THE PROCESSES ACCORDING TO ESALEN
 Using the Offerings of the World’s Greatest Growth Center
To Build Your Own Integral Program for Personal Growth

This is the second in a series of eight excerpts from our book-length study on the fabled human potential growth center, Esalen Institute – on Northern California’s dramatic Big Sur Coast.  The entire series (to be posted on successive weeks) is as follows:

1.      REPREIVE FROM DEATH: Hugh Martin’s Journey from Terminal Cancer to Personal Transformation.

2.      THE MAGIC OF ESALEN: The Special Features that make Esalen Institute One of the Most Extraordinary Places on Earth.

3.      ESALEN AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRAL: The Key Role Played by Esalen Institute in the Development of Ken Wilber’s Integral Worldview.

4.      THE HEALING POWER OF PSYCHIC TRANSFORMATION: How the Processes of Growth offered by Esalen Institute Aided Hugh Martin in His Battle Against Terminal Cancer.

5.      THE ESALEN REPORT CARD: A Frank and Candid Evaluation of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Esalen Institute.

6.      ESALEN VERSUS INTEGRAL INSTITUTE: How Ken Wilber’s Integral Institute Stacks Up Against Esalen Institute.

7.      THE PHENOMENON OF GROWTH CENTERS: How Growth Centers and Holistic Growth Situations Can Support in Your Own Journey to Personal Transformation.

8.      TRANSFORMING YOUR LIFE IN SEVEN STEPS: How You Can Use the Offerings of Esalen Institute To Create a Life-Changing Program of Personal and Professional Growth.

You can view or download an MS Word or PDF version of the full study. 

For other excerpts from this study, and for detailed descriptions of other articles by Hugh & Kaye Martin, click here.

For biographical background on the authors, Hugh & Kaye Martin, see the end of this excerpt and the end of the full study.

Please Review and Rate This Article
Please send an Amazon-style Review and Rating of this article directly to the authors at [email protected].  Say what you found particularly valuable, what could be improved, and anything else you think pertinent.  Please include a Rating from Five Stars (best) to Zero Stars (worst).  Your feedback will help us to improve and extend our work.  Thanks.

 

 

THE MAGIC OF ESALEN

The Special Features that make Esalen Institute
One of the Most Extraordinary Places on Earth

Hugh & Kaye Martin

Copyright 2009

 

THE BALLAD OF ESA-LON

INTRODUCTION TO ESALEN

Esalen is like a bustling harbor, filled with ships of all shapes and sizes, some setting out for strange and exotic ports of call, others waiting eagerly for someone like us to commission them for voyages to parts unknown.  Let’s explore this harbor – its barnacle-encrusted wharfs and piers, its strident sounds and pungent smells, its colorful collection of barefoot sailors in striped jerseys, starchy officers in dress uniform, and keen-eyed merchants gripping their top hats in the breeze, while scooting around bales of cotton and heaps of coal.  Out in the harbor, we see big merchant sailing vessels sagging deep in the water under heavy cargoes, bristling men-of-war with polished cannon glinting off the water, little dories bobbing with each passing wave.  All you need for any voyage you want to take -- to the island across the bay or to the remote islands of the Pacific, to comforting and familiar memories or to frontiers of Human Potential – it’s all right here, folks.  It’s Esalen!

ESALEN INSTITUTE

Since the 1960’s, a number of Growth Centers have emerged in the U.S. and around the world.  These retreats and gathering-places offer a broad variety of Workshops designed to enrich and expand Human Potential.  As part of the package, they provide a rich panoply of experiences that support the growth process – spectacular natural surroundings, delicious natural foods, simple but comfortable accommodations, hot spring baths, dance, music, meditation, and meaningful conversation.  Esalen Institute is the original prototype for such Growth Centers, and still a foremost exemplar.

Esalen’s catalog description is an evocation of her legendary status:[1]

The Esalen Institute was founded in 1962 as an alternative educational center devoted to the exploration of what Aldous Huxley called the “human potential,” the world of unrealized human capacities that lies beyond the imagination. Esalen soon became known worldwide for its blend of East/West philosophies, its experiential/didactic Workshops, the steady influx of philosophers, psychologists, artists, and religious thinkers, and its breathtaking grounds blessed with natural hot springs. Once home to a Native American tribe known as the Esselen, Esalen is situated on the spectacular Big Sur coastline with the Santa Lucia Mountains rising sharply behind.

Esalen: The word itself summons up tantalizing visions of adventure, of unexplored frontiers, of human possibilities yet to be realized. There is the wonder of the place itself, 120 acres of fertile land carved out between mountain and ocean, blessed by a cascading canyon stream and hot mineral springs gushing out of a seaside cliff. There is the delicate and subtle Big Sur air of a late afternoon in May, the midnight mist of July, the drenching February rain. There are October nights so clear the Milky Way can light your walk along the darkened garden path. And always there is the sound of the sea.

And then there are the people—the people who live there and love the land, and the 300,000 more who have come from all over the world to participate in Esalen’s forty-year-long Olympics of the body, mind, and spirit, committing themselves not so much to “stronger, faster, higher” as to deeper, richer, more enduring. They come for the intellectual freedom to consider systems of thought and feeling that lie beyond the current constraints of mainstream academia. They come to discover ancient wisdom in the motion of the body, poetry in the pulsing of the blood. They come to rediscover the miracle of self-aware consciousness. At best, they come away inspired by the precision of a desire to learn and keep on learning through all of life.

Esalen is a place with a global reach. It is a place, as Thomas Wolfe said about America, where miracles not only happen but where they happen all the time.

Esalen continues to be recognized as one of the world’s premier Growth Centers.  If you want to experience the best offerings of the Human Potential Movement first-hand, under the guidance of some of the world’s greatest theorists and practitioners, Esalen is the place to go.

WHY ESALEN?

Esalen has a lot of charisma, and may be a great place to visit.  But what importance is Esalen to those who may never visit there?  For most of us, isn’t it very far away?  And very expensive?  Isn’t Esalen just about touchy-feely?  Or psycho-babble? 

And what does Esalen have to do with Integral, or with Ken Wilber?  Isn’t Esalen a smorgasbord of self-indulgent mind trips?  Isn’t Esalen just a miasma of ‘pre-/trans-fallacies’? 

There may be some truth in those concerns.  Nonetheless, Esalen is the ideal foundation for a truly Integral ADAPT growth program. Here’s why:

{     Esalen covers All Dimensions.[2]  Esalen Programs, combined with the Esalen lifestyle, cover all eight ADAPT Dimensions of growth admirably.

{     Esalen covers All Processes.[3]  Esalen covers most of our 35 ADAPT Processes exceptionally well – either through Workshops, or through some other aspect of the Esalen experience.

