Gazing over verdant and budding rows, Head of Farm & Garden Candice Isphording is germinating ideas for next season. “This is the space that healed me, the space that shaped me, and the space that continues to inspire me every day,” she says.
“My vision for the Farm & Garden is to continue creating a beautiful and inspiring space that fosters education, reverence for the Earth, community, healthy food, and medicine,” Candice explains. This means expanding the farm’s medicinal garden with informational signage and expanding its medicinal offerings. She envisions new cobb building projects, bringing back the vermiculture program, and even starting a natural “dye garden,” which could eventually become a tie-dyeing workshop. She would like to support the QTBIPOC Volunteer program so it can continue. Candice is also brainstorming ways to showcase plants that are historically significant for the Esselen Tribe. There is much to be done by all.
It sounds like a lot, and it takes many humans to keep things flourishing and spacious for new growth. Candice is very proud of her crew — Keylei Campbell, James House, Andrew Hansen, Joseph Bradford, Lehla Owens, and Becca Gallagher — and she remains “endlessly grateful” to support the ongoing Farm & Garden legacy alongside them: “My connection to this land and program runs far deeper than duty.”
Fresh out of college, “with a degree in philosophy and religious studies in hand, and a budding interest in organic agriculture,” Candice took off to Hawaii where she scooped ice cream, schlepped musty yoga mats, answered phones, and “whatever needed to pursue my spiritual practices of yoga, meditation, ecstatic dance, and swimming in the Pacific Ocean.” After meeting an Esalen alumnus on the Big Island, she decided to visit: “I was struck by the healing energy of the land, the abundance of the gardens, the majestic baths, the depth of the people, and the unique feeling of a rich community that I longed for.”
Candice relocated to the Big Sur area and visited on day passes for years. By 2010, she was sleeping on a foam bed in a quirky white van — “before #vanlife was cool.” Eventually, after a month on campus as a work-scholar, she attended Dorothy Charles’ Gestalt Practice workshop and received an apprenticeship in the Farm and Garden, which she credits for pulling her through a period of depression.
“I was going through an identity crisis. I’d changed my name to ‘Cadence’ and had long braided extensions down to my butt. It was hard for me to get out of bed in the morning.” However, her work schedule called her out of her van bed and to the Buddha Garden for an early-morning start, “and that was the best thing I had going for me, so I made sure to show up.” Though the work was tough and the conditions could be harsh, she found the land incredibly healing.
“Within two or three weeks, I changed my name back and took out my waist-length braids. I knew who I was, and was beginning to love myself again.” As a life-shifting added bonus, the garden sprouted her a life partner: Voices of Esalen host Sam Stern. (“I’ll never forget the first morning I saw him. 7 am, still practically dark, and there he was stacking up grey harvest bins. Twelve years later, we are happily married, and the rest is history!”)
“I am proud of so many things here!” Candice says. Listing just a few, she starts with the composting program that includes all the kitchen food waste, landscaping waste, and farm and garden waste: “We tend it until it turns back into compost, creating a closed loop and full circle system.” She explains how they hand seed every single plant — “each planted with deep reverence in our homemade potting soil” — and provide food for 120+ people a day on campus and also the greater Big Sur community through The Big Share, a fellow local non-profit that makes healthy food accessible to all.
Today, Candice calls being the caretaker of her favorite place an “honor” that she could “never have imagined” in the early days of her journey. When not hard at work in the soil, she studies other healing modalities. (“I am an Esalen Massage therapist and practice cranial sacral therapy,” she adds.) Still, it is the land at Esalen that she calls “the most steady and nurturing force in my 14 years here.”
“It gives so much beauty, nourishment, medicine, but it also holds me and accepts me however I show up. The land has always been my medicine.”
“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?
Gazing over verdant and budding rows, Head of Farm & Garden Candice Isphording is germinating ideas for next season. “This is the space that healed me, the space that shaped me, and the space that continues to inspire me every day,” she says.
“My vision for the Farm & Garden is to continue creating a beautiful and inspiring space that fosters education, reverence for the Earth, community, healthy food, and medicine,” Candice explains. This means expanding the farm’s medicinal garden with informational signage and expanding its medicinal offerings. She envisions new cobb building projects, bringing back the vermiculture program, and even starting a natural “dye garden,” which could eventually become a tie-dyeing workshop. She would like to support the QTBIPOC Volunteer program so it can continue. Candice is also brainstorming ways to showcase plants that are historically significant for the Esselen Tribe. There is much to be done by all.
It sounds like a lot, and it takes many humans to keep things flourishing and spacious for new growth. Candice is very proud of her crew — Keylei Campbell, James House, Andrew Hansen, Joseph Bradford, Lehla Owens, and Becca Gallagher — and she remains “endlessly grateful” to support the ongoing Farm & Garden legacy alongside them: “My connection to this land and program runs far deeper than duty.”
Fresh out of college, “with a degree in philosophy and religious studies in hand, and a budding interest in organic agriculture,” Candice took off to Hawaii where she scooped ice cream, schlepped musty yoga mats, answered phones, and “whatever needed to pursue my spiritual practices of yoga, meditation, ecstatic dance, and swimming in the Pacific Ocean.” After meeting an Esalen alumnus on the Big Island, she decided to visit: “I was struck by the healing energy of the land, the abundance of the gardens, the majestic baths, the depth of the people, and the unique feeling of a rich community that I longed for.”
Candice relocated to the Big Sur area and visited on day passes for years. By 2010, she was sleeping on a foam bed in a quirky white van — “before #vanlife was cool.” Eventually, after a month on campus as a work-scholar, she attended Dorothy Charles’ Gestalt Practice workshop and received an apprenticeship in the Farm and Garden, which she credits for pulling her through a period of depression.
