the helping professions.
Recommended reading: Aron, The Highly
Sensitive Person and The Highly Sensitive Child.
Week of May 22–27
Walk on the Wild Side:
Hiking the Big Sur Country
Steven Harper
“What’s the quickest way out of the city?”
John Muir is reported to have asked a
stranger on the street of the metropolis in
which Muir had just arrived. “Where do you
want to go?” the man asked. “Anywhere that is
wild,” Muir replied.
“This week is simple,” says Steve Harper. “We
day-hike the mountainous paths into the
wilds of Big Sur, breathe in the fresh mountain air, we soak in Esalen’s natural hot springs
overlooking the waves of the Pacific—in short,
we let ourselves touch and be touched by
Nature.”
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,
places to play in and pray in, where Nature
may heal and cheer and give strength to
body and soul,” said Muir. Drawing from various wisdom traditions the group will be
introduced to practices that encourage openness to self and nature. As Muir discovered,
“I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going
out, I found, was really going in.”
Hikes (3-10 miles in length) begin after breakfast and return in time to enjoy the hot
springs and wholesome food of Esalen.
Participants should be prepared for the challenge of invigorating physical activity as well
as the opportunity to simply sit still in quiet
contemplation. More information will be sent
upon registration.
Muir wrote, “The mountains are calling me
and I must go.”
Transition—Having What It Takes
David Schiffman
David Schiffman writes: “Are you a passionate, romantic, spiritually independent type
facing a period of transition in your life?
Would you like to be inspired by your own
dreams and blessed with practical support
that you can depend on?
“Our mission for this week will be to face the
emotional challenges of life changes, risk, and
transition. Together, we will forge an ongoing
community based in honest mutual interest,
genuine support, and authentic personal presence. It will be a soulful exploration using a
uniquely proven blend of natural powers,
“We get ‘stuck’ when guilt and shame prevent
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native intelligence, and wisdom teachings,
both traditional and modern.
“Emphasis will be on developing a keen,
mature sense of self-appreciation and personal
timing, and the life skills necessary for moving
forward on your own terms. Communications
skills—both energetic and expressive—will be
investigated with potent, simple emotional
clarity as our shared aim. This workshop is
especially useful for the self-made, mystically
inclined wisdom seekers who are guided by
their own hard-won reckoning.”
Authenticity, Intuition, and
Creativity: A Workshop for Gay
and Bisexual Men
Justin Hecht
Living authentically is what leads to a deeply
satisfying life. The workshop will help you
contact your inner wisdom to make your life
more creative and fulfilling. The course will
use group process, guided meditations, and
music to enable you to connect with your
intuition. Focused small-group work will cultivate depth, while larger-group work will cultivate broader connections and support.
The workshop is ultimately designed to help
you connect deeply with different aspects of
your self—your personal history, your intuition, and your potential—and to tap your creativity in seeking positive responses to areas
of your life that feel neglected or unsatisfying.
The week will conclude with structured exercises to help you make specific changes for
your ongoing personal growth.
For more information, contact Justin Hecht at
415-673-0283 or justinhecht@prodigy.net.
Integrating Somatic Practice with
Psychological Process
Rachel Harris & Gael Ohlgren
The body has its inward ways.
— Rumi
This program offers an integrated mind/body
approach to the ongoing process of unfolding:
learning, growing, making better choices. The
workshop utilizes Continuum™ practice
(founded by Emilie Conrad) to awaken the
capacity to move freely, feel deeply, and
respond potently in daily life. Combining
somatic practice with techniques to sharpen
psychological awareness offers a powerful
opportunity to explore old habits in thought
and behavior, patterns that once served us
well but now limit our creative response to
life.
Write the leaders: “Ours will be an intuitive,
empathic approach to tuning in to process
and opening up possibilities for new ways of
being. Learning to be in our bodies through
Continuum practice enhances psychological
JOHN WERNER
Many gay and bisexual men desire a more satisfying and creative life. The readily accessible
resources of the gay community don’t always
create a real sense of connection and honesty.
In this workshop, participants will form a
supportive group to explore living more
authentically and to learn how to let go of
defensive ways of being in order to become
more spontaneous, joyful, and whole.
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awareness and healing, dreaming across time,
and creative expression. Through journaling
and emotional drawings, we will work with
moving images from our inner world into
our outer world and from our past into our
future. Together we will create a supportive
group for sharing and exploring ways of
being in our bodies and experiencing ourselves. Through integrating somatic practice
with psychological process we will learn to
flow more easily with ourselves and with others. We will learn specific body/mind practices to cultivate our own process when we
return home.”
This workshop is appropriate for both somatic therapists and psychotherapists as well as
for those pursuing their own psychospiritual
development.
Massage Intensive:
Elemental Esalen Massage
Brita Ostrom & Robert Helm
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes, but in having new eyes.
— Proust
In an age of increasing specialization, Esalen
Massage provides a simple return to a unified
way of caring and communicating. The
emphasis throughout this workshop is on
awareness—awareness to promote change and
release, to refresh personal perspective, to
deepen one’s connection to self and others. As
a blind student noted, Esalen Massage provides a way to communicate through the
hands, without need for words.
The course will offer the basics of massage,
including a simple centering practice, the
how-to skills of the long flowing strokes to
awaken the senses, and deeper work to
unlock the muscles. Assisted table movements will aid relaxation. There will be plenty
of time for guided practice sessions, including
individual attention to problem areas, feedback, and questions. The two senior teachers
will share their insights about how to be
effectively present and creative in each session, as well as how to emerge from a massage
more fully energized.
This course is suitable for those wishing to
acquire or enhance a basic foundation in massage as well as experienced hands seeking
fresh insights and skills. Bring your favorite
music and comfortable shoes to walk Esalen’s
beautiful grounds.
Experiencing Esalen
receiving a massage. Please wear loose, comfortable clothing.
It’s Time: No One is Coming to
Save You
Mary Goldenson
The Soul of the African Drum
You don’t get to choose the time you have
but you do get to choose what you do with it.
Ayo Adeyemi & Carole Zeitlin Adeyemi
We are all drummers and dancers—ever since
the beginning of time. Our first drum is our
heartbeat. Everything we do or say, or even
think, has a rhythm, a dance, a song.
This workshop provides an opportunity for
participants to gather as a community to
learn the language of the Drum and the
sacred ritual rhythms, dances, and chants to
praise the Orisas. When we immerse ourselves in a culture, we find that the music,
dance, art, and traditions of the culture are
all connected by its spiritual teachings. In
the Yoruba tradition of Orisa worship, drumming is a highly respected source of healing
and prayer. Ori means head, asa means to cultivate. We cultivate our head, or higher self,
by drumming for the spirits. We celebrate
life by giving thanks.
This weekend will culminate with an authentic ceremonial celebration, Yoruba-style. Bring
white ceremonial dress and something for the
altar that represents all that is good and everlasting. Aboru, Aboye, Abose. May your prayers
and your offerings be accepted.
Deborah Anne Medow & Tom Case
Tom and Deborah invite you for a weekend
of inspiration and relaxation, connection
and reflection with Esalen Massage. This
workshop will provide the basic techniques
of Esalen Massage blended with the detail
that creates a balanced full-body massage.
Each session will contain a brief lecture and
demonstration, followed by hands-on practice with plenty of personal instruction and
assistance. Fundamental elements of bodywork such as breath awareness, grounding,
movement, and quality of touch will be
introduced. The goal will be to create a firm
foundation of massage upon which to
build—and to have fun during the process
of learning.
With Big Sur’s coastal beauty, and the power
and spirit of the Esalen land, it will be easy to
fall into the natural rhythm of giving and
How much of your life is taken with waiting,
waiting, and more waiting? How much of
your life is spent looking at what is not happening? Are you asking yourself: Why am I
not happy? Why don’t I feel really alive?
The bad news is: No one is coming to save
you. The good news is: You can save yourself!
Relationships present profound opportunities
for personal development and spiritual fulfillment. When you embrace the challenges of
your relationships, they become great teachers by reflecting the unseen and often rejected parts of yourself. Relationships provide the
opportunity to experience both your greatest
pain and your greatest joy.
This workshop is for couples, individuals, parents, children, or lovers who want to emerge:
•
•
•
•
Out of survival and into aliveness
Out of the past and into the present
Out of suffering and into happiness
Out of unconsciousness and into awareness
In a safe, supportive environment, the workshop will utilize didactic and experiential
exercises drawn from individual and group
experiences. Participants will have an opportunity to address how they can create Playing
Big, Getting Grateful, and Opening to
Possibilities in their lives.
Mind, Mood, and Happiness: The
Teachings of Buddhist Psychology
and Advaita
Ronald Alexander
People can learn to grow, to change their
thinking and behavior in ways that enhance
happiness and well-being. Studies in the
fields of health psychology and learned optimism confirm this. For 2500 years, the wisdom teachings of the East have utilized what
their texts refer to as “skillful methods” for
the study and transformation of the
mind/body. These meditation and visualization practices help to cultivate self-regulation
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through awareness, concentration, mindfulness, and other attention skills, leading to
clarity of mind, spaciousness of self, and
greater compassion.
Using techniques from modern psychology
and Tibetan Buddhism along with nondual
teachings (Advaita-Vedic), participants will be
taught skills to calm the mind, regulate affect
states, develop trust with the unconscious,
and explore inner resources for activating
creativity, vitality, and a sense of well-being.
Methods include:
• Developing skills for accessing the
resources of the core self
• Utilization of the unconscious for
activating internal healing resources
• Meditation (insight, Tibetan, and nondual)
and psychological skills to deepen
concentration, promote insight, and
develop presence
• Exploration of natural mind/body healing
rhythms (yogic and somatic breathing
methods)
• Buddhist psychological methods for
dealing with unpleasant or painful
“afflictive” states of mind
• Discussion of mind, self, dissatisfaction, and
happiness from both Western Selfpsychology and Buddhist psychology
perspectives
• Practices that promote Metta
(lovingkindness)
Recommended reading: Goleman, Healing
Emotions: Conversations with the Dalai Lama;
Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of
Optimal Experience; Fryba, Art of Happiness:
Teachings of Buddhist Psychology.
Week of May 29–June 3
Double Your Creative Power—
An Intuitional Secret-Story Writing
Workshop
Stebel—whom Ray Bradbury calls “the best
writing teacher that ever was!”—will help participants realize their creative potential.
First, we dream... Through simple exercises participants will be asked to produce, during that
twilight zone between sleep and waking, the
kind of inner-directed automatic writing that
comes from the subconscious. Next, with
input from the group, under Stebel’s guidance,
each individual will attempt to decipher what
at first may appear to be random meanderings. During this process a story emerges,
emotionally meaningful not only to its author
but to its audience as well. By its creator connecting in this deeply-felt way with the story,
the story will connect in a similar way with
its audience, becoming, almost by definition,
profound and universal.
Then we paint the dream... Once the story has
emerged, its author can bring to bear all the
storytelling talents of which s/he is capable.
Using guidelines espoused by Aristotle, as
expounded upon by Stebel in his book, a variety of structural devices and storytelling techniques for enhancing the story will be discussed, with the goal of choosing those that
best realize the story’s potential. For more
about Stebel, see www.slstebel.com.
Recommended reading: Stebel, Double Your
Creative Power!
Fanning the Embers of the Higher Self
Howard Joel Schechter & Barbara Lee
And they were cleansed and deepened beyond
themselves and there they found love.
— Richard Stein
Many people come to Esalen, regardless of the
workshop they choose, to connect with the
deeper, more expansive part of themselves:
the Higher Self, Essence, a reflection of our
inherent divinity. Most of us desire to experience this part of ourselves more often. Yet its
fragility and the distractions of day-to-day living obscure this identity. We need a safe, nurturing environment to cultivate the strength
and resilience to maintain our Higher Self in
the face of everyday life.
S. L. Stebel
First I dream the painting, then I paint the dream.
— Vincent Van Gogh
This course is for everyone, from coffeehouse
scribblers to published authors, who has felt
the pull of a story struggling to emerge from
an ocean of words, only to fall back, unable to
determine the story’s direction before it slips
away. The story is not irretrievable. Using
techniques developed over decades, Sid
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Howard and Barbara write: “By building the
interconnectedness of the group and encouraging authentic communication, we will cocreate a circle in which we can uncover the
habitual obstacles that separate us from our
Higher Self. From this place we become capable of sustained loving connection. We will
learn how to move from the habit of self-judgment to self-acceptance and self-love. We will
explore the wisdom of feelings as a doorway
to liberation. We will celebrate our identity as
divine beings.”
Howard and Barbara provide guidance from
the heart. Discussion, interactive exercises,
and facilitation will be blended with interventions that meet the needs of the group.
Movement from one process to the next will
be determined by the needs of the individuals
in the moment. The approach is grounded in
the spiritual traditions of East and West and
guided by the dynamic psychological techniques of psychosynthesis, Gestalt, Process
Oriented Psychology, family systems, and the
expressive arts.
The Heart of the Matter
Kathryn Altman & Jonathan Horan
The leaders write: “The Heart of the Matter is
a field trip into the land of forgotten feelings,
where we learn the art of befriending our
emotions, expressing them with purity and
directness. In our time together we will
reawaken the fluid stream between our emotions (the heart) and our bodies (the matter).
Gradually, we’ll shake off the layers of protection that leave so many of us hungering for
intimacy with ourselves, friends, and lovers, a
community.
“Dancing Gabrielle Roth’s 5Rhythms™, a
cathartic form of ecstatic moving meditation,
we free our bodies and feel what is held in our
hearts. Taking refuge from the world of doing,
we’ll dance in this land where mountains
meet ocean, and remember our true nature:
the wild and tender beating hearts that lie
just below the surface. And along the way, we
reclaim our power to love.”
Recommended reading: Roth, Sweat Your
Prayers and Maps to Ecstasy.
Vocal Power—Harnessing the Power
Within
Arthur Joseph
In many traditions, the throat is the center of
creative power. The voice reflects this power
and has the capacity to help access our full
creative expression. This course combines the
powerful practices of Vocal Awareness with
principles of creativity theory to help participants realize their creative potential.
The Vocal Awareness approach—which views
the voice as a metaphor representing an individual to the world—includes vocalizing,
sound meditation, movement, song study, and
development of the speaking voice as a means
JOHN WERNER
for deepening contact with the self. Participants
work individually and in groups exploring
breathing, toning, and vocalizing.
Your body says, Pursue this relationship. You
tell yourself, I must be imagining things. You
turn away.
Not only do singing and speaking offer an
immediate outlet for creative expression, but
the voice can also be a springboard for other
forms of creative expression, such as writing,
drawing, movement, and problem solving.
Seen in this way, the voice represents the
whole person as an integrated creative being.
Consequently, this workshop can be not only
a vocal training class but a step toward
empowerment along life’s path.
Scene: You go on a long walk. You return home
feeling fit and refreshed. Your body says, I feel
great. But when you look in the mirror you
tell yourself, I’ll never look the way I should.
For further information visit www.vocalawareness.com.
Note: Please bring a tape recorder, if you have
one.
Senses Wide Open: An Active
Exploration of Presence
Johanna Putnoi
Scene: You shake hands with a stranger.
Warmth and kinship seem to flow into you.
Scene: Your lover’s touch feels rough, insensitive. Your muscles tense. You can’t seem to
get in a romantic mood. Your body says, I
really don’t like the way this feels. You tell
yourself, There must be something wrong
with me.
Our body, in its wisdom, continually sends us
signals. We know we should pay attention,
but our mind takes over. We reject the body as
wrong—too weak, too lustful, too fat, too old.
Instead of listening to our body’s natural wisdom we do the opposite, then wonder why
we don’t feel better.
Learning to live fully in your body changes
your relationship to everything—to yourself,
to others, to the earth. This workshop in the
Lomi Somatic tradition integrates Western
psychological and bodywork perspectives
with Eastern spiritual disciplines. The tools
are presence, perception, contact, and practice. The disciplines used are meditation,
conscious movement, bodywork, breathwork, and Gestalt. This is an opportunity to
practice interrupting your habits of body,
heart, and mind by expanding your ability
to see, hear, sense, feel, and be existentially
present.
Recommended reading: Putnoi, Senses Wide
Open: The Art and Practice of Living in Your Body.
Spring Cleanse: Eat Your Way to
Greater Aliveness
Charlie Cascio
Food makes it possible for us to do everything
we do, physical activities as well as nonphysical activities such as talking, thinking, and
feeling. It is shortsighted, perhaps even foolhardy, to ignore the connection between what
we consume and the state of our mental,
physical, and spiritual health.
Charlie Cascio, former longtime Esalen
kitchen manager, is both a culinary artist and
a catalyst. His mission is to help people find a
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healthy way of eating without compromising
taste. As he writes: “I hope to inspire each
workshop participant to express his or her
own creativity with live foods. We’ll use a
hands-on approach to preparing live main
courses, soups, salads, desserts, sauces, dressings, and breads, as well as learn techniques of
sprouting, making nut milks, and fermenting
and dehydrating vegetables.”
In addition to preparing gourmet live-food
recipes and menus, there will be guest speakers (doctors, nutritionists, and a surprise or
two) to discuss subjects such as fasting, detoxifying the body, and nourishing the complete
person. A selection of organic fruits, vegetables, and grasses will be available for those
want to experience juice fasting and as a supplement to the live-food menu.
($85 special foods fee paid directly to the leader)
Weekend of June 3–5
Brain Velcro: Making Your Great
Ideas Stick in Other People’s Minds
Jeremy Sherman
Got a theory that isn’t spreading as fast as you
hoped? Got a great idea you want to turn into
a best-selling book? The truly great ideas are
usually not the most popular ones. This sad
fact may explain the trouble we sometimes
have spreading our best ideas. Or maybe it’s
something about our delivery that limits their
spread.
Being in possession of a great idea is a balancing act: on the one hand, learning to accept
limited popular receptivity as the vocational
hazard of deep thinking; on the other, forever
honing our ideas so they finally cut through
into the light.
“Come to this workshop on advanced ideamarketing ready to hone,” says Jeremy
Sherman. “Bring your ideas—your uncompromising care for them and your receptivity to
finding the best ways to convey them. We’ll
develop the core ingredients for a comprehensive new plan for getting the audience your
ideas deserve. When we’re done, you’ll be
inspired, focused and ready to implement.”
Esalen cofounder Michael Murphy says
Jeremy Sherman should be a stand-up comedian. For more information see www.jeremysherman.com.
Gods and Goddesses in Relationship:
Healing Our Relationships Through
the Greek Myths
Agapi Stassinopoulos
The Greek gods and goddesses have inspired
the human imagination for more than 3000
years. As archetypes woven into our collective
unconscious, they offer inner resources for
the discovery of love and passion. This interactive workshop—for couples and singles—
invites these gods and goddesses down from
Olympus to find how their mythic presence
can inspire our lives today.
Each god and goddess arrives bearing particular strengths and gifts. Identifying our dominant archetype connects us with a dimension
of depth and significance; as we embrace its
presence, we find greater freedom to express
our individual ways of keeping the flames of
passion lit. Recognizing the archetypes in
each other helps to unravel the mystery of
love.
Participants will be skillfully guided in this
magical weekend of discovery to give voice to
the gods and goddesses of their own inner
pantheon. If we are fearful of intimacy and
commitment, we can invite Hera, the goddess
of relationships, to become our ally. The wise
and compassionate Athena can cure self-righteousness, and Dionysus’s desire to dance is a
sure antidote to the blues. Through creative
writing, guided imagery, and engaging interactions, this workshop will help participants
express their deeper needs, listen beyond the
words, and celebrate their unique approaches
to life and love.
Big Sur Wilderness Experience
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
Steven Harper
Esalen is the trailhead to one of the most
spectacular mountainous coastlines in the
world. With the Big Sur wilderness as the pri62
mary teacher, participants will explore the
beauty of this alive and wild coast from
ancient redwood-forested canyons to dramatic coastal beaches, from rugged rocky mountains to the soft grassy slopes of the Big Sur
hills. Drawing from nature and various awareness practices, individuals will be encouraged
to open both to the natural world and to the
landscapes of their inner world. It is said that
Big Sur is not just a place but a state of mind.
This wilderness experience seeks to merge
mind and place, then to embody what is
learned.
Participants will take two day-hikes, 3-6 miles
in length. Each hike begins after breakfast
and concludes in time to enjoy the hot
springs and a wholesome meal at Esalen.
