Dean Ornish is founder and president of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California. He is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and a leading expert on fighting illness with dietary and lifestyle changes.

Deb Norton is an author, story consultant and writing coach. Her book, Part Wild: A Writers Guide to Harnessing the Creative Power of Resistance, helps writers and artists overcome obstacles to finish their most important work.

Debashish Banerji is Haridas Chaudhuri Professor of Indian Philosophy and Culture at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Banerji leads workshops on the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and is the author of Seven Quartets of Becoming: A Transformational Yoga Psychology, based on the diaries of Sri Aurobindo.

Deborah Anne Medow, long-time Esalen workshop leader, yoga instructor, and bodywork practitioner, has spent more than fifty years studying, learning, practicing, and teaching various forms of massage, bodywork, yoga, meditation, movement, and awareness practices, drawing from Eastern and Western traditions.

Deborah Eden Tull, founder of Mindful Living Revolution, is a Zen meditation and mindfulness teacher, author, activist and sustainability educator. She bridges personal awakening with collective transformation. Her latest book is Luminous Darkness: An Engaged Buddhist Approach to Embracing the Unknown.

Deborah Rose Longo has been an instructor of the Gurdjieff Movements for over 40 years, working with groups around the world. Her approach emphasizes the importance of balancing the Three Lines of Work (Work on oneself, Work in the group and Work for the Greater Good), not only in the movements class but also in life.

Debra Artura is a coach and mentor committed to supporting people ready to shed outdated strategies, heal trauma, befriend their feelings and free themselves from the past so they can live open and wholeheartedly in the present and have nourishing intimate relationships. 

Dee Dettmann Ahern, PT, BI-D, CST-D, received her Bachelor of Science degree in physical therapy from the University of Iowa. As a manual physical therapist since 1978, she became interested in CranioSacral Therapy and has studied with Upledger Institute International since 1984. A practitioner of Visceral Manipulation since 1987, Dee became an instructor of that work in 1994, and teaches and speaks internationally for The Barral Institute.

Demetri Velisarius is the co-creator of Prana Danda Yoga and transmits an embodied ritual movement system called Meditation in FlowMotion. His teachings are heart-mind opening and drawn from a colorful life and an extraordinary lineage of Himalayan tantra and Dzogchen meditation masters.

Deva Munay, founder of Sacred Sound & Wonder, has over 25 years of experience in the field of health and wellness. Her passion for the power of sound has been inspired by pilgrimages to India, Central America, Peru, Egypt, Bali, Argentina, and love.

Devarshi Steven Hartman, ERYT, is the founder of the Pranotthan Yoga School and the former dean of the Kripalu School of Yoga. He is the author of two best-selling audio series, The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita and Satori – Simple Secrets to Inner Peace, produced by Nightingale-Conant.

Diane Domondon is a Reiki Master with a private practice in NYC, where she teaches classes and treats clients in Usui Shiki Ryoho, the Usui Method of Natural Healing.

Diane Greenberg, a senior instructor at Charles and Caroline Muir's Source School of Tantra, is a certified tantric educator with more than 15 years' experience. She leads women's empowerment groups and has been a professional bodyworker more than 20 years.

Diane Haug, MA, LPCC, is a licensed therapist with a background in terminal illness, and is senior trainer for Grof Transpersonal Training, for which she developed several training modules. She is adjunct faculty with the California Institute of Integral Studies and Southwestern College.

Diane Hetrick has been studying and practicing in the areas of mind-body healing, mindfulness, meditation, and compassion cultivation for several decades, in order to help people find more ease and well-being in their lives. She is a member of the International Mindfulness Teachers Association.

Didier Sylvain is an executive coach, artist, and facilitator of life alignment. With a background in philanthropy, consulting at Deloitte, and teaching university-level leadership courses, he applies his training in adaptive leadership, psychosomatics, and the healing arts to inspire transformative change.

Ditas Katague is Director of the California Complete Count—Census 2020 Office and an expert in ethnic outreach and civic engagement. She led California's census outreach in 2000, 2010 and 2020 and was at the helm of a successful groundbreaking multi-lingual, multi-media campaign to reach the hardest-to-count Californians. In 2019, Ditas was recognized in the Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 Most Powerful Movers and Shakers in California politics. She also teaches kundalini yoga after discovering it at Esalen in 2012.

Dixie Cox, co-founder of the Fun Institute in Santa Cruz, CA, has been teaching people to re-create themselves through improvisational acting classes since 1993. She performs regularly with the improv troupes Loose Cannon Theater and Crash Test.

Domini is a professional dancer, yogi, and master trainer with 25 years’ experience in Gyrotonic/Gyrokinesis. Her teachings demystify the complex interrelationship between body, mind, spirit and emotions, allowing people to access and free stuck, dormant parts of the body.

