For the first time, resident faculty members are joining forces, combining lifetimes of expertise and decades of institutional knowledge for a month-long workshop that synthesizes the very "best of Esalen" — a full immersion into our history, current on-campus culture, and some revelatory healing practices developed over the last sixty years.
Whether you spend one weekend, one week, or one month living in community here at the edge of the world, one thing is nearly certain — you’ll leave wondering how to spend more time with us. Diving more deeply into our homegrown practices — leading edge, forever evolving, and recognized worldwide as portals for transformation — will bring you further into the very heart of you. Our newly launched experience, the Esalen Deep Growth Experience (EDGE), is a soulfully reimagined residential study program for changemakers ready to transform from within to affect and effect collective change outside of our Big Sur campus.
What does it mean to reach toward your growing edges? Maybe some discomfort, perhaps quite a bit of vulnerability. Expanding our individual capacity can also feel exciting and exhilarating. There is an activated art to facing what we typically avoid, and it takes self-aware stretching to move beyond our self-imposed limitations.
EDGE is a transformation accelerator. It is designed to help the visionary within each of us unfurl and blossom — to cultivate our potential with group support within the nourishing container that is Esalen. Each individual week of the four weeks is devoted to one of our four programmatic pillars: heart, mind, body, and spirit. These foundations are undergirded by the Esalen community. EDGE programming utilizes breakthrough practices developed at Esalen, including Gestalt process, an array of somatic and embodiment practices, dance, movement, and facilitation experiences rooted in the Esalen ethos to retrieve, fully experience, and with support, articulate the reality of our lived experience. It is only then that we can begin to shape it most consciously.
Esalen is a microcosm of the larger human ecology — Conversations at the hot springs baths plant seeds for deep friendships. Words exchanged over a meal in the Lodge become the foundation for future relationships. Workshop participants develop supportive dynamics typically developed in relationships measured in years. Within the framework of EDGE, the Esalen Effect is amplified for even greater connectedness.
“Remembering to be as self compassionate as I can and praying to the divine that we're all a part of.”
–Aaron
“Prayer, reading, meditation, walking.”
–Karen
“Erratically — which is an ongoing stream of practice to find peace.”
–Charles
“Try on a daily basis to be kind to myself and to realize that making mistakes is a part of the human condition. Learning from our mistakes is a journey. But it starts with compassion and caring. First for oneself.”
–Steve
“Physically: aerobic exercise, volleyball, ice hockey, cycling, sailing. Emotionally: unfortunately I have to work to ‘not care’ about people or situations which may end painfully. Along the lines of ‘attachment is the source of suffering’, so best to avoid it or limit its scope. Sad though because it could also be the source of great joy. Is it worth the risk?“
–Rainer
“It's time for my heart to be nurtured on one level yet contained on another. To go easy on me and to allow my feelings to be validated, not judged harshly. On the other hand, to let the heart rule with equanimity and not lead the mind and body around like a master.”
–Suzanne
“I spend time thinking of everything I am grateful for, and I try to develop my ability to express compassion for myself and others without reservation. I take time to do the things I need to do to keep myself healthy and happy. This includes taking experiential workshops, fostering relationships, and participating within groups which have a similar interest to become a more compassionate and fulfilled being.“
–Peter
“Self-forgiveness for my own judgments. And oh yeah, coming to Esalen.”
–David B.
“Hmm, this is a tough one! I guess I take care of my heart through fostering relationships with people I feel connected to. Spending quality time with them (whether we're on the phone, through messages/letters, on Zoom, or in-person). Being there for them, listening to them, sharing what's going on with me, my struggles and my successes... like we do in the Esalen weekly Friends of Esalen Zoom sessions!”
–Lori
“I remind myself in many ways of the fact that " Love is all there is!" LOVE is the prize and this one precious life is the stage we get to learn our lessons. I get out into nature, hike, camp, river kayak, fly fish, garden, I create, I dance (not enough!), and I remain grateful for each day, each breath, each moment. Being in the moment, awake, and remembering the gift of life and my feeling of gratitude for all of creation.”
–Steven
“My physical heart by limiting stress and eating a heart-healthy diet. My emotional heart by staying in love with the world and by knowing that all disappointment and loss will pass.“
–David Z.
Today, September 29, is World Heart Day. Strike up a conversation with your own heart and as you feel comfortable, encourage others to do the same. As part of our own transformations and self-care, we sometimes ask for others to illuminate and enliven our hearts or speak our love language.
What if we could do this for ourselves too, even if just for today… or to start a heart practice, forever?
EDGE is part of our Live Extended Education Program, led by resident faculty Sadia Bruce, JJ Jeffries, Cara Chandler, and Douglas Drummond.
Join an upcoming EDGE cohort starting August 26 or December 16, 2023.