“I was going through an identity crisis. I’d changed my name to ‘Cadence’ and had long braided extensions down to my butt. It was hard for me to get out of bed in the morning.” However, her work schedule called her out of her van bed and to the Buddha Garden for an early-morning start, “and that was the best thing I had going for me, so I made sure to show up.” Though the work was tough and the conditions could be harsh, she found the land incredibly healing.
“Within two or three weeks, I changed my name back and took out my waist-length braids. I knew who I was, and was beginning to love myself again.” As a life-shifting added bonus, the garden sprouted her a life partner: Voices of Esalen host Sam Stern. (“I’ll never forget the first morning I saw him. 7 am, still practically dark, and there he was stacking up grey harvest bins. Twelve years later, we are happily married, and the rest is history!”)
“I am proud of so many things here!” Candice says. Listing just a few, she starts with the composting program that includes all the kitchen food waste, landscaping waste, and farm and garden waste: “We tend it until it turns back into compost, creating a closed loop and full circle system.” She explains how they hand seed every single plant — “each planted with deep reverence in our homemade potting soil” — and provide food for 120+ people a day on campus and also the greater Big Sur community through The Big Share, a fellow local non-profit that makes healthy food accessible to all.
Today, Candice calls being the caretaker of her favorite place an “honor” that she could “never have imagined” in the early days of her journey. When not hard at work in the soil, she studies other healing modalities. (“I am an Esalen Massage therapist and practice cranial sacral therapy,” she adds.) Still, it is the land at Esalen that she calls “the most steady and nurturing force in my 14 years here.”
“It gives so much beauty, nourishment, medicine, but it also holds me and accepts me however I show up. The land has always been my medicine.”
“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?
Gazing over verdant and budding rows, Head of Farm & Garden Candice Isphording is germinating ideas for next season. “This is the space that healed me, the space that shaped me, and the space that continues to inspire me every day,” she says.
“My vision for the Farm & Garden is to continue creating a beautiful and inspiring space that fosters education, reverence for the Earth, community, healthy food, and medicine,” Candice explains. This means expanding the farm’s medicinal garden with informational signage and expanding its medicinal offerings. She envisions new cobb building projects, bringing back the vermiculture program, and even starting a natural “dye garden,” which could eventually become a tie-dyeing workshop. She would like to support the QTBIPOC Volunteer program so it can continue. Candice is also brainstorming ways to showcase plants that are historically significant for the Esselen Tribe. There is much to be done by all.
It sounds like a lot, and it takes many humans to keep things flourishing and spacious for new growth. Candice is very proud of her crew — Keylei Campbell, James House, Andrew Hansen, Joseph Bradford, Lehla Owens, and Becca Gallagher — and she remains “endlessly grateful” to support the ongoing Farm & Garden legacy alongside them: “My connection to this land and program runs far deeper than duty.”
Fresh out of college, “with a degree in philosophy and religious studies in hand, and a budding interest in organic agriculture,” Candice took off to Hawaii where she scooped ice cream, schlepped musty yoga mats, answered phones, and “whatever needed to pursue my spiritual practices of yoga, meditation, ecstatic dance, and swimming in the Pacific Ocean.” After meeting an Esalen alumnus on the Big Island, she decided to visit: “I was struck by the healing energy of the land, the abundance of the gardens, the majestic baths, the depth of the people, and the unique feeling of a rich community that I longed for.”
Candice relocated to the Big Sur area and visited on day passes for years. By 2010, she was sleeping on a foam bed in a quirky white van — “before #vanlife was cool.” Eventually, after a month on campus as a work-scholar, she attended Dorothy Charles’ Gestalt Practice workshop and received an apprenticeship in the Farm and Garden, which she credits for pulling her through a period of depression.
“I was going through an identity crisis. I’d changed my name to ‘Cadence’ and had long braided extensions down to my butt. It was hard for me to get out of bed in the morning.” However, her work schedule called her out of her van bed and to the Buddha Garden for an early-morning start, “and that was the best thing I had going for me, so I made sure to show up.” Though the work was tough and the conditions could be harsh, she found the land incredibly healing.
“Within two or three weeks, I changed my name back and took out my waist-length braids. I knew who I was, and was beginning to love myself again.” As a life-shifting added bonus, the garden sprouted her a life partner: Voices of Esalen host Sam Stern. (“I’ll never forget the first morning I saw him. 7 am, still practically dark, and there he was stacking up grey harvest bins. Twelve years later, we are happily married, and the rest is history!”)
“I am proud of so many things here!” Candice says. Listing just a few, she starts with the composting program that includes all the kitchen food waste, landscaping waste, and farm and garden waste: “We tend it until it turns back into compost, creating a closed loop and full circle system.” She explains how they hand seed every single plant — “each planted with deep reverence in our homemade potting soil” — and provide food for 120+ people a day on campus and also the greater Big Sur community through The Big Share, a fellow local non-profit that makes healthy food accessible to all.
Today, Candice calls being the caretaker of her favorite place an “honor” that she could “never have imagined” in the early days of her journey. When not hard at work in the soil, she studies other healing modalities. (“I am an Esalen Massage therapist and practice cranial sacral therapy,” she adds.) Still, it is the land at Esalen that she calls “the most steady and nurturing force in my 14 years here.”
“It gives so much beauty, nourishment, medicine, but it also holds me and accepts me however I show up. The land has always been my medicine.”
“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?
Esalen Institute
55000 Highway 1
Big Sur, CA 93920
US: 1-831-667-3000
info@esalen.org