{     Esalen’s offerings have the potential to be Integral.  Esalen is not in itself an Integral growth program, and many of Esalen’s offerings are indeed saturated with child-glorifying Pre-/Trans- Fallacies.[4]  However, as we shall demonstrate in this article, Esalen’s program is solid at its core, and is eminently adaptable to an Integral approach.  Esalen can be a secure foundation for a truly Integral program of personal development.

In addition, Esalen offers some other major advantages:

{     Esalen is Central.  Esalen has played a central role in the development of Integral Theory.[5]

{     Esalen Is Representative.  Esalen is representative of innumerable human potential growth programs available throughout the world.  If Esalen is too far away, or too expensive, or too odd-ball, there are many outstanding and affordable programs nearer to your own area.[6]  The principles and strategies articulated in this article can be readily applied to any growth venue you may choose.

{     Esalen is Illustrative.[7]  For those not interested in Esalen, or in growth centers in general, our approach to Esalen illustrates how to construct your own Integral growth program from whatever life experiences you find important. 

{     Esalen outshines Integral Institute.[8]  Esalen’s offerings appear to be markedly superior (at present) to those of Integral Institute (including ILP) in at least five of seven categories.

In the following sections, we discuss some of Esalen’s special features and advantages,:

Esalen’s Processes

Most of our ADAPT’s 35 Processes of growth are well-represented at Esalen – either explicitly through Workshops, or implicitly through other Esalen programs and the Esalen style of life.

Esalen’s explicit Processes[9]

Within her fields of specialization, Esalen offers a stunning array of top-flight growth experiences.  Esalen’s Workshops concentrate primarily on just 14 of the 35 Processes of growth – with the bulk of all Workshops occurring within only nine Processes – Psychotherapy & Relationships (#31 & 4: 25.0%), Expressive Arts and Writing (#s 28 & 24: 19.2%), Spirituality & Archetypes (#33 & 17: 15.8%), The Body (#29: 13.5%), Health & Healing (#2: 6.9%), and Professional Growth & Training (#11: 5.8%).  Within the most popular Process categories, there are several sub-categories.  The Arts category includes: Visual Arts, Writing, Music/ Rhythm/ Dance, and Creative Expression/ Theater.  The Psychology & Relationship category includes: Psychological/ Transpersonal Process, Relationship/ Communicaton, and Neuropsychology/ Neuroscience/ Parapsychology.  The Spirituality category includes: Contemplative/ Spiritual Studies, Yoga, and Myth/ Ritual/ Shamanism.  The Body Practices category includes: Massage/ Bodywork and Somatic Practices/ Movement.  

Esalen’s implicit Processes

Although less than half of our 35 Processes are addressed explicitly in Workshop offerings, many of the rest are well-covered by experiences in the Esalen Lifestyle.  That lifestyle arises from three elements –Esalen as a Place, Esalen Programs, and the Esalen Community – as described in the following sections:

ESALEN AS PLACE.[10]  

Before everything, Esalen is a Place.  It is a magical kingdom with ten distinct realms – each retaining its own character, yet merging and flowing with the others in an entrancing rhythm.  One of the great pleasures of Esalen is to wander the grounds – sensing each realm as one enters and passes through it, feeling the ebb and flow of meaning and purpose that inhabits each space like a warm cloud. The ten Realms, roughly in the order you might encounter them, are as follows:

Ø      Orientation Realm.  In the Orientation Realm, you make the transition from your everyday world into the magical kingdom.  You take on a new identity and become part of a new community.  Main location: The Office.

Ø      Immersion Realm.  In the Immersion Realm, you are baptized into your new life.  You slough off your old cares and concerns.  You relax, expand, and purify your soul.  Main location: The Baths.

Ø      Social Realm.  In the Social Realm, you begin to connect with other members of your community.  You share the intense experiences of the day, divulge poignant moments of your past, and celebrate your oneness with others.  Main location: The Dining Room.

Ø      Cultivated Realm.  In the Cultivated Realm, you shape the growth of natural things, and allow them to shape you.  You immerse yourself in the Earth – the soil, the grit, the critters, the decaying plant matter – and accept the succulent fruits of that coarse union.  Main location: The Garden.

Ø      Wild Realm.  In the Wild Realm, you connect with natural and supernatural forces beyond your understanding or control – the gushing waters, the resistless tides, the cold damp molds, the jumbled boulders of some long-past cataclysm.  In doing so, you open communication with a Higher Spirit – unknowable, unattainable, uncontrollable – that pervades the universe, and dwells at the core of your being.  Main location: The Canyon.

Ø      Children’s Realm.  In the Children’s Realm, you connect with the enchanted world of small children, before they are distorted or corrupted by society.  Through artful play, you resurrect the joyful spontaneity and keen perceptions of your own Inner Child.  Main location: The Gazebo.

Ø      Tradition Realm.  In the Tradition Realm, you connect with Esalen’s past – the Murphy boys of Steinbeck’s East of Eden, the anguish and compassion of Dick Price, ancient Ja Fu’s meditation hut scratched into the waterfall cliff, the purification rites of the original Essalen peoples.  Main location: The Murphy House (‘Big House’).

Ø      Conscious Growth Realm.  In the Conscious Growth Realm, your Workshop experience moves you deeply toward your center in an intentional, focused way.  As you rediscover your own essential nature, you find yourself dwelling intimately in the core identities of those around you.  Typical location: The Fritz House.

Ø      Sanctuary Realm.  In the Sanctuary Realm, you process and integrate the intense and tumultuous encounters of the day.  As you rest and recuperate, journal, meditate, or pray, the significance of your experience rises to the surface, comforts you, and guides your path.  Main location: The Meditation Center (‘Round House’).

Ø      Daily Living Realm.  In the Daily Living Realm, you take care of the ordinary business of life – doing your laundry, cooking private meals, meeting with friends outside the community, gassing your car, shopping for groceries.  You can’t spend too much time here, or you will lose the magic.  Main location: South Coast.

Each of these realms lend itself to certain types of experiences, which in turn activate and evoke their own set of growth Processes -- without any conscious awareness or intention on the part of the participant.  In the Social Realm (dining room, etc.), for example, you will encounter the Processes of Natural Nutrition (#1), Family Dynamics (#6), and Acculturation (#16).  In the Cultivated Nature Realm (garden, etc.), you will experience Natural Nutrition again (#1), Sensory Experience (#7), Natural Environment (#10), and Responsibility (#13).  And so forth.

THE PROGRAMS OF ESALEN.[11] 

Esalen offers seven types of Programs for Seminarians and Staff.  The Program you are enrolled in basically determines your status in what we call the Esalen hierarchy of Initiation.[12] 

Ø      Visitors.  The basic way to stay and Esalen and soak up some of its ambience without actually participating in a Workshop.  Typical Program: The Personal Retreat.