For the first time, resident faculty members are joining forces, combining lifetimes of expertise and decades of institutional knowledge for a month-long workshop that synthesizes the very "best of Esalen" — a full immersion into our history, current on-campus culture, and some revelatory healing practices developed over the last sixty years.
Whether you spend one weekend, one week, or one month living in community here at the edge of the world, one thing is nearly certain — you’ll leave wondering how to spend more time with us. Diving more deeply into our homegrown practices — leading edge, forever evolving, and recognized worldwide as portals for transformation — will bring you further into the very heart of you. Our newly launched experience, the Esalen Deep Growth Experience (EDGE), is a soulfully reimagined residential study program for changemakers ready to transform from within to affect and effect collective change outside of our Big Sur campus.
What does it mean to reach toward your growing edges? Maybe some discomfort, perhaps quite a bit of vulnerability. Expanding our individual capacity can also feel exciting and exhilarating. There is an activated art to facing what we typically avoid, and it takes self-aware stretching to move beyond our self-imposed limitations.
EDGE is a transformation accelerator. It is designed to help the visionary within each of us unfurl and blossom — to cultivate our potential with group support within the nourishing container that is Esalen. Each individual week of the four weeks is devoted to one of our four programmatic pillars: heart, mind, body, and spirit. These foundations are undergirded by the Esalen community. EDGE programming utilizes breakthrough practices developed at Esalen, including Gestalt process, an array of somatic and embodiment practices, dance, movement, and facilitation experiences rooted in the Esalen ethos to retrieve, fully experience, and with support, articulate the reality of our lived experience. It is only then that we can begin to shape it most consciously.
Esalen is a microcosm of the larger human ecology — Conversations at the hot springs baths plant seeds for deep friendships. Words exchanged over a meal in the Lodge become the foundation for future relationships. Workshop participants develop supportive dynamics typically developed in relationships measured in years. Within the framework of EDGE, the Esalen Effect is amplified for even greater connectedness.
“Remembering to be as self compassionate as I can and praying to the divine that we're all a part of.”
–Aaron
“Prayer, reading, meditation, walking.”
–Karen
“Erratically — which is an ongoing stream of practice to find peace.”
–Charles
“Try on a daily basis to be kind to myself and to realize that making mistakes is a part of the human condition. Learning from our mistakes is a journey. But it starts with compassion and caring. First for oneself.”
–Steve
“Physically: aerobic exercise, volleyball, ice hockey, cycling, sailing. Emotionally: unfortunately I have to work to ‘not care’ about people or situations which may end painfully. Along the lines of ‘attachment is the source of suffering’, so best to avoid it or limit its scope. Sad though because it could also be the source of great joy. Is it worth the risk?“
–Rainer
“It's time for my heart to be nurtured on one level yet contained on another. To go easy on me and to allow my feelings to be validated, not judged harshly. On the other hand, to let the heart rule with equanimity and not lead the mind and body around like a master.”
–Suzanne
“I spend time thinking of everything I am grateful for, and I try to develop my ability to express compassion for myself and others without reservation. I take time to do the things I need to do to keep myself healthy and happy. This includes taking experiential workshops, fostering relationships, and participating within groups which have a similar interest to become a more compassionate and fulfilled being.“
–Peter
“Self-forgiveness for my own judgments. And oh yeah, coming to Esalen.”
–David B.
“Hmm, this is a tough one! I guess I take care of my heart through fostering relationships with people I feel connected to. Spending quality time with them (whether we're on the phone, through messages/letters, on Zoom, or in-person). Being there for them, listening to them, sharing what's going on with me, my struggles and my successes... like we do in the Esalen weekly Friends of Esalen Zoom sessions!”
–Lori
“I remind myself in many ways of the fact that " Love is all there is!" LOVE is the prize and this one precious life is the stage we get to learn our lessons. I get out into nature, hike, camp, river kayak, fly fish, garden, I create, I dance (not enough!), and I remain grateful for each day, each breath, each moment. Being in the moment, awake, and remembering the gift of life and my feeling of gratitude for all of creation.”
–Steven
“My physical heart by limiting stress and eating a heart-healthy diet. My emotional heart by staying in love with the world and by knowing that all disappointment and loss will pass.“
–David Z.
Today, September 29, is World Heart Day. Strike up a conversation with your own heart and as you feel comfortable, encourage others to do the same. As part of our own transformations and self-care, we sometimes ask for others to illuminate and enliven our hearts or speak our love language.
What if we could do this for ourselves too, even if just for today… or to start a heart practice, forever?
EDGE is part of our Live Extended Education Program, led by resident faculty Sadia Bruce, JJ Jeffries, Cara Chandler, and Douglas Drummond.
Join an upcoming EDGE cohort starting August 26 or December 16, 2023.
