The Esalen Journal

One year ago, Esalen launched a redesigned month-long Residential Study program that synthesizes a new configuration of study, service, community building and inner growth. Steeped in Esalen’s mission to catalyze deep change in self and society, the program invites students to co-create an immersive experience that facilitates learning and inner transformation.

Given Big Sur’s mild coastal climate, signs of autumn in the Esalen Farm & Garden can be subtle. Yes, there are tables of winter squash curing in the sun, but all around them are bins of ripe tomatoes, rows of strawberries and innumerable bright flowers buzzing with insect life.

What happens when we give ourselves the gift of unstructured time? Inspiration, healing and peace of mind have room to blossom when we unwind everyday stress and let ourselves truly relax into inner stillness. Out of that spaciousness come daydreams, new ideas and clarity about what’s true now and what lies ahead.

After working in robotics at MIT and NASA, engineer and Stanford University lecturer Mikey Siegel heeded a different calling: to create technology that helps people on their path toward self-actualization and awakening. Tech is here to stay, says Mikey, and now is the time to shift the paradigm and start using it in ways that support deep human connection.

Sylvie Rokab is an acclaimed filmmaker whose love of the natural world led her on an odyssey to create the award-winning film, Love thy Nature. She is also a nature therapy guide, a growing field that integrates nature education with the holistic benefits of forest therapy in areas including personal coaching, team-building, and counseling. Sylvie, who will be leading Forest Bathing: Deepening Connection with Mother Nature, Each Other and Ourselves at Esalen next spring, shares what inspires her about this emerging practice.

Author, therapist, and yoga teacher Ira Israel often speaks of the transformative nature of mindfulness and yoga at his popular Esalen workshops. He recently shared an inspirational story of a struggling student who attended his workshop, Cultivating Meaning and Happiness through Mindfulness and Yoga, a year ago and returned this year to help him teach it. He shares this remarkable transformation in his own words...

Earlier this month, Esalen welcomed some of the most exciting voices in mindfulness today for two week-long workshops: The Art and Science of Mindfulness, Compassion and Awe and Loving Awareness. We recently spoke with Dan Siegel, author of the upcoming Aware: The Science and Practice of Mindfulness, and Dacher Keltner, founder of the Greater Good Science Center, who co-led with Shauna Shapiro the first workshop from August 5-10.

Gopi Kallayil, author of The Internet to the Inner-Net and the soon-to-be released The Happy Human, is blending his passions for yoga, sacred music, and meditation in a self-described experiment set against the backdrop of Shangri La.

As a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School and now as a contributor to the popular public radio show and podcast On Being, Angie Thurston is exploring the boundaries of meaningful community. She will be a featured speaker at Esalen’s unique lecture series Conversations on the Edge: How We Gather—The Rise of the Unaffiliated Community, taking place August 8-10.

In his upcoming book, Wisdom @ Work: The Making of a Modern Elder, best-selling author, hospitality entrepreneur, and self-described business rebel Chip Conley challenges us to liberate “elder” from the word “elderly” and rethink life after 50. He captures his own experience coming out of “retirement” after serving as founder of the boutique hotel brand Joie de Vivre to join as an advisor/intern for the then-tech start-up Airbnb.

Travel can be transformational. The practice of writing about our travels — those "best trips" that continue in our memories long after we've returned home — can both deepen our experience and help to generate lasting insights. In their upcoming workshop The Traveler's Practice: Journey and Journal, renowned writers Pico Iyer and Janet Fitch will guide you through an exploration of your inner and outer worlds through the lens of travel writing.

As one of the founders of the popular public radio show To the Best of Our Knowledge, Steve Paulson has made a career of asking thoughtful questions of fascinating thinkers and curating conversations to expand our perspective on the world. ‍

Esalen Institute has announced that Executive Director Ben Tauber will be shifting roles, stepping away from daily management of the nonprofit organization and returning to his role as a member of the Board of Trustees. This change will be made effective the end of this month. General Manager Terry Gilbey will oversee operations as well as workshop programming and fundraising moving forward.

The most common request received by the professional massage and bodywork practitioner sounds something like this: “Could you please do something for my back?” Many of the most valuable tools that I have developed over the last 38 years focus on relieving the pain that many people experience at some point in their life along the back and spine.

Christina Dauenhauer is a landscape designer and artist living off the grid near Hood River, Oregon. Between 2009 and 2016 she was Esalen's Grounds Manager and specialized in succulent design. Christina recently returned to Esalen to lead Inspired by Nature: Creative Expression in Esalen’s Big Sur Landscape. We recently spoke with her on how nature inspires and informs her art.

