Inspired by 20th-century French writer Marcel Proust, we here at Esalen have created our own version of his favorite parlor game to dig just a little deeper — and differently — into our incredible faculty and staff.
“Kids are very authentic and silly. They just get me,” says author and educator Jasmine Star Horan. The daughter of beloved legacy Esalen Massage facilitator Peggy Horan returns to her very first home — Esalen, where she was born — this summer to continue her family’s legacy and lead Generative Resourcing for Wonder and Wisdom: Caretaking the Next Generation. “It is for parents, educators, or any caregivers of children to renew, reflect, heal, reset, and experience alternative ways of working with children,” explains Jasmine. She shares her thoughts on Gestalt, the Gazebo Learning Project, looking past the good guy/bad guy model, and following the words of Baba Hari Das: “Work honestly, meditate every day, meet people without fear, and play.”
What is Esalen to you?
Esalen is home. I was born at home in the Jade house on a new moon, with a meteor shower in the sky to my hippie parents and into the hands of a midwife who saved my life just a few moments before it began.
What do you do/are you doing at Esalen?
I have worked at Esalen as a massage practitioner and early childhood educator at Gazebo and Big Sur Park School. I have facilitated movement classes as well as day-long writing conferences for my book project. Now, I am honored to follow in the footsteps of my family in teaching workshops in service to healing and deep connection at this inspiring, beautiful, and sacred place. I have been privileged to witness how my family — Peggy Horan, Lucia Horan Drummond, and Douglas Drummond, as well as Gabrielle Roth and Jonathan Horan — has held sacred space for others at Esalen as workshop leaders.
.Now, I am delighted that I will be leading my first workshop this summer called Generative Resourcing for Wonder and Wisdom: Caretaking the Next Generation. It is for parents, educators, or any caregivers of children to renew, reflect, heal, reset, and experience alternative ways of working with children. We will also explore some of the concepts from my book Gazebo Learning Project: A Legacy of Experiential and Experimental Early Childhood Education at Esalen.
Currently, I also come to the property as a consultant and offer professional development to Big Sur Park School, a non-profit that operates on the magical grounds of Esalen. I also enjoy working as a substitute teacher a few days in the summer to touch in with what is happening at the school, which holds a lot of the soul of Esalen for me personally.
What is your idea of perfect happiness??
I don’t believe it is the human condition to be happy all of the time. In Gestalt practice, we learn to really experience and be present with a wide range of emotions. It is a gift to be able to practice presence with emotions. Perhaps from developing a meditation practice, I feel more peaceful and less disturbed by my emotions. For my baseline, I choose to focus on the concept of contentment. I live my life with the intention of balance. So, I try allowing what is to be, and staying present with it no matter what it is, and sometimes I can be settled, peaceful, and content. I feel a lot of contentment in the solitude of nature and I experience a lot of wonder for life. I also experience a lot of joy in water, rivers, creeks, and in the ocean, and I feel very alive in water.
Which living or dead person do you most admire in your field?
Janet Lederman was a pioneer in education. She founded Gazebo Learning Project, which became Gazebo Park School, which later morphed into Big Sur Park School. She brought Gestalt to early education and placed the school in nature. The Gazebo Park is on the south side of Esalen, a place where children can be free and experience many things that in a classroom would not be possible. Lederman was also very brave in expressing who she was, however unpopular it may have been at the time, and was a fierce protector of children and families.
What is your greatest extravagance related to your practice?
Spending more time in silence or fasting in meditation on retreat in the past few years. I am not sure if I would call it extravagant, but I have to leave my life as a householder, and taking that time for myself can be hard.
What is your current state of mind?
I really crave a lot of quiet and stillness. I am in a space where I just want things to be simple.
What is the quality you most like in a human?
I really respect humility. There is a saying I like that goes: “Those you say don’t know, and those who know don’t say.” I grew up with a lot of self-proclaimed healers and shamans. Many of them were and are very spiritual people with true gifts. There are also people who advertise their spirituality and collect material wealth or even spiritual practices as objects for the purpose of the ego. This is not a teacher who I want to study with.
What about your work brings you the most happiness?