Evening sessions include informal sharing,
basic awareness practices, and useful outdoor
skills. All levels of experience are welcome. Be
prepared for the invigorating challenge of
physical activity and the opportunity to simply sit still in quiet reflection. More information will be sent upon registration.
Salsa Dancing and the Pursuit of Flow
Sarah La Saulle & Michael Kuka
Beautiful music, gleaming wood floors, the
excitement of a group of people ready to salsa
dance…pure joy!
In this beginning salsa class you’ll experience
the free expression and movement of your
body, the process of learning something new,
and the fun of being fully concentrated on
the dance. Whether you think you can’t
dance, don’t know how to follow or lead, or
are uncomfortable partner dancing; whether
you think you need to develop a closer relationship with your body, don’t like to be a
beginner, or have trouble getting out of your
head; whether you avoid new and challenging
experiences, compare your performance to
others, or don’t have enough fun—this course
is for you. It is also a great choice if you just
love to dance. The goal will be to facilitate
pure enjoyment and the experience of being
fully present.
Salsa lessons will alternate with an exploration of “flow”: the ability to fully inhabit the
current situation in which one finds oneself,
with a quiet mind that is fully attentive yet
free to respond to the moment. You will be
encouraged to stay present as you consider
the building blocks that are necessary to learn
something new and relax into the sensual
expression of the dance.
Please note: Shoes with rubber soles and slide-
on shoes do not work for salsa dancing. Please
wear shoes with leather or suede soles.
Relationship Enrichment for Male
Couples
Michael Cohen
“For many gay men,” writes Michael Cohen,
“finding a good relationship is a challenge.
Once we are in one, the real work begins.
Most of us are surprised at the work it takes to
make a relationship succeed, and we often feel
unprepared. Relationships between men need
special support in our culture, which is so
steeped in homophobia.
“If you and your partner find yourselves in
need of enrichment and/or new skills to
deepen your relationship, this workshop will
help. We will create a safe group of couples
where we can learn about ourselves individually and as partners. We will have an opportunity to support one another toward a mutual
goal: building and sustaining a rich, meaningful, and dynamic partnership.
“The time will be spent working mostly with
your partner, as a couple, and working together with other couples. The intentions are to:
• Help you appreciate the current strengths
of your relationship
• Identify areas that need your attention
• Learn exercises that will deepen your
communication
• Feel a true heart connection with each
other
• Experience physical and emotional support
from your partner
• Learn techniques to resolve repetitive
disagreements
• Receive support from other couples
“We’ll use storytelling, intentional dialogues,
movement, and humor to achieve a safe and
nurturing community of male couples.”
Week of June 5–10
Tools for a Fuller and Freer Life:
The Power of “Yes/And”
Lynne Kaufman & Glenna Gerard
Question: Why is it that when we buy children
a toy, they are often more interested in the
box it came in? Answer: Because the box has so
many more possibilities.
So do our lives. This workshop operates
from the premise that we are fine just the
way we are. There is nothing to fix, only to
expand. The way to widen our repertoire of
choices lies in our willingness to let go of
self-limiting ideas and invite in the new.
This workshop is about acting out of wholeness and creating possibilities—now. Using
techniques based on the principles of David
Bohm’s Dialogue Circles and on awareness
exercises from improvisational theater, this
workshop offers skills and practices for
increasing your options and creating conscious, intentional change. It is based on
three core principles:
• “Yes/And”—receiving what is offered to you
and then adding your own unique
contribution
• Attending to the Focus of Energy—
recognizing what is calling and the point at
which change can most organically occur
• Allowing Transformation—moving with
full presence into the unknown and
supporting something new in emerging
In Dialogue Circles you will be encouraged
to release your assumptions and engage in
the practice of everyone holding a piece of
the truth. Awareness exercises will guide
you in recognizing where the focus of energy is and how to partner with it to create
transformation. Finally, you will have the
opportunity to apply what you learn to a
specific aspect of your life that you would
like to transform.
Soul Motion: Sanctuary
Vinn Martí
sanc • tu • ar • y n, pl, sanc • tu • ar • ies.
1. A sacred place, such as a church, temple,
or mosque. 2. A place of refuge or asylum.
The wild holy man entreats us to “dance as if
no one is watching.” Okay then, says Vinn
Martí, let’s take that directive and create
sacred space for all to move within. Soul
Motion is the dance practice design developed by Martí for his mystical movement
ministry which allows inquiry into consciousness through dance and expressive arts.
“During this week together,” he writes, “we
awaken the spirit of innovative action and
creativity as we hold a high watch for one
another to stumble and fumble our way
toward awareness. The four relational landscapes of Soul Motion—self, other, all, One—
become the ground we launch our dances
from. We will identify and release what no
longer serves and restore our vision to clearly see who we are and what we are doing
here.
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“This Soul Motion experience begins and
ends with the viewpoint that each and every
one of us sings a song no other can. We gather
alone together to support and encourage this
crooning.”
Qigong Empowerment: The Healing
Promise of Qi—Health Maximization,
Healing, and Spiritual Alchemy
Roger Jahnke
Chinese Yoga, known as Qigong (Chi Kung)
is emerging as the self-healing tool of choice
in many people’s lives and in hospitals,
HMOs, and retreat centers throughout the
world. This training is designed for those who
seek healing and empowerment as well as
those who may wish to investigate the possibility of teaching Qigong to others.
The retreat will begin with the simplest levels
of self-healing known as Dao Yin, including
gentle Tai Chi-like movements, self-massage,
breath practice, and meditative mindfulness.
Then, drawing on Dr. Jahnke’s most recent
book, The Healing Promise of Qi, participants
will penetrate rarely explored insights of the
ancient Qi masters, discover the original
meaning of Tai Chi, and learn the potent
Nine Phases Method of Qi cultivation and
mastery.
Throughout the training participants will
explore Chinese medical theory, take journeys into the inspiring philosophies of the
Taoists, Buddhists, and Chinese Alchemists,
and make enlightening comparisons with
Western physiology and quantum physics.
Simple methods of transmitting Qi to others
will be introduced as well.
Writes Roger Jahnke: “For those who seek
healing this is an opportunity for deep
immersion in Qigong learning and practice.
For those who seek personal maximization,
this retreat is an exploration of one of the
most eloquent personal empowerment systems ever developed by the human family.
For those who seek the light of enriched
spirituality, Qigong is a clear path to revealing inner radiance. For all of us, we will be
intently creating and bathing in a field of
pure and radiant Qi.”
Self,” Rebecca McLean writes. “The Circle of
Life process empowers you to step through
the gate, break through personal barriers, and
walk on the path of your preferred future.
environment that includes risk taking,
intense bodywork, Gestalt, imagery, movement, and meditation to keep us committed
to the process of discovering ourselves.
“The Circle of Life is a gentle, yet very powerful Holistic Life and Health Coaching process
for personal healing, empowerment, and
transformation. Whether your focus is health
improvement, stress mastery, career change,
spiritual practice, better relationships, or making any life changes, the powerful Circle tools
and processes will help you design and implement a step-by-step action plan to fulfill your
intentions and dreams. You will learn how to
continue this process long after the retreat
and share with your Circle of family and
friends.”
The workshop includes:
• Circle of Life Assessment—Self-inquiry
process evaluating 12 aspects of your life
• Intention/Challenge/Affirmation/
Action/Accountability process
• Readiness for Change Assessment
• Methods for accessing inner powers (Chi
Kung, meditation, imagery, rituals)
The course is appropriate for all individuals,
nonprofessional or professional, seeking to
learn how to create and integrate positive
change in their life.
($50 materials fee, for Circle of Life Participant’s
Manual, paid directly to the leader)
Completions and Transitions—
Letting Go and Moving On
Mary Goldenson
Often in our lives we feel incomplete with the
past. Unresolved issues inhibit us from moving into the present with an open and generous heart. Though we experience them as
“finished,” old memories continue to haunt
us. When we exist more in the past than in
the present, it is time to make the distinction
between “finished” and “complete.”
Transitions without completions foster
unsuccessful marriages, friendships, and
careers, producing sorrow and, some believe,
the causes of illness.
Rebecca McLean
Transitions are crossroads in our lives that
give us the opportunity to complete the past,
reconnect with our present truth, and renew
our passion, courage, and commitment for the
future. The focus of this workshop is an indepth review of our lives to try to discover
what needs to be transformed from “finished”
to “complete.”
“You stand at the gateway of your potential
The workshop will provide a safe, supportive
For more information see www.FeeltheQi.com.
Circle of Life: Full Spectrum Life
Coaching
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Vision Painting
Helen Jerene Malcolm
What is your vision for your life? What makes
your heart sing and brings peace and fulfillment into your life?
Vision Painting will help you to access deeper
levels of consciousness and bring to light your
soul’s vision. In Vision Painting, you explore
how your intuitive responses to color reveal
information about the state of your body,
mind, and soul. In Vision Painting’s meditations, you allow color to express itself through
you—in any shape and form. Concepts of
“right” and “wrong” are dropped in order to
enter a flow state in which you learn to paint
with intuitive receptivity, letting the painting
unfold of its own accord. Natural feelings of
excitement and fear that often accompany
creative endeavors become catalysts to transform emotion into color and passion into
imagery.
Prompted by guided meditations, music, and
movement, you’ll translate the unique perspective of your experiences through your
Vision Paintings. Allowing your “inner light”
to be expressed in a wide variety of colors
brings awareness to the areas of your life that
seek healing. Release your expectations of
how you should paint and you’ll be surprised
at the power and wisdom of what comes
through you.
Moving Pictures: Video Storytelling
for Beginners
Haydn Reiss
Good video cameras and affordable desktop
editing are everywhere. What’s still needed is
how to take those tools and use them to tell
your stories. The emphasis of this workshop
is away from the technical world of equipment, and instead learning the building
blocks of great documentary storytelling.
Exercises will include writing a simple script
or outline (from family history or other per-
sonal experience), developing a production
plan (identifying what are the elements your
story needs), practicing the art of the interview (the backbone of documentaries), learning about affordable resources such as stock
footage and license-free music, and laying out
a “paper edit” of your film.
The Power of Patience: A Weekend
for Stressed-Out Folks
M. J. Ryan
Dear God,
I pray for patience.
And I want it RIGHT NOW!
— Oren Arnold
“In short,” writes Haydn Reiss, “we will
imagine our film and draft a plan to create
it. We will also screen some classic documentaries for inspiration and insight. The
world of personal filmmaking is continually
expanding with plenty of room for innovation. Just as there isn’t one way to write a
story, there isn’t one way to make a documentary. Yet, as with any craft, there are
some tried-and-true skills that distinguish
amateur from more professional work. The
goal of the workshop is to explore those
skills and also discover our own personal
approach to video storytelling.”
White Lotus Poetry Workshop
Ellen Bass
Its wonderful root and bud are snow-white, bright.
When was it parted with the western skies?
Nobody knows how deep the mud it grows in is.
When it emerges from the water, we know it is
the white lotus.
— Joshu
“In this workshop,” writes Ellen Bass, “we will
allow ourselves to extend our roots deeply
into the mud of our experience in order to
give voice to our poems. This is an opportunity to meet the poems that gestate within us
and to engage our greatest resources—attention, courage, precision—in bringing them
into being. We will strive for language that is
accurate, fresh, and interesting in itself and
we will work to create poems whose form,
rhythm, language, and meaning work as an
effective whole.
“This is an opportunity to delve deeply into
our writing without distractions or interruptions. In our busy lives, many of us long
for more time to write. This weekend will
be a way to nurture the creative voice inside
us and allow it to speak. There will be time
for sharing and for response, hearing what
our work touches in others, but mainly it
will be a writing retreat—a time to explore
and create.”
It is well to understand as early as possible in one’s
writing life that there is just one contribution
which every one of us can make; we can give into
the common pool of experience some
comprehension of the world as it looks to each of us.
— Dorothea Brand
Work piles up as fast as FedEx can deliver it.
Urban sprawl leaves us gritting our teeth in
traffic. The cell phone won’t stop ringing. Our
fast-paced world can make us feel frantic and
rushed, stressed and unhappy nearly all the
time. “Indeed, the faster things go, the less
patience we seem able to muster,” writes M.J.
Ryan. “First, this is a problem because life has
a certain degree of built-in delay in the form
of lines and automated message systems.
More important, our lack of patience creates
difficulties because the more complex of life’s
challenges—illness, relationship conflicts, job
crises, parenting—require that we practice
patience not merely to cope, but to grow in
love and wisdom.”
This experiential workshop looks at this oldfashioned virtue from a broad spiritual, inspirational, and practical point of view. Through
discussion, lecture, journaling, one-on-one
and small-group interactions, participants will
explore what emotional, physical, and spiritual benefits come to us from patience; what
neurological research teaches us about how to
cultivate this heart-quality; and simple practices to develop more patience where each of
us needs it most.
“Patience helps us reclaim our time, our priorities, and our ability to respond to life and all
its demands,” says M.J. “With patience, we are
in the driver’s seat of our own lives, content
with who and where we are.”
Harm Reduction: Gestalt Therapy
with Multiply Diagnosed Clients
Mark Fairfield
Familiar models of addictions treatment are
based on an “abstinence” approach in which
all drug use is assumed to lead to abuse
and/or dependency. Strategies to enforce
abstinence as an exclusive solution include
supply reduction or demand reduction.
Statistics indicate that less than 30% of all substance users are able to abstain, yet over 90%
of all treatment programs set abstinence as
the only acceptable outcome.
Harm reduction provides an approach to
working with those who cannot abstain from
drug use or other high-risk behaviors.
Focusing on reducing the harm resulting
from risky behaviors, the Gestalt therapist
can work with drug users to support
increased awareness of the impact of their
use patterns on the broader communities in
which they live while also raising community awareness of their needs for support.
Gestalt therapy recognizes dependency as an
unavoidable and often valuable relationship
with an ongoing support rather than as
unhealthy entrapment.
This workshop offers training in Gestalt
Therapy and Harm Reduction to mentalhealth professionals and chemical dependency counselors. Emphasis is given to working
with those who are substance-dependent,
those who practice high-risk sexual behaviors,
and the mentally ill and indigent.
Multicultural themes will figure prominently.
Sacred Mysteries of Ancient Theology
Michael Allen
The Renaissance revived the important
notion of an ancient theological tradition that
preceded the coming of Christ and that prepared the gentiles in much the same way as
the Hebrew prophets (beginning with Moses)
had prepared the chosen people. This tradition went back through Plato and some of the
pre-Socratic philosophers to Pythagoras in
Magna Graecia (southern Italy), to Orpheus
in Thrace, to Hermes Trismegistus in Egypt,
and eventually to Zoroaster in Persia. Various
texts from later antiquity (some of them forgeries, some of them imitative compilations,
some of them perhaps genuine witnesses to
an earlier wisdom) were attributed to what
the Renaissance thought of as these ancient
theologians. Above all Plato (but seen through
the eyes of his followers in later antiquity and
especially of Plotinus and Proclus) was regarded as the climactic witness to their transmission of the perennial philosophy/theology
and to what the Renaissance scholars thought
of as the sacred mysteries.
This workshop will explore some of the key
texts through the eyes of Renaissance
philosophers and magi. It will look both at
the implications of their search for a link
between Judaism and Christianity on the one
hand and the various polytheistic traditions
known to them on the other, and at the crucial role certain scholarly errors played in
their (re)creation of the history of divine revelation.
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The Heart of Yoga: A Festival of Practice and Devotion
Week of June 12–17
Shiva Rea, Jai Uttal, Mark Whitwell, Sally
Kempton, Thomas Michael Fortel, Desiree
Rumbaugh, Nubia Teixeira & Daniel Paul
W
elcome to Esalen’s first-ever
Yoga Festival. You are invited
to become part of a community
of yogis for five days of joyful celebration—
to open your heart to yoga practice and
surrender to the sacred.
The theme of the festival is Bhakti Yoga—the
path of devotion. The path of Bhakti Yoga
offers an opportunity to cultivate acceptance
and compassion for everyone and everything with whom we come into contact.
During this week, immersed in the natural
splendor of Esalen, you will have time to
practice yoga asana and pranayama, to chant
and meditate, to dance and drum, to hold
the talking stick and speak in circle.
JAMES WVINNER
The festival begins on Sunday evening with
an opening ceremony to set the intentions
of participants for the week to come. Early
mornings will be devoted to pranayama and
meditation, followed by a variety of active
asana practices: dynamic vinyasa flow, alignment and heart-centered Anusara, mindbody integrated hatha yoga, and the yoga of
Krishnamacharya. Afternoons will be free
to receive massages, soak in Esalen’s hot
springs overlooking the Pacific, rest, recharge,
and connect with other yogis. Sessions will
reconvene in the late afternoons to explore
restorative yoga, classical Indian dance,
bhakti rhythms, talking-stick circle, and
bhakti talk with kirtan (chanting). The
evenings will be filled with kirtan, a dance
performance, and yoga trance dance. The
final evening will be a celebration and a
reflection on the week spent together.
Please bring a yoga mat, a zafu or cushion for
meditation and kirtan, block, strap, and two
blankets for restorative yoga. Planned especially for this event is a fresh, organic fruit
and vegetable juice-bar each morning, for
those who want to do their active practice
on an empty stomach (the fee will be nominal; please bring cash).
When registering, please choose from one of
the three tracks described below, indicating
which level of yoga you wish to take. Each
track offers the opportunity to attend all of the
activities and take classes from every teacher.
Beginner/Gentle: For students who are
new to yoga or those who simply desire a
gentle yoga practice. These classes will be
taught at a slower pace, taking time to
demonstrate and practice poses and answer
questions.
JAMES WVINNER
Intermediate: These classes will be taught
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at a moderate pace to provide well-rounded
practice for continuing students who are relatively experienced and in good physical
condition.
Advanced: These classes will be challenging
and powerful, exploring asana and breath
work in depth and detail.
Schedule:
Sunday Evening
Opening Ceremony, led by Sally Kempton
Monday-Thursday
7-8:30 am
Meditation and Pranayama
9:30 am-12:30 pm
Active Asana Practice—Vinyasa Flow with
Shiva; The Yoga of Krishnamacharya with
Mark; Hatha Yoga with Thomas; and
Anusara Yoga with Desiree
4-6 pm
Bhakti Talk and Kirtan with Jai; Restorative
Yoga with Desiree and Mark; Talking-Stick
Circle moderated by Thomas; Classical
Indian Dance workshop with Nubia; Bhakti
Drumming for beginners with Daniel
8-10 pm
Kirtan with Jai and Daniel; Classical Indian
Dance performance with Nubia; Yoga Trance
Dance with Shiva
Closing Ceremony with all leaders
Friday
9:30-11:30 am
Active asana practice with Shiva, Thomas,
Mark, and Desiree
Teachers:
Shiva Rea—Shiva will lead Vinyasa Flow
of the nonprofit Heart of Yoga, which provides yoga education worldwide. His website is www.heartofyoga.org.
classes and Yoga Trance Dance
Shiva teaches vinyasa flow worldwide. Her
studies in the Krishnamacharya lineage,
tantra, ayurveda, yogic art and somatic
movement infuse her approach to living
yoga and embodying the flow. As a global
adventurer, she has led more than 60 retreats
and pilgrimages in Asia, Africa and the
Caribbean. She is a regular contributor to
Yoga Journal, Creative Yoga Director of
Exhale Spa, and lives with her family in Los
Angeles where she teaches at Sacred
Movement and UCLA. Her website is
www.shivarea.com.
Thomas Michael Fortel—Thomas will lead
Pranayama, Hatha Yoga, and moderate the
Talking-Stick Circle
Thomas is an Iyengar-trained, Ashtanga and
Anusara-influenced Hatha Yoga teacher.
Through the Iyengar focus on alignment, he
particularly enjoys the mind-body connection which develops and appreciates the
breath work and vinyasa (flow) style of
Ashtanga yoga. From the beginning of his
teaching career, Thomas has naturally blended his experiences of Bhakti yoga within his
teaching style. His website is www.yogawiththomas.com.
Bhakti Talk with Kirtan
JAMES WVINNER
Jai Uttal—Jai will lead Kirtan each evening and
Nubia Teixeira—Nubia will lead Pranayama,
Jai, a sacred music composer, recording
artist, multi-instrumentalist, and ecstatic
vocalist, combines influences from India
with influences from rock, folk, hip-hop,
and jazz, creating a multicultural world spirit music. His website is www.jaiuttal.com.