For the first time, resident faculty members are joining forces, combining lifetimes of expertise and decades of institutional knowledge for a month-long workshop that synthesizes the very "best of Esalen" — a full immersion into our history, current on-campus culture, and some revelatory healing practices developed over the last sixty years.
Whether you spend one weekend, one week, or one month living in community here at the edge of the world, one thing is nearly certain — you’ll leave wondering how to spend more time with us. Diving more deeply into our homegrown practices — leading edge, forever evolving, and recognized worldwide as portals for transformation — will bring you further into the very heart of you. Our newly launched experience, the Esalen Deep Growth Experience (EDGE), is a soulfully reimagined residential study program for changemakers ready to transform from within to affect and effect collective change outside of our Big Sur campus.
What does it mean to reach toward your growing edges? Maybe some discomfort, perhaps quite a bit of vulnerability. Expanding our individual capacity can also feel exciting and exhilarating. There is an activated art to facing what we typically avoid, and it takes self-aware stretching to move beyond our self-imposed limitations.
EDGE is a transformation accelerator. It is designed to help the visionary within each of us unfurl and blossom — to cultivate our potential with group support within the nourishing container that is Esalen. Each individual week of the four weeks is devoted to one of our four programmatic pillars: heart, mind, body, and spirit. These foundations are undergirded by the Esalen community. EDGE programming utilizes breakthrough practices developed at Esalen, including Gestalt process, an array of somatic and embodiment practices, dance, movement, and facilitation experiences rooted in the Esalen ethos to retrieve, fully experience, and with support, articulate the reality of our lived experience. It is only then that we can begin to shape it most consciously.
Esalen is a microcosm of the larger human ecology — Conversations at the hot springs baths plant seeds for deep friendships. Words exchanged over a meal in the Lodge become the foundation for future relationships. Workshop participants develop supportive dynamics typically developed in relationships measured in years. Within the framework of EDGE, the Esalen Effect is amplified for even greater connectedness.
“Remembering to be as self compassionate as I can and praying to the divine that we're all a part of.”
–Aaron
“Prayer, reading, meditation, walking.”
–Karen
“Erratically — which is an ongoing stream of practice to find peace.”
–Charles
“Try on a daily basis to be kind to myself and to realize that making mistakes is a part of the human condition. Learning from our mistakes is a journey. But it starts with compassion and caring. First for oneself.”
–Steve
“Physically: aerobic exercise, volleyball, ice hockey, cycling, sailing. Emotionally: unfortunately I have to work to ‘not care’ about people or situations which may end painfully. Along the lines of ‘attachment is the source of suffering’, so best to avoid it or limit its scope. Sad though because it could also be the source of great joy. Is it worth the risk?“
–Rainer
“It's time for my heart to be nurtured on one level yet contained on another. To go easy on me and to allow my feelings to be validated, not judged harshly. On the other hand, to let the heart rule with equanimity and not lead the mind and body around like a master.”
–Suzanne
“I spend time thinking of everything I am grateful for, and I try to develop my ability to express compassion for myself and others without reservation. I take time to do the things I need to do to keep myself healthy and happy. This includes taking experiential workshops, fostering relationships, and participating within groups which have a similar interest to become a more compassionate and fulfilled being.“
–Peter
“Self-forgiveness for my own judgments. And oh yeah, coming to Esalen.”
–David B.
“Hmm, this is a tough one! I guess I take care of my heart through fostering relationships with people I feel connected to. Spending quality time with them (whether we're on the phone, through messages/letters, on Zoom, or in-person). Being there for them, listening to them, sharing what's going on with me, my struggles and my successes... like we do in the Esalen weekly Friends of Esalen Zoom sessions!”
–Lori
“I remind myself in many ways of the fact that " Love is all there is!" LOVE is the prize and this one precious life is the stage we get to learn our lessons. I get out into nature, hike, camp, river kayak, fly fish, garden, I create, I dance (not enough!), and I remain grateful for each day, each breath, each moment. Being in the moment, awake, and remembering the gift of life and my feeling of gratitude for all of creation.”
–Steven
“My physical heart by limiting stress and eating a heart-healthy diet. My emotional heart by staying in love with the world and by knowing that all disappointment and loss will pass.“
–David Z.
Today, September 29, is World Heart Day. Strike up a conversation with your own heart and as you feel comfortable, encourage others to do the same. As part of our own transformations and self-care, we sometimes ask for others to illuminate and enliven our hearts or speak our love language.
What if we could do this for ourselves too, even if just for today… or to start a heart practice, forever?
EDGE is part of our Live Extended Education Program, led by resident faculty Sadia Bruce, JJ Jeffries, Cara Chandler, and Douglas Drummond.
Join an upcoming EDGE cohort starting August 26 or December 16, 2023.
Esalen Institute
55000 Highway 1
Big Sur, CA 93920
US: 1-831-667-3000
info@esalen.org
