Workshops

In search of balance, the ancient sages of China walked into the woods to attune themselves to nature in its sublime integrity. The timeless wisdom uncovered in their wild wanderings was called simply Tao, “The Way.”

Qigong — the practice at the heart of Taoism — is dedicated to harmonizing body, mind, and spirit with the elements of nature. In this age, when so many of us feel disconnected and overwhelmed, wilderness remains a powerful healer and teacher, and qigong can bring us back to center.

Join us to learn an accessible qigong form called wai dan gong (“easy Tao”) while immersing in the majestic landscape of Big Sur, the ancestral homeland of the Esselen tribe. We rise each morning to practice, harmonizing breath and movements with the flow of waves greeting Esalen’s cliffs. After breakfast, we set out on a wilderness hike to mindfully explore Big Sur’s enchanted redwoods, sun-steeped meadows, and mountains that rise from the sea. All along the trail, we explore qigong and Taoist philosophy as pathways for returning to a grounded, spacious, revitalized state of being — in harmony with nature, embodying Wild Tao.

Notes:

• Answers to frequently asked questions about the workshop can be found here.
• Various hiking abilities can be accommodated, bearing in mind that day hikes are between three to eight miles in length, with uneven and often steep terrain. If you have any questions about your ability to participate, please read the workshop FAQs.

This workshop includes an additional $60 of faculty tuition and $40 to cover park fees.

“You carry Mother Earth within you. She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment. In that insight of inter being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Join herbalist, medicine woman, and plant spirit teacher Marysia Miernowska for a nourishing, magickal weekend of deep communion with the Earth, Waters, Autumnal Air, and Eternal flame within you.

In a safe and sacred container, you will be guided in:

• Shamanic Tea Meditations
• Drinking herbs for the Fall
• Entering restorative states of embodied meditation
• Connecting to the land and elements
• Making herbal medicine from the land to take home
• Making flower essences
• Plant ID and learning about nourishing medicinal herbs, many which likely grow around you.
• Earth based rituals & journal prompts
• Wildcrafting and gardening

Through restoring the ancient knowledge of folk healing and plant medicine, we hope to heal the separation that has occurred between ourselves and nature and awaken a collective passion to protect this Earth we all call home.

Recommended Reading: Miernowska, The Witch’s Herbal Apothecary: Rituals & Recipes for a Year of Earth Magick and Sacred Medicine Making.

This workshop inclides a $40 materials fee.