Mark Whitwell—Mark will lead the yoga prin-
ciples of Krishnamacharya
Mark has a lifelong relationship with
Krishnamacharya, B.K.S. Iyengar, K.
Pattabhi Jois, and T.K.V. Desikachar. Mark
edited Desikachar’s The Heart of Yoga and is
the author of Yoga of Heart: The Healing Power
of Intimate Connection. He is also the founder
and Classical Indian Dance instruction
Borrowing from different traditions, teachers, and cultures, Nubia has developed a
teaching style which is flexible, spontaneous, and sensitive to the needs of her students. Her classes are rooted in the heart of
Bhakti, incorporating the alignment of
Iyengar Yoga, the fluidity of Ashtanga
Vinyasa, and a passion for all forms of dance.
Principles of Alignment with the tantric
philosophy of “looking for the good.”
Desiree’s playful and inquisitive style
inspires her students to access their own
creative power and become true artists, in
body, mind, and spirit. Her website is
www.azyoga.net.
Desiree Rumbaugh—Desiree will lead
Pranayama, Meditation, and Anusara asana
practices
Sally Kempton—Sally will lead the Opening
Ceremony
Sally, also known as Durgananda, is one of
today’s most experienced and insightful
teachers of meditation and spiritual growth.
She offers the Awakened Heart Meditation
workshops, classes, and personal meditation
trainings. Her new book, The Heart of
Meditation, is a practical, experiential guide
to going deeper in meditation. Her website
is www.sallykempton.com.
Desiree is a senior certified Anusara yoga
teacher. Anusara blends the Universal
JAMES WVINNER
Daniel Paul—Daniel will lead Bhakti
Drumming for beginners
Fulbright Award winning tabla drummer
Daniel Paul has long been a fixture on the
kirtan vocal circuit and is currently Jai
Uttal’s principal accompanist in kirtan
workshops and concerts throughout the
world. Having devoted nine years of intense
study under India’s greatest masters (Ali
Akbar Khan, Zakir Hussain, Jnan Ghosh,
and Swapan Chaudhuri), he has since performed or recorded with a multitude of
artists and on a melodic piano of drums (the
tabla tarong) featured on his own CDs. His
website is www.drummersark.com. Please
bring a small drum if you have one.
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LARRY LAMB
Experiencing Esalen
Pandora’s Gifts: On Secrets, Health,
and Healing
Dale Larson
We all have uncomfortable feelings, thoughts,
and information about ourselves that we
avoid telling others, perhaps self-doubts, feeling unloved, an illness, an inheritance, an
affair, a childhood trauma. Although telling
these secrets to the wrong people can be disastrous, recent research confirms that “what
we don’t say can hurt us,” and that confiding in
others can indeed be good for our health. Yet,
how do we usually relate to the Pandora’s Box
of our personal secrets? Too often we keep the
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lid closed, or close it too soon. We forget that
in the original myth of Pandora’s Box, after
the Furies escape, one entity remains: Hope.
The lesson, then and now, is that if it is sustained by caring and empathy, hope can triumph, replacing denial and avoidance, and its
gifts can heal the wounds of the Furies.
Through discussion, personal reflection, and a
series of safe, yet powerful experiential exercises, this workshop will explore secrets and
secrecy, and how they affect our health. How
can we access the healing power these secrets
hold for us and achieve greater intimacy and
wholeness in our lives? If we are professional
counselors, how can we facilitate this healing
process in the individuals and families we
care for? This workshop is designed for both
professional caregivers and nonprofessionals.
Recommended reading: Larson: The Helper’s
Journey (especially Chapter 4, “Secrets:
Concealment and Confiding in Helping”).
Be Here (Wow!): A Buddhist
Workshop for Cynics in Recovery
Wes Nisker
Oh wondrous creatures,
by what strange miracle
do you so often
not smile?
— Hafiz, Sufi poet
“At this very moment,” writes Wes Nisker,
“there are apparent miracles taking place all
around us and within us. We have only to look
closely in order to become amazed and to fall
in love with ourselves and the world. In this
workshop we will make creative use of some of
the most important Buddhist meditation techniques, as we explore the wondrous experience
of being human. With an attitude of curiosity
and playfulness, we will examine the workings
of our bodies and minds, our nature ‘as’ nature,
and our place in the grand scheme of things.
In the process we will hopefully find some
relief from our personal dramas, and a new
sense of value and meaning in our lives.”
The workshop sessions will include guided
meditations on the life of the body; on our
vital “animal” conditioning; on death and
dying; on the nature of consciousness. The
talks and discussions will present both traditional Buddhist views of self and reality as well
as some of the latest information from evolutionary biology and psychology to support and
guide the meditations. The humor of “crazy
wisdom” will also be present in the workshop.
by a soft breeze. Your heart, mind, body, and
your emotions react based on who you are
and your state of consciousness at that
moment.
Deepening Presence through the
Feldenkrais Method®, Meditation,
and Awareness Practices
Using deep relaxation, imagery, movement,
meditation, and massage this workshop will
explore touch for healing, loving, freeing,
communicating, and inspiring. After touching your Self within, and supported by the
continuous crashing of the Big Sur surf, you
will learn to open that place of vulnerability
and trust to yourself. Honoring personal
boundaries, a safe place will be created. “Here,”
Emmett Miller writes, “we will discover how
to sensitively touch another and be touched
in ways that promote intimacy, growth, and
Deep Healing. This will be a weekend of joy,
love, presence, and Deep Healing. Bring your
Self, or create a special experience with a
friend or partner.”
Russell Delman
Awareness, like love, is a spontaneous, effortless
condition for human beings. While we can’t create
this condition through an act of will, we can
develop attitudes and practices that encourage its
natural arising.
— Russell Delman
All methods devoted to human potential
emphasize the importance of being present in
This Very Moment. Our physicality can be a
great ally in this process. Learning to sense
our breathing, standing, sitting, and other
activities with greater clarity while learning to
move in easier, more satisfying ways can help
us to be present with more joy and lightness.
The Feldenkrais Method of Awareness
Through Movement® is recognized as a brilliant sensory-motor approach to reeducating
the nervous system and developing clearer
self-awareness. Using ingenious and enjoyable
movement sequences, this work is of value to
people at all levels of ability, from healthy athletes to those recovering from injuries.
But just as the touch of a word, a look, or a
hand can heal, it can harm. Bombarded by
deadlines, slapped by surprises, crushed by
responsibilities, how can we remain present
and balanced in heart, mind, and body? And
how can we be sure that our touch brings
comfort, not pain?
Week of June 19–24
Creating Community Vision
Caryn Spain
The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
The meditation to be practiced is a bare-bones
approach to experiencing the present moment
“as it is”—the basis for being at home in ourselves. The workshop addresses the question:
Unless we learn to be at ease within our body/
mind, can we ever be deeply settled in our life?
The workshop incorporates movement
lessons, meditations, and awareness practices,
and is of interest to both beginners and the
more experienced. Chairs are available for
meditation; accommodation will be made for
those with physical difficulties. For more
information, visit www.russelldelman.com.
Touching from the Heart
Emmett & Sandra Miller
There are many ways of touching and being
touched—by music, by a person, by a sunset,
profit educational, spiritual, environmental,
healing, and hospitality-related community
models. The advantages and disadvantages of
their experience can be combined with your
ideas to create a stronger, more compelling
solution. Caryn will hold the space in which a
new vision can emerge or an old vision can be
revitalized.
This workshop is ideal for founders, community leaders, executive directors, volunteers,
funders, and board members.
Recommended reading: Spain, Strategic Insights.
Traditional Thai Medical Massage
Richard Gold
Traditional Thai Medical Massage is a primary
component of the 2500-year-old medical system of ancient Siam, now known as Thailand.
Developed within the context of the
Theravada Buddhist culture of Thailand, this
traditional form of bodywork combines elements of acupressure, yoga, and meditative
mindfulness.
Thai Massage is based on an energetic paradigm of the body-mind-spirit that has been
historically influenced by ancient India and
China. This bodywork was traditionally
administered by Buddhist monks in the wats
(monasteries) of Thailand.
Thai Massage is practiced very slowly, without the use of oils or lotions. The practitioner
utilizes his/her hands, feet, knees, and elbows.
The work is done on mats or futons on the
floor while the client remains fully clothed in
loose-fitting clothing.
— Frank Maguire
In a spirit of unencumbered exploration, discover the fun and value of updating and
enriching your organizational vision. This
visionary workshop will utilize art, movement, alchemy, personalized tarot cards, and
journaling to build shared wisdom and crystallize alternate visions. You will learn to use
both internal and external knowledge to
inform the selection of a sustainable and compelling future direction for your organization—a vision that is inspirational, compelling, in service of humankind, and viable.
Reenergize your commitment and prepare to
invite and re-engage shareholders, funders,
and your community to turn the vision into
action.
This workshop will provide you with the
opportunity to explore and dissect the elements of many different types of community
organizations. You will learn from not-for-
This workshop will be a practical, hands-on
experience in the learning, giving, and receiving of Thai Massage.
Required reading: Gold, Thai Massage: A
Traditional Medical Technique.
Mountains and Waves:
Wilderness and Continuum
Susan Harper & Steven Harper
Wilderness is a primary teacher of movement,
creativity, and awareness whose richness and
beauty awakens our senses to the world
around us. Continuum is a unique movement
practice, an inquiry into our capacity to innovate and participate with the essential movement processes of life. Continuum takes us
inward in a dynamic inquiry, rotating
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between inner investigation and the flow of
unfolding creative expression. Integrating
day-hiking in the magnificent Big Sur backcountry with the subtle internal explorations
of Continuum movement, this workshop
combines and weaves together these two
practices.
The hikes will introduce participants to
increasingly refined awareness practices to
enhance sensitivity to all that wilderness
can offer, to reawaken those elements of
wilderness within. During the indoor
Continuum sessions, participants will
explore movements that express and
embody what they have taken in during the
hikes, enlivening their ability to feel what
they experience in nature as well as in their
own inner nature. In this sensual environment, the group will play with movement,
breath, sound, dreams, and ritual. This will
be a time for contact with nature and
wilderness, inside and out. Participants
need not have previous experience in hiking or movement practices.
Co-leaders Steven and Susan are a brotherand-sister team who have taught this everevolving program annually for 20 years.
Holistic Sexuality:
A New Integral Approach
Ramon Albareda & Marina Romero
This workshop is for individuals who wish to
access the full potential of their vital primary
energy, and explore how this energy can be
creatively expressed and integrated at somatic,
emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. The
course is designed to teach you how to connect with this energy not only as a creative
force in everyday life, but also as a bridge to
the deepest dimension of reality and a catalyst
for spiritual growth. It will also assist you in
discovering your unique path of evolution
through the grounding of your consciousness
in your own vital potentials.
The leaders write: “We understand Sexuality to
mean one’s vital primary energy; Holistic
refers to the different levels—somatic, emotional, mental, spiritual—in which this energy
is transformed as well as the totality of this
transformation.” The principles and practices
of Holistic Sexuality are inspired by life’s
organic processes as references for transformation and healing. The fruit of decades of
research and experience, Holistic Sexuality is
affiliated with neither tantra nor other methods of working with sexuality.
The leaders will facilitate group process as
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well as counsel each participant individually
to design personalized practices. You will
learn how to safely self-regulate your own
process from an awareness of your present
capabilities and necessary boundaries. This
workshop will guide you in:
• Transforming the limiting unconscious
tendencies of your vital primary world
• Working through conflicts that hinder your
sexual self-expression
• Integrating sexual and spiritual energies to
enhance the quality of your life
Please note: Instruction will be given in
Spanish, with English translation provided.
Free Your Breath, Free Your Life
Dennis Lewis
The ever-increasing speed, stress, and disharmony of the modern world not only conditions us to a way of living in which the
future is often felt to be more important
than the present, but also cuts us off from
the immediate experience of ourselves as living, breathing beings. As a result, many of us
live the lives of unconscious, breathless
automatons, seldom present to the miracle of
our lives right now and here. For many of us,
our breathing is so constricted and incomplete that it undermines our health, our
vitality, and our consciousness. Such breathing also deprives us of one of the great joys
of living: the expansive sensation of a free,
easy, boundless breath that opens us to the
fullness of life.
Using ideas and practices from his new book
Free Your Breath, Free Your Life, Dennis Lewis
will take you on a journey of presence into
the physiology, psychology, and spirituality
of natural, boundless breathing. You will
learn the seven ways of working with the
breath: conscious breathing, controlled
breathing, focused breathing, movementsupported breathing, position-supported
breathing, touch-supported breathing, and
sound-supported breathing. Through safe,
powerful Authentic Breathing® exercises—as
well as special movements, postures, sounds,
meditations, qigong practices, and dialogue—
you will learn how to integrate conscious,
whole-body breathing into your life to support your health and your quest for selftransformation.
Recommended reading: Lewis, The Tao of
Natural Breathing, and Free Your Breath, Free
Your Life.
Developing Love, Leadership, and
Awareness in the Fire of Community
Ann Bradney & Bill Say
How can our deepest struggles fuel collective
change? How can relational, community, and
social problems awaken us to our gifts? This
workshop will be an opportunity to explore
our most troubling personal issues and collective problems. Precisely these difficulties can
be keys to unlocking our own human potential and leadership style.
The leaders write: “We will use the group as a
cauldron and microcosm of the world. Using
personal work, bodywork, relationship work,
and group process, we will facilitate inner
conflicts as well as conflicts arising naturally
in the group. Exploring what it means to be
willing to love and care for each other, we will
discover what we have to face in ourselves to
open our hearts. We will learn tools that help
to transform childhood hurts, community
and collective problems, and the defenses and
blocks standing in the way of our empowerment as leaders. As we encounter whatever
leadership style is indigenous to each of us,
we will support one another to be more fully
engaged in our lives, and 'be the change we
want to see in the world.’ ”
This workshop will employ two powerful
approaches to personal and collective change—
Core Energetics, created by John Pierrakos, and
Process Work, developed by Dr. Arnold Mindell.
The Vision and Practice of Human
Transformation
George Leonard
The creative capacity of the human
brain/body is, for all practical purposes, infinite. Each of us is a prodigious learning animal, and our ultimate destiny may well be to
evolve capacities that would now be termed
extraordinary. Research conducted by George
Leonard and Michael Murphy strongly suggests that the best path to the realization of
our latent powers lies in a long-term practice
which integrates mind, body, heart, and soul.
In this hands-on workshop, Leonard introduces you to Integral Transformative Practice
(ITP), a path of practice that can help you realize your inborn genius while bringing pleasure, fulfillment, and good health, not just
during this workshop but also in the weeks,
months, and years to come. You will be introduced to a forty-minute series that includes
physical movement, breathing practice, relaxation, transformative imaging, and meditation. You will practice balancing and centering, the use of ki, focused surrender, and the
creation of effective affirmation. There will be
discussions of the principles of human transformation, as revealed in a two-year experiment he
and Murphy conducted with 50 people.
resulting resentment and bitterness between
surviving parents, siblings, and other relatives
can be substantial and lasting. Based on
Overcoming the Inheritance Taboo, the first book
to focus primarily on the psychological and
emotional issues surrounding the family
inheritance drama, the workshop identifies
and confronts the crucial issues commonly
faced before, during, and after a crisis. Topics
for discussion and group exploration include:
• Grieving your loss and making peace with
your parents and siblings
This workshop involves physical movement
but is not strenuous. All that’s needed is a generous heart and a willingness to participate.
• Identifying the inheritance roles played by
you and other family members
• How your past influences the part you will
play in the drama
• Confronting emotional issues—the sense of
entitlement, power, greed, superstition, and
fear of disinheritance
• How parents and adult children can
communicate about these issues
• The psychological meanings of inheritance
• The role of estate planning—what you need
to know to protect yourself
• A step-by-step method for disbursing
family possessions
Recommended reading: Leonard & Murphy,
The Life We Are Given; Leonard, Mastery and
The Way of Aikido: Life Lessons of an American
Sensei.
Overcoming the Inheritance Taboo
Steven & Deborah Hendlin
Recommended reading: Hendlin, Overcoming
the Inheritance Taboo (each participant will
receive a complimentary copy).
Close Yet Free: The Path to Making a
Good Relationship Even Better
Gerald Smith
How can we be open and vulnerable to love
another person, and, at the same time, free in
order to continue to grow as an individual?
The balance of merging and still maintaining
a clear sense of self is never completely
worked out, because each partner is continually changing. But this dilemma of competing
needs can be dealt with in ways that will add
to the aliveness in the relationship. In fact, a
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
Few issues facing families today are as difficult to confront as inheritance. We usually
avoid the subject until it’s too late—and the
This workshop will help you gain self-insight
and prepare you with the necessary tools to
avoid a costly, emotionally taxing ordeal over
inherited money and possessions.
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thriving relationship will enhance each person’s deepest growth.
Much of the participants’ time during this
weekend will be spent with their partners,
separate from other couples. The workshop
will use verbal, nonverbal, and written exercises to increase openness, support, and affection, as well as skills to resolve differences
without producing “scar tissue.” Also, since
play is an essential part of a vital relationship,
there will be experiences to spark the imagination and willingness to play together.
Enrollment is limited to 12 couples.
issues. Brigitte will provide information on
using herbs to treat common health conditions such as insomnia, fatigue, and depression; to improve immunity; as natural first
aid; and to enhance energy, sexuality, and
longevity.
The workshop will provide participants with
an understanding of how the flavors of plants
correspond to their properties. Participants
will learn to incorporate herbs, food, and
essential oils for health and vitality.
be on quality of touch and effortlessness, with
attention to self-care.
Zen practice will be offered as a centering
mode. By developing the inner state of healing consciousness from which to make contact, and by finding ease of movement in one’s
own body, giving a massage can be as pleasurable as receiving one.
This course is for beginners as well as more
experienced bodyworkers interested in learning some new approaches to massage.
Kathleen O’Shaughnessy & Pablo Piekar
Herbal Medicine
Brigitte Mars
Brigitte Mars first became interested in herbs
watching her French-Canadian grandmother
practicing folk medicine. As a teenager she
developed her passion for herbal medicine by
treating schoolmates with homemade herbal
remedies. Later she spent two and half years in
the Ozarks eating only wild plants. She brings
a lifetime of experience to this workshop.
Esalen Massage, with its nurturing contact,
long integrating strokes, and detailed attention to the whole body, provides a feeling of
deep relaxation and wholeness. The focus will
Week of June 26–July 1
The Four-Fold Way: Walking the
Paths of the Warrior, Healer,
Visionary, and Teacher
Angeles Arrien
Explore the cross-cultural tools that are most
commonly used to enhance leadership effectiveness both personally and professionally.
The four archetypes of the Warrior, Teacher,
Healer, and Visionary reveal to us our own
gifts and challenges that are related to leadership, learning, self-care, and the manifestation
JOHN WERNER
Participants will explore the edible and
healthful properties of local plants, herbal
preparations, effective dosages, and safety
This workshop offers the opportunity to start
developing the skills to give an effective and
pleasurable Esalen Massage, as well as a
chance to replenish your spirit with the healing power of nature on the magical Big Sur
coast. Through brief lectures, demonstrations,
and plenty of hands-on supervised practice,
you will learn the foundation of Esalen
Massage, a healing way to connect with
another—and oneself.
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of our life dream. The workshop will explore
the four universal ways of accessing spirit—
singing, dancing, storytelling, and silence—to
rekindle the soul, retrieve any inner loss or
disheartenment, and promote healing. The
four-fold paths are:
• The Path of the Warrior—to show up
• The Path of the Healer—to pay attention to
what has heart and meaning
• The Path of the Visionary—to tell the truth
without blame or judgment
• The Path of the Teacher—to be open to
outcome, not attached to outcome
Recommended reading: Arrien, The Four-Fold
Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher,
Healer, and Visionary; Signs of Life; and Working
Together: Diversity As Opportunity.
Drawing With Color,
Working With Nature
Leigh Hyams
“Drawing changes you,” says Leigh Hyams.
“All of a sudden you are somebody else.
Namely, your real self. When you draw—and
absolutely anyone can draw—you encounter
and inhabit the universe in a different way.”
Leigh Hyams’s unusual teaching methods
enable beginning students to draw immediately with courage, inventiveness, sensitivity,
and integrity, and those with art experience to
find new parts of themselves to expand as
artists. With an open mind, the act of making
marks frees us to break out of imagined
blocks to our creativity.
