From her experience as a psychologist and social activist, Lorenia Parada Ampudia offers different mindful awareness practices as basic tools for learning about our body-mind relationships for self-discovery, self-regulation, and self-leadership. Identifying and finding clarity in understanding the context and dynamics of our own birth, early relationships with caregivers, and our body expression language are of great support for any transformation toward cultivating a healthy mind, healthy sexuality, and embodied harmonious relationships.

Lorenzo Cohen is professor and director of the Integrative Medicine Program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Cohen conducts research examining the biobehavioral effects of programs aimed at reducing the negative aspects of cancer treatment and improving quality of life and clinical outcomes.

Lori A. Lewis is certified by the Esalen Massage® and Bodywork Association as a 500-hour massage practitioner, and is an authorized Deep Bodywork® teacher. She lives in Santa Barbara, where she is also a hospice volunteer using bodywork as palliative care.

Lori Schwanbeck weaves her passion for nature into her work as a mindfulness teacher, retreat leader, and Hakomi certified psychotherapist. She is a senior teacher and program developer with the Google-born program “Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute”, where she teaches mindfulness-based emotional intelligence programs internationally. Her current project is called “Re-wilding our Feminine Nature” where she integrates embodied, relational, and presence-based practices to rekindle vitality, joy, and awe through immersion in nature.

Lorie Eve Dechar is the author of Five Spirits: Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing. Her work as an alchemical healer is supported by 30 years of Chinese medical practice and extensive training in Jungian and Gestalt psychotherapy and Focusing-oriented psychotherapy.

Louie Schwartzberg is an award-winning producer, director and cinematographer known for his breathtaking imagery for feature films, television shows, documentaries, and commercials using his time-lapse, high-speed and macro cinematography techniques. Louie’s uplifting stories celebrate life and reveal the mysteries and wisdom of nature, people and places.

Lucia Horan was born and raised in the Esalen community. She is a leader, wife, and mother. She has been teaching since 1998. Lucia received lifelong direct training with Gabrielle Roth in the 5Rhythms® method. She is formally empowered to teach Buddhist mindfulness in all capacities. She is a certified Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness teacher. 

Lucy Caldwell is a social psychologist, master facilitator, and thought leader. She is passionate about awakening humanity’s potential to usher forth a more compassionate, inclusive, and regenerative world.

LuviaJane Swanson D.C., CST-D is a certified CranioSacral Therapy 1 and 2 instructor and mentor for the Upledger Institute International. Her background in massage and chiropractic has shaped her approach to manual therapy, which is both energy-based and deeply rooted in body mechanics and structure.

Lynda Richtsmeier Cyr, PhD, is an integrative clinical psychologist and associate clinical director at the Center for Mind-Body Medicine.

Lynell George is a reporter/writer based in Los Angeles, who tells the city's story one sentence at a time. Her latest book, After/Image: Los Angeles Outside the Frame is a collection of essays and photographs exploring Los Angeles' ever-shifting terrain.

MC YOGI is a recording artist, award winning author, and yoga teacher. He's taught yoga and performed across the globe including headlining at Wanderlust festivals in over 30 US cities as well as Canada, Mexico, Japan, China and Korea. His unique style of music and teaching is joy filled and spiritually up lifting. His first three records were all #1 on the iTunes world music charts and his fifth album, Ritual Mystical, reached #1 on apple electronic music. In 2017 HarperOne published his memoir, Spiritual Graffiti which tells the story of his early years as a juvenile delinquent, living at a group home for at risk boys, to discovering yoga and launching his career as MC YOGI which would eventually lead to sharing yoga and music on the world stage including the Forbidden City in China and at the White House. When he is not on tour, MC YOGI teaches at his home studio Point Reyes Yoga, which he founded with his wife Amanda in 2001. For more information please visit mcyogi.com

MaMuse is a decade-long musical collaboration between Sarah Nutting and Karisha Longaker that stirs an ancient remembering of kinship within the family of all beings. With five albums and total commitment to kindness, MaMuse is magical, whimsical, and sublime.

Mac Murphy is a practitioner of Esalen Massage & Bodywork and Human Transformation, and he guides students in harnessing their innate power. Mac teaches a variety of breathwork practices, including Daoist Qi Gong, Tumo breathwork, Kundalini, and Pranayama

Machiel Klerk is author of Dream Guidance: Connecting to the Soul Through Dream Incubation (Hay House). He is founder of the Jung Platform, a website that offers online courses on psychological and spiritual perspectives, which was created as a result of a dream.

Maddie Lam is a body-based practitioner and somatic activist who focuses on using practices of embodiment as liberation to answer the question: how do we all get free? Using yoga and meditation as pathways to deeper self-exploration, Maddie creates spaces for joy, self-intimacy, and connection to the greater collective.

Margaret Gill, CST-D, MCSS, is certified with the Upledger Institute as a CranioSacral Diplomate therapist and as a teacher for CranioSacral Therapy 1 and 2 and SomatoEmotional Release 1 and 2. Her main practice is in Brighton (UK), and she travels regularly to Cyprus where she treats clients. She is on the board of directors of the CranioSacral Society.