Don Hanlon Johnson is a professor at CIIS in San Francisco and the founder of the first graduate degree program in Somatics. He is the author of a body of literature on the intersections among bodily experience, the natural world, spirituality, social justice, and health.

Don Jose Ruiz is the international bestselling author of The Fifth Agreement. As a Toltec Master of Transformation and modern day shaman, he has dedicated his life to sharing the wisdom of the ancient Toltec through his books, lectures, and journeys to sacred sites around the world.

Don Miguel Ruiz Jr. is a Nagual, a Toltec Master of Transformation. He is a direct descendant of the Toltecs of the Eagle Knight lineage and is the son of Don Miguel Ruiz. By combining the wisdom of his family’s traditions with the knowledge gained from his own personal journey, he now helps others realize their own path to personal freedom.

Donna Eden is a renowned, joyous, and authoritative spokespersons for Energy Medicine. Her best-selling, award-winning book, Energy Medicine is available in 18 languages and is a classic in its field.

Donna Spitzer Rengel has been facilitating love, intimacy and sexuality workshops since 1994. Her background includes somatics, movement arts and work as a holistic Lomi Body/Mind practitioner. She developed and leads a workshop for women on expression, movement, and connection.

Donnalea Van Vleet Goelz, PhD, RSMT, RSME, is executive director of Continuum Movement® founded by Emilie Conrad and chair of Continuum Movement Research Initiative, exploring how movement heals.

Founder of Amplified Yoga Donovan McGrath's motivation is to encourage you to Amplify the greatest parts of yourself, using ancient yogic technology, presented in a modern and accessible way. He utilizes Jivamukti, Ashtanga, Anusara, and Kundalini in the Amplified Method, which is fun, cathartic, and swift in its ability to transform a person.

Dori Middleman, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist, collaborated with Esalen faculty member Mariah Gladis for 30 years. Dori co-directs the Pennsylvania Gestalt Center’s workshops and training program, does Gestalt therapy, and enjoys serving people of all backgrounds at clinics in Philadelphia and York, PA.

Dorothy Charles has been a student and teacher at Esalen since 1982. A student of Esalen co-founder Richard Price, she combines Esalen body-centered Gestalt with relational Gestalt theory, and leads workshops in Asia, Europe, and the U.S.

Dorothy Hunt is spiritual director of Moon Mountain Sangha and teaching in the spiritual lineage of Adyashanti. She is the founder of the San Francisco Center for Meditation and Psychotherapy, and is a licensed psychotherapist, practicing since 1967. Dorothy is the author of Only This!

Doug Crandell works at the Institute on Human Development and Disability at the University of Georgia. He received a Pushcart Prize for his essay “Winter Wheat,” published in the January 2015 issue of The Sun.

Doug "Dirt" Greenfield is a co-founding artist of the Banana Slug String Band and plays bass guitar, vocals, harmonica, and percussion. He served as program director for Venture West School of Outdoor Living and Exploring New Horizons, and has designed and led outdoors science camps in Northern California.

Douglas has been a conscious movement facilitator for over 12 years. He is a certified 5Rhythms® teacher. Douglas currently serves as the founder & CEO of the Weaving Waters Collective; an organization dedicated to creating healing and reconciliation centers for living beings.

Deborah Threadgill Egerton, Ph.D. is an Internationally Respected Psychotherapist, Best-selling Author, and Unity & Belonging Advocate for the Healing of Humanity. In her multifaceted roles of Consultant, Coach, Mentor, and Spiritual Teacher she focuses on guiding humanity toward a more compassionate approach engaging inner work by harnessing the insights of the Enneagram. 

Dream Mullick is a teacher, writer, and producer of film and other socially conscious endeavors. Her latest envisioned jewel is entheowheel. Entheowheel weaves ceremony and science bridging ancient and contemporary spiritual teachings inviting in practices for deeper preparation, ceremony, and integration of future psychedelic experiences.

Dulce Murphy has been on the cutting edge of nongovernmental Russian-American relations for over thirty years and has worked for or with Esalen for more than forty years. She is a founder and was a director of the Esalen Institute Soviet American Exchange Program, and became president and executive director of The Russian-American Center in San Francisco, now called TRACK TWO: An Institute for Citizen Diplomacy.

Dustin DiPerna is a Harvard-trained scholar of world religions and adjunct professor at Stanford University. He is a senior teacher of Tibetan meditation. His books include Streams of Wisdom and Evolution's Ally, among others.

Dyrian Benz-Chartrand, PsyD, is a mindfulness and somatic psychology educator. A co-founder of Hakomi, he conducts trainings in Relational Constellations at the Constellation Institute of California. He is a longtime Diamond Approach student and co-author of Love and Belonging: Making Love Successful.