Ø      Open events.  Programs open to everyone on campus, where you can get a flavor of the entire Esalen community, and mingle with people in it.  Typical Program: The Wednesday Night Forums.

Ø      Workshops.  The bread-and-butter of Esalen Programs – where in a week or less, you can have a life-transforming experience.  Typical Program: The Five-Day Workshop.

Ø      Long-term programs.  The extended version of the Workshop – where you can explore a particular theme in greater depth and develop closer, more long-lasting bonds with co-participants.  Typical Program: The Massage Certification Program.

Ø      Work/ Study programs.  Where you begin to bridge the gap from Seminarian to full-fledged member of the Esalen community.  Typical Program: The Work/Scholar Program.

Ø      Staff.  Where you become part of the on-going Esalen community.  Typical Position: The Cook.

Ø      Professional services.  Where you contribute to the main purpose of Esalen – by guiding people and helping them grow. Typical Position: The Masseuse.

The Programs are arranged in an ascending sequence of inclusiveness.  That is, each level of Program incorporates the Processes of the previous levels, and contributes additional Processes and features of its own.  For instance, the Personal Retreat (a Visitor Program) tends to focus on Nurturing (#3), Physical Activity (#8), Sensory Experience (#7), Fun (#25), and Introspection & Self-awareness (#30).  The Workshop Program includes the Visitor experiences, but adds the Processes of Family Dynamics (#6), Explanations (#19), Expressive Arts (#28), and Conscious Development (#s 29-33).  The Work/Study Program in turn includes the Processes for Visitors and Workshops, but adds Processes such as Life Experience (#9), Skills (#11), Responsibility (#13), Ethics & Service (#15), and Acculturation (#16).  And so forth.

Every member of the Esalen community is a participant in one or more of Esalen’s Programs.  Since Esalen is a highly social and interactive community, you participate not only in your own Program, but also vicariously in the Programs of everyone you meet.  Therefore, through social relationships, you can become involved in virtually every Program offered at Esalen.

THE COMMUNITY OF ESALEN.[13]  

Esalen society is composed of several fairly distinct groups.  Seminarians and Work/Study participants consist largely of mid-lifers in transition and young people seeking direction in life.  Staff members a drawn from a diverse array of types: sincere toilers, good-timers, serious seekers, skilled professionals, giants and legends, and overseers (some might say ‘zookeepers’!).

At its essence, however, Esalen culture is organized almost like a Masonic Lodge or Secret Society – with concentric orders of initiation as one moves toward the core of the Esalen experience.[14]  Within each circle are further distinctions of rank, importance, and influence.  At the very center of this culture are the Exemplars -- those whose worldview and mystique are honored and revered by the Esalen community.

One moves upward from one order to the next primarily by participating in higher-level Programs.  As one ascends the hierarchy, one feels a palpable increase in status, respect, attention, inclusion, and acceptance.  Progressively, one becomes cloaked in an aura of wisdom and honor.

The circles of initiation in the Esalen community (from lowest to highest) are as follows:

{     Visitors. Those who visit Esalen without becoming part of a Workshop or a Staff experience.  Ex: Private Retreat.

{     Seminarians. Those who participate in the entry-level experience of the Esalen community by enrolling in a shorter-term Workshop (one week or less).  Ex: Five-day Workshop

{     Long-term Students.  Those who obtain a maximal Workshop experience by participating in a long-term Workshop (one month or more).  Ex: Extended Massage Certification.

{     Work-Scholars.  Those who participate substantially in the Esalen lifestyle by working in temporary Staff positions (a month or more), while concurrently participating in an ongoing Workshop.  Ex: Work-Study, Garden Scholar.

{     Staff.  Those who participate fully in the Esalen lifestyle as paid members of the Esalen Staff – with limited access to Workshops and full access to open programs and to the Esalen culture.  Ex: Cook, events manager.

{     Growth Professionals.  Resident professionals who contribute to the primary mission of Esalen by implementing the growth of others at a professional level.  Ex: Dorothy Charles, Ken Robbins.

{     Exemplars. Those who exemplify the essence of what Esalen believes in – the mystique, the legend, the fundamental principles.  Ex: Fritz Perls, Joseph Campbell, the Dalai Lama, the Buddha.

{     Administrators.  Those who manage the administrative and business aspect of Esalen.  Paradoxically, at the top of the administrative ladder, but near the bottom of the perceived Circles of Initiation.  Ex: Program coordinator, accountant.

Since Esalen is a highly gregarious and social community, you interact not only with your own group, but also with any individual or group on the Esalen campus.  Therefore, through social relationships, you can connect with virtually every level of the Esalen hierarchy.

Appendix A1: ESALEN – THE PLACE

Before everything, Esalen is a Place.  It is a magical kingdom with ten distinct realms – each retaining their own character, yet merging and flowing in an entrancing rhythm.  One of the great pleasures of Esalen is to wander the grounds – sensing each realm as one enters and passes through it, feeling the ebb and flow of meaning and purpose that inhabits each space like a warm cloud.

Each of these realms lend itself to certain types of experiences, which in turn activate and evoke their own set of growth Processes -- without any conscious awareness or intention on the part of the participant.  In the Social Realm (dining room, etc.), for example, you will encounter the Processes of Natural Nutrition (#1), Family Dynamics (#6), and Acculturation (#16), etc.  In the Cultivated Nature Realm (garden, etc.), you will experience another aspect of Natural Nutrition (#1), Sensory Experience (#7), Natural Environment (#10), and Responsibility (#13).  And so forth.

The ten realms -- with their locations, significance, and attendant Processes -- are shown below:

Appendix A2: THE PROGRAMS OF ESALEN

Esalen offers seven types of Programs for Seminarians and Staff -- Visitor Programs, Open Events, Workshops, Longer-Term Programs, Work/Study Programs, Staff Programs, and Professional Services.  The Program you enroll in basically determines your role in the orders of Esalen culture.[15] 

Each of these Programs focuses on its own set of Processes.  As the Programs ascend upwards in order of importance, each new level add additional Processes to the experience.  For instance, the Personal Retreat (a Visitor Program) tends to focus on Nurturing (#3), Physical Activity (#8), Sensory Experience (#7), Fun (#25), and Introspection & Self-awareness (#30).  The Workshop Program includes the Visitor experiences, but adds the Processes of Family Dynamics (#6), Explanations (#19), Expressive Arts (#28), and Conscious Development (#s 29-33).  The Work/Study Program in turn includes the Processes for Visitors and Workshops, but adds Processes such as Life Experience (#9), Skills (#11), Responsibility (#13), Ethics & Service (#15), and Acculturation (#16).  And so forth.