Maggie Wheeler is internationally known for her acting work, most notably as Janice on “Friends.” Co-director of the Golden Bridge Community Choir, Maggie is a singer-songwriter, speaker, and teaches her vocal workshop, Singing In The Stream, in the U.S. and abroad.

Malachi Stone applies his sixteen years of Esalen-based studies in human potential to massage class. “Presence and patience lie at the core of my work.” A long-time surfer, he translates the wisdom he gathers from the ocean into his teaching.

Through mindfulness and meditation, Manoj has helped thousands of people around the globe trade mania for pause, so they can live fearlessly in honor of a happier, more meaningful life. He is a co-founder of Open, a modern mindfulness studio merging technology, culture, cinematography, and proven practices to create community and presence.

Manuela Mischke-Reeds is the Chief Mental Health Officer at Abroad, a trauma expert, and an international somatic psychology and mindfulness educator with 25 years of experience. She is also a bestselling author and the founder of the Hakomi Institute of California and Embodywise. 

Mara Abrams is the co-founder and co-director of Census Open Innovation Labs (COIL). She mobilizes industries, communities, and a diversity of influential people to create change within and outside some of the most complex institutions and environments in the world. In addition to her current role with COIL at the U.S. Census Bureau, she is also a writer, speaker, design-thinking workshop facilitator, and world traveler.

Marc Bregman is the founder of Archetypal Dreamwork, cofounder of North of Eden, and a master teacher at the Center for Archetypal Dreamwork. His books include Flesh Off the Bone: Dream Descent through Past Life Trauma and Sex, Trauma and Conjunctio.

Marc Freedman, president, CEO and founder of Encore.org, is a renowned social entrepreneur, thought leader and writer. Under Marc’s leadership, Encore.org has pioneered innovative programs and sparked a growing movement in the U.S. and beyond to tap the talent and experience of people past midlife as a human resource for solving our most vexing social problems.

Marc Lesser is CEO of Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute. He was a resident of the San Francisco Zen Center and former director of Tassajara, Zen Mountain Center. He is the author of Know Yourself, Forget Yourself, and Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader.

Marcela Lobos, MA, has been initiated in the healing traditions of the Amazon and the Andes. She was born and raised in Chile, where she worked with shamans that belong to a matriarchal society that holds the wisdom of the feminine and the passion of Mother Earth.

Marci Graham is a facilitator for the Human Awareness Institute and has been teaching to its mission for nearly 20 years. She has a 30-year history of soul searching and personal transformation through movement, painting, writing, sculpting and bodywork. Her journey in Continuum Movement has illuminated the power of inquiry and embodiment as essential to personal growth.

Marcia Baczynski is a coach, educator and facilitator, focusing on sexual communication, boundaries, consent, and desire. Marcia is the co-author of Creating Consent Culture: A Handbook for Educators and teaching faculty at the School of Consent and Shakti Shiva Academy.

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Margaret Cullen, MFT, was a co-developer of Compassion Cultivation Training and is currently a senior teacher at the Center for Compassion, Research and Education at Stanford University and founding faculty at the Compassion Institute. She has been a meditation practitioner for almost 40 years, was one of the first ten people to be certified as an Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction instructor and has taught worldwide.

Margaret Harrsen is a spiritual healer and teacher. Her work covers the disciplines of traditional shamanic medicine, meditation, and biodynamic craniosacral therapy. Mar’s practice of the subtle healing arts is distinctly rooted in her study of nature (form) and spirituality (emptiness). She supports the well-being of humans and our shared earth.

Margot Anand is a leading authority on integrating spirituality and sexuality. She is a best-selling author, much-beloved teacher, and founder of SkyDancing Tantra®. She has taught with Deepak Chopra and Tony Robbins, and has appeared on national and international TV and radio.

Dr. Maria Ramos is a meditation coach and physician. She found meditation a decade ago, after the sudden loss of her partner of 13 years. Grief was the doorway into a renewed connection to herself and to all of life. Maria works with healthcare professionals and has a gift for making meditation as accessible as a cup of coffee.

As Lead SoulCollage® trainer and founder of the School Of The Origins, inspired by the intelligence of nature, indigenous wisdom, perennial philosophy, and Jungian psychology, Mariabruna facilitates programs and rituals internationally, inviting creativity at the service of freedom and change.

Marian Goodell is CEO of the Burning Man Project and leads the nonprofit’s efforts to extend the Burning Man ethos globally. She provides strategic direction and leadership to Burning Man’s global network, including 100+ year-round employees, 270+ representatives in 39 countries, and an annual operating budget of $40M.

Marion VanNamen became a songleader after careers in music therapy, education and marketing. She's a pioneer, entrepreneur, instrument maker, African drummer, cellist and pianist. Marion leads Sing Portland! (200 members) and teaches vocal improv. She studied with Rhiannon & Bobby McFerrin.

Radha is driven to understand what it means to be human, what is the nature of reality and what is God. Her classes and offerings aim to create a state of union within oneself for a felt sense of the ineffable.

Dr. Mark Abramson is the founder of Stanford University Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program. He teaches at Stanford, conducts programs in mindfulness for corporations, and has a private dental practice.