Emphasis will be on working outdoors—in
Esalen’s wonderful garden, near the stream,
waterfalls, and rugged coastline, in the
canyon and deep woods. Students will work
with the wind, by firelight, under the stars,
and in the studio, with music.
Participants will be introduced to a variety of
techniques and art media, both orthodox and
unorthodox, while exploring the richness and
sensuousness of working with color.
Demonstrations, discussions, and critiques
will sharpen perception and develop an
understanding of visual language.
Previous experience is not necessary.
Participants will leave the workshop with a
portfolio of drawings, a full sketchbook, fresh
eyes, and a deeper understanding of the
breadth and importance of art in our lives.
($75 materials fee paid directly to instructor)
Stone Sole Connection: LaStone®
Therapy’s Reflexology Course
material on the soul cluster from the
Hawaiian kahuna perspective.
Ardell Hill
Wesselman has worked for more than thirty
years with scientists investigating the mystery of human origins in East Africa and has
spent much of his life with indigenous people. In the 1970s, doing fieldwork in Ethiopia,
he began to have spontaneous visionary experiences strikingly like those of traditional
shamans. His wife Jill Kuykendall is a physical therapist and transpersonal medical practitioner, specializing in soul retrieval.
Reflexology will never be the same when it is
applied with the use of temperatures! Along
with all of the benefits of Reflexology—relaxation, grounding, reduction of pain, and balancing the systems of the body—alternating
temperatures helps balance the nervous system, stimulate the lymphatic system, and
clear the energetic system.
Warming the tissue of the feet and hands
reduces tension and gives the therapist an
opportunity to address the reflexes at a deeper
level. This is accomplished through softening
the soles, helping the feet to be more pliable
and accepting. Since Reflexology directly
addresses the nervous system and meridians
that enervate the feet and hands, the Stone
Sole treatment provides a unique opportunity
to directly affect the cause of imbalance. The
cool stones stimulate those glands and organs
that are sluggish and need that gentle push to
bring them into balance.
The Stone Sole treatment makes Reflexology
a full-body treatment by placing stones along
the spine when the client is lying face up and
on the spine when face down. The deep relaxation is enhanced by offering the client warm
or cool stones in their hands during the treatment.
Please note: A knowledge of Basic Reflexology
is required.
Visionseeker I: Shamanism and the
Modern Mystical Movement
Hank Wesselman & Jill Kuykendall
The rediscovery of shamanism has emerged
as a major thrust in the spiritual reawakening
of the Western world. The techniques of traditional shamans provide an extraordinary
method for accessing hidden dimensions of
reality and connecting with inner sources of
power and wisdom.
Hank Wesselman writes: “We will rediscover
our indigenous heart through the classic
shamanic journey, reestablishing connections
with our spirit helpers, teachers, and ancestors, as we engage in visionary fieldwork and
examine the nature of health, illness, and
healing from the perspective of spirit medicine.” The workshop offers a clear introduction for those new to the shaman’s path, and,
for the more experienced, provides unique
Bring drums and rattles, a notebook, sketchpad, a small set of oil or chalk pastels, a bandanna or eyeshade, and a light blanket. Please
refrain from alcohol during the workshop.
Recommended reading: Wesselman &
Kuykendall, Spirit Medicine; Wesselman, The
Journey to the Sacred Garden, and the
Spiritwalker trilogy.
Creative Problem Solving and
Unfinished Business
Ann Sayre Wiseman
Problem solving, mapping possible solutions,
reviewing unfinished business, finding a new
perspective. No matter how you phrase it, it
comes down to this: Are you ready for
change? This workshop offers a creative
short-cut method that will help you visually
clarify an issue, gain perspective, explore your
options, rehearse alternatives, and negotiate a
workable resolution.
Here’s how it works: Each participant, working individually, sets an issue on a paper ministage, using paper images to represent the
problem. Provocative questions help to move
the action forward, and rehearsal and reframing help to clarify and acknowledge feeling.
Color and symbols represent the subject matter. As you step outside the conflict, you can
better hear the dialogue, become the director,
test possibilities, and record the sequence that
can lead to resolution.
Sounds simple? All you have to do is try it.
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special programs
The Harvard Medical School
Continuing Education Series
Esalen has been selected to host Continuing
Education courses offered by Harvard Medical
School (HMS). The first series of courses will
take place in April 2005. To reserve a space in
any of these courses, you must first contact
HMS at 617-998-5028. Only after you have
reserved your place in the course through
Harvard will you be able to reserve your
accommodations through Esalen at 831-6673005. The dates, instructors, and courses
offered during this catalog period are:
April 8-10: Martha Stark, MD—Agents of
Therapeutic Change: The Clinician’s Guide
to Psychotherapeutic Interventions
April 10-15: Christine Courtois, PhD—
Advances in the Understanding and
Treatment of Psychological Trauma:
An Overview and Update
April 15-17: Daniel Brown, PhD, ABPH—
Enhancement of Peak Performance in
Sports, the Performing Arts, and the
Worksite
April 15-17: Janina Fisher, PhD—
Trauma Consciousness and the Body
The Santa Barbara Graduate
Institute Embodied
Psychotherapy Certificate
Program
The Certificate Program gives participants a
foundation in the leading-edge field of somatic
psychology. It is designed to meet the needs of
professionals and practitioners (educators,
health-care professionals, therapists, psychologists) as well as individuals interested in learning
an in-depth somatic/psychological perspective.
SBGI faculty or affiliates teach all courses. An
approved application is required. Complete the
application on the Internet at www.esalen.sbgi.edu
and allow one week for processing and for you
and Esalen to be informed of your status
The Embodied Psychotherapy Certificate
Program is composed of six five-day courses at
Esalen. The program is derived from the graduate-level classes and provides experiential
learning, current theory, and practical applications. Each of the six segments may be taken
individually for a certificate of attendance.
The Embodied Psychotherapy Certificate is
awarded to participants who have satisfactorily
completed all six segments. For those requesting a Santa Barbara Graduate Institute
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Professional Certificate, there will be a fee of
$70 per segment, payable to SBGI. There will
be an additional fee for any printed materials
and handouts. The segments are offered
approximately every four months with the
entire program presented in approximately two
years. Graduate course credit is also available
(see below).
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
S
The Six Required Courses for the
Complete Certificate Program
1. Somatic Psychology: The Essentials for
Embodied Psychotherapy Practice,
March 6-11, 2005.
2. Integrating Somatic Awareness, Touch and
Breath Effectively into Clinical Practice: The
Somatics, Ethics, and Practice (July 2005)
3. Relational Somatic Psychotherapy: Reich,
Object Relations, and Contemporary
Somatic Psychotherapy Practice
(September 2005)
4. Brain, Attachment, and Early Development:
Practical Interpersonal Neurobiology and
Somatic Interventions with Individuals
and Groups (Winter 2006)
5. The Body, Soul, Self, and the Relational
Field in Somatic Psychotherapy: Enhancing
Immediacy and Intimacy (Spring 2006)
6. Bodily Expression and Experience in
Psychotherapy: Character and Somatic
Dimensions of Developmental Psychology
(Fall 2006)
Graduate PhD Course Credit in
Somatic Psychology
This program can also be taken as a more
scholarly course of study which includes
additional reading and writing for students
who would like to earn graduate credit
toward a doctoral degree program at Santa
Barbara Graduate Institute. To use this training as credit towards a PhD degree, students
must first apply and be accepted in the
Professional Specialty PhD program at SBGI.
Information on the Somatic Psychology
Foundations Certificate and PhD Professional
Specialty Program is available on the SBGI
website: www.sbgi.edu. For information or to
register, call 805-963-6896 or email
hfranklin@sbgi.edu.
Please note: An approved application is
required; contact Esalen for registration only
after your application has been accepted by
SBGI.
April 3–May 1
28-Day Massage Certification
Program
Perry Holloman & Peggy Horan
The Esalen monthlong massage program provides a minimum of 150 hours of instruction
in fundamental massage skills. The training
includes principles of movement, anatomy,
massage technique, and meditative awareness
that are the basis for this work. Attention will
be given to self-care, legal and ethical considerations, and special circumstances that can
arise in the practice of massage.
Daily sessions will consist of a combination of
lecture, demonstration, and supervised
hands-on practice. There will be some written
“homework” and ample time for practice outside class time. Students will be assisted in
learning how to balance the technical information with their own intuitive and creative
instincts. Sessions will be provided for personal issues that need attention and daily
feedback will be encouraged.
Upon satisfactory completion of the program,
students wishing to fulfill California certification requirements will have six months to
give and document 30 practice massage sessions. Upon payment of a $100 processing
fee, a state-approved certificate of completion
will be issued.
This is a professional training group with limited admission. To request an application, contact the Esalen Office at 831-667-3000.
CE credit for nurses; see page xx.
CE credit for bodyworkers; see page xx.
Friends rate:
Standard accommodations: $4620
Bunk bed room: $3590
Regular rate:
Standard accommodations:$4670
Bunk bed room: $3640
work study program
DANIEL BIANCHETTA
S
T
he Work Study Program is a 28day program for those interested in an
intense involvement with the Esalen
environment. A work- and service-oriented
program, it is emotionally and physically
challenging, and only rarely is it restful.
Participants work 32 hours per week in one
of Esalen’s departments and participate in
that department’s program.
During four to five evenings and one weekend intensive, work scholars are together in
one of two groups (see below). Each group
emphasizes one type of growth practice, such
as Gestalt, meditation, creative arts, massage,
or somatics work, and has a specifically
assigned leader(s) who is with the group
throughout the month, coordinating the
study schedule and facilitating many of the
evening sessions. Applicants must state their
preferred group and be prepared to stay at
Esalen for the entire month.
In addition to the evening program, work
scholars may participate in regularly scheduled movement classes, use the Art Barn (if
available), attend the weekly Wednesday
night programs, and enjoy round-the-clock
access to the Esalen baths.
Selection of work students is done by Work
Study Coordinator Mary Anne Will. Since
this is a work and service program, preference
is given to applicants who are open and willing to learn about themselves within the
work context as well as within the study/
process groups. Because the work can be
physically challenging (lifting, bending, etc.),
it may not be suitable for all who wish to
apply. First-month work students, in particular, are assigned to departments largely on the
basis of community need (usually the kitchen
or housekeeping).
Please note: The Work Study Program is
designed to explore and apply human values and
potentials. It is not intended as a substitute for
therapy or as a “cure.”
Work Study Programs scheduled for this
catalog period are as follows:
January 2–30
A program with Paula Shaw focuses on play,
presence, process, and self-expression.
Applying theater games, group and individual
process, improvisation, and irreverent
humor—sometimes all at once—the program
is designed to help participants interrupt
habitual patterns of expression, examine core
beliefs, experience themselves in ways they
haven’t experienced themselves previously,
and discover what stands between them and
“being here.” Throughout the month, the program’s structure will follow the dynamics of
the group.
The ancient healing Art of Dance can create
an incomparable sense of wholeness and balance in body, mind, and spirit. Dance unlocks
the wisdom of your body, helping you to powerfully connect with your own source. The
celebration of music and dance brings community together and purifies your spirit.
Ellen Watson & Alyssa DeCaro invite you
to join the community of souls around you
and be inspired by the subtle expression that
moves into the ecstatic. In this workshop participants will learn to source their own movement as well as dip into various forms including SpiritDance and Contact Improvisation.
The program is designed to help you move
through the rest of life with ease and grace.
January 30–February 27
Shamanism is the oldest spiritual system in
the world. David Corbin & Nan Moss offer a
monthlong exploration of the shaman’s
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ancient and universal methods to enter nonordinary reality for problem solving, well-being,
and healing. Participants will be guided to enter
the shamanic state of consciousness and be initiated into the shamanic journey to experience
the same sources of profound wisdom and
compassion known to our ancestors. The group
will seek to restore spiritual power and to apply
shamanism in contemporary daily life to help
heal oneself, others, and the planet.
Experiencing and expressing emotions are
integral to being alive. Yet, for many of us,
emotions remain mysterious, confusing, and
difficult to constructively express. As a result,
our relationships may be unsatisfying and the
choices we make may not reflect our innermost desires or our true selves. Learning to
fully experience feelings and express them in
healthy ways enables us to be authentic and
to have more fulfilling relationships. In this
Gestalt Awareness Practice and group process
with Dorothy Charles, participants will
develop awareness of self and other, explore
feelings as sensations in the body, and learn
self-expression and communication skills.
Mini-lectures, paired exercises, and expressive
arts will be part of the curriculum.
Please note: There will be a $20 materials fee
paid directly to the leader.
February 27–March 27
The promises of relationships are compelling
and seductive: intense sense pleasure, emotional fulfillment, an end to loneliness, ego
gratification, companionship, even a source of
healing old wounds. Our attractions are at
times irresistible, yet the flame of infatuation
inevitably dims as we come to see each other
with more awareness. Becoming “dis-illusioned” is a natural, healthy aspect of most
relationships, and can help us to see ourselves
and each other with more clarity, compassion,
and appreciation. This program, led by
Charlie Bloom, focuses on how we can use
relationships to know, accept, and trust ourselves more completely. The program will utilize group process, experiential exercises,
guided meditation, and conscious dialogue in
working to free ourselves from undesired
roles, patterns, and beliefs that limit our ability to be more fully present and loving .
Vicki Topp will facilitate a monthlong journey weaving hands-on and movement-meditation practices drawn from approaches
including Esalen Massage, Body-MindCentering®, and meditation. Using music
from around the world, the group will explore
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breath and movement, integrating cross-cultural healing practices inherent in all living
beings. Special focus will be on developing
the ability to contact, trust, and support—to
listen and respond to impulses and feelings
and apply this to bodywork and healing. The
program is designed to awaken your senses,
emotions, and inner spirit. Come prepared to
move and be moved, to touch and be touched,
to support and be supported.
March 27–April 24
Maria Lucia Bittencourt Sauer will lead a
monthlong program teaching spiritual massage and healing—the laying on of hands. This
practice integrates both hands-on and energetic healing. Beginning Silat (Balinese martial art) movements, dance, and shamanic
practices will be incorporated to complement
this energy work and to help bring participants in tune with their bodies. The program
will integrate emotional release work as it
organically emerges.
A beginning… a word… a vibration… a pulse…
a beat… a motion. This monthlong SoulMotion™
experience will put participants in touch with
this seminal sound and the spaces of silence
and stillness which lie in between. Developed
and led by Vinn Martí, SoulMotion is an
expressive movement ministry designed to
help awaken participants to the truth of “what
is” while cultivating skills for moving gracefully in the Dance of Everyday. SoulMotion
travels the terrain of creative expression in
personal, public, and devotional dance.
Participants will dance, draw, drum, dedicate,
dialogue, pray, and play. The program features
a Covenant Ceremony during a weekend
intensive which will include a Native
American purification sweat lodge. This work
is aimed at releasing the blocks that keep us
from the awareness of Love’s Presence.
up native intelligence and spirituality to maximize our physical, emotional, and soulful
realization in dealing with life changes. In
addition to the evening sessions, there will be
weekly time for counsel and problem solving
in smaller groups.
Helen Jerene Malcolm guides a month of
Vision Painting—painting as a process to
expose the limitations of the conditioned
mind. An atmosphere of exploration and
acceptance encourages participants to suspend judgment, enabling the creative impulse
to play, take risks, and face fears. The course
utilizes emotional awareness, visualization,
meditation, music, and dream images to evoke
creative expression from a deep inner source
of intuitive wisdom. Through the language of
color, the soul can unfold its message to the
painter. There will be painting-gestalt sessions
to explore the soul-talk of Vision Painting.
May 22–June 19
Many of us live suspended between the
yearning for self-expression and the fear of
exposure, the tendency to hide and the desire
to offer ourselves to the world, the oneness of
spiritual unity and the complexity of human
interactions. These paradoxes will be the
focus of the month led by Zuza Engler.
Exploring movement from the inside out and
the practice of presence, through
SoulMotion™ and Gestalt Awareness Practice,
students will be guided in discovering the
unfolding of their own dance and supported
in opening to life’s constant pulsation
between contraction and expansion, between
dropping into oneself and extending toward
another. Participants will practice skills for
moving fluidly with the challenges of relationship, attuning to the generosity of an
undefended heart, and accessing the larger
Presence that breathes us into Being.
April 24–May 22
A “Spiritual Gestalt” month with Dorothy
Nell Thomas focuses on psychological/emo-
A month with David Schiffman is intended
for people in transition who would like to
cultivate the life skills necessary for dealing
effectively with change and uncertainty. The
program will focus on individual and community reflection using movement, ceremony,
and guided group exercises. A unique blend
of ancient and modern practices, the curriculum will emphasize developing resourcefulness, imagination, and honest self-assessment.
The goal is to study what can be used to call
tional work from a spiritual perspective.
Many religious/spiritual paths are founded
on Control/Doing principles that teach us to
refrain from certain things and force ourselves to act and believe in particular ways.
This program explores what it means to follow Surrender/Being principles: accepting
who we really are and what actually is in the
moment. Emphasis will be on open seat work
(individual process within a group setting) as
well as investigating the different “people”
inside that make up the whole of who we
each are. Participants will “play” with group
process and explore Being states of consciousness through short meditations, chanting, and
social silence. Fun and creativity will be
thrown in as well.
June 19–July 17
Patrick Douce will share the essence of his
work with Moshe Feldenkrais, Balinese healers, and Indonesian Silat martial-art-forhealth systems. This program will focus on
movement and touch designed to increase the
sensitivity, flexibility, coordination, relaxation,
and freedom of the body. Individual problem
areas will be addressed in order to improve
chronic stiffness and pain. Group experience
and interaction will help facilitate balance in
the overall growth of each participant.
Til & Loretta Carridan Luchau will lead a
month of Process-Oriented Visioning and
Coaching for working with both oneself and
with others. Through lighthearted experiential study, somatic practices, writing, smalland large-group work, and contemplation, the
focus will be on developing ways of living and
relating that bring a sense of purpose, connection, and fulfillment. Drawing from the work
of Arnold Mindell and other seminal thinkers,
topics may include health and body symptoms,
life or professional path, and relationships
and community. Though the primary work
will be with oneself, participants will also build
skills toward becoming more effective as
change agents: catalysts for transformation in
relationship, in community, and in the world.
July 17–August 14
Dorothy Charles. For description see January
August 14–September 11
A month with Peter Meyers will be a
dynamic exploration of theater as a playground and a springboard to personal discovery. The group will develop ensemble skills in
movement, voice, and improvisation while
promoting individual self-assurance, physical
presence, and communication skills. The program is designed to create a safe and supportive environment for experiencing heightened
awareness within the group and developing a
form to communicate a collective vision.
Emphasis will be on listening to the creative
impulse, trusting the intuitive response,
expanding expressive skills, and finally
preparing an original theater performance for
the Esalen community.
Jim Gallas leads “Streams Of Energy,” a month-
long program of Eastern bodywork and movement, including Reiki 1 Certification, a thorough overview of Shiatsu Massage, an introduction to meridian theory, and an easy-tolearn, powerful Chi Kung form. Various meditations, self-massage, and improvisational
games will be used to encourage awareness
and expression. The program is designed to
open students to their own innate healing
potentials, to the power of safe, therapeutic
touch, and to being more fully present in
their ongoing unfolding. Participants will also
receive valuable tools to help facilitate others’
healing. In a spirit of compassion, laughter,
tenderness, and awareness, students will be
nurtured and nourished by the group interaction and by a deeper connection to Self.
Commitment to the Work Study Program
is from 4 PM of the first Sunday to 7:30 PM
of the final Sunday. Inasmuch as the Work
Study Program is a complete program in itself,
please do not plan to take regularly scheduled
catalog workshops during your stay.
30-February 27.
Kenn Chase leads a monthlong intensive
exploration of the entire Yang-style T’ai Chi
Ch’uan sequence. Students will study the
fifty-four postures of this ancient movement
meditation, with hours of practice and refinement. Kenn will integrate Feldenkrais®
Awareness Through Movement exercises into
the class, helping students to free the body for
more efficient mastery of the T’ai Chi forms.
Movement analysis and Functional
Integration will also be part of the program,
helping to relieve stress and pains arising
from chronic misuse of posture.
Fees: A deposit of $400 in U.S. currency is
required with your application. You may pay
in full at the time you apply. The work scholar
fee schedule is $895 for the first month, $845
for the second month, and $795 for the third
month. Work students may be invited to
remain for a second or third month depending on space available and community needs
(foreign nationals should contact the Work
Study office for information on staying
longer than one month). There are no scholarships available for the first month of the
Work Study Program.