Children are hysterical and brutally honest. I have so much fun making up songs and games, joking around, and having dance parties. I really love my work with young children. I also really love to laugh and kids keep cracking up all day. Kids are very authentic and silly. They just get me. We can have conversations like, “I am the moon, I am the sun, I am the stars,” and it all makes sense in the moment.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My daughter is the gem of my world. She shines in her own unique ways and I do everything I can to support and guide her.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Dolphins or otters have the most fun in the water, but I would also love to fly, so a hawk or eagle would be magic, too.
What would living at Esalen for a month be like for you?
Long-term Esalen life would probably be pretty challenging for me. While I love the land at Esalen, I am actually an introvert and really like my alone time. I find it hard to relate to so many people, especially first thing in the morning. There is also a lot of depth in the conversations, and I think, for me, being there in the deep waters would require good boundaries around the time and space one has to enter into those conversations.
What is your most treasured possession?
My feather collection. I have been collecting feathers of wild birds since I was a child. I love birds because they teach us so much about the natural world. They are also very wise teachers to children, teaching about listening, about stillness and inner peace. I believe that birds are a gateway to teaching mindfulness and meditation to children, and they love it.
How do you maintain your practice(s) during challenging times?
These are the times it is most helpful to me and I feel the work of daily Sadhana pays off. I follow the yoga of Baba Hari Das, a silent monk from India. He shared, “Work honestly, meditate every day, meet people without fear and play.” I like this idea that even a little bit of practice, each day or regularly, helps us grow. So, with meditation, I do it when I wake up in the morning right after I brush my teeth. The more I do it, the more I begin to apply the principles in my life when I am not in formal meditation, which allows me to be more resilient with life, death, and change.
What is your favorite component of your work?
Being with children keeps me present. Working as a teacher of young children, I have to be present and aware of many things at once. This keeps me out of my head and my own problems and allows me to be in the moment. I feel like children are closer to the source. They still have so much wonder and curiosity. They are honest and brave. It is all very raw with young children, and so there is no hiding from the truth. They are little mirrors for us grown-ups, too, and can help us reflect on our own healing and growth.
Who is your hero of fiction?
I have an aversion to the superhero rhetoric that comes with education and children. I think there is a way it undermines our humanity. I value the diversity within our learning communities. For me, that means rewarding everyone, not just those with leadership skills. Everyone deserves to have their voice heard or their gifts honored, and it takes a nuanced perception of humanity to build equity in our world. So, while I see the value in archetypes, I believe it takes more than the polarized good guy/bad guy model that many industries capitalize on.
Who are your heroes in real life?
My mom is really an amazing person. She is very compassionate. She taught me to bring soup if someone is sick, hold the hand of a sad person, to listen and love and give strength to others. She also showed me, in the most loving of ways, how powerful touch is. As a woman who has touched thousands of bodies with her one-of-a-kind Esalen massage. There is nothing quite like my mama’s touch.
How would you like to die?
I think a shark attack or mountain lion attack would be a pretty awesome way to go. Keep the cycle of life going, and maybe, as an organ donor, my death can help someone else besides the lions and shark!
“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?
Inspired by 20th-century French writer Marcel Proust, we here at Esalen have created our own version of his favorite parlor game to dig just a little deeper — and differently — into our incredible faculty and staff.
“Kids are very authentic and silly. They just get me,” says author and educator Jasmine Star Horan. The daughter of beloved legacy Esalen Massage facilitator Peggy Horan returns to her very first home — Esalen, where she was born — this summer to continue her family’s legacy and lead Generative Resourcing for Wonder and Wisdom: Caretaking the Next Generation. “It is for parents, educators, or any caregivers of children to renew, reflect, heal, reset, and experience alternative ways of working with children,” explains Jasmine. She shares her thoughts on Gestalt, the Gazebo Learning Project, looking past the good guy/bad guy model, and following the words of Baba Hari Das: “Work honestly, meditate every day, meet people without fear, and play.”
What is Esalen to you?
Esalen is home. I was born at home in the Jade house on a new moon, with a meteor shower in the sky to my hippie parents and into the hands of a midwife who saved my life just a few moments before it began.
What do you do/are you doing at Esalen?
I have worked at Esalen as a massage practitioner and early childhood educator at Gazebo and Big Sur Park School. I have facilitated movement classes as well as day-long writing conferences for my book project. Now, I am honored to follow in the footsteps of my family in teaching workshops in service to healing and deep connection at this inspiring, beautiful, and sacred place. I have been privileged to witness how my family — Peggy Horan, Lucia Horan Drummond, and Douglas Drummond, as well as Gabrielle Roth and Jonathan Horan — has held sacred space for others at Esalen as workshop leaders.
