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

Leading from the Heart

September 1–4, 2023

Dr. Deborah Egerton

Join Dr. Deborah Egerton to learn to lead from the heart and find your place in the great rehabilitation of our humanity through love, light, and connection.

The authentic self rises when we let go of the flawed dualistic mindset — that our feminine energy provides only nurturing support and our masculine energy is strength. Setting aside this binary thinking and these stereotypical roles, we come together to honor and explore the totality of energies that allow us to be our authentic selves.

Through guided exploration, participants will  identify our three centers of intelligence to gain access to and realign with the heart center and step into their true power. Participants will learn to uncover what “gets in the way” of finding compassion for themselves and others when faced with real-life conflict.

Participants will:

  • Explore the Humanity Mosaic as a method for acknowledging, honoring, and celebrating our individual identity and discover how it can reveal our blindspots.
  • Connect in group discussions to experience how actions, behaviors, and beliefs can be the result of unexplored trauma and early influences, and we will find ways to address these root causes.
  • Share experiences that allow us to see when we may be dropping into toxic behaviors and reactions and learn how they can provide a wake-up call to manage our responses to disconnects.
  • Engage in group discussions to uncover what is blocking us from accessing compassion and understanding during conflict or patterns of unconscious judgment, and find ways to lead with the heart when faced with these challenges.
  • Experience a safe and open space to find balance through reflection and strength through vulnerability.

We are faced with divides and disconnects because we have forgotten how to maintain contact with our true hearts. Messages of love and understanding have been replaced with self-preservation, isolation, and judgment — “me and mine” versus “us and ours.”

We will discuss how we have fallen into pre-programmed patterns of responses and explore the “roadblocks” we face in accessing the heart space. The unique approach of finding the root causes of our judgments, biased beliefs, and even inequitable value systems allows participants to apply what they’ve learned to real-world scenarios, take action in their lives, and lead with the heart to reconnect across any divisions.

Recommended Reading: Know Justice Know Peace, by Deborah Threadgill Egerton, Ph.D

Dr. Deborah Egerton

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. 

Full Bio