One of the unique offerings at Esalen, for learners of all ages, has been the opportunity to extend the typical week-long or weekend workshop experience and engage in a more immersive month-long study experience. Previously known as Work Study, the Residential Study program was paused during Esalen’s temporary closure last year and recently re-emerged with a new focus on creating stronger connections, offering more study hours, and developing deeper awareness of Esalen practices.

For decades, Esalen's Farm and Garden has offered students a rich forum for experiential learning. This tradition continued recently when Farm and Garden Manager Thomas Leahy along with Chris Omer and Neil Howe welcomed high school students from Marin Academy for a day visit to Esalen.

Jay Ogilvy has recently stepped down from the Esalen Board of Trustees but, thankfully, will not be abandoning his association with us. We are immensely grateful for this association because he brings an extremely broad perspective to Esalen’s thinking about its future activities and a deep familiarity with our aims and capacities.

A scientist, educator, activist, and author of many bestsellers including The Tao of Physics, Fritjof Capra has helped to connect conceptual changes in science with broader changes in society. His most recent book, The Systems View of Life, integrates the biological, cognitive, social, and ecological dimensions of life into one unified vision.

Our earliest attachment experiences serve as models for relationships throughout our lives. Without realizing it, our attachment patterns influence our attractions, how we relate to partners, and even whether or not a relationship lasts. This helps explain why we keep winding up in the same relationships.

When Esalen Massage School Director Brita Ostrom arrived at Esalen in 1967, massage already was a part of the Institute’s culture. “It was blossoming out of collaborations among visionary faculty of the time including Charlotte Selver, Bernie Gunther, Molly Shackman, Ida Rolf, and Moshe Feldenkrais, to name a few,” recalls Brita.

In the middle of a career shift, WisdomWomen founder Michelle Stransky took a huge leap into the unknown. As she navigated the transition, she followed her curiosity and soon pinpointed her next endeavor: to create an experimental space for women to develop and share their gifts as leaders. WisdomWomen was born, and Esalen — with its long history as fertile soil for breakthrough ideas and social movements — was a natural place for it to emerge.

Esalen faculty Paul Selig says he plays second fiddle in his courses, and he’s not just being humble. Paul is a channel; he receives teachings directly from sources he calls the Guides, and so far the Guides have a lot to say. Through Paul, they’ve produced six books of teachings, and Paul says that at least 100 pages of the two most recent books came through during Esalen courses. “Esalen has really become ground zero for the work that I do,” says Paul.

Esalen executive chef Nerina Perez has always been a bold adventurer in the realms of food. On Cape Cod at the age of seven, she dug her own clams, cracked them open herself, and slurped them down raw…and she hasn’t stopped since. After joining our staff during the tumultuous period of Esalen’s closure earlier this year, Nerina dived into the Esalen experience with the same enthusiasm and sense of adventure she brought to consuming mollusks.

Returning seminarians will be greeted by some new faces this winter, including new residential study students and a new Esalen kitchen chef. Meanwhile, workshops offer a mix of familiar names such as Byron Katie and Chungliang Al Huang – who celebrated 50 years of teaching at Esalen last month – and emerging voices such as Charles Eisenstein. While a recent article in the New York Times touched on new areas Esalen is exploring, there's much more to the story.

Traveling to Esalen for the first time? Or the 10th time? Be sure to take a look at Esalen’s revitalized Experiential Program schedule when you arrive to see what’s offered during your stay. Posted on the bulletin board in the Lodge, the Experiential (previously “Movement”) Program schedule offers diverse and unique ways that guests can experience Esalen beyond the workshop.

Anne Watts carries the human potential movement in her DNA. As the daughter of pioneering author and philosopher Alan Watts, she grew up with people like Aldous Huxley, Charlotte Selver, and Ram Dass discussing the nature of human consciousness around the dinner table. While deeply influenced by her father, Anne forged her own path to become an educator, mediator, and counselor devoted to helping people live life from a place of authenticity and love.

Note: During the height of the Cold War, Esalen launched the Soviet-American Exchange Program, and a series of Soviet-American citizen diplomacy gatherings, organized by Michael and Dulce Murphy and others. At these meetings held at Esalen, Joseph Montville coined the phrase "track-two diplomacy", which is now a well-recognized diplomatic method. This work led to the first spacebridges which enabled Soviet and American citizens to speak directly with one another via satellite communication, along with multiple other projects.

Not long after Hurricane Harvey made landfall last month as a Category 4 hurricane, caregivers throughout the Houston-area were reaching out to support others in need – even when many of their own homes were flooded. Esalen faculty David Kessler, an expert in grief and healing, went to Texas to assist a number of these caregivers. What he experienced, including a stranger delivering pizza, surprised even him.