East Forest is an internationally known teacher and composer with millions of listeners. His works and collaborations include Ram Dass, Google, Johns Hopkins, TED, UCSF, and the Yale Psychedelic Science Group, among others.

Edward 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.

Eileen Barker is a forgiveness teacher and author of The Forgiveness Workbook and Forgiveness Meditaton CD. In addition to leading retreats and workshops, she is a forgiveness coach and lawyer/mediator with a private practice in San Rafael, California.

Eileen McKusick is a researcher, author and educator who has been studying the effects of sound on the human body since 1996. She is the author of the best-selling books Tuning the Human Biofield and Electric Body, Electric Health, and the founder of the ground breaking sound therapy practice Biofield Tuning. Eileen’s work and approach helps people connect to and express their full electric potential.

Elana Meta is a dancer, teacher, and creative who explores self-expression and human connection through movement technique and META Method. Elana is the founder and CEO of Wild Vessel, which builds experiences and spaces for the expanding Feminine movement.

Eleanor Criswell Hanna, director of the Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training and an emeritus professor of psychology at Sonoma State University, is editor of Somatics, and author of How Yoga Works and Biofeedback and Somatics.

Elena Brower teaches yoga and meditation, and is the author of Art of Attention, a yoga workbook. She created the audio meditation coursework, Cultivating Spiritual Intelligence, and founded Teach.yoga, a global website for teachers. Her second book, Practice You, was published in 2018.

Elissa Epel, PhD, is a professor at UCSF, author of  New York Times bestseller, The Telomere Effect, and past president of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research. She is an expert on stress and contemplative practices, including mindful eating for optimal metabolic balance.

Eliza Reynolds has co-led workshops with her mother, Sil Reynolds, since she was 15. A graduate of Brown University, she co-authored Mothering & Daughtering and is a certified teen mediator and SOS-trained counselor with Planned Parenthood.

Elizabeth Esalen, PhD, is a psychologist who has a passion for healing, empowerment, bliss and dance. She is the founder and CEO of The Lotus Collaborative, eating disorder treatment centers that celebrate the feminine and offer mind-body-soul transformation in Santa Cruz and San Francisco, Calif.

Ellen Bass is a poet whose work frequently appears in the New Yorker and The Sun. Among her many books are Indigo and the best-selling work The Courage to Heal. A Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, she teaches in Pacific University’s MFA program.

Ellen Emmet is a practicing psychotherapist and facilitator of authentic movement. Her dance-movement therapy and transpersonal psychology background has been deeply influenced by a non-dual understanding. Ellen also offers meetings in the Essence of Yoga, an exploration of the body sourced in the tradition of Kashmir Shivaism.

Ellen Kindl began Harriet Goslins' Cortical Field Reeducation® as an attempt to control chronic pain after a 21-hour surgery to fuse 14 vertebra. It worked, she was certified as a teacher in 2000, and has taught at Esalen and other locations nationally since then.

Ellen Watson fell in love with breath when she first arrived at Esalen in the 1980s. During the ensuing years, studying breath became a focus in all her pursuits. In addition to enhancing self-awareness, breath informs all the practices Ellen teaches at Esalen today. Among these practices are Esalen Massage & Bodywork, 5Rhythms®, Touching Essence, and the Vibrance Collective Practices.

Emile Hassan Dyer is a choir director, vocalist, improvisational performer, percussionist and storyteller. He brings a multicultural perspective to music while using vocal and body percussion, drums, and vocal styles of many cultures. He uses extensive chanting and vocalese in his musical creations.

Emily Cohen is the COO of Bregman Partners, Inc. where she co-runs the coaching business and manages the Bregman Leadership Coaching and Consulting team. Emily received her BA from Brown University and her master’s degree from the University of Georgia.

For the past decade, Emily has spent nearly every summer in the California wilderness as a trail worker and backcountry cook in Yosemite and a monk at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. She brings ten years of formal meditation practice, wilderness-based youth development work, hospice work, and Buddhist chaplaincy to her work as a nature-based psychotherapist.

Emily McDowell is a writer, illustrator, speaker, teacher, creative strategist, and recovering entrepreneur. She’s best-known as founder of the stationery brand Em & Friends, and its signature Empathy Cards for illness and grief. She is currently navigating her own liminal space.

Emily Nagoski, PhD, is the author of Come As You Are: The Surprising New Science that will Transform Your Sex Life and co-author with Amelia Nagoski of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. Her degrees are in health behavior and counseling, with concentrations in human sexuality and women's well-being.

Emily Saliers is one half of GRAMMY-award-winning duo Indigo Girls. Emily released her first full length solo album, Murmuration Nation, in 2017. She is a social and environmental justice activist and has led numerous song writing workshops, loves all kinds of music, and believes that a song can change your life.