Occasionally it is possible to stay for a longer
period as an Extended Student.
Food and Housing: Accommodations are
shared (occasionally co-ed), with up to four
people to a room, usually at South Coast
Center, a staff complex located 1.5 miles north
of Esalen. Housing and meals, often with
home-grown organic produce, are included in
your tuition.
Transportation: When making travel plans,
note that the closest airport to Esalen is
Monterey. With at least 48-hour advance
reservations, van service to Esalen is available
from the following locations on the Sunday of
your arrival:
Monterey Airport: Departs 2 pm. Cost: $40
Monterey Transit Center: Departs 2:20 pm.
Cost: $40
San Francisco Airport: Departs 11:45 am.
Cost: $80
For van reservations call 831-667-3010 or
e-mail workstudy@esalen.org.
Please note: Application is not registration
in the program. Registration is made only
after approval of application. If you do not
pay in full at the time of application, the balance of the fee is due on arrival and is nonrefundable thereafter.
Cancellation policy: If you choose to cancel,
you will be charged the following amount:
15+ days prior to start, $100; 8-14 days, $200;
3-7 days, $300; 0-2 days, $400.
Please mail the application form (see next
page) with your personal statement and
deposit to:
Work Study Program
Esalen Institute
55000 Hwy 1
Big Sur, CA 93920
or fax to:
Work Study Program
831-667-3069
We will contact you regarding your status
within 14 days of receipt of your application.
For more information contact the Work
Study Office at the above address or phone:
831-667-3010; fax: 831-667-3069; e-mail:
workstudy@esalen.org.
77
Q
work study program application
please print legibly.
Name _______________________________________________________________________________________
o Male o Female
Today’s Date __________________________________________
Phone: Evening ( ————— ) ____________________________________ Day ( ————— ) ____________________________________ Cell ( ————— ) _______________________________________
Home Address __________________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip __________________________________________________________________________
Country _____________________________ E-mail Address _________________________________________________________________ Date of Birth _________________________ Age ___________
Occupation (previous, if retired)_________________________________________________________________________
Do you have any limiting physical/emotional conditions (e.g., bad back, severe depression) which might affect your full participation in this
program? o Yes o No Are you currently taking any medication? o Yes o No
If yes to either of these questions, please include details in your personal statement.
If a former Work Scholar, list where you worked and approximate dates _________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Work Study Program is for 28 days, beginning at 4 pm on Sunday and ending at 7:30 pm on the final Sunday. Sometimes particular dates
and/or leaders are not available. List below, in order of preference, the dates/leaders for which you are available.
Please note: Space may become available up until the program start date. You must let us know if you wish to be removed from a wait list; if you’re on a wait
list and space becomes available, you will be automatically placed and then notified. If you cancel after placement, you will be charged a cancellation fee.
start date
Choice 1 ________________________________________ Preferred Leader __________________________________________ If full, wait list? o Yes o No
Choice 2 ________________________________________ Preferred Leader ___________________________________________ If full, wait list? o Yes o No
If your application is approved and we cannot give you your first choice, we will place you in your next available choice.
Work students may be invited to remain for a second or third month, depending on space availability and the needs of the Esalen community.
Please indicate your availability for such an invitation (no obligation): o No extension o One-month extension o Two-month extension
We encourage ridesharing. Are you bringing a vehicle? o Yes o No; Are you willing to give a ride? o Yes o No; Receive a ride? o Yes o No;
I wish to rideshare from (if different from above address) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Assignments to departments are made according to community labor needs (usually kitchen or housekeeping). However, if you have preferences
in housekeeping, kitchen, maintenance, gardening, or groundskeeping, please list them below (skills not always necessary).
o Place me wherever I’m most needed – or – note my preferences below.
Choice 1 __________________________________________________ Skills/Experience ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please attach a personal statement about your interest in the Work Study Program, telling us why you’d like to participate
and what you hope to take with you when you leave.
All applicants are required to sign a standard release-from-liability and assumption-of-risk form as a condition of participation
in the Work Study Program. This form will be mailed to you upon acceptance to the program.
Do you want van service? From o Monterey Airport, 2 pm ($40 fee); o Monterey Transit, 2:20 pm ($40); o San Francisco Airport, 11:45 am ($80).
Payment
o $400 deposit
o $895
Card No. _______________________________________________________________________________
o Check (U.S. banks only), attached and payable to Esalen Institute
Credit Card Expiration Date _____________________________________________________
o MasterCard o VISA o American Express
Name and phone number (if different from above) _______________________
If you are making a credit card deposit, the balance will be
automatically charged to your card five days before your arrival.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Authorizing signature ______________________________________________________________
Please Note: No pets, drugs, or violence allowed. We cannot accommodate children of work scholars.
Applications cannot be considered without a deposit and a personal statement included.
78
R
biographical information
A
Mark Abramson is a part of the
Stanford Center for Integrative Medicine
and heads the Mindfulness Based Stress
Reduction Program at Stanford Hospital
and Stanford University. He teaches at
Stanford’s School of Medicine and is on the
staff at Stanford Hospital. p. 57
Ayo Adeyemi was born in Ijebu,
Nigeria and cofounded (with his wife
Carole) Yoruba House in Los Angeles. In
addition to being a master of the Yoruba
rhythms, he is a Babalowo in the Ifa’ religion. p. 59
Carole Zeitlin Adeyemi cofounded
Yoruba House in Los Angeles in 1992 with
her husband Ayo. Together they have introduced thousands of people to the Yoruba culture and the spirituality of community
drum and dance. p. 59
Dee Ahern is a physical therapist who
has studied with The Upledger Institute
since 1984. A Visceral Manipulation practitioner for ten years, she also has extensive
clinical experience in acute care, long-term
care, and outpatient rehab settings. p. 45
Ramon Albareda is a clinical psychologist, theologian, and sexologist. He is the
founder/director of Estel, a center of personal
growth in Barcelona, and creator of
Holistic Sexuality. He is the coauthor of
Nacidos de la Tierra: Sexualidad,
Origen del Ser Humano. p. 70
Ronald Alexander, a psychotherapist
in Santa Monica, Calif., has explored
Buddhist meditation and healing disciplines
since 1971. A business and entertainment
industry coach, he focuses on leadership, creativity, and communication, integrating
Eastern wisdom with Gestalt and contemporary psychotherapies. p. 59
Michael Allen has taught Elizabethan
literature and Renaissance philosophy at
UCLA since 1970 and written a number of
books, most notably on various aspects of the
Platonism of the influential Florentine
philosopher-magus, Marsilio Ficino. p. 65
Kathy Altman is on the teaching faculty for Gabrielle Roth’s institute, The Moving
Center, and has studied with Gabrielle for
25 years. She cofounded The Moving Center
School in California, and maintains a
teaching practice in Mill Valley. p. 60
Zaida Amaral is an architect, feng shui
practitioner, and ecovillage developer. She is
from Porto Alegre, Brazil, and is executive
director of the Sustain Ability Trust. p. 19
Esperide Ananas leads seminars on
healing, inspiration, and perception all over
the world. A graduate of Damanhur’s
School of Spiritual Healers in Italy, she is a
member of Damanhur’s Way of the Oracle,
researching dreaming and subtle energies.
p. 36
Elaine Aron has been researching “sensory-processing sensitivity” for 12 years, with
findings published in the leading psychology
research journals and in books, including
her best-selling The Highly Sensitive
Person and The Highly Sensitive Child.
p. 57
Angeles Arrien is an anthropologist,
educator, award-winning author, and
corporate consultant. She lectures worldwide, conducting workshops that bridge
cultural anthropology, psychology, and
mediation skills. Her website is
www.angelesarrien.com. p. 72
B
Nancy Bacal, lyricist, screenwriter, and
longtime Esalen leader, edited Leonard
Cohen’s anthology Stranger Music and
wrote and produced Raga, a film starring
Ravi Shankar. She conducts ongoing writing workshops in Los Angeles and San
Francisco. p. 35
James Baraz has taught vipassana
insight meditation retreats and classes since
1977. Cofounder of Spirit Rock Meditation
Center in Marin County, Calif., he holds an
MA in psychology and has a counseling
practice in Berkeley. p. 49
Ellen Bass has supported, encouraged
and inspired writers for 30 years. Her books
include No More Masks!, The Courage
to Heal, and Mules of Love. She’s received
a Lambda Award for Poetry and a Pushcart
Prize. p. 14, 65
Rob Bauer has been working with gay
men for over 17 years as a body-centered psychotherapist. His workshops have been presented across North America, including
Omega and Esalen Institutes, Easton
Mountain, and Rowe. He has a practice in
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. p. 27
Leonard Bearne has a doctoral degree
in psychoanalysis and has a psychoanalytic
practice in Los Angeles. He trained at
Esalen in Gestalt Therapy and has been
trained in several other therapeutic modalities. He is a survivor of bad psychotherapy.
p. 13
Tim Beckwith is a mask maker, sculptor, painter, and musician with over 20
years’ teaching experience. He has a lifelong
passion for the art of mask making and his
work has been seen worldwide in films, television, and dance performances. His website
is www.beckwithdesign.com. p. 50
Dyrian Benz is the chairperson for MA
and PhD somatic psychology and professional specialty programs at the Santa Barbara
Graduate Institute. He is founder of the
GroupField Approach and co-director of
Hellinger Constellation Institute
California. p. 32
Charlie Bethel is a performer and
writer whose most recent project, 7 years in
the making, is a tour-de-force one-man
reenactment of Beowulf. His advice to
aspiring performers: “Want to create great
healing art? Suffer for years and get over
the fact that nobody important ever listens.”
p. 55
Cynthia Johnson Bianchetta is a
photographer, movement artist, and authorized Continuum Movement teacher, teaching dance and movement for more than 30
years. Former director of the Weston
Photographic Gallery, her websites are
www.sacredearthphotography.net and
www.movingspirit.net. p. 11
Judith Blackstone is a meditation
teacher, psychotherapist, author, and
founder of Subtle Self Work, a method of
realizing non-dual consciousness. She is
director of Realization Center in Woodstock,
N.Y. p. 20
Richard Blasband, an internationally recognized exponent of Wilhelm Reich’s
work, is a psychiatrist in private practice in
Sausalito, Calif. Formerly on the medical
faculty of Yale University, he is past-president of the American College of Orgonomy.
p. 55
Charlie Bloom is a teacher, consultant,
and therapist specializing in relationship
issues. He has designed and facilitated experiential seminars since 1982, and co-directs
The Empowerment Network with his wife
Linda. p. 20, 52, 76
Linda Bloom is a psychotherapist, seminar leader, and co-director of The
Empowerment Network. She has facilitated
relationship workshops throughout the U.S.
as well as internationally. p. 20, 52
C. Jay Bradbury is a member of the
Esalen massage staff and in private practice.
The developer of Muscle Lengthening, he
works to encourage the quieting of the
mind-body with the intention to expand
consciousness. p. 39
Ann Bradney is a senior faculty member at the Institute of Core Energetics East,
has a private Core Energetics counseling
practice in New York City, and has led
numerous workshops in New York and
California. Her website is www.annbradney.com. p. 70
Byron Brown has taught the Diamond
Approach since 1990 and is the author of
Soul Without Shame: A Guide to
Liberating Yourself from the Judge
Within. For many years he taught and performed improvisational dance and voice
and brings that experience to his spiritual
teaching. p. 41
Daniel Brown is an assistant clinical
professor of psychology at Harvard Medical
School. He is author of 12 books, including
Transformations of Consciousness
(with Ken Wilber and Jack Engler) and
Hypnotherapy and Hypnoanalysis
(with Erika Fromm). p. 46, 48
C
Piovra Caffe is an accomplished
painter and sculptor who specializes in artistic glass techniques, including Tiffany. She
supervises all artwork for the Temple of
Humankind at Damanhur (Italy) and is
directly involved in designing and making
art pieces for its halls. p. 36
Stephanie Campbell, professor of
theater at Montana State University, is an
actress, director, teacher, and spirit worker.
Having just returned from a sabbatical in
which she toured the United States and
Europe with her mask workshops, she is once
again residing in Bozeman, Mont. p. 20
Susan Campbell has been helping
people show up real for over 30 years. A
trained Gestalt Therapist, an internationally-known speaker and seminar leader, and
author of 8 books and 5 educational games,
Susan is a recognized expert in the field of
interpersonal communication. p. 14
Seymour Carter, Gestalt and Sensory
Awareness teacher at Esalen for more than
three decades, is a lifelong student of the
ever-evolving models of personal identity.
He combines studies in family systems theory with Buddhism and other body/mindoriented practices. p. 34
Charlie Cascio managed the Esalen
kitchen for 6 years. He is a chef, restaurateur, consultant, and lecturer on vegetarian
and living foods who has worked and
taught in the U.S. and throughout Europe
for more than 30 years. p. 61
Tom Case has been practicing massage
for the past 13 years. He has been on the
Esalen massage staff since 1993. p. 20, 59
Joseph Cavanaugh is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice in the Sierra
foothills, a psychology instructor at a local
community college, and has facilitated personal growth workshops throughout
California for the past 30 years. p. 34
Dorothy Charles is a Gestalt practitioner whose primary interest is in combining Gestalt Practice with artistic expression.
p. 76, 77
JoAnna Chartrand has been a
European trained practitioner for 25 years.
Her specialty is in somatically based
transpersonal psychology and trauma. She
is co-director of Hellinger Constellation
Institute and an affiliate at Santa Barbara
Graduate Institute. p. 32
Carl Chase (CC), developer of the CC
Flow, is a renowned teacher of massage, the
gift of touch, and its life-enhancing power.
He has worked and taught at some of the
world’s leading spas and healing centers,
and is currently on the Esalen massage staff.
p. 14, 24, 31, 36
79
Kenn Chase has taught traditional
Yang-style T’ai Chi Ch’uan for 30 years and
has studied with several T’ai Chi masters. A
certified Feldenkrais teacher, he is a stress
management consultant for Cardiology
Associates of Marin. p. 77
Molly Clark is a physical therapist and
registered massage therapist with advanced
training in a number of complementary
techniques, including Lymph Drainage
Therapy, CranioSacral Therapy, and
Visceral Manipulation. p. 33
Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen is the
founder and educational director of the
School for Body-Mind Centering. She began
studying yoga in 1968 and continues to
explore its essence through the body systems
and developmental movement. She is the
author of Sensing, Feeling, and Action.
p. 49
Matthew Cohen holds a fifth-degree
black belt in Shaolin Temple-style Kung Fu
and advanced degrees and training in
Indonesian martial arts, Chi Kung, Hatha
and Taoist Yoga, dance, and healing. He has
taught at many yoga centers in the U.S. and
abroad.. p. 42
Michael Cohen works as a psychotherapist and as a life coach. He is also an erotic
educator for the Body Electric School and
travels the country teaching men about the
ecstatic potential of their bodies. Find him at
www.lifecoachmichael.com. p. 63
Stephen Cohen, Gestalt practitioner
and longtime golf hacker, is founder and
president of The Shivas Irons Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing
golf’s beauties and virtues. p. 49
Bill Condaxis is a PGA pro whose passion is awareness-based coaching. A charter
member of The Shivas Irons Society, he is on
staff at Extraordinary Golf®, dedicated to
changing golf’s culture “from one of tips,
techniques, formulas, and answers to one of
exploration, discovery, and freedom.” p. 49
David Corbin is a shamanic practitioner and teacher with a private practice in
shamanic counseling and healing in Maine.
He is a faculty member of the Foundation
for Shamanic Studies. p. 18, 75
Seane Corn is an accomplished yogini
who has been featured in numerous magazines (including Allure, Self, and Yoga
Journal). Chosen by Nike to represent yoga
in a national campaign, she was seen in
commercials and print worldwide. p. 30
Ann Weiser Cornell has taught
Focusing in fifteen countries on five continents. She is a student and colleague of Gene
Gendlin, the developer of Focusing. Her
book is The Power of Focusing: A
Practical Guide to Emotional SelfHealing. p. 54
Jean Couch, author of The Runner’s
Yoga Book, is director of the Balance
Center in Palo Alto, Calif., gleaning new
knowledge about fitness by studying populations of people who have no back or joint
pain. p. 55
80
Christine Courtois, a psychologist in
private practice in Washington, D.C., is
cofounder and clinical and training director
of The Center: Posttraumatic Disorders
Program at the Psychiatric Institute of
Washington. Dr. Courtis has received a
number of professional awards for her work.
p. 45
Russell Delman studied with Moshe
Feldenkrais for many years. One of the first
Feldenkrais trainers, he has been teaching
the method since 1975. He has also maintained a Zen meditation practice for over 30
years, and conducts workshops and training
programs internationally. p. 69
Stewart Cubley’s work has carried
him throughout the world in facilitating
groups to access the potential within the
human heart and imagination. Originally
a scientist, he has led seminars in creativity
for more than 25 years. p. 53
Brooke Deputy has been a student of
bioenergetics for more than 20 years, studying with some of the world’s senior teachers,
including founder Alexander Lowen. An
Esalen-trained massage practitioner, she has
studied tai chi and dance, and teaches in the
Esalen Movement Arts Program. p. 30
Raphael Cushnir, a popular contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine, has been a
teacher, activist, screenwriter, and film
director. His own heart was rekindled after
a period of profound grief. Since then, he has
developed the Living the Questions process
and shared it around the globe. p. 29
Tina de Souza is a Iyalorixá (Brazilian
Priestess of Umbanda), clinical psychotherapist, founder of the Primitive Unconscious
Interaction System, trance medium, and
healer. She has been leading workshops in
Europe and the U.S. for the past 12 years.
p. 16
D
Julie Daniels is a professional actress,
playwright, and speech teacher. She has
worked on the regional theatre stage as well
as voice-over and television. Her company
Professionally Speaking coaches clients in
oral and written presentation. p. 32
David Darling is a cellist, teacher, and
composer. He is cofounder of Music for
People, an organization dedicated to selfexpression through music and improvisation. His latest recordings include 8-String
Religion, Darkwood, and the Grammynominated Cello Blue. p. 16, 17
Krishna Das has been recording albums
of traditional Indian chants and songs for
the past 8 years and has been on a spiritual
journey his entire life. While staying true to
the path of Bhakti, or Devotional Yoga, his
music is eminently accessible to Western
hearts. p. 48
Erik Davis wrote the classic Techgnosis:
Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age
of Information, and is currently collaborating on a photo-essay book about the history of California spirituality. His worldwide
lectures range from psychedelic culture to
cyberspace to postmodern spirituality. p. 43
Alyssa DeCaro has studied yoga,
dance, gymnastics, Tai Chi, Capoeira, and
martial arts. She graduated from the
Tamalpa Institute for Movement-Based
Expressive Arts Therapy (and has assisted
Anna Halprin) and has completed Vin
Martí’s Soul Motion Movement Leadership
Training. p. 75
Bernie DeKoven is a workshop
leader, lecturer, author, instigator, and
award-winning game designer, who actually devotes his life to making the world more
fun. Much of his work, and life, can be
found on his website www.deepfun.com.
p. 12
Annee Delaware is a psychiatric
nurse, counselor, and a Life Purpose Process
Coach. She is also a visual and performance
artist and has facilitated workshops for 15
years, with a focus on creativity, healing,
and life purpose. p. 29
Harvey Deutch has been a physical
therapist for the past 25 years and a yoga
practitioner for even longer. His life path
has blended the intricate knowledge of
movement with the practice of yoga. He is
owner/operator of Red Hawk Physical
Therapy in San Francisco. p. 50
Karen Dietz is executive director of the
National Storytelling Network, an association of storytellers across the U.S. She has
over 20 years of experience working with
Fortune 500 executives, professional speakers, community leaders, and activists in stories and storytelling. p. 11
Lisa Lieberman Doctor, author of
The Deflowering of Rhona Lipshitz, is a
frequent radio guest on the subject of writing. She spent 16 years as a motion-picture
executive before becoming a staff writer on
General Hospital, where she was nominated for an Emmy and a Writers Guild
Award. p. 22
Patrick Douce, one of Moshe
Feldenkrais’s first American students, has
been associated with Esalen since 1972.