Do you remember the moment you experienced Esalen for the first time? We’ll be sharing occasional stories from our greater Esalen family on their journey to Esalen and how they bring Esalen into the world. Vaishali Chadha is a transformational coach, inspired in part by her work at Esalen.

The Esalen Kitchen feels like home to new General Manager Terry Gilbey. “If the Lodge is the heart of Esalen, the kitchen is the heart of the Lodge,” he says. During the Institute’s extended closure, Terry had been asked to step in as the kitchen’s manager – a role he will keep as he finds his zone of genius to be cooking up both delicious food as well as ideas. ‍

Life these days can be busy, to say the least. Even when we have a couple of hours to relax, our bodies may remain in “flight or fight” mode anticipating stress to come. Only by giving ourselves an extended break from daily routines can the body and mind really reset. Why not give yourself the gift of time at Esalen to unwind old patterns and rejuvenate your whole self?

Dance connects us to our bodies and hearts, and drumming creates a primal link to the pulse of all life. Esalen faculty Cida Vieira has made it her life’s work to share Brazilian traditions of dance and percussion through performance, choreography, and experiential teaching.

Tensions between the United States and Russia are running high. The current political landscape, government investigations, economic sanctions, and media portrayals of both countries keep U.S.-Russia relations divisive. Continuing Esalen’s long tradition of creating new dialogue where walls once stood, the Institute is taking an active role to initiate and strengthen a more positive cultural exchange between Russia and the U.S.

These days, we seem to live in a time of unprecedented challenge. Climate change, social and economic inequality, political turmoil, and other headline news can illicit feelings of worry and frustration that deplete our capacity for positivity.

In just a few weeks the new Esalen catalog will become available. This new season of workshops, held July through December, have been curated to provide a breadth of experiences to inspire your creativity, help you articulate your vision, deepen your relationships, connect you to nature, body, and soul, and much more.

Esalen's sturdy roots have been essential as Ben Tauber, an entrepreneur with an interest in somatic practices, assumed leadership at Esalen during an unprecedented closure resulting from landslides and a bridge failure. As founding partner of Velocity, an executive coaching company based in Silicon Valley, Ben has both the passion and experience for helping individuals and organizations realize their highest potential.

In February 1995, singer and songwriter Jewel emerged on the national scene with what would become one of the best-selling debut albums of all time. Twenty-two years later, she will lend her familiar voice in a new way as a featured speaker at the annual conference of Wisdom 2.0.

A new year naturally signals a fresh start for many of us, with a desire to leave behind those habits and behaviors that no longer serve us. Licensed psychotherapist, yoga practitioner, and frequent Esalen teacher Ira Israel is writing a new book, How To Survive Your Childhood Now That You’re An Adult: A Path to Authenticity and Awakening, that captures how we can choose a different way of being.

At the twilight of a year marked by cultural and political divisions, one of the great scholars of world religions Professor Huston Smith passed. He was 97. Author of The World’s Religions, which is widely credited for expanding society’s awareness and appreciation for various faith traditions, much of Professor Smith’s life work was dedicated to exploring faiths of different origins. He taught at Esalen for a number of years, most recently in 2010.

Seeking a way to step more intentionally into this new year? Esalen’s Residential Education Coordinator Crystal Farmer shares her tips for celebrating the path ahead by acknowledging the many gifts you already have…

In this season of troubling darkness and inspiring light, we lean into our gratefulness practice, remembering the blessings and joys of friends like you as you offer gifts of resources and support for Esalen and for all our great work together. Most precious of all is your companionship on the journey, as we walk together the paths of transformation in this challenging age.

Just a year ago, former Wisdom 2.0 staffer Michelle Stransky was preparing to see her vision of a community of women leaders come to life at the first-ever gathering of WisdomWomen at Esalen. Many of those in attendance became WisdomWomen founding members and have helped to create a community seeking to build our world from a different paradigm.

Many changes came to Esalen this year, some greatly anticipated such as the completion of the Lodge renovation, while others were unexpected and tested our greater Big Sur community. Here are just a few of the memorable events from 2016:

What exactly is the mind? Neuropsychiatrist, best-selling author, and Esalen teacher Daniel Siegel poses this question – and invites readers to join him on a personal and professional journey to discover possible answers – in his new book, MIND: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human.

This delicious take on a favorite winter squash combines beautifully with the earthy flavor of Shiitake mushrooms. Enjoy!