Mark Coleman is a Buddhist meditation teacher who has been teaching insight meditation for 20 years. He is author of Awake in the Wild, From Suffering to Peace, and Make Peace with Your Mind, and leads nature-based meditation retreats and mindfulness teacher trainings in the U.S. and Europe.

Mark Fairfield, LCSW, BCD, is executive director of The Relational Center. Formerly the clinical director for Common Ground in Santa Monica, California, he has a private practice coaching and consulting for a wide range of clients. Mark has presented and trained internationally and has published in journals and books.

Mark Hyman, MD, is a family physician, ten-time #1 New York Times bestselling author, and internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate. He is director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, and founder of The UltraWellness Center.

Mark Matousek is a best-selling author, teacher, and speaker. His work focuses on personal awakening and creative excellence through transformational writing and self-inquiry. His workshops, classes, and mentoring have inspired thousands of people around the world to reach their artistic and personal goals.

Mark Nicolson is an executive coach in Silicon Valley. He helps visionary entrepreneurs, cultural leaders, and catalysts for social change to move through upper limits and find their zone of genius.

Mark Putnam, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist and has been leading workshops and gestalt trainings at the Pennsylvania Gestalt Center for over 30 years. Mark teaches Gestalt Breath, Body, and Movement, a workshop designed to deepen your awareness and integration of body and heart.

Mark Stevens is a professor and psychologist at California State University, Northridge. He is a featured therapist in the APA video series of counseling and psychotherapy with men. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and past President of Division 51, the Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity.

Mark Watts is the son of philosopher Alan Watts. He is a filmmaker and archivist, and currently is growing the Alan Watts Mountain Center in Pt. Reyes, north of San Francisco, California.

Marla Apt is a senior-level Iyengar yoga teacher who leads workshops and teacher trainings throughout the U.S. and abroad. Marla has studied with BKS Iyengar and his family in India for more than 20 years and has been involved with medical research on yoga at UCLA.

Marlon A. Guarino's unique approach to healing is deeply rooted in the mind-body-spirit-nature connection. He facilitates resolving issues using body-mind-spirit centered (somatic) experiential psychotherapies and integrating contemplative traditions and Indigenous practices. 

Marlon Williams joined Living Cities in February 2017 as the assistant director of Public Sector Innovation. Marlon’s career has focused on improving the economic, social and physical well-being of all urban residents with particular emphasis on increasing access and opportunity for low-income families and communities of color. Marlon previously served as director of Cross Agency Partnership for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where he worked with city agencies to identify opportunities for various city programs, policies and planning processes to maximize the potential to improve the health of local residents. His previous work has created impact through the creation of innovative new programs and policies including the Jobs-Plus workforce development program for public housing residents of New York City and financial empowerment programs and policies for the United Way of NYC. He also served as a policy adviser for the Deputy Mayor of New York City, focused on housing, economic empowerment and aging.

Dr. Marques Redd is a traditional African cosmologist, independent scholar, filmmaker, sculptor, and art curator based in Pittsburgh, PA. He has degrees from Harvard and UC-Berkeley and has trained in Afro-Cuban, ancient Egyptian, Yoruba, Dogon, Igbo, and Dagara spiritual systems.

Marques Wyatt is a seminal pioneer and one of the most respected DJs in the United States. A West Coast legend and founder of the long running (20 years) institution for dance music, DEEP-LA, Marques' selections are sure to stir up some emotions and are known to turn huge dance floors into intimate rituals.

Marsha Rosenbaum is director emerita of the Drug Policy Alliance in San Francisco where she founded the Safety First drug education project. She was principal investigator on several NIDA-funded studies and author of numerous books and articles about drug policy.

A truly gifted teacher, Marti is known for motivating her students through her own passion. She is certified in Yoga and the Pilates Method and has worked in the wellness community for the past 18 years; she teaches from a deep understanding of movement dynamics and the body. Using unique modifications and variations to the classic repertoire, her sessions encourage focus and concentration. She desires to create space for greater depth, awareness, and overall wellbeing in one’s practice.

Martin Fisher, BSc, co-founder of 9 Energies, teaches and guides, while utilizing his extensive technical expertise for research and continued understanding of the 9 Physiologies. He is a trained pilot with 40 years in the high-tech industry.

Martin A. Lee is the director of Project CBD and the author of several books including Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD - the CIA, the Sixties and Beyond, and Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana - Medical, Recreational and Scientific.

Martine Amita Algier is a certified trainer with The Center for Nonviolent Communication and a founding member of the West Marin Community Mediation Board, teaching and consulting with families, business groups, schools, and other organizations in California and Europe since the 1960s.

Mary Ann Kraus, PsyD, is a clinical/community psychologist and faculty member at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland. She has co-created and co-chaired training programs in Working with Individuals, Working with Couples, Working with Groups, and the introductory Gestalt Training Program.

Mary Elizabeth Murphy is an expert at creating innovative grassroots campaigns for independent films that target niche markets. She has worked on the Academy Award®-winning film The Cove, and other indie hits such as Pina, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Buck, and The Way.