Since 1986 he lives half of each year in Bali,
developing programs with Indonesian Silat
martial-arts-for-health schools. p. 77
E
Zuza Engler has been passionate about
movement and awareness practice as a path
of healing and self-discovery for over 15
years. She has taught Tibetan energy work,
yoga, and dance since 1992. Her website is
www.transformativedance.com. p. 76
Eric Erickson has lived and worked at
Esalen for over 25 years. He was a student of
Esalen cofounder Dick Price, whose biography he has written. He has experienced
many psychotherapists, including some fairly famous ones. Despite this, he has become a
psychotherapist himself. p. 13
Karuna Erickson has taught yoga and
worked as a psychotherapist for over 30
years. She teaches internationally about the
interconnectedness of body, mind, and spirit.
With Andrew Harvey, she coauthored a
book titled Direct Path Yoga: The Sacred
Marriage of Yoga and Mysticism. p. 34
F
Mark Fairfield is clinical director at
Common Ground: The Westside HIV
Community Center in Santa Monica, Calif.
He is in private practice in West L.A., focusing on community building and group
work. Mark is the current president of the
Gestalt Therapy Institute of Los Angeles.
p. 65
Jayson Fann, Esalen Arts Center coordinator, has 16 years of experience as a
musician, performer, visual artist, costume
designer, composer, and musical director. He
studied music in Africa and the Caribbean,
and has taught at Cal State University,
Monterey Bay. p. 40, 47
Rachel Fann joined the Esalen massage
staff in 1993. Her work integrates Esalen
Massage with approaches from
CranioSacral Therapy, aikido, Chi Kung,
breathwork, and meditation. p. 12
Warren Farrell, author of Father and
Child Reunion; Why Men Are the Way
They Are; and Women Can’t Hear
What Men Don’t Say, has been a pioneer
in both the women’s and men’s movement,
and has appeared on over 1,000 television
and radio shows. p. 16
David Feinstein is the author of
Energy Psychology Interactive and executive director of the Energy Medicine
Institute. He has taught at the Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine. p. 35
Janina Fisher is an instructor and
supervisor at the Trauma Center in Boston,
and a consultant on trauma to the
Cambridge Hospital Family Clinic. She is
also an EMDRIA consultant, a certified
teacher of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and
a former instructor at Harvard Medical
School. p. 46
Thomas Michael Fortel is a longtime yoga practitioner/teacher, influenced
by the Iyengar, Ashtanga, and Anusara
styles of hatha yoga, and drawing from his
devotional experience in Bhakti yoga. He
travels widely, sharing his love for yoga. His
website is www.yogawiththomas.com.
p. 10, 13, 42, 50
Patricia Frisch is a licensed psychologist, Reichian therapist, family therapist,
and experienced group leader. She is director
of Counseling and Training Consultants,
which provides communications training
for inmates and staff in California State
prisons. p. 55
Jerome Front is an adjunct faculty at
Pepperdine University and teaches about
eating, food, and mindfulness-based
approaches. He has worked at the Rader
Institute for Eating Disorders, leads retreats,
and is an MFT in private practice in Studio
City, Calif. p. 54
G
Jim Gallas, a Shiatsu teacher for over 10
years, has led workshops in California and
internationally. Creator of the video Table
Shiatsu: Deep and Effective Body Work
With Ease, Jim also teaches Reiki, yoga,
and Chi Kung, and is a member of a theater
improvisation group. p. 41, 77
Gangaji, an American born teacher and
author, has traveled the globe since 1990,
speaking with spiritual seekers from all
walks of life. She is the author of You Are
THAT!, and Freedom and Resolve. p. 40
Dennis Gates, an Integrative
Medicine Physician after a 27-year career as
an orthopedic surgeon, is a graduate fellow
of Andrew Weil. He teaches healthy living
integrating holistic and standard medical
care to all seekers of optimum health,
including medical and surgical staffs. p. 51
Glenna Gerard is a nationally recognized consultant in the area of interpersonal
communications and transformation. She is
coauthor of Dialogue: Rediscovering the
Transforming Power of Conversation.
p. 63
Mariah Fenton Gladis,
founder/director of the Pennsylvania
Gestalt Center for Psychotherapy and
Training for nearly three decades, leads
workshops and trainings around the U.S.
and in Europe. She is recognized for the sensitive and creative way she practices the art
of Gestalt. p. 26
Aviva Gold has been teaching inspired
art for over 25 years and leads Painting
From The Source at her own retreat in New
York State as well as throughout the U.S.
She is both an active artist and a practicing
psychotherapist. p. 15
Richard Gold has been practicing and
teaching Oriental healing arts since 1978. A
graduate in Thai Massage from the Old
Medicine Hospital in Chiang Mai,
Thailand, he is chairman of the board of the
International Professional School of
Bodywork in San Diego. p. 69
Mary Goldenson is a clinical psychologist, chiropractor, and certified Radix
teacher in Los Angeles. She has a private
practice specializing in relationship therapy
and transitions, and leads mediation trainings and workshops around the country.
p. 17, 26, 41, 59, 64
Steven Goodman is core faculty and
codirector of the Asian and Comparative
Studies program in the Philosophy and
Religion Department at California Institute
of Integral Studies, where he teaches
Buddhism and comparative philosophy.
p. 16
Harriet Goslins originated Cortical
Field Reeducation. A Feldenkrais practitioner and Integrated Awareness teacher, she
has a background in psychosynthesis,
applied kinesiology, muscle energy, craniosacral work, and social anthropology, and
has been teaching at Esalen for 22 consecutive years. p. 45
Akuyoe Graham, actor, writer, and
motivational speaker, wrote the critically
acclaimed one-woman show Spirit
Awakening, which tours nationally. She is
the founder of Spirit Awakening
Foundation, which works with youth and
incarcerated gang members throughout Los
Angeles. p. 41
Susan Grant is a member and teacher
of Aminah Raheem’s Basic Acupressure faculty. She is the originator of Free To Move
and is a certified practitioner of Process
Acupressure, Craniosacral techniques, and
the Alexander Technique. p. 51
Connie Grauds is president of the
Association of Natural Medicine
Pharmacists, assistant professor of clinical
pharmacy at UCSF, adjunct professor of the
University of Minnesota’s Center for
Spirituality and Healing, and director of the
Center for Spirited Medicine. p. 21
Lynda Greenberg is an exhibiting
sculptor who has taught drawing nationwide since 1981. She has been a colleague of
the center for the Educational Applications
of Brain Hemisphere Research since its
founding in 1985. p. 19
Ricky Greenwald is founder and
director of the Child Trauma Institute in
Greenfield, Mass. He is the author of
EMDR in Child and Adolescent
Psychotherapy, Trauma and Juvenile
Delinquency, and the forthcoming Child
Trauma Handbook. p. 29
Robert Greenway, a transpersonal
psychologist, counselor, and writer, is one of
the founders of the field of ecopsychology.
Professor emeritus from Sonoma State
University and founding dean of Franconia
College, he is currently an organic farmer in
northwest Washington State. p. 15
Cynthia Griffin is a psychologist with a
focus on wellness. She has served on the clinical faculty at the University of California,
Davis and the University of Nevada School
of Medicine. She does mental health training for therapists in California and physicians in Mexico. p. 21
Pierre Grimes is one of the founders of
the Philosophical Counseling movement.
He was called a Jnana yogi by Alan Watts,
with whom he studied. The Zen master
Myo Bong S’nim of the Chogye Buddhist
order of Korea sealed him as his Dharma
Successor. p. 12
Sylvia Guersenzvaig is a student of
intuitive pathways to healing with over 20
years of experience in the fields of somatic
and visionary practices. She has been a massage practitioner and an astrologer at Esalen
since 1982. p. 39
H
Steven Harper is a wilderness guide,
author, artist, and Big Sur resident. He has
led both traditional and experimental
wilderness expeditions internationally for
over 25 years. He has an MA in psychology
and his work focuses on wild nature as a
vehicle for awakening. p. 47, 57, 62, 69
Susan Harper teaches Continuum
workshops in the U.S., Canada, Europe,
and Japan. She also offers Quest trips—for
celebrating what is still wild, inside and
out—in the wilderness and in Asia. p. 69
Rachel Harris is a psychologist in private practice. She was in the 1968 Esalen
Residential Program and later held a
research faculty position at a medical school.
Her latest book is Teenagers Learn What
They Live. p. 58
Andrew Harvey, poet, translator, novelist, and mystical scholar is the author or
editor of over 30 books, including the bestsellers Journey in Ladakh; The Way of
Passion: A Celebration of Rumi; Son of
Man; and The Direct Path. His website is
www.AndrewHarvey.net. p. 34
Justin Hecht is a Jungian psychologist
and executive coach in private practice in
San Francisco. He teaches meditation and
leads groups and workshops designed to
awaken authenticity and creativity. p. 58
Robert Helm is a longtime teacher and
practitioner on the Esalen massage staff.
p. 12, 59
Deborah Hendlin is a licensed psychologist who has been in the private practice of psychotherapy for over 15 years, currently in Newport Beach, Calif. She has
both clinical and personal experiences in
dealing with inheritance and loss. p. 71
Steven Hendlin has been a psychologist in private practice for 30 years, currently
in Newport Beach, Calif. Formerly a weekly
columnist on the psychology of investing for
TheStreet.com, he has authored four books
and more than 120 articles. His website is
www.hendlin.net. p. 71
Ardell Hill is a licensed massage therapist and reflexologist experienced in a variety of modalities, including shiatsu and
craniosacral. Author of Spiritual
Reflexology, she also incorporates the
chakras and meridians as a framework for
looking at the body. p. 17, 73
Robin Hill is an artist whose work
explores the relationship between drawing,
sculpture, and photography, all of which
converge in large-scale installations. She has
had five solo exhibitions in New York galleries and solo exhibitions in university
museums and galleries across the U.S. p. 44
Shelley Hodgen has read people clairvoyantly and taught them to develop their
psychic and intuitive abilities for over 22
years. Formerly the director of the Berkeley
Psychic Institute, she currently teaches classes and workshops in Marin County. p. 40
Ginger Holladay’s first calling was as
a professional singer, recording with Elvis
Presley, Linda Ronstadt, and Joan Baez. Her
personal journey led her to the healing arts,
and she now works as a massage practitioner, yoga instructor, and voice coach for individuals and groups. p. 19
Perry Holloman has taught at Esalen
and in Europe for over 20 years, focusing on
the physical, energetic, and emotional causes
of chronic pain. He is on Esalen’s bodywork
staff and teaches somatic approaches to
Gestalt Therapy at the Gestalt Institute in
Dortmund, Germany. p. 42, 74
Jonathan Horan is on the teaching
faculty for Gabrielle Roth’s international
institute, The Moving Center. In addition to
leading workshops throughout the U.S.,
South America, and Europe, he is a certified
massage therapist and a professional actor.
p. 60
Peggy Horan has been practicing and
teaching massage at Esalen for over 25
years. She has also been involved in childbirth education and has practiced midwifery
in Big Sur for 15 years. p. 12, 42, 74
Chungliang Al Huang teaches Tai Ji
philosophy, East/West synthesis, and the art
of movement meditation. He is the founderpresident of the Living Tao Foundation and
director of Lan Ting Institute in the Sacred
Mountains of China. p. 37
Terry Hunt is a licensed psychologist and
certified bioenergetic therapist. He has a private practice in Boston, with subspecialties
in adult children of alcoholic and abusive
homes, addiction, and older adolescents. He
is the clinical director of the John E. Mack
Institute. p. 33
Leigh Hyams is an internationally
exhibiting artist/teacher whose drawing,
painting, and artists’ books, workshops, and
critiques are held in Mexico, South America,
Africa, and Europe. Her website is
www.artsreal.com. p. 73
David Hykes, musician, meditation
guide, film composer, and respected pioneer
in harmonic sound and related meditative
practices, has released 9 CDs, co-hosted
evenings with the Dalai Lama and the
Gyuto and Gyume monks, and teaches and
performs worldwide. p. 39
J
Roger Jahnke has practiced Chinese
medicine clinically for over 25 years. He has
traveled to China eight times to explore the
secrets of Qi in hospitals, temples, and sacred
sites. He is the author of the acclaimed The
Healer Within and, more recently, The
Healing Promise of Qi. p. 25, 64
Eli Jaxon-Bear, Gangaji’s husband,
leads retreats around the world in service of
world peace and freedom through universal
self-realization. He is the author of Sudden
Awakening and The Enneagram of
Liberation: From Fixation to Freedom.
p. 40
Lawrence Jenkins is a practitioner of
advanced Rolfing Structural Integration,
Esalen Massage, vipassana meditation, feeling good, and having fun. p. 23
81
Bill Jersey’s life journey has taken him
from art major to art director on The Blob
to 40 years of documentary television production. John Leonard, New York Times
television critic, said “Bill Jersey has a genius
for getting people to talk.” p. 13
Joe Kort is a psychotherapist and author
of 10 Smart Things Gay Men Can Do to
Improve Their Lives. He works with gay
men individually, in couples, and in group
therapy, and leads workshops as well. His
website is www.joekort.com. p. 52
Mickey Lemle is a multi-award-winning filmmaker who has been called
“Cinema’s Soul Man” by the Utne Reader
because of the intimate, moving films he has
made about some of the great spiritual
teachers and themes of our time. p. 22
Arthur Samuel Joseph is a teacher
of voice who over 40 years ago established
the Vocal Awareness system, a method integrating mind/body/spirit in the vocal arts.
He is author of Vocal Power—Harnessing
the Power Within plus other books and
multiple audio and video series. p. 60
Sybil Krauter teaches Integrated
Awareness and Cortical Field Reeducation.
Her background is in clinical hypnosis, neurolinguistic programming, and education.
Currently her focus is on how we create
reality. p. 45
Annie Styron Leonard is executive
director of the Energy Training Institute in
Mill Valley, Calif., the certifying organization for Leonard Energy Training (LET).
She holds a black belt in the martial art of
aikido and is one of the founding leaders of
Integral Transformative Practice. p. 45
Zoran Josipovic is a counselor, meditation teacher, and co-director of Realization
Center in Woodstock, N.Y. He is a longtime
meditator in the traditions of Tibetan
Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta. p. 15
Andrea Juhan is an enthusiastic student, scholar, and teacher of the 5Rhythms
movement work of Gabrielle Roth. She is on
the teaching faculty for the Institute for
Integrative Body Psychotherapy (IBP) and a
long-term practitioner of Gestalt Awareness
Practice. p. 27
K
Lynne Kaufman is a nationally recognized playwright. She has taught improvisation at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego.
She currently directs the Travel with
Scholars Program at UC Berkeley
Extension. Her website is
www.LynneKaufman.com. p. 28, 63
Sam Keen is the author of numerous
books, including The Passionate Life,
Faces of the Enemy, Hymns to an
Unknown God, and, most recently,
Learning to Fly. p. 25
Hala Khouri has been teaching movement arts for over 12 years, having trained
in ballet, modern, dance, Pilates, Capoeira,
and yoga, among others. She did her yoga
teacher training at YogaWorks in Santa
Monica, Calif. p. 57
Daphne Rose Kingma is a therapist, lecturer, and teacher of relationships as
a spiritual art form. She is the best-selling
author of seven books on relationships,
including Coming Apart, Finding True
Love, and the forthcoming 9 Types of
Lovers. p. 54
Peter Kingsley is the author of several
books, and teaches across the country. An
honorary professor at the University of New
Mexico, his groundbreaking work on the
origins of western spirituality and culture is
recognized around the world. His website is
www.peterkingsley.org. p. 39
Karinna Kittles is a Certified Taoist
Arts Professional and the founder of Sacred
Love Inc. in Los Angeles. Over the last 15
years, Karinna has taught the Taoist Art of
Love to thousands across the nation. Her
website is www.sacredlove.com. p. 22
82
Stanley Krippner is professor of psychology at Saybrook Institute and the
California Institute of Integral Studies. He
is coauthor of Dreamworking, Dream
Telepathy, and Realms of Healing. p. 35
Michael Kuka is a champion ballroom
dancer and excellent teacher who knows the
importance of fun. p. 63
Laura Kunysz teaches Cortical Field
Reeducation and has a private practice as a
CranioSacral Therapist on the Monterey
Penninsula. An ergonomics consultant with
20 years’ experience in the computer industry, Laura came to this work through healing her own repetitive stress injuries. p. 45
Jill Kuykendall is a physical therapist
and transpersonal medical practitioner who
has worked in the standard Western medical paradigm for 25 years. She is now in
private practice specializing in soul retrieval,
and is the author (with Hank Wesselman)
Of Spirit Medicine. p. 39, 73
L
Bob Lamp is a mixed-media artist. He
recently spent four years as the Foundry
Technician for the School of Art and Design
of San Jose State University. He currently
teaches a wide range of sculpture classes at
Cabrillo and Monterey Peninsula Colleges.
p. 29
Dale Larson, associate professor and
director of the Graduate Health Psychology
Program at Santa Clara University, is a
clinician, researcher, former Fulbright
Scholar, international lecturer, and author
of The Helper’s Journey. p. 68
Sarah La Saulle is a psychotherapist
and teacher who specializes in healing
blocks to self-love and creativity. She is in
private practice in Santa Monica, Calif.,
where she is also an avid ballroom dance
student. p. 63
Leonard Laskow is a Stanfordtrained physician who has studied the healing power of love for more than 25 years. He
is the developer of Holoenergetic healing
and author of Healing With Love: A
Breakthrough Mind/Body Medical
Program for Healing Yourself and
Others. p. 52
Barbara Lee has been a circlemaker for
more than 20 years. Her primary focus is on
the heart-centered remembrance of the
Divine. She is the author of Loving
Yourself. p. 24, 60
George Leonard is the author of 12
books, including Mastery, The Ultimate
Athlete, and The Way of Aikido. He is a
fifth-degree black belt in aikido, founder of
Leonard Energy Training (LET), and president emeritus of Esalen. p. 45, 70
Carol Lessinger, Feldenkrais and
Integrated Awareness teacher, has taught
healing practices through awareness, movement, dance, and touch for over 30 years.
She directs her Center for Moving in
Wholeness in Ojai, Calif. p. 45
Peter Levine is an internationally recognized authority on trauma and a pioneer
in stress research and healing practices for
trauma survivors. Dr. Levine is the founder
of the Foundation for Human Enrichment
in Lyons, Colorado. p. 20, 21, 23
Dennis Lewis, a longtime student of
the Gurdjieff Work, Taoism, and Advaita,
teaches the transformative power of presence
through breathing, qigong, and meditation.
He is the author of Free Your Breath, Free
Your Life, The Tao of Natural Breathing,
and the audio program Breathing as a
Metaphor for Living. p. 70
Tias Little brings to his teaching a wonderful play of metaphor and imagination.