As a Workshop participant, you have contact with numerous other Programs beyond your own, and frequent interaction with participants in those other Programs.  Thus, virtually every Process offered at Esalen is available in some degree to every visitor. 

Several points regarding Programs deserve special attention:

{     Visitor programs.  The Guest program is by far Esalen’s best value.  Get to know someone who’ll invite you to visit!

{     Open events.  These programs are generally excellent, varied, and sometimes surprising and unexpected.  Well worth attending.

{     Workshops.  Try to attend at least a 5-day Workshop.  A weekend is barely long enough to decompress.

{     Longer-term programs.  Valuable for those who need specific training or academic credit.  The Residence Program could be restructured to increase its popularity.

{     Work/Study programs.  The unrecognized gems of Esalen programs.  Could be improved with a wider and fresher array of group leaders.  Allows in-depth participation in the full Esalen experience at modest cost.  Very insecure future, however, for anyone hoping for a more permanent connection at Esalen.

{     Staff programs.  Staff members are not just workers, but participate in the full Esalen growth experience – with weekly departmental Group Process, occasional free Workshops, available on-site counseling and bodywork, access to Esalen’s Open Events and Staff-only programs, and immersion in the turbulent undercurrent of Esalen life.  Not much pay, and very little job security, but still considered a plum of a job.

{     Professional services.  Massage services for guests are diverse, individualized, deeply felt, but now somewhat expensive.  Professional counseling and bodywork is available for Staff (including Work/Study) -- but for liability and responsibility reasons, anything for Seminarians that smacks of therapy must be provided off-campus.  Professional positions have very little job security, even for luminaries of the Esalen pantheon.

The listing for each Program below includes its name, a description, the cost, and a brief comment – along with the main Processes it employs:

 

* Rates in Spring 2009.  See detailed explanations of asterisk items below

 

Cost reduction options

Sleeping bag or off-site accommodations           Almost 50% discount

Bunk bed accommodations                               Almost 25% discount

Members                                                          $50 discount each workshop ($50 to join)

Senior citizen                                                    $25-50 discount

Scholarship                                                       $50-100 for 4-8 hours work

Prepayment                                                      $10 discount

 

Work/Study Program

Work/Study is a 28-day program for those interested in an intense involvement with the Esalen environment and an in-depth experience of the Esalen approach to holistic personal and social development. An integrated work, service, and self-directed-learning program, the 28 days are rich, demanding, and often physically and emotionally challenging. Participants work 32 hours per week in one of Esalen’s departments and participate in that department’s programs and schedule.  At the heart of the Work Study experience is the core evening group, in which Work Scholars are together in one of two groups for a four-week sequence, four to five evenings a week plus one intensive weekend. Each group emphasizes a particular approach to transformative practice, such as Gestalt process, meditative practice, creative arts, movement, bodywork, or other forms of somatics. Each group has its own leader or leaders (see schedule below) who are with the group throughout the four weeks, coordinating the study schedule and facilitating many of the evening sessions. Applicants must state their preferred group and be committed to staying at Esalen for the entire 28-day term. Immediately preceding and following the four-week core group are evenings of introductory and closing sessions, in which Work Scholars are introduced to the Institute’s legacy through core practices of the Esalen curriculum for integrated self-structured learning and self-directed education. The practices offered include skills in awareness (of self and others), intentionality, personal visioning, goal-setting, building support, communication and relational skills, self-evaluation, and integration of learnings into your own life.  In addition to the evening programs, Work Scholars have the opportunity to participate in daily open classes at Esalen (movement, meditation, yoga, and more), “open seat” sessions, Wednesday night programs, open hours in the Art Barn, and round-the-clock access to the Esalen baths.  Since this is a work and service program, preference is given to applicants who are open and willing to learn about themselves within the work context as well as within the study/process groups. It is not intended as a substitute for therapy or as a “cure.” It is a drug- and alcohol-free program.

 

28-Day Massage Practitioner Certification Program

The Esalen month-long massage program provides professional instruction in fundamental massage skills. This training includes anatomy, movement, meditation, ethics, and self-care. The daily sessions consist of lecture, demonstration, and supervised hands-on practice. Special attention will be given to developing a core from which learning can easily occur and a balance of technique, intuition, and creativity can be achieved. Following successful completion of the 160-hour (minimum) program, students wishing to fulfill certification requirements have six months to complete and document 30 massage sessions. Upon payment of a $100 processing fee, a California state-approved Certificate of Completion will be issued. This is a professional training group with limited admission.

 

Ongoing Residence Program

The Ongoing Residence Program Is offered beginning mid-September and ending mid-June, the Ongoing Residence Program is designed for those who would like an intensive workshop program over a long term. A Residence Program stay is 26 days (four “weeks” and three weekends). Participants may select any of the five-day workshops offered during their stay, with weekends open to enjoy a Personal Retreat.

 

The Santa Barbara Graduate Institute

The Embodied Psychotherapy Certificate Program in Relational Somatic Psychology gives participants a foundation in the leading-edge field of somatic psychology. It is designed to meet the needs of professionals and practitioners (educators, healthcare professionals, therapists, psychologists) as well as individuals interested in learning an in-depth somatic/ psychological perspective. SBGI faculty or affiliates teach all courses. The Embodied Psychotherapy Certificate Program is composed of six (Basic) or nine (Advanced) five-day courses at Esalen. The program is derived from the graduate-level classes and provides experiential learning, current theory, and practical applications.

Graduate Ph.D. Course Credit in Relational Somatic Psychology. This program can also be taken as a more scholarly course of study which includes additional reading and writing for students who would like to earn graduate credit toward a doctoral degree program at Santa Barbara Graduate Institute.

 

The Harvard Medical School Continuing Education Series

Esalen has been selected to host Continuing Education courses offered by Harvard Medical School (HMS) Department of Continuing Education.

 

The Gazebo Early Learning Project: Programs for Children

There are two Gazebo programs for children: 1) the Gazebo School and 2) the Gazebo Children’s Workshop. The Gazebo School Park, founded in 1977, is a unique educational experience for children one to six years. It is licensed, open year-round, and has an average of 15-20 children in attendance each day, Monday through Friday. Visitors to Esalen may enroll their child during their stay at Esalen. The Gazebo Children’s Workshop is for children of parents attending an Esalen seminar. The program’s hours match parents’ workshop hours. Daytime activities include gardening, animal care, exploring nature, and imaginative play on a real boat or in the Magic Castle. Evenings are spent with a teacher in the Gazebo Farmhouse, engaged in age-appropriate activities such as reading, computers, baking, arts and crafts, or building-block play.