.Now, I am delighted that I will be leading my first workshop this summer called Generative Resourcing for Wonder and Wisdom: Caretaking the Next Generation. It is for parents, educators, or any caregivers of children to renew, reflect, heal, reset, and experience alternative ways of working with children. We will also explore some of the concepts from my book Gazebo Learning Project: A Legacy of Experiential and Experimental Early Childhood Education at Esalen.
Currently, I also come to the property as a consultant and offer professional development to Big Sur Park School, a non-profit that operates on the magical grounds of Esalen. I also enjoy working as a substitute teacher a few days in the summer to touch in with what is happening at the school, which holds a lot of the soul of Esalen for me personally.
What is your idea of perfect happiness??
I don’t believe it is the human condition to be happy all of the time. In Gestalt practice, we learn to really experience and be present with a wide range of emotions. It is a gift to be able to practice presence with emotions. Perhaps from developing a meditation practice, I feel more peaceful and less disturbed by my emotions. For my baseline, I choose to focus on the concept of contentment. I live my life with the intention of balance. So, I try allowing what is to be, and staying present with it no matter what it is, and sometimes I can be settled, peaceful, and content. I feel a lot of contentment in the solitude of nature and I experience a lot of wonder for life. I also experience a lot of joy in water, rivers, creeks, and in the ocean, and I feel very alive in water.
Which living or dead person do you most admire in your field?
Janet Lederman was a pioneer in education. She founded Gazebo Learning Project, which became Gazebo Park School, which later morphed into Big Sur Park School. She brought Gestalt to early education and placed the school in nature. The Gazebo Park is on the south side of Esalen, a place where children can be free and experience many things that in a classroom would not be possible. Lederman was also very brave in expressing who she was, however unpopular it may have been at the time, and was a fierce protector of children and families.
What is your greatest extravagance related to your practice?
Spending more time in silence or fasting in meditation on retreat in the past few years. I am not sure if I would call it extravagant, but I have to leave my life as a householder, and taking that time for myself can be hard.
What is your current state of mind?
I really crave a lot of quiet and stillness. I am in a space where I just want things to be simple.
What is the quality you most like in a human?
I really respect humility. There is a saying I like that goes: “Those you say don’t know, and those who know don’t say.” I grew up with a lot of self-proclaimed healers and shamans. Many of them were and are very spiritual people with true gifts. There are also people who advertise their spirituality and collect material wealth or even spiritual practices as objects for the purpose of the ego. This is not a teacher who I want to study with.
What about your work brings you the most happiness?
Children are hysterical and brutally honest. I have so much fun making up songs and games, joking around, and having dance parties. I really love my work with young children. I also really love to laugh and kids keep cracking up all day. Kids are very authentic and silly. They just get me. We can have conversations like, “I am the moon, I am the sun, I am the stars,” and it all makes sense in the moment.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My daughter is the gem of my world. She shines in her own unique ways and I do everything I can to support and guide her.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Dolphins or otters have the most fun in the water, but I would also love to fly, so a hawk or eagle would be magic, too.
What would living at Esalen for a month be like for you?
Long-term Esalen life would probably be pretty challenging for me. While I love the land at Esalen, I am actually an introvert and really like my alone time. I find it hard to relate to so many people, especially first thing in the morning. There is also a lot of depth in the conversations, and I think, for me, being there in the deep waters would require good boundaries around the time and space one has to enter into those conversations.
What is your most treasured possession?
My feather collection. I have been collecting feathers of wild birds since I was a child. I love birds because they teach us so much about the natural world. They are also very wise teachers to children, teaching about listening, about stillness and inner peace. I believe that birds are a gateway to teaching mindfulness and meditation to children, and they love it.
How do you maintain your practice(s) during challenging times?
These are the times it is most helpful to me and I feel the work of daily Sadhana pays off. I follow the yoga of Baba Hari Das, a silent monk from India. He shared, “Work honestly, meditate every day, meet people without fear and play.” I like this idea that even a little bit of practice, each day or regularly, helps us grow. So, with meditation, I do it when I wake up in the morning right after I brush my teeth. The more I do it, the more I begin to apply the principles in my life when I am not in formal meditation, which allows me to be more resilient with life, death, and change.
