See pages 110-111 for reservations, fees, accommodations, scholarship information, and discounts.


council, dreamwork, nature-based ceremony, expressive arts, and solo time on the land. We’ll invite what Thomas Berry calls “the wild fertile forces of the planet” to nourish both the wild human psyche and a future filled with wildly fertile possibility.


Please join us for experiential re-wilding in the auspicious atmosphere of Esalen at the auspicious end of 2012. Where else would you rather be?


Bill Plotkin, founder of Colorado’s Animas Valley Institute, is a depth psychologist, wilderness-based soul guide, and agent for cultural change. Author of Soulcraft and Nature and the Human Soul, he has guided thousands of people through initiatory passages in the underworld of soul.


Geneen Marie Haugen is a writer and guide to the mysteries of Earth and psyche. Her work appears in many nature anthologies, including American Nature Writing and Going Alone: Women’s Adventures in the Wild. She is a doctoral student in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness at CIIS.


The Natural Singer Claude Stein


Come and celebrate the awesome healing power of your voice. Whether you already sing or have always wished you could, this exciting work- shop can change your life.


During this week, you will be shown how to find and use your true, natural voice. There will be great individual attention with exercises to relax the throat, build confidence, increase range, sing in key, and project with power. Then, using favorite songs, participants will develop the extraordinary gifts we are all born with. The results can be simply amazing as each of us, no matter what level we’re at, triumphs over the physical, emotional, and psychological issues that limit us—even if you’ve never been able to carry a tune!


You can find confidence through the gentle whis- per of a lullaby, release emotion with the cry of the blues, or rekindle your passion with a driving rhythmic chant. No special talent or previous experience is necessary. Whether you already sing in public and want to take the next step, or you just want to hit the notes when you sing in the car, you’ll find yourself communicating freely and singing like you’ve always wanted to.


Therapists, coaches, and workshop leaders will also find the techniques valuable for use with their clients.


Note: Bring instruments, CDs, and songbooks if you like.


Claude Stein has 25 years of experience blending psychology and voice training. His clients include RCA, Warner Bros., Sony, Atlantic, Island Records, Juilliard, Harvard Medical School, the Actors Institute, Sprint, Siemens, and JPMorgan.


Shadow Yoga and Buddhist Meditation: Wisdom in Action


Scott Blossom & Chandra Easton


The feminine principle of wisdom, known as prajna paramita in Buddhism, shakti in Tantra, and gnosis in Christianity, represents the awak- ening to our essential nature through direct experience. In Sanskrit, prajna paramita means “perfection of wisdom” and is the name for the Great Mother. She is a deity, a symbol, a