 

Workshops

All workshop fees include: • Workshop tuition. • Food: Esalen serves a wide variety of food. Whenever meat is served, a vegetarian and a vegan option are available. Much of Esalen’s produce is organically grown on the farm and picked fresh just hours before mealtime. • Lodging: Friday and Saturday night accommodations for weekend workshops; Sunday through Thursday night accommodations for 5-day workshops; Sunday through Saturday night accommodations for 7-day workshops. • 24-hour use of hot mineral-spring bath facilities, the Arts Center (except when a workshop is scheduled), meditation Round House, and the entire Esalen grounds. • Participation in movement classes scheduled during time on property. • One-year subscription to the Esalen Catalog.

 

Personal Retreat

A Personal Retreat at Esalen offers an opportunity for individual education and personal growth. Resources available to Personal Retreatants are drawn from movement, yoga, somatics, dance, and improv classes, as well as Art Barn facilities, meditation center, contemplative baths, and community presentations.

Appendix A3: THE COMMUNITY OF ESALEN

Esalen society is composed of several fairly distinct groups.  Seminarians and Work/Study participants consist largely of mid-lifers in transition and young people seeking some direction in life.  Staff members are a motley crowd of good-timers, conscientious workers, serious seekers, skilled professionals, giants and legends, and overseers (some might say ‘zookeepers’!).

At its essence, however, Esalen culture is organized almost like a Masonic Lodge or Secret Society, with concentric orders of initiation and status -- leading from Visitors, to Seminarians, to Longer-term Students, to Work/Study Participants, to Staff Members, to Growth Professionals, to Exemplars.[16]  Within each circle are further distinctions of rank, importance, and influence.  The Exemplars at the very center of the culture are those whose worldview and mystique are honored and revered by the Esalen community – luminaries such as Fritz Perls, Joseph Campbell, the Dalai Lama, and of course The Buddha. 

One moves upward from one order to the next primarily by participating in higher-level Programs.[17]  As one ascends the hierarchy, one feels a palpable increase in status, respect, attention, inclusion, and acceptance.  Progressively, one becomes cloaked in an aura of wisdom and honor.

Since Esalen is a highly gregarious and social community, you interact not only with your own group, but also with any individual or group on the Esalen campus.  Therefore, through social relationships, you can connect with virtually every level of the Esalen hierarchy.

Interestingly, although the administration is at the organizational center, it often merits no status within the circles of initiation.  The executive Staff is often treated as an outside force, tolerated but not fully accepted, that is necessary to maintain the operation.  Even founder and psychology legend Michael Murphy (now Board Chairman, but rarely on-campus) is sometimes spoken of disparagingly as an outsider who does not understand or appreciate his own creation.  On the other hand, community status is no assurance of permanence job security -- even among luminaries and legends of the Esalen scene – since the administration holds absolute authority over employment.

The circles of Initiation at Esalen are listed below in ascending order of status. 

Appendix A4: THE WORKSHOPS OF ESALEN

Within her fields of specialization, Esalen offers a stunning array of top-flight growth experiences.  The original and intriguing titles of these Workshop offerings give some idea of the rich and inclusive variety of Esalen’s programs.

In the Spring semester of 2009, Esalen offered 260 Workshops (including some duplication of listing).  Those Workshops concentrate primarily in just four major categories (Psychology & Relationship, Arts & Creativity, Spirituality, and The Body), along with seven minor categories (Health & Healing, Professional Growth & Training, Children/ Families/ Education, Economics/ Business/ Workplace, Integral Practices, Nature/ Ecology/ Sustainability, and Social & Political).  Within the most popular Process categories, there are several sub-categories.  The Psychology & Relationship category includes: Psychological/ Transpersonal Process, Relationship/ Communication, and Neuropsychology/ Neuroscience/ Parapsychology.  The Arts category includes: Visual Arts, Writing, Music/ Rhythm/ Dance, and Creative Expression/ Theater.  The Spirituality category includes: Contemplative/ Spiritual Studies, Yoga, and Myth/ Ritual/ Shamanism.  The Body Practices category includes: Massage/ Bodywork and Somatic Practices/ Movement.

Those 11 categories and their subgroups, comprising 19 divisions in all, are shown below in order of prevalence.  The equivalent ADAPT Process is shown in (parenthesis).  The number of Workshops in a given category is shown in [brackets].

MAJOR WORKSHOP CATEGORIES

PSYCHOLOGY&RELATIONSHIP [65]
(#31 Psychotherapies)

Psychological & Transpersonal Process [41]

Jan 2-4 • Humor and Other Martial Arts

Jan 2-4 • What’s Next? The Path of Self-Renewal

Jan 11-16 • Relational Somatic Psychology

Jan 11-16 • The I in the Storm: Self Leadership

Jan 18-23 • The Journey from Abandonment to Healing

Jan 23-25 • Overcoming Self-Deception

Jan 23-25 • Sweet Mischief

Jan 25-30 • Overcoming Isolation and Mistrust

Jan 30-Feb 1 • Singing Gestalt

Feb 1-6 • Live, Love, Move: Embodied Relationship

6Feb 13-15 • Reviewing and Revisioning Our Lives

Feb 15-20 • Gestalt and the Invention of Self

Feb 22-27 • Trauma and the Restoration of Self

Feb 22-27 • Not for the Feint of Heart

Feb 22-27 • Passion and Wisdom

Feb 27-Mar 1 • Relationships at Work 2.0

Feb 27-Mar 1 • The Sustainable Self

Mar 1-6 • The Ordinary Miracle of Healing

Mar 13-15 • Working Toward Aliveness, Pleasure, Joy 

Mar 20-22 • Awakening The Heart

Mar 22-27 • Rest, Rejuvenation and Renewal

Mar 29-Apr 3 • Who Am I, Really?

Apr 3-5 • A Tender Invitation

Apr 10-12 • Intro to Gestalt Awareness Practice

Apr 19-24 • The Transforming Power of Emotion

Apr 24-26 • Claiming Your Voice

Apr 26-May 1 • The Gifts of Grief

May 3-8 • Gestalt Awareness Practice

May 3-8 • Personal Leadership: Making a Difference

May 8-10 • The Power of Emotional Connection

May 10-15 • The Transformation of Everyday Life

May 17-22 • Transition: Having What It Takes

May 24-29 • Reclaiming Your Authentic Self

May 24-29 • Resting in the Arms of Love

May 29-31 • Integral Experiential Learning

May 29-31 • Loving Yourself

June 5-7 • Getting Unblocked

June 12-14 • Intro to Gestalt Awareness Practice

June 21-26 • Healing the Heart of Conflict

June 26-28 • When the Past is Present

June 28-July 3 • Beyond Self-Limiting Behavior

Relationship & Communication [18]

Jan 9-11 • The Core Evolution® Approach

Jan 30-Feb 1 • Sex, Love, and Relationships

Feb 1-6 • Integrative Body Psychotherapy

Feb 6-8 • Gay Men Thriving!