Against the backdrop of the Himalayan foothills, two great spiritual masters and good friends came together to celebrate a birthday. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and Archbishop Emeritus of Southern Africa Desmond Tutu spent a week in friendship and conversation, culminating in what they now describe as a birthday gift to the world and an invitation to joy: The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World.

As CEO of the Stand & Deliver Group, Peter Meyers consults with organizational and political leaders as well as artists and athletes. He and his team of 40 consultants foucs on developing leaders and their teams to inspire great performances. Oftentimes that ability is achieved through the power of storytelling – a talent Peter began to develop more than 30 years ago working as a Gazebo Park School teacher.

Marion Hunt and her brother Terry Hunt will receive the Spirit of Esalen Award during Esalen’s Benefit Weekend next month. The Hunts will be recognized for the visionary philanthropic support they have given to Esalen over the years through the Roy A. Hunt Foundation, as well as for their long and deep involvement with the Institute.

Ken arrived at Esalen in 1970 and stayed until 1974, years that predate Esalen’s current Work Scholar program. During this time, Ken would write his first book, Bodymind, and ultimately credits Esalen as the place where he “…dreamed up 10 books while in the baths, looking up at the stars.” Ken would return to Esalen to lead workshops on the body and mind in addition to his work as a psychologist, gerontologist, and best-selling author. Maddy Dychtwald is a nationally recognized author and leading expert on the changing demographic trends shaping society today. She and Ken co-founded the company Age Wave in 1986 to pioneer the exploration of the impact of the longevity revolution.

Every year, hundreds of volunteers come through the Farm & Garden to open their hearts and minds while getting their hands a little (or sometimes a lot) dirty in land that has been thoughtfully cultivated for more than 40 years. The volunteer program is a wonderful way to experience Esalen for a day by working closely with our Farm & Garden staff in the morning, and then having the afternoon free to walk the grounds, take a soak in the baths, and even stay for dinner in the newly restored Lodge.

In early 2008, Cole Cottin and Dan Phelps were invited to visit Esalen’s Farm & Garden as part of a larger group of farm apprentices from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Eight years, and two children later, the UC Santa Cruz graduates left their home in Kansas to return to the West Coast to become the farming family in residence at Esalen.

Construction on the Lodge’s Huxley meeting room, built upon the foundation of the original Huxley and elevated to a new second floor, is completed this month in time for its namesake’s July birthday. Aldous Huxley was a seminal inspiration to Esalen co-founders Dick Price and Michael Murphy; his belief in “human potentialities” infused the very foundation of Esalen. The writer and philosopher, known for such works as A Brave New World and The Doors of Perception, passed away in 1963.

At many preschools, the day begins inside. At Gazebo School Park, the day begins and ends on a one-acre outdoor meadow featuring reading nooks, art spaces, a children’s theater, and a farmhouse classroom for rainy days. Founded nearly 40 years ago, the early childhood center serves the families of seminarians and faculty as well as Esalen community members and local Big Sur residents.

Cultivation of fresh, chemical-free produce is just one of many healing characteristics of the Farm and Garden at Esalen. Over the past four decades, Esalen has touched the lives of countless beginning farmers, and grown their abilities to nurture healthier relationships between others and the environment – starting with the soil. In April, Esalen welcomed its newest class of Farm and Garden Apprentices to participate in the newly expanded year-long program in Community Agriculture.

This Fall, Charles Eisenstein will be one of a number of featured speakers and artists participating in Esalen’s Benefit Weekend celebration. Charles is author of Sacred Economics and The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible and has taught workshops at Esalen, including participating in an upcoming Conversations on the Edge in September. His work focuses on themes of civilization, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution.

Ingredients: 2 bunches of fresh asparagus, in season Lemon-Miso dressing Small handful of chives, thinly sliced Toasted sliced almonds (optional)

This July, Dr. Francis Lu and Brother David Steindl-Rast will be hosting their annual seven-day seminar on mindful viewing of film, particularly those which feature Japanese and Western perspectives. Francis, the Luke & Grace Kim Endowed Professor in Cultural Psychiatry, Emeritus, in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis, and Brother David, noted author, psychologist, and Benedictine monk, have been co-leading these workshops at Esalen since 1990.

Connecticut native Julie Benefico travelled across the country to find her home...at Esalen. “I had heard about Esalen from my mom’s friend,” recalls Julie. “She had been going there for years. I had dropped out of college and I was trying to find myself. She suggested the Work Scholar program.”

Many times those who are supporting and leading positive social change within their communities also may need support in their personal lives. Esalen is proud to be a co-creator of The Wellbeing Project, a program focused on helping social entrepreneurs lead healthier and more balanced lives. The catalyst of this project, Aaron Pereira, shares his story with us.