He is trained in Iyengar and Ashtanga
Vinyasa Yoga, massage, Rolfing, and cranial-sacral therapy. Tias earned a Masters
degree in Eastern Philosophy and directs
Yogasource in Santa Fe, N.M. p. 13
Olga Louchakova has 20 years of
experience guiding spiritual awakening in
Eastern Europe and the U.S. She teaches
Prayer of the Heart and Kundalini Yoga,
and is a core faculty member at the Institute
of Transpersonal Psychology. p. 10
Loretta Carridan Luchau is a
somatic psychotherapist, bodyworker, and
dedicated mother. A former instructor of
integrative bodywork, communication, and
ethics at the Boulder College of Massage
Therapy, she currently lives and practices in
Colorado. p. 77
Til Luchau is a facilitator, somatic therapist, and coach who works internationally
with transformative professionals and organizations. He is a faculty member at the
Rolf Institute, and is the director of
Advanced-Trainings.com. p. 12, 77
Frederic Luskin is a Senior Fellow at
the Stanford Center on Conflict and
Negotiation. A licensed psychologist, he
directs the Stanford Forgiveness Projects and
is the author of Forgive for Good: A
Proven Prescription for Health and
Happiness. p. 57
Marlena Lyons cofounder (with Jett
Psaris) of the Bay Area’s Conscious Living
Center, has been in private practice since
1979 specializing in relationship issues and
the cultivation of the capacity for undefended love. p. 23
M
Helen Jerene Malcolm is an artist,
consultant, and teacher who works with a
visionary consulting team designing longrange vision paintings for individual clients
and Fortune 500 corporations. p. 13, 64, 76
Marjorie Malone, psychotherapist
and choreographer, has been teaching and
performing for 30 years. Artistic director of
TCDC and founding director of The Centre
For Performance Art and Culture, she has
practiced and performed Butoh since 1989.
p. 25
Brigitte Mars is an herbalist and
nutritional consultant from Boulder, Colo.,
who has been working with natural medicine for over 30 years. She is the author of
Rawsome, Addiction-Free Naturally,
and Sex, Love, and Health. p. 72
Dean Marson teaches in Esalen’s
Massage Program and Movement Arts
Program, incorporating meditation and selfcare practices to assist people in awakening
and de-stressing their bodies. He has led
workshops at Esalen, in Europe, and Asia
for over 20 years. p. 19, 52
Vinn Martí has been assisting individuals in realizing their potential as creative
movers and dancers since 1976. Former
codirector of the Portland, Ore., studio Body
Moves, he now leads workshops globally
teaching Soul Motion, his design for experiencing movement as a meditation. p. 15, 63,
76
Guillermo Martinez, a native
tribesman from the highlands of Michoacan,
Mexico, is a master instrument maker who
lives in Modjeska, Calif. He has performed
as part of the group America Indigena,
which has been nominated for three
NAMMYs (Native American Music
Awards). p. 56
Charlea Massion is a family physician and women’s health specialist. She
teaches in the Division of Family and
Community Medicine at Stanford
University Medical Center and is on the
advisory board of the American College of
Women’s Health Physicians. p. 37
Sarah Mata is a certified yoga teacher
trained in the traditions of
Krishnamacharya. Her work ranges from
the vigorous flow for the very fit to the userfriendly application of yoga for people with
heart disease and musculoskeletal injuries.
p. 26
JOHN WERNER
Ed Maupin, a psychologist who was an
Esalen scholar-in-residence from 1966 to
1970, has practiced Rolfing since 1968, when
he was trained by Dr. Ida Rolf. His early
research in Zen Buddhism strongly influenced his approach to the Rolf Method. p. 27
Emmett Miller is widely recognized as
a founder of mind/body medicine and as the
inventor of the guided-imagery audiocassette. He is the author of Deep Healing
and has recorded more than 50 deep-relaxation meditations and talks. p. 23, 69
Camille Maurine is the coauthor of
Meditation 24/7 and Meditation
Secrets for Women. A dancer and performing artist who has been teaching since
1975, she is the creator of kinAesthetics and
the transformational Moving Theater
process. p. 17
Sandra Miller learned massage in the
early ‘70s at Esalen, where she subsequently
began her body therapy practice. She conducted workshops and trainings at Esalen
while serving on the massage staff. She is
trained in many modalities, including
Acupressure, Trager, and Ayurvedic. p. 69
Rebecca McLean is a national trainer and author of The Circle of Life. She
has worked in mind/body healthcare and
life coaching for over 25 years, facilitated
support groups for hospitals, schools, parishes, agencies, and businesses, and coached
hundreds of individuals. p. 64
Matthew Montfort, leader of the
internationally acclaimed world fusion
music ensemble Ancient Future, is a bandleader, composer, and multi-instrumentalist
(scalloped fretboard guitar, electric guitar,
flamenco guitar, mandolin, charango, sitar,
and gamelan). He has performed worldwide. p. 11
Deborah Anne Medow, Esalen
workshop leader and bodywork practitioner
since 1969, teaches yoga, massage, creative
movement, awareness practices, and related
healing disciplines throughout the U.S. and
Europe. p. 54, 59
Peter Meyers, founder and director of
the Vector Theater Conservatory in San
Rafael, Calif., received the Golden Bell
Award for outstanding achievement in educational planning. He has directed numerous theater shows and performed on television and film. p. 77
Nan Moss is a faculty member of the
Foundation for Shamanic Studies. As a
shamanic practitioner she teaches workshops on shamanism, and has a shamanic
counseling and healing practice in Maine.
p. 18, 75
Robert Moss is a world-renowned
dream teacher, a shamanic counselor, a novelist, and a former professor of ancient history at the Australian National University.
Among his many books are Dreamgates
and the new Dreamways of the Iroquois.
His website is www.mossdreams.com.
p. 18, 52
N
Judy Pollet Narvid has studied yoga
for 35 years and taught yoga for the last 24.
She is both an Iyengar and Anusara certified teacher and a teacher trainer designate
in the Anusara system. She lives in
Woodland Hills, Calif., where she teaches
public and private classes. p. 32
Mary Nelson, the originator and
founder of LaStone Therapy, Inc., is a
licensed massage therapist with a private
practice in Tucson, Ariz. Her work is
inspired by her metaphysical studies of
Christian and Native American traditions.
p. 17
Michael Newman is an attorneymediator, surfer, and lifelong resident of the
Big Sur coast. He has an MA in psychology
and promotes the integration of wilderness
into contemporary life. p. 47
Wes “Scoop” Nisker is a radio commentator, Buddhist meditation teacher, and
performer who has practiced Buddhist meditation for 30 years. His books include
Essential Crazy Wisdom and The Big
Bang, The Buddha, and the Baby Boom.
He is the founder and coeditor of the
Buddhist journal Inquiring Mind. p. 68
O
Gael Ohlgren met and trained with
Ida Rolf at Esalen in 1968 and ‘69 and later
served on the Rolf Institute faculty. After
studying and practicing Continuum for 25
years she became a Continuum teacher both
at home and internationally. p. 58
Sharon Olds teaches in New York
University’s Graduate Creative Writing
Program and is the New York State Poet
Laureate. She has published many books of
poems, including The Father, The
Wellspring, and, most recently, Blood,
Tin, Straw. p. 55, 56
Kathleen O’Shaughnessy has an
extensive background in bodywork, Soto
Zen, the major psychotherapies, developmental movement, nutritional healing,
shamanic states, and the practicalities of
transpersonal crisis. p. 72
Brita Ostrom, a licensed MFT, has led
massage and other workshops at Esalen for
over 20 years. She is trained in Gestalt
awareness work and participated in Esalen’s
two-year somatics education project. p. 12,
59
P
Lisa Palac is a journalist, editor, producer, and TV and radio host whose work covers a range of topics, including pornography,
high technology, rock ‘n’ roll, religion, and
feminism. Her memoir is titled The Edge
of the Bed: How Dirty Pictures
Changed My Life. p. 24
Laurie Lioness Parizek combines
traditional and innovative ways of healing.
She teaches and practices interactive and
energetic healing and is a longtime teacher
of Esalen bodywork. She also pilots Esalen
Outreach and Education, extending Esalen’s
services to the world. p. 20, 44
83
Laurel Parnell is a clinical psychologist
and author of Transforming Trauma:
EMDR and EMDR in the Treatment of
Adults Abused as Children. She is currently writing her latest book The Art of EMDR:
Eye Movement Desensitization and
Reprocessing in Clinical Practice. p. 30, 33
Johanna Putnoi is a dancer, writer,
and somatics educator who leads workshops
and trainings in Lomi somatics, the movement arts, and the enneagram throughout
the U.S. and in Europe. She has a private
practice in Menlo Park, Calif. p. 61
Donna Dreyer Pérez-Venero
studied the shamanic tradition of the
Hmong hill tribes in Thailand. She is a
transpersonal psychiatrist and serves on the
faculty of the University of Maryland
Medical School. p. 29
R
Richard Yensen Pérez-Venero
studied the shamanic tradition with Carlos
Castaneda and Maria Sabina. A psychologist, he has served on the faculties of
Harvard Medical School and Johns
Hopkins University. p. 29
Aminah Raheem is a transpersonal
psychologist, the originator of Process
Acupressure, an international teacher of
body psychology, and the author of Soul
Return: Integrating Body, Psyche, and
Spirit. p. 51
Shiva Rea has been living yoga for 17
years. She is known for bringing the roots of
yoga alive for modern practitioners through
the integration of movement meditation,
yogic philosophy and art, nature’s vitality,
spontaneous humor, and joy. p. 37
Sondra Perl is a writer and a professor
at the Graduate Center of the City
University of New York. An acclaimed
teacher, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a trainer in the Focusing Network, she has been
leading writing workshops in North
America and Europe for over 20 years. p. 42
Laura Regalbuto, in addition to
being a psychiatric social worker and psychotherapist, teaches yoga, tai chi, and
dance. She leads yoga retreats and seminars.
p. 23
Jane Peterson is a master practitioner
of neurolinguistic programming, a certified
clinical hypnotherapist, and a Ph.D. student
at Fielding Graduate Institute. Involved
with Hellinger’s work since 1998, she has
developed an innovative training program
for constellation facilitators. p. 26
Haydn Reiss is the producer of the
award-winning film Rumi: Poet of the
Heart. Other credits include William
Stafford and Robert Bly: A Literay
Friendship and How Democrats and
Progressives Can Win: Solutions from
George Lakoff. p .64
Maggie Phillips is an expert in the
field of abuse and trauma, and in the treatment of posttraumatic and dissociative disorders. Coauthor of Healing the Divided
Self and author of Finding the Energy to
Heal, Dr. Phillips is director of the California
Institute of Clinical Hypnosis. p. 23
Rhiannon is a gifted singer, composer,
and teacher who has been bringing her
potent blend of jazz, world music, and
improvisation, to audiences for three
decades. She is a founding member of the
innovative a cappella ensembles Voicestra
(with Bobby McFerrin) and SoVoSo. p. 22
Pablo Piekar, a psychotherapist, coach,
and learning and development consultant,
has been on the Esalen staff since 1988. He’s
been practicing bodywork professionally for
15 years, and teaches Esalen Massage in the
U.S., Latin America, and Japan. p. 72
Anita Ribeiro is a psychotherapist and
seminar leader who practices the noninvasive Brazilian body psychotherapy method
Calatonia and Subtle Touch, a merging of
bodywork and Jungian theory. She has been
treating adults, children, and families for
the past 20 years. p. 49
Lavinia Plonka is a certified
Feldenkrais practitioner with 30 years of
experience performing, teaching, and studying movement—from the Guggenheim
Museum to the Nickelodeon television network. Author of What Are You Afraid Of?,
she teaches workshops nationwide. p. 22
David Presti is a neuroscientist and
clinical psychologist who teaches at the
University of California in Berkeley. His
expertise ranges from the treatment of drug
addiction to the use of drugs and plant medicines for healing through ritual and alterations of consciousness. p. 41
Christine Stewart Price is a teacher
and ongoing student of Gestalt Awareness
Practice and other approaches to developing
awareness. p. 49, 51
Jett Psaris, after a career spanning the
heights and depths of the financial world,
started to question every belief she held true.
After completing a Ph.D. in psychology, she
began offering workshops with Marlena
Lyons to other seekers on the path of selfknowledge. p. 23
84
David Richo is a psychotherapist,
teacher, and writer in Santa Barbara and
San Francisco, who emphasizes Jungian,
transpersonal, and spiritual perspectives. He
is the author of When Love Meets Fear,
Shadow Dance, and How To Be An
Adult in Relationships. His website is
www.davericho.com. p. 11
Ana Rios is a clinical psychologist and
supervisor for Calatonia and Subtle Touch
in Sáo Paulo, Brazil. Ana specializes in and
researches psychosomatic disorders, particularly in children, treated with the Subtle
touch method. p. 49
Erik Riswold is an ITP trainer, a certified Leonard Energy Training (LET) trainer, and holds a third-degree black belt in
aikido. He has led numerous weekend and
monthlong workshops at Esalen. p. 11
Barry Robbins is the cofounder of
Community ITP and a certified Leonard
Energy Training (LET) trainer. He has a
25-year background in yoga and is a nationally-ranked athlete who has led numerous
ITP workshops at Esalen. p. 11, 45
Lorin Roche has been in love with
meditation since 1968. His work, Instinctive
Meditation, is set forth in Meditation
24/7, Meditation Secrets for Women,
Meditation Made Easy, Breath Taking,
and Whole Body Meditations. p. 17
Marina Romero is a therapist and
teacher. She is director of Estel, a center of
personal growth in Barcelona, and creator of
Holistic Sexuality. She is the coauthor of
Nacidos de la Tierra: Sexualidad,
Origen del Ser Humano. p. 70
Elizabeth Rosner has taught creative
writing at the college level for 18 years. She
is the author of the award-winning novel
The Speed of Light, and a poetry collection
entitled Gravity. Her website is www.elizabethrosner.com. p. 53
M.J. Ryan is one of the creators of the
Random Acts of Kindness series and the
author of The Power of Patience,
Attitudes of Gratitude, The Giving
Heart, and 365 Health and Happiness
Boosters. Her work utilizes current brain
research to maximize the cultivation of wisdom. p. 65
S
Sharon Salzberg has been teaching
meditation retreats worldwide for almost 30
years. She is the author of Faith: Trusting
Your Own Deepest Experience,
Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art
of Happiness, and A Heart as Wide as
the World. p. 48
Maria Lucia Bittencourt Sauer
has practiced spiritual healing in Brazil and
the U.S. since 1982. She has been a resident
student and teacher at Esalen and conducts
trainings and seminars internationally.
p. 36, 76
Bill Say directs the Community Healing
& Leadership Training in Berkeley, Calif.,
taught at the Core Energetic Institute, and
is faculty at Naropa and JFK universities.
He is a Korean/Japanese American and a
Process Work Diploma candidate. p. 70
Howard Joel Schechter is interested in learning and teaching about emotional and spiritual liberation. He is the author
of Rekindling the Spirit in Work and
Jupiter’s Rings: Balance from the Inside
Out. p. 24, 60
David Schiffman is a longtime group
leader at Esalen. His primary interest is in
facilitating people in transition toward a
more heartful, unstrained existence. p. 16,
30, 39, 42, 57, 76
Meir Schneider, an internationallyknown therapist and educator, is the
founder of the School for Self-Healing in
San Francisco and the author of SelfHealing: My Life and Vision, The
Handbook for Self-Healing, Yoga for
the Eyes, and his latest book, Movement
for Self-Healing. p. 30
Stephen Schuitevoerder is a
Diplomate in Process Work and is on the
faculty of the Process Work Center of
Portland. Trained as a clinical psychologist
in South Africa, he facilitates trainings in
Process Work in the U.S. and internationally. p. 12
Richard Schwartz is a former associate professor in the Department of
Psychiatry, University of Illinois College of
Medicine. He is director of the Center for
Self Leadership in Oak Park, Ill. Author of
six books, he is the developer of the Internal
Family Systems model. p. 10
Maggie Seeley is a facilitator and
business coach who uses the Triple Bottom
Line (people, planet, and profit). She consults with the U.N. and is managing partner of Seeley & Associates, consultants to
organizations. p. 19
Leda Seixas is a clinical psychologist
and teacher of the Calatonia and Subtle
Touch at the Sedes Sapientiae Institute in
São Paulo, Brazil. She is the founder and
has been the editor of the Subtle Touch
Journal Hermes for the past 11 years. p. 49
Paula Shaw, a professional actress and
acting teacher for over 25 years, conducts
workshops in expanding self-expression,
well-being, and creativity for non-actors
across the United States and Canada. p. 19,
51, 75
Jeremy Sherman has spent over 35
years in idea marketing. Former director of
public affairs for the Body Shop, and campaign designer for several big green companies, he has spent the last decade conveying
complex ideas at the cross between Taoism,
evolutionary biology, and decision theory.
p. 62
Leonard Shlain is the chief of laparoscopic surgery at California Pacific Medical
Center in San Francisco. He is also the
author of three national best-selling books:
Art and Physics, The Alphabet Versus
the Goddess, and Sex, Time, and Power.
p. 28
Jason Shulman, spiritual teacher in
the kabbalistic and Buddhist traditions, is
the founder of A Society of Souls, training in
Integrated Kabbalistic Healing, Impersonal
Movement, and the Work of Return. He is
the author of Kabbalistic Healing: A Path
to an Awakened Soul. p. 34
Stephen Sideroff is a clinical psychologist and peak-performance consultant
in Santa Monica, Calif. He is an assistant
professor in the Department of Psychiatry
and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA and
the author of several audiocassette programs
in behavioral medicine. p. 19
Eric Simon is a renowned expert in clinical and medical hypnosis. He has published
extensively on how mental states can
improve clinical outcomes. He has a doctorate in clinical psychology and is certified by
the American Board of Professional
Psychology. p. 21
Michael Sinel is director of Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation, California
Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, Beverly
Hills, and an assistant professor in the
school of medicine at UCLA. He is the coauthor of Win the Battle Against Back Pain
and Back Pain Remedies for Dummies.
p. 19
Michael Skelton teaches dance in Los
Angeles, where he cofounded Fumbling
Toward Ecstasy, a movement class attended
by more than 150 people weekly. He leads
workshops in Australia, Bali, and across the
U.S., and has performed and choreographed
internationally for 15 years. p. 36
Gerald Smith is a licensed psychologist
in private practice in San Mateo, Calif. He
has written two books about relationships,
Couple Therapy and Hidden Meanings.
He has been leading couples groups at
Esalen since 1966. p. 71
Huston Smith, Professor Emeritus of
Philosophy, Syracuse University, is the
country’s preeminent scholar of world religions. Author of The Religions of Man
(republished as The World’s Religions)
and the best-selling Why Religion
Matters, Smith has influenced generations
of seekers. p. 39
Robert Solomon is a professor at the
University of Texas and has been giving
seminars at Esalen for 20 years. He is the
author of many books, including The
Passions and About Love. p. 37
Caryn Spain is internationally known
as a strategic planner, speaker, seminar
leader, and author. She wrote Turning
Your Vision into Action, Chart Your
Own Course: Strategic Planing Tools
for the Business Leader, and Strategic
Insights. p. 69
Patrick Speer is a certified massage
therapist with over 1500 hours of training,
with a specialization in CranioSacral
Therapy. He maintains a private practice in
Chicago and Wichita, Kan., and has taught
at several massage and TCM schools. p. 29
Bob Stahl is the director of mindfulnessbased stress reduction programs at hospitals
in Santa Cruz and the Bay Area. He is a
longtime meditation practitioner who lived
in a Buddhist monastery for over eight
years, and has trained with Dr. Jon KabatZinn. p. 37
Martha Stark is a clinical instructor in
psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and
on the faculty at the Boston Psychoanalytic
Institute. She has authored four books,
including Working with Resistance and
Engagement in Relationship: A
Clinician’s Guide to Psychotherapeutic
Interventions. p. 43
Agapi Stassinopoulos, born and
raised in Athens, Greece, was schooled at
London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Author of Conversations With the
Goddesses and the recent Gods and
Goddesses in Relationship, her onewoman show, Conversations With the
Goddesses, appeared as a PBS special.
p. 62
S.L. Stebel, award-winning screenwriter, playwright, and novelist, has won
wide renown as a story “dowser,” working as
a consultant on novels, plays, and scripts for
the publishing and film industries. He is a
popular teacher at major writers’ conferences
and universities. p. 60
Kat Steele is the founder of the Urban
PermaCulture Guild in Oakland, Calif.
p. 19
David Streeter, a certified sports massage practitioner on the Esalen massage
staff, has taught yoga and anatomy and
worked as an athletic trainer. Before joining
the Esalen faculty, he lived as a Camaldolese
monk. p. 24, 33
Jaqueline Lapa Sussman has
applied the techniques of Eidetic Imagery as
a teacher and counselor for more than 20
years. A world-renowned imagery practitioner, she has trained health-care professionals, CEOs, and athletes, and is the
author of Freedom From Failure and
Images of Desire. p. 46
T
Amaran Tarnoff, a licensed MFT, is
the founder of Results/Support Seminars,
and has been teaching the Inquiry Process
for over 20 years as a professional coach. He
is currently writing a book titled The
Inquiry Process: Learning Together to
Produce Results. p. 34
Dorothy Nell Thomas was
founder/director of The Keys Institute in
Key Largo, Fla., and is also a former coordinator of Esalen’s Work Study Program.
Currently a process facilitator and writer,
she is foremost a lover of truth, even when
the truth “ain’t pretty.” p. 76
Vicki Topp is a senior practitioner and
instructor of Esalen Massage and somatic
bodywork. She teaches workshops and training groups internationally and is a Registered
Movement Therapist and practitioner of
Body-Mind Centering. p. 23, 52, 76
Laurel True is a studio artist in
Oakland, Calif., whose work includes architectural and sculptural mosaics in ceramic
tile, mirror and glass mosaic, mosaic murals,
furniture, fine art, and community projects.