Feb 13-15 • The Couple’s Journey to Wholeness

Feb 13-15 • Finding True Love

Feb 20-22 • The Art of Happiness

Feb 20-22 • Conflict Transformation

Feb 27-Mar 1 • Living a Passionate Life

Mar 6-8 • Getting the Love You Want

Mar 8-13 • Sharing the Path: A Retreat for Couples

Mar 29-Apr 3 • Tantra: The Art of Conscious Loving

Apr 5-10 • Pleasure, Intimacy, Connectedness

May 10-15 • Not Just Another Communication Wkshp

May 29-31 • Close Yet Free

May 31-June 5 • Holistic Sexuality

June 12-14 • Building Collaborative Relationships

June 12-14 • Couples’ Communication Retreat

Neuropsychology / Neuroscience
/ Parapsychology [6]

Feb 8-13 • The High-Performance Mind

Feb 20-22 • Limitless Mind and the End of Suffering

Feb 27-Mar 1 • Transformation of Trauma

May 29-31 • Opening to the Infinite

June 12-14 • Spark: Exercise and the Brain

June 28-July 3 • Awakening the Mind

ARTS&CREATIVITY [50]
(#28 Expressive Arts)

Music, Rhythm & Dance [19]

Jan 9-11 • The Brazilian Soul

Jan 16-18 • Being Danced: 5RhythmsTM Essentials

Jan 16-18 • Spirit Songs: The Power of Gospel

Jan 25-30 • SoulMotionTM: Begin Again

Jan 30-Feb 1 • Singing Gestalt

Jan 30-Feb 1 • SoulMotionTM: Alone, Together

Feb 6-8 • Finding Your Long-Lost Musician

Feb 8-13 • Finding Your Long-Lost Musician 

Mar 13-15 • Biodanza: The Dance of Life

Mar 20-22 • Find Your Inner Rhythm

Mar 22-27 • Dancing with the Spirits

Apr 10-12 • SoulMotionTM: Body Prayer

Apr 12-17 • SoulMotionTM: From Alone to All One

Apr 26-May 1 • Spiritweaves: Sanctuary of Self

May 17-22 • Waves: Light and Shadow

May 31-June 5 • Moving Meditation Practice

June 5-7 • The Song of the Drum

June 14-19 • SoulMotionTM: Sanctuary

June 26-28 • The Nine Ways of Zhikr

Visual Arts [14]

Jan 4-9 • Wild Abandon in Mixed Media

Jan 23-25 • Photographing the Seasons of Big Sur

Jan 25-30 • Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Feb 1-6 • Painting the Outer and Inner Landscape

Feb 13-20 • Vessels for the Spirit

Feb 15-20 • Cinema Alchemy

Mar 6-8 • Drawing Out Your Soul: Touch Drawing

Mar 20-22 • Mosaic Art

Apr 5-10 • Making Art

Apr 26-May 1 • Encaustic Painting

May 3-8 • Awakening The Creative: Painting

May 10-15 • Painting from the Source

May 29-31 • Postcards from Esalen

May 31-June 5 • Artplane Workshop

Creative Expression/ Theater [9]

Jan 4-9 • Storytelling from the Heart

Jan 16-18 • Essence and Alchemy: Natural Perfumes

Jan 18-23 • Improv: Expanding with Laughter

Feb 22-27 • Acting 101

Apr 3-5 • Moving Theater of the Soul

Apr 12-17 • A Big, New, Free, Happy, Unusual Life

Apr 26-May 1 • THE MAX

May 1-3 • Freedom through Foolishness

June 28-July 3 • Mapping the Soul

Writing [8] (#24 Language)

Jan 25-30 • Writing and Praying Poetry

Feb 8-13 • Writes of Passage

Feb 20-22 • The Writing Life

Mar 8-13 • Dangerous Writing

Apr 10-12 • Writing for Children with Children

Apr 19-24 • The Voice of Essence

Apr 24-26 • Writing From the Heart

June 12-14 • Your Editor is Not Your Mother!

SPIRITUALITY [41] (#33 Spiritual Practices)

Contemplative & Spiritual Studies [20]

Jan 2-4 • The Islamic Jesus

Jan 4-9 • Living at the Heart of Zen

Jan 11-16 • Meditation, Consciousness, and the Brain

Jan 16-18 • Realization Process: Essence of Being

Jan 30-Feb 1 • TAO Meditation Methods of Lao Tse

Feb 6-8 • Deeksha: A Oneness Blessing Retreat

Feb 20-22 • Limitless Mind and the End of Suffering

Mar 1-6 • Wild Serenity

Mar 13-15 • Being Present for Your Life

Mar 15-20 • Retreat with Gangaji

Mar 20-22 • An Investigation of Tai Ji Practice

Apr 17-19 • Passion and Grace: Devotional Singing

Apr 19-26 • Tibetan Buddhist Meditation

May 8-10 • The Song of the Body

May 10-15 • The Joy of Being

May 22-24 • Meditation and MindBody Healing

May 22-24 • Sex of the Spirit Toolbox

June 5-7 • Opening to Silence

June 5-7 • Money and Spirituality

June 26-28 • The Nine Ways of Zhikr

Yoga [15]

Jan 2-4 • Reclaiming the Sacred Within

Jan 4-9 • Practice in Presence: Moving Onto Center

Jan 18-23 • Bloodstream Yoga

Jan 23-25 • Strengthen the Legs, Extend the Spine

Feb 22-27 • Pieces of the Yoga Puzzle

Mar 6-8 • The Yoga of Regeneration

Mar 8-13 • Yoga: On the Way Home

Mar 27-29 • Yoga for the “Yogically Challenged”

Apr 5-10 • The Fire of Love: A Yoga Retreat

May 1-3 • Instinct, Intuition, Insight: Anusara Yoga

May 3-8 • Gravity and Grace

May 24-29 • Hatha and Raja Yoga Practicum

June 7-12 • The Fire of Yoga: Tantric Alchemy

June 19-21 • Yoga Ecstasy Summer Solstice Retreat

June 21-26 • Yoga, Health, and Happiness

Myth, Ritual, Shamanism [6]

Feb 1-6 • The Way of the Shaman

Mar 22-27 • Joseph Campbell Week

Mar 27-29 • MythBody at Play in the Year of the Ox

Apr 5-10 • Visionseeker III: Shamanic Cosmology

May 15-17 • Pachakuti Mesa Tradition Shamanism

June 14-19 • Visionseeker I

BODY& MOVEMENT [35]
(#29 Body Therapies)

