Esalen Institute is open! However, Highway 1 to the south is closed — please review the current travel advisory.
Learn More.

Learn more.

Due to road closures along Highway 1 to our north and south, Esalen is closed through April 11.
Esalen Institute is open! However, Highway 1 to the south is closed — please review the current travel advisory.
past workshop

How We Change and Why We Don't: The Art and Science of Transformation

January 2–6, 2023

Cassandra Vieten and guest faculty Nichol Chase

Have you ever worked hard to make a change, only to find yourself slipping back into old habits? Want to supercharge your ability to stimulate behavior change in others when it comes to the issues you care about the most? Is it time to break free from old patterns and build your next chapter? This workshop is for people in the process of change and those who work as change agents with individuals, groups, and organizations and in society.

Through dialogue, experiential practice, and creative process, we will bridge the science of breakthroughs with indigenous, religious, spiritual, and secular models of transformation. You will:

  • Learn what works and what doesn’t to inspire lasting change in yourself and others.
  • Explore how peak experiences, a-ha! moments and awe can stimulate change.
  • Examine how we and those we work with can get stuck or lost, and find ways to shake free from periods of inertia or patterns that prevent us from moving forward.
  • Investigate the transformative potential of pain, hitting bottom, and post-traumatic growth.
  • Delve into stories, symbols, and metaphors of transformation to guide your path.

Join us for this transformational exploration of our most deeply entrenched behaviors. Learn how to break free from the patterns that no longer serve you — and create new habits that will change your life.

Additional embodiment practices will be provided by guest faculty member Nichol Chase. Nichol’s yoga practice is informed by a vast and eclectic set of influences that blend invigorating flow with precise and insightful instruction and extensive study with a variety of innovative teachers. She is a Garrison Institute Fellow and a faculty member and teacher trainer for The Mazé Method.

Recommended reading: Schlitz, Vieten and Amorok, Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life.

Cassandra Vieten

Cassandra Vieten, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, mind-body medicine researcher, author, consultant, and public speaker. She is a clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine's Centers for Integrative Health at the University of California, San Diego, where she serves as the director of the Center for Mindfulness and as Director of Research at the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination. Cassi is also co-founder and Clinical Psychology Director at the Psychedelics and Health Research Initiative at UCSD, Senior Advisor of the John W. Brick Mental Health Foundation, and Senior Fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), where she worked for 18 years. She served as CEO/President from 2013-2016.

Full Bio