What is your favorite component of your work?
Being with children keeps me present. Working as a teacher of young children, I have to be present and aware of many things at once. This keeps me out of my head and my own problems and allows me to be in the moment. I feel like children are closer to the source. They still have so much wonder and curiosity. They are honest and brave. It is all very raw with young children, and so there is no hiding from the truth. They are little mirrors for us grown-ups, too, and can help us reflect on our own healing and growth.
Who is your hero of fiction?
I have an aversion to the superhero rhetoric that comes with education and children. I think there is a way it undermines our humanity. I value the diversity within our learning communities. For me, that means rewarding everyone, not just those with leadership skills. Everyone deserves to have their voice heard or their gifts honored, and it takes a nuanced perception of humanity to build equity in our world. So, while I see the value in archetypes, I believe it takes more than the polarized good guy/bad guy model that many industries capitalize on.
Who are your heroes in real life?
My mom is really an amazing person. She is very compassionate. She taught me to bring soup if someone is sick, hold the hand of a sad person, to listen and love and give strength to others. She also showed me, in the most loving of ways, how powerful touch is. As a woman who has touched thousands of bodies with her one-of-a-kind Esalen massage. There is nothing quite like my mama’s touch.
How would you like to die?
I think a shark attack or mountain lion attack would be a pretty awesome way to go. Keep the cycle of life going, and maybe, as an organ donor, my death can help someone else besides the lions and shark!
“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?
Inspired by 20th-century French writer Marcel Proust, we here at Esalen have created our own version of his favorite parlor game to dig just a little deeper — and differently — into our incredible faculty and staff.
“Kids are very authentic and silly. They just get me,” says author and educator Jasmine Star Horan. The daughter of beloved legacy Esalen Massage facilitator Peggy Horan returns to her very first home — Esalen, where she was born — this summer to continue her family’s legacy and lead Generative Resourcing for Wonder and Wisdom: Caretaking the Next Generation. “It is for parents, educators, or any caregivers of children to renew, reflect, heal, reset, and experience alternative ways of working with children,” explains Jasmine. She shares her thoughts on Gestalt, the Gazebo Learning Project, looking past the good guy/bad guy model, and following the words of Baba Hari Das: “Work honestly, meditate every day, meet people without fear, and play.”
What is Esalen to you?
Esalen is home. I was born at home in the Jade house on a new moon, with a meteor shower in the sky to my hippie parents and into the hands of a midwife who saved my life just a few moments before it began.
What do you do/are you doing at Esalen?
I have worked at Esalen as a massage practitioner and early childhood educator at Gazebo and Big Sur Park School. I have facilitated movement classes as well as day-long writing conferences for my book project. Now, I am honored to follow in the footsteps of my family in teaching workshops in service to healing and deep connection at this inspiring, beautiful, and sacred place. I have been privileged to witness how my family — Peggy Horan, Lucia Horan Drummond, and Douglas Drummond, as well as Gabrielle Roth and Jonathan Horan — has held sacred space for others at Esalen as workshop leaders.
.Now, I am delighted that I will be leading my first workshop this summer called Generative Resourcing for Wonder and Wisdom: Caretaking the Next Generation. It is for parents, educators, or any caregivers of children to renew, reflect, heal, reset, and experience alternative ways of working with children. We will also explore some of the concepts from my book Gazebo Learning Project: A Legacy of Experiential and Experimental Early Childhood Education at Esalen.
Currently, I also come to the property as a consultant and offer professional development to Big Sur Park School, a non-profit that operates on the magical grounds of Esalen. I also enjoy working as a substitute teacher a few days in the summer to touch in with what is happening at the school, which holds a lot of the soul of Esalen for me personally.
What is your idea of perfect happiness??
I don’t believe it is the human condition to be happy all of the time. In Gestalt practice, we learn to really experience and be present with a wide range of emotions. It is a gift to be able to practice presence with emotions. Perhaps from developing a meditation practice, I feel more peaceful and less disturbed by my emotions. For my baseline, I choose to focus on the concept of contentment. I live my life with the intention of balance. So, I try allowing what is to be, and staying present with it no matter what it is, and sometimes I can be settled, peaceful, and content. I feel a lot of contentment in the solitude of nature and I experience a lot of wonder for life. I also experience a lot of joy in water, rivers, creeks, and in the ocean, and I feel very alive in water.