Massage/ Bodywork [20]

Jan 2-4 • Esalen® Massage Retreat for Couples

Jan 9-11 • Weekend Massage Intensive

Jan 11-16 • Deep Bodywork Mastery

Jan 18-23 • Intro. to Rolf Structural Integration

Jan 25-30 • The Upledger Institute’s CranioSacral I

Feb 8-13 • LaStone’s DeepStone Therapy

Feb 15-20 • Bowenwork

Feb 22-27 • Esalen® Massage: Poetry and Didgeridoo

Mar 20-22 • Rosen Method Bodywork

Mar 27-29 • Esalen® Massage

Apr 3-5 • Trends in Esalen® Massage and Bodywork

Apr 12-17 • Esalen® Massage and Reflexology

Apr 24-26 • Dance of Shiatsu I

May 1-3 • Esalen® Massage for Couples

May 3-8 • Esalen® Massage and Reiki

May 8-June 5 • 28-Day Esalen® Massage Certification

May 10-15 • Zero Balancing II

May 31-June 5 • Deep Bodywork for Practitioners

June 12-14 • Advanced Esalen® Massage

June 21-26 • The Upledger Institute’s CranioSacral II

Somatic Practices/ Movement [15]

Jan 2-4 • Humor and Other Martial Arts

Jan 4-9 • The Listening Hands

Jan 4-9 • Spinal Awareness (with Humor)

Jan 11-16 • Relational Somatic Psychology

Jan 11-16 • Your Body’s Natural Ability to Find Comfort

Jan 23-25 • The Mind/Body Connection

Jan 30-Feb 1 • Spinal Awareness: Healing (with Humor)

Feb 1-6 • Radical Aliveness: Core Energetics

Mar 1-6 • Wild Serenity

Mar 8-13 • Biosynthesis

Mar 13-15 • Working Toward Aliveness, Pleasure, Joy

Mar 22-27 • The Foundations of Nervous System Energy

Mar 29-Apr 5 • Cortical Field Reeducation®

Apr 19-24 • Gyrokinesis®

May 22-24 • Beyond Jogging

MINOR WORKSHOP CATEGORIES

HEALTH/ HEALING [18]
(#2 Natural Medicine)

Jan 9-11 • Mindfulness and Heartfulness

Jan 18-23 • Good Practice, Good Living, Good World

Jan 23-25 • The Mind/Body Connection

Feb 1-6 • Recovering Eros: Bring Your Life Back to Life

Feb 6-8 • Intro to Living Foods and the Raw Food Diet

Feb 8-13 • Triumph in the Face of Chronic Illness

Feb 8-13 • Embodiment and Essence

Feb 15-20 • Qigong and Bodymind Healing

Feb 20-22 • Qigong and Inner Alchemy

Mar 6-8 • Vividus! The Art of Healthy Aging

Mar 13-15 • Healing of Heart and Mind

Mar 22-27 • Foundations of Nervous System Energy

Apr 10-12 • Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Apr 12-17 • Free Your Breath, Free Your Life

May 15-17 • Mindfulness in Deep Relationship

May 15-17 • Treating the Unique Child

June 7-12 • Eat It Raw

June 19-21 • Love Yourself

PROFESSIONAL GROWTH & TRAINING [15] (#11 Skills)

Jan 9-11 • Everyday Leadership

Jan 11-16 • Relational Somatic Psychology

Jan 18-23 • Good Practice, Good Living, Good World

Feb 8-13 • The Physical in Coaching and Counseling

Mar 8-13 • Biosynthesis

Mar 8-13 • Transforming Trauma with EMDR

Mar 13-15 • Becoming a Leader

Apr 3-5 • Men in Helping Professions

Apr 17-19 • Enhancement of Peak Performance

Apr 26-May 1 • A Retreat For and By Women Physicians

May 1-3 • Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

May 3-8 • Personal Leadership: Making a Difference

June 5-7 • Attachment in Psychotherapy

June 12-14 • Spark: Exercise and the Brain

June 21-26 • Body and Self in Relationship

CHILDREN/ FAMILIES/ EDUCATION [9]
(#6 Family Dynamics)

Jan 16-18 • Family Arts Program

Jan 23-25 • Parenting from the Inside Out

Mar 6-8 • Trauma Proofing Your Child

Mar 27-29 • Mother-Daughter Relationships

Apr 12-17 • Family Arts Program

May 8-10 • A Mother-Daughter Journey

May 15-17 • Treating the Unique Child

May 22-24 • Family Arts Program

June 19-21 • Fathers and Sons

ECONOMICS/  BUSINESS/ WORKPLACE [9] (#14 Enterprise & Leadership)

Feb 6-8 • Spiritual Ecology of Business

Mar 27-29 • How Companies Get Mojo from Maslow

Apr 17-19 • Callings: An Authentic Life

Apr 17-19 • Business and Human Potential

Apr 24-26 • The Leadership Challenge

May 8-10 • Financing Social Enterprises

May 15-17 • Women, Money, and Realizing Dreams

June 26-28 • The Cure for Money Madness

June 28-July 3 • Leadership for Execs and Entrepreneurs

INTEGRAL PRACTICES [9] (#35 Integral)

Jan 2-4 • Experiencing Esalen

Jan 18-23 • Good Practice, Good Living, Good World

Feb 20-22 • Experiencing Esalen

Feb 27-Mar 1 • Integral Transformative Practice

Mar 13-15 • Experiencing Esalen

Apr 3-5 • Experiencing Esalen

May 1-3 • Experiencing Esalen

May 24-29 • Resting in the Arms of Love

May 29-31 • Integral Experiential Learning

NATURE, ECOLOGY, SUSTAINABILITY [7] (#10 Natural Environment)

Jan 30-Feb 1 • ECOpreneuring

Feb 15-20 • Seduced by Earth

Mar 8-13 • Creating a Sustainable World

Apr 12-17 • Big Sur Wilderness Experience

May 24-29 • Walk on the Wild Side

June 21-26 • Mountains and Waves

June 26-July 3 • Permaculture Design Teacher Training

SOCIAL & POLITICAL [2]
(#15 Ethics & Service)

Mar 20-22 • Human Rights Activism

June 14-19 • Inclusive Vision of Community

 

APPENDIX A5:
THE PROCESSES OF ESALEN’S WORKSHOPS

Esalen’s Workshops concentrate in a limited range of ADAPT Processes.  Just 14 of our 35 Processes are explicitly covered, with the bulk of all Workshops occurring within just four Processes – Psychotherapy (#31: 18.1%), Expressive Arts (#s 28: 16.1%), Spirituality (#33: 13.4%), The Body (#29: 13.5%).