She has studied mosaics in Europe, the
Middle East, and West Africa. p. 31
Lynne Twist is a global activist,
fundraiser, speaker, author, teacher, and
mentor who has devoted her life to service in
support of global sustainability and security,
human rights, economic integrity, and spiritual authenticity. p. 26
U
Daniela Urbassek is a longtime
member of the Esalen massage staff. Her
work is strongly influenced by her studies in
craniosacral work, movement, yoga, and
dance. p. 14, 52
V
Attila Thomas Vaas has been a
member of the Esalen massage staff since
1976. His skills include polarity, acupressure, and Esalen’s free-form style of massage.
p. 44
Nancy VanDerHeide is a psychologist in private practice in Beverly Hills,
Calif. Specializing in growth and change
through relationships, she integrates psychodynamic and mind-body perspectives. She is
on the faculty of Ryokan College and the
Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis.
p. 15
Sietze VanDerHeide is a clinical
psychologist in private practice in Los
Angeles and a faculty member at Ryokan
College. He lectures widely and leads workshops on the process of change and growth
integrating individual psychology with neurobiology, spirituality, and culture. p. 15
Bessel van der Kolk is a clinician,
researcher, and teacher in the area of Post
Traumatic Stress. His book Traumatic
Stress: The Effects of Overwhelming
Experience on Mind, Body, and Society
(coedited with A. McFarlane) is the premier
text on the subject. p. 21
Arnie J. Vargas is a psychoanalytically
trained psychotherapist with a private practice in New York City and Cape May, NJ.
For the past 15 years he has worked with
various populations specializing in the integration of spirituality, sexuality, and psychology. p. 42
John Vasconcellos retired November
30, 2004, as the Dean of the California
Legislature, after representing Silicon Valley
for 38 years—paralleling his 38 years of personal odyssey as a protégé of Jourard,
Maslow, Rogers, May, Heider, Bugentgal,
Satir, and Keleman. p. 56
W
Robert Walter, Joseph Campbell’s editor for a decade, is president of the Joseph
Campbell Foundation and a poet/playwright with several decades of experience as
group leader, teacher, publisher, and theatrical producer/director/designer. p. 37, 38
Tim Waters was introduced to Yoga in
1977 and certified as an Anusara Yoga
teacher in 2001. He spent 1992 in India
where he deepened his meditative and
philosophical practices. He has been a
licensed practitioner of therapeutic massage
and integrative bodywork since 1981. p. 32
Ellen Watson is a teacher/student of
transformational practices including
Gabrielle Roth’s 5Rhythms, Trance Dance,
yoga, and Esalen Massage. She has been at
Esalen since 1984, practicing and teaching
on the massage and Movement Arts staff. Her
website is www.movingventures.com.
p. 31, 33, 75
Hank Wesselman is an anthropologist who conducts research in Ethiopia and
teaches in two colleges in northern
California. He is the author of The
Spiritwalker Trilogy; The Journey to
the Sacred Garden; and (with Jill
Kuykendall) Spirit Medicine. p. 39, 73
Sue Wheeler lives on Lasqueti Island,
British Columbia. She has published two
collections, Solstice on the Anacortes
Ferry and Slow-Moving Target. Her
poetry has won numerous awards. p. 24
Nicholas Wilton has been working
professionally as an artist for over 19 years.
His paintings are exhibited in numerous
galleries and private collections, and have
been featured internationally in magazines,
children’s books, and print and digital
media. p. 27
Anna Wise is an internationally recognized authority on EEG and consciousness.
She is the author of The High-Performance
Mind: Mastering Brainwaves for
Insight, Healing, and Creativity and
Awakening the Mind: A Guide to
Mastering the Power of Your
Brainwaves. p. 25, 47
Ann Sayre Wiseman, author of 13
books on the creative process including
Dreams As Metaphor, The Power of the
Image, and Nightmare Help: A Guide
for Adults from Children, leads workshops in the U.S. and abroad. Her website is
www.annsayrewiseman.com. p. 73
Dale Wright is a professor of religious
studies at Occidental College. He writes
extensively on Buddhism, including
Philosophical Meditations on Zen
Buddhism, and speaks frequently to a wide
variety of audiences. p. 18
Y
Gary Young is executive director of the
Lifetime Achievement Foundation as well
as a nationally produced playwright. He has
almost 20 years of experience with illness
and death issues, and has conducted workshops nationwide since 1969. p. 37
Kathy Young has 15 years of experience
with illness and death issues. A former
schoolteacher who has authored several children’s books, Kathy has traveled extensively
around the world and has worked with
children in Afghanistan and Indonesia.
p. 37
85
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reservation information
Making Contact with Us
General information on Esalen workshops,
massages, Personal Retreats, FAQs, and
other information is available via phone,
e-mail, or by visiting our website. Phone
messages for guests can be left through the
general information voicemail.
General Information: 831-667-3000
Website: http://www.esalen.org
Reservations can now be made online.
E-mail: info@esalen.org
Mailing address: Esalen Institute,
55000 Highway 1, Big Sur, CA 93920
Workshop Reservation Fax: 831-667-2724
Workshop Registration & Reservations
Preregistration for workshops is required
prior to arrival. The most effective way to
register for a workshop at Esalen is to mail,
fax, or e-mail your reservation, making sure
to include a completed reservation form
(available on page 88).
Phone Reservations: 831-667-3005
Our phone lines can be busy at peak times.
For those who have previously taken a
workshop at Esalen, reservation information can be left on our Express
Reservations voicemail.
Express Workshop Reservations:
831-667-3000 ext 7321
Phone Reservation Hours:
Mon–Thurs: 9 am to 7 pm (4 pm-7 pm*)
Friday:
9 am to 5 pm (2 pm-5 pm*)
Saturday:
9 am to 5 pm*
Sunday:
12 noon to 5 pm*
*most opportune hours to phone
Other Reservations (besides workshops):
Preregistration is also necessary for
Personal Retreats, massage, transportation,
and night bathing. Reservations for these
can be made through the general information voicemail: 831-667-3000.
Messages: 831-667-3000 ext 7402
Fees and Accommodations
All workshop fees include:
• Workshop tuition
• Food: Esalen serves a wide variety of food.
Whenever meat is served, a vegetarian and a
vegan option are available. Much of Esalen’s
produce is organically grown on our farm
and picked fresh just hours before mealtime.
• Lodging: Friday and Saturday night
accommodations for weekend workshops;
Sunday through Thursday night
accommodations for 5-day workshops;
Sunday through Saturday night
accommodations for 7-day workshops
86
• 24-hour use of hot mineral-spring bath
facilities, the Arts Center (except when a
workshop is scheduled), meditation Round
House, and the entire Esalen grounds
• Participation in movement classes
scheduled during time on property
• One-year subscription to the Esalen Catalog
Accommodations at Esalen are almost always
shared. Couples will always be housed together.
A variety of accommodation options is possible
with workshop registration. Since some of these
fill more quickly than others, it is advisable to
sign up as early as possible. Please indicate your
second choice for accommodations and workshop in case your initial choice is unavailable.
We cannot guarantee specific room requests.
Mid-Point House: Esalen’s Mid-Point House
is available as an upgraded accommodation
alternative. Nestled behind the Esalen Garden
at the cliff edge, the Mid-Point House is a selfcontained suite with a furnished living room,
full kitchen, and redwood deck overlooking
the Pacific. It can house up to 2 adults and 2
children. The Mid-Point House is available for
workshops or Personal Retreat at $500 per day
(in addition to Own Accomodation fees).
Standard Accommodations:
This is shared housing, two or three persons
per room. In some cases, bathrooms are shared.
Friends Rate
Regular Rate
Weekend
5-Day
7-Day
$545
$595
$1010
$1060
$1605
$1655
Reduced Rate Options
Various rate reduction options are available.
Please request the discount at the time of
registration.
Scholarship: Esalen is able to provide some
scholarship assistance to workshop participants in exchange for a work commitment
(usually in the kitchen). Scholarship is limited to one scholarship per person, per year, to
allow as many guests as possible to benefit.
Approved scholarship recipients will receive
their work schedules upon arrival at Esalen.
Weekend: $50, 4 hrs 5–7 days: $100, 8 hrs
Prepayment: A $10 per workshop discount
is available if payment in full is received at the
time of reservation. Prepayment also allows
for express check-in upon arrival. This discount does not apply to scholarship recipients, sleeping bag or own accommodations, or
the Ongoing Residence Program.
Senior Citizen Discount: A discount is available for workshops only to guests over 65
years of age. Please note, this discount is not
available for the Work Study Program.
Discounts: Weekend: $25; 5 days or longer: $50
Family Accommodations: Two full-paying
adults housed in standard accommodations
may have their children share their room for
a meal charge of $20 per child, $10 per child
under 6. Children enrolled in Gazebo School
Park or an Esalen workshop need to pay additional fees.
Bunk Bed Accommodations:
This is shared housing, four or more persons
per room.
Friends Rate
Regular Rate
Weekend
5-Day
7-Day
$405
$455
$745
$795
$1200
$1250
Weekend
5-Day
7-Day
In order to reserve a space in any workshop, we
require full payment of the following deposits:
Weekend: $150
12-14 day: $400
5-7 day: $300
More than 14 days: $600
Deposits paid by credit card will automatically
have the workshop balance drawn from your
credit card five days before arrival. Deposits
are payable in U.S. currency only; overseas
residents must pay by checks drawn on U.S.
banks or credit cards and are nonrefundable.
$260
$310
$475
$525
$785
$835
Workshop Cancellation Policy: Workshop
Sleeping Bag Accommodations:
Esalen meeting rooms are sometimes used as
shared sleeping bag space. Storage space outside the meeting rooms is available for those
using sleeping bag space when the rooms are
being used for meetings (9 am–11 pm).
Friends Rate
Regular Rate
Own Accommodations:
If you are attending a workshop, and staying
off property, the following rates apply:
Friends Rate
Regular Rate
Workshop Deposit
Weekend
5-Day
7-Day
$320
$370
$580
$630
$950
$1000
Single housing is available on a limited basis
for an additional $70 per day.
cancellations must be made by phone with one
of our reservations staff. If you cancel or
change any part of your reservation at least 5
full days before the start of the workshop(s),
your nonrefundable deposit, less a $50-perworkshop processing fee, will be transferred to
a credit account in your name to be used within 12 months and the balance returned to you.
If you cancel with less than 5 days’ notice, the
entire deposit will be forfeited. If the entire
fee was paid in advance, Esalen will retain the
deposit and return the balance to you. Donations
to the Friends of Esalen are nonrefundable.
Ongoing Residence Program
Offered beginning mid-September and ending mid-June, the Ongoing Residence
Program is designed for those who would like
an intensive workshop program over a long
term. A Residence Program stay is 26 days
(four “weeks” and three weekends).
Participants may select any of the five-day
workshops offered during their stay, with
weekends open to enjoy room and board.
Occasionally workshops are cancelled, so
second choices are advised.
The specially discounted cost is $4225 per 26-day
period for standard accommodations and $3335
for bunk-bed rooms. No other discounts apply.
If you cancel or change any part of your
Residence Program reservation at least five
full days before its start, there will be a $150
cancellation fee. If you cancel with less than
five days’ notice, the cancellation fee is $330.
The Personal Retreat program at Esalen offers
an opportunity for individual education and
personal growth. Classes available to Personal
Retreatants are drawn from movement, yoga,
somatics, dance, meditation, and other areas, as
well as Art Barn facilities, contemplative baths,
and community presentations. Personal Retreatants commonly report experiences of personal
transformation during their stays at Esalen.
The following rates are per person, per day:
High Season (April 1–Sept 30, plus holidays)
Fri/Sat
Sun-Thurs
$180
Check-in/Check-out: Guests are welcome to
arrive at Esalen any time after 2 pm; rooms
become available after 4 pm. Check-out time
is 12 noon on departure day.
In addition to round-the-clock availability for
Esalen guests, the hot springs are open to the
general public, by reservation only, between
1 am and 3 am, for a cost of $20 per person,
payable by credit card only upon reservation.
Reservations can be made at 831-667-3047.
Esalen is located approximately 45 miles from
“civilization.” This isolation and tranquility can
deepen your experience at Esalen yet for many
guests it can be a significant change in environment. We have minimal electronic communications available (there are some pay
phones and terminals available for internet
connection). There is no cell phone service at
Esalen.
Transportation to Esalen
Health Services: Esalen has no medical ser-
Ridesharing: We encourage ridesharing to
vices or pharmacy on site. If you will require
medical attention or supplies during your
stay, please come prepared to administer to
your own needs.
Money: Esalen is able to accept cash, checks,
and credit cards. Please bring sufficient funds
for incidentals as Esalen does not have an
ATM, nor are we able to cash checks.
Smoking: Esalen is a non-smoking community.
Smoking is not permitted in any accommodations, meeting rooms, or other indoor spaces.
Illegal Drugs: In accordance with state and
federal laws, the possession or use of illegal
drugs on Esalen grounds is strictly prohibited.
Camping: To limit the impact on our land,
camping is not available at Esalen. A variety of
campgrounds is available in the Big Sur area.
Pets: Other than animals in service, pets are
not allowed on the property.
Guests as Volunteers: Esalen is a learning
community/organization made up of guests,
students, staff, and volunteers. A variety of
contributions goes toward enhancing this
community. Guests contribute to this in
many ways, including making their beds and
bussing their dishes. Guests are also welcome
to contribute a couple of hours to work with
the Esalen staff, usually in the kitchen. Your
help enables us to meet the pressures of peak
working times and enables you to experience
Esalen from the inside out. Contact the reservations office for further details.
Public Bathing in the Hot Springs
reduce the number of cars on the road and at
Esalen. See the reservation form for ridesharing options.
between Monterey Airport/Monterey Transit
Plaza and Esalen on Fridays and Sundays. The
incoming service departs Monterey Airport at
approximately 4 pm, and arrives at Monterey
Transit Plaza approximately 4:20 pm. Return
service departs Esalen at approximately 5:30
pm. The drive is approximately 1 1/4 hours to
Monterey Airport, so please plan plane flights
accordingly. Van service reservations must be
made with Esalen at least 24 hours prior to
arrival. The $40 one-way fee (subject to
change) is payable to Esalen upon arrival.
Gazebo School Reservations
$110
$105
$150
$120
$95
$90
Reservations for Gazebo School should be
made at least a month in advance. Call the
Gazebo Farmhouse, 831-667-3026, for more
information and reservations.
Weekend: $250
Week: $450
Internship Program: This is a three-month
Personal Retreat Cancellation Policy:
Personal Retreat cancellations must be made
by phone with one of our reservations staff.
If you cancel or change any part of your reservation at least 5 full days before the start of
your personal retreat, you will be charged a
$50 processing fee, per reservation.
If you cancel with less than 5 days’ notice, 50%
of your fee will be forfeited and the balance will
be returned to you.
Workshops: Workshop schedules normally
begin on 8:30 pm on the first evening and end
at 11:30 am on the final day.
For Your Information
$150
Off Season (Oct 1–Mar 31, except holidays)
Standard
Accommodations
(2-3 persons per room)
Bunk Bed (4 or more
persons per room)
Schedules
Many Esalen guests choose to enhance their
experience by receiving a luxurious Esalen
Massage or other bodywork during their stay,
usually provided at our new baths. In addition, other types of sessions may also be available to outside guests. Reservations must be
made and paid for in advance by credit card
through our general information voicemail:
831-667-3000.
Van Service: A van service is available
Personal Retreat Fees
Standard
Accommodations
(2-3 persons per room)
Bunk Bed (4 or more
persons per room)
Massage
program for those who wish to have intense
exposure to life at the Gazebo School Park and
its unique educational resources. The Internship Program offers experience with children,
the Gazebo environment, and its teaching
philosophy. Applicants must have completed
at least three work scholar months at Esalen
before being considered for this program.
Call the Gazebo Farmhouse, 831-667-3026, for
more information or reservations.
1st month: $450; 2nd: $400; 3rd: $350
Recommended Reading and Mail Order
Merchandise: All recommended reading
is available online through our website
www.esalen.org. All other bookstore merchandise is available via mail order. For ordering
information, please call 831-667-3049.
87
S
esalen institute reservation form
and each workshop applied for must accompany this form. (Please see
Reservation Information, page 86, under Fees and Accommodations,
Making Contact with Us, and Cancellation Policy.) Reservations can
This form is for your convenience in reserving a space in Esalen workshops. If you wish to make reservations for more than one person,
please photocopy this form so that each registrant has his/her own
form, unless you are registering as a couple with the same address and
phone number. A nonrefundable deposit for each person registering
now be made online at www.esalen.org.
Name of Registrant___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PLEASE PRINT
Address ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sex: M o F o Couple o
E-mail _____________________________________________________
City ______________________________________________________________________________________
State __________________________________________________
Home Phone ( __________ ) ____________________________________________________________
Work Phone ( __________ )___________________________________________________________________
o Check if you have previously been to Esalen and this is a new address.
Passenger Van Service:
I want transportation from (check one):
o Monterey Airport at approximately 4:00 pm on
Ridesharing: We support ridesharing and hope you will too. If you are driving to
Esalen and willing to give a ride to someone from your area, check here o
Occasionally there are unexpected situations that require us to contact you immediately
before your stay here. If you will not be at the above numbers during the two weeks prior
to the workshop, where may we reach you?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please mark your first and second choices for housing after referring to page 86 for accommodation descriptions and rates. Total cost includes workshop fees, lodging, and meals.
o
o
o
o
Zip _______________________________
Check for standard accommodations, if available.
Check for bunk bed room, if available.
___________________________________________________________________________________
(date of arrival, Fridays and Sundays only).
o Monterey Transit Plaza at approximately 4:20 pm
(corner of Pearl and Alvarado, next to Ordway Drug)
The $40-per-person charge (subject to change) is payable on
arrival at Esalen. Please prepare to arrive at the airport well before
4:00pm so you do not miss our van. Esalen cannot be responsible
for taxi fare or other transportation costs. If your plans for use
of the passenger van service change after you have made
your reservation, please notify us. The only departing van
Check for sleeping bag space, if available.
service from Esalen is on Fridays and Sundays at approximately
5:30 pm. If you plan on taking this van please make sure that your
plane reservations are after 8:00 pm. Passenger van service is not
available at any other time.
Check if you wish to room as a couple.
Write here the name(s) of any person(s) with whom you wish to room.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Other Notes:
All workshop reservations require a nonrefundable deposit. The balance will be
All of our rooms are non-smoking. If you smoke, please plan to
do so outside.
automatically drawn from your credit card five days before your arrival.
Your signature below authorizes Esalen to charge your credit card for the balance.
No pets allowed.
Workshop Date
Leader’s Name
Fee
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Workshop Deposits Enclosed __________________________
Tax-deductible contribution to Friends of Esalen (Optional, see page 4) __________________________
$5 Catalog Contribution (Optional) __________________________
Subtotal __________________________
Total Amount Enclosed __________________________
o
o
o
o
Check here for $10 prepay discount (see page 86).
Check here if this is your first visit to Esalen.
Check here if you need directions to Esalen.
Check here if you are a senior.
o Check here if you do not want your phone number given out
for ridesharing.
Please make checks payable to Esalen Institute, in U.S. currency
only. (There will be a $15 fee for returned checks.) Overseas residents must pay by checks drawn on U.S. banks or with one of the
charge cards below. Checks or credit card information must
accompany the reservations form. Or, you may fax this form to us
at 831-667-2724. If you do so, you must include payment
via one of the credit cards below.
Your reservation can be charged to:
o MasterCard
o Visa
o American Express
Name on Card ____________________________________________________________________
Card No. ____________________________________________________________________________
Expiration Date __________________________________________________________________
Authorizing Signature _________________________________________________________
FOR OFFICE USE ONLY
DATE REC.
RES INITIALS
CIRCLE DEPOSIT
DEPOSIT AMT.
RES. BK
CC AUTH. #
DATE TYPED
TYPED INITIALS
88
Snoring: All of our accommodations are shared. Please come prepared for the possibility of rooming with a snorer.
PP
SCHOL
CC
CK
LIMO
CA
SUS
SENIOR
Thank you for your reservation. As soon as it is processed you will
receive by return mail a receipt for your deposit and a notice of
confirmation. Please review your confirmation for accuracy.
Esalen Institute is a center to encourage work in the
humanities and sciences that promotes human values
and potentials. Its activities consist of public seminars,
residential work-study programs, invitational conferences, research, and semi-autonomous projects.
If you move, please let us know your new
address. It helps us save trees and money.
Esalen Institute
55000 Highway 1
Big Sur, California 93920-9546
Address Service Requested
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage
PA I D
Permit No. 2543
Las Vegas, NV

January 2005 Esalen Catalog

Transcription

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