Which living or dead person do you most admire in your field?
Janet Lederman was a pioneer in education. She founded Gazebo Learning Project, which became Gazebo Park School, which later morphed into Big Sur Park School. She brought Gestalt to early education and placed the school in nature. The Gazebo Park is on the south side of Esalen, a place where children can be free and experience many things that in a classroom would not be possible. Lederman was also very brave in expressing who she was, however unpopular it may have been at the time, and was a fierce protector of children and families.
What is your greatest extravagance related to your practice?
Spending more time in silence or fasting in meditation on retreat in the past few years. I am not sure if I would call it extravagant, but I have to leave my life as a householder, and taking that time for myself can be hard.
What is your current state of mind?
I really crave a lot of quiet and stillness. I am in a space where I just want things to be simple.
What is the quality you most like in a human?
I really respect humility. There is a saying I like that goes: “Those you say don’t know, and those who know don’t say.” I grew up with a lot of self-proclaimed healers and shamans. Many of them were and are very spiritual people with true gifts. There are also people who advertise their spirituality and collect material wealth or even spiritual practices as objects for the purpose of the ego. This is not a teacher who I want to study with.
What about your work brings you the most happiness?
Children are hysterical and brutally honest. I have so much fun making up songs and games, joking around, and having dance parties. I really love my work with young children. I also really love to laugh and kids keep cracking up all day. Kids are very authentic and silly. They just get me. We can have conversations like, “I am the moon, I am the sun, I am the stars,” and it all makes sense in the moment.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My daughter is the gem of my world. She shines in her own unique ways and I do everything I can to support and guide her.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Dolphins or otters have the most fun in the water, but I would also love to fly, so a hawk or eagle would be magic, too.
What would living at Esalen for a month be like for you?
Long-term Esalen life would probably be pretty challenging for me. While I love the land at Esalen, I am actually an introvert and really like my alone time. I find it hard to relate to so many people, especially first thing in the morning. There is also a lot of depth in the conversations, and I think, for me, being there in the deep waters would require good boundaries around the time and space one has to enter into those conversations.
What is your most treasured possession?
My feather collection. I have been collecting feathers of wild birds since I was a child. I love birds because they teach us so much about the natural world. They are also very wise teachers to children, teaching about listening, about stillness and inner peace. I believe that birds are a gateway to teaching mindfulness and meditation to children, and they love it.
How do you maintain your practice(s) during challenging times?
These are the times it is most helpful to me and I feel the work of daily Sadhana pays off. I follow the yoga of Baba Hari Das, a silent monk from India. He shared, “Work honestly, meditate every day, meet people without fear and play.” I like this idea that even a little bit of practice, each day or regularly, helps us grow. So, with meditation, I do it when I wake up in the morning right after I brush my teeth. The more I do it, the more I begin to apply the principles in my life when I am not in formal meditation, which allows me to be more resilient with life, death, and change.
What is your favorite component of your work?
Being with children keeps me present. Working as a teacher of young children, I have to be present and aware of many things at once. This keeps me out of my head and my own problems and allows me to be in the moment. I feel like children are closer to the source. They still have so much wonder and curiosity. They are honest and brave. It is all very raw with young children, and so there is no hiding from the truth. They are little mirrors for us grown-ups, too, and can help us reflect on our own healing and growth.
Who is your hero of fiction?
I have an aversion to the superhero rhetoric that comes with education and children. I think there is a way it undermines our humanity. I value the diversity within our learning communities. For me, that means rewarding everyone, not just those with leadership skills. Everyone deserves to have their voice heard or their gifts honored, and it takes a nuanced perception of humanity to build equity in our world. So, while I see the value in archetypes, I believe it takes more than the polarized good guy/bad guy model that many industries capitalize on.
Who are your heroes in real life?
My mom is really an amazing person. She is very compassionate. She taught me to bring soup if someone is sick, hold the hand of a sad person, to listen and love and give strength to others. She also showed me, in the most loving of ways, how powerful touch is. As a woman who has touched thousands of bodies with her one-of-a-kind Esalen massage. There is nothing quite like my mama’s touch.
How would you like to die?
I think a shark attack or mountain lion attack would be a pretty awesome way to go. Keep the cycle of life going, and maybe, as an organ donor, my death can help someone else besides the lions and shark!
“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
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info@esalen.org