The Table below displays the 11 categories and 12 sub-categories of Esalen workshops (cols. 1-2), the closest equivalent Process in our ADAPT Model (col. 3), and the total number and percentage of catalog Workshops during the Spring semester of 2009 (cols. 4-5).  Categories are listed beginning with the most prevalent.

RESOURCES FOR EXPLORATION

Overviews

{     Murphy, Michael 1992.  The Future of the Body – Explorations into the Further Evolution of Human Nature. Los Angeles, CA: Jeremy Tarcher. (Body, Processes).
Scientifically sophisticated survey and investigation of a huge range of Processes and Modalities.  By the co-founder of Esalen.  Murphy and Wilber have been close friends and major influences on each of other, especially regarding Integral Practices.

Sociological analysis

{     Ray, Paul H. and Sherry Ruth Anderson 2000.  The Cultural Creatives – How 50 Million People Are Changing the World.  New York, NY: Harmony/Random House.
Valuable survey of the exciting transformation at work in today’s culture.  Includes chapter on the human potential movement (pp. 169-204).  Brief and somewhat unfavorable reference to Esalen.

Personal journeys

{     Schwartz, Tony 1995. What Really Matters: Searching for Wisdom in America.  Bantam.
This story of the author’s four-year, human-potential odyssey through many Processes of psychology and spirit.  Extensive and laudatory chapter on Esalen.

Self-help

{     Leonard, George B. and Michael Murphy 1995.  The Life We Are Given.
Introduction to Integral Transformative Practice (ITP) -- a balanced and comprehensive long-term program for personal transformation.  A major influence on Wilber’s ILP.

Surveys and compendia of alternative therapies

{     Corsini, Raymond J. 2001.  Handbook of Innovative Therapy.  Wiley.
Textbook and manual covering a large variety of innovative and esoteric therapies: natural high, provocative therapist, covert conditioning, mindbody communication, imaginal cognition, deep psychobiology, eidetic therapy, provocative therapy, intensive marathon, primal therapy, etc.  Esalen is a showcase for many such innovative therapies.

{     Schneider, Kirk J., James F. T. Bugental , and J. Fraser Pierson, eds. 2002.  The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology: Leading Edges in Theory, Research, and Practice.  Sage Publications.
Essays and studies on therapies, philosophies, and research that do justice to the highest reaches of human achievement and potential: personal construct psychotherapy, transpersonal psychology, credulous approach, peace psychology, organizational development theory, inner experiencing, constructivist therapy, Abraham Maslow, Rollo May, etc.  Includes many of the theories and principles on which Esalen was founded.

Specific Processes or Themes

Body therapies:

{     Juhan, Dean 1987/1998.  Job’s Body – A Handbook for Bodywork.  Barrytown, NY: Barrytown, Ltd.
Detailed theoretical and practical explanations of numerous bodywork modalities by a former Esalen practitioner.

Histories of Esalen

{     Kripal, Jeffrey J. 2007.  Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion.  University of Chicago Press.
Extensive historical account of Esalen Institute.  Scholarly approach, emphasizing Esalen’s theories and socio-religious implications, rather than its experiential Processes.

{     Anderson, Walter Truett 1983. The Upstart Spring: Esalen and the Human Potential Movement: The First Twenty Years Addison Wesley.
A charming, gossipy multiple biography of the curious gurus who spawned Esalen.  Captures the flavor of early Esalen effectively.

Growth Centers

Places to experience a wide variety of Growth Processes in idyllic settings.

{     Esalen Institute, 55000 Highway One, Big Sur, CA.  831-667-3000.  www.Esalen.org.

{     Omega Institute, 150 Lake Drive, Rhinebeck, NY 12572.  845-266-4444. www.Eomega.org

{     Hollyhock, Cortez Island, British Columbia, Canada.  800-933-6339.  www.Hollyhock.ca.

{     The Findhorn Foundation (and University),
The Park,
Findhorn Bay,
Moray IV36 3TZ,
Scotland, UK.  +44 (0)1309 691620. www.Findhorn.org.


{     Breitenbush Hot Springs,
P.O. Box 578
Detroit, OR 97342.  503-854-3320. www.Breitenbush.com.

{     Harbin Hot Springs, P.O.Box 1132, Middletown, CA 95461.  800-622-2477, 707-987-2477.  www.Harbin.org.

Meditation centers

Places to receive guidance in meditation and other spiritual practices in idyllic settings.

{     Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, 39171 Tassajara Road, Carmel Valley, CA 93924.  415-865-1899.  www.sfzc.org/Tassajara.

{     Spirit Rock Meditation Center, P.O. Box 169, Woodacre, CA 94973.  415-488-0164.  www.SpiritRock.org.

{          Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, 1601 Shoreline Highway, Muir Beach, CA 94965.  415-383-3134.  www.sfzc/ggf.

HUGH & KAYE MARTIN

HUGH MARTIN.  Hugh Martin is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World.  He has appeared on numerous talk shows, led seminars at many colleges and corporations, and spoken at numerous professional conferences and colloquia.  Mr. Martin is president of the FINRA-registered securities brokerage firm, Hugh Martin Securities, and of the California-registered investment advisory firm, Hugh Martin & Co.  Hugh is also an experienced Life Counselor.

AMALIA KAYE MARTIN.  Amalia Kaye Martin (‘Kaye’) is a ‘clairvoyant’ Life Counselor, gifted natural medicine practitioner, and early education specialist.  Kaye is also a dedicated homemaker, full-time mother, instructor in natural medicine and nutrition at Bauman College, certified natural foods chef, and dynamic community organizer.

HUGH AND KAYE MARTIN.  Hugh and Kaye are primarily qualified as Integral theorists and practitioners because they have led Integral lives.  Both Hugh and Kaye have extensive experience in personal transformation, natural medicine and health, early and advanced education, societal change, natural and cultural environments, and high-level academics.

Hugh and Kaye have been married for over 30 years.  They have five highly-independent, multi-gifted children with strong family ties. 

 

WHOLE LIFE COUNSELING.  Hugh and Kaye Martin are the founders and co-directors of the life planning and counseling firm Whole Life Counseling.  Whole Life Counseling is a comprehensive program for personal and professional growth, which empowers clients to achieve success and fulfillment in 12 key arenas of life -- education, career, marriage, family, community, emotions, sexuality, finances, health, recreation, nature, and spirituality. 

For more information, please contact the authors at [email protected].

ESALEN FAMILY
Everyone in the Martin Family has attended an Esalen Workshop or Festival, participated in the Work/Scholar Program, and/or enjoyed the sunset from Esalen's steamy hot baths.
Counter-clockwise from lower right: Kaye, Hugh, Pat Dobbins, Mollie Martin Dobbins, Livvie, Josh, Becky, and Sam.