Since time immemorial, we humans have been curious and have thought deeply about altering our state of consciousness.
In this weeklong campus-wide program — together with Sravana Borkataky-Varma, Xotchitl Ashe, East Forest, Lucia Horan and Esalen in-residence faculty — we will explore and experience how, through an amalgam of pathways, altering our states of consciousness can shift personal and global challenges into individual and collective opportunities.
Moving the body through dance, calming and focusing the mind through meditation, uniting the mind and body through yoga can be just as effective a way to alter one’s consciousness as the more familiar exploration through mind-altering plants. Within the majesty of Mother Nature, people have long-documented the magnitude of their experiences in the natural world as creating transformative pathways to entering a trance state.
The arts are also a potent pathway into this space — a poem, a painting, a film, a piece of music can carry the consciousness shifting electricity that leads us toward a mystical experience. Esalen co-founder Michael Murphy, for example, brought his mystical experience through sport to life through his novel, Golf in the Kingdom.
Through these lenses, Esalen Institute is curating a wide array of conventional and non-conventional approaches to reaching an altered state. Indeed, we will dive deep into conversation about entheogens, and in community experience the potency of cacao in sacred ceremony. Together we will immerse in these equally potent and sacred modalities. Please note that other than the cacao ceremony, no other plants or substances will be offered for ingestion.
For many, altered states are perceived to be limited singularly to entheogens and psychoactive substances. The conscious and unconscious reality? There are many different substance and plant-free pathways to reaching and immersing into altered states. Come explore with us through dance, breath, work, meditation, yoga, the arts and music, to journey on your own consciousness adventure.
Prof. Sravana Borkataky-Varma specializes in South Asian religions, with a particular emphasis on Hindu practices. Her scholarly work investigates Indian religions and delves into topics such as esoteric rituals, gender issues, and bodily concepts, especially in relation to Hindu Śākta Tantra traditions, often referred to as Goddess Tantra.
Lucia Horan was born in 1976 on the sacred land of Esalen in Big Sur. She was raised in the Esalen community and taught the practices that were developed by those who came before her. She was certified as an Esalen® Massage practitioner in 1994. She became a Hatha & Ashtanga yoga teacher in 1997. Lucia received lifelong direct training with Gabrielle Roth in the 5Rhythms® moving meditation practice and has been teaching 5Rhythms since 1998. She also has a BA from Goddard College with a major in expressive art therapy.
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.
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.
Esalen Institute
55000 Highway 1
Big Sur, CA 93920
US: 1-831-667-3000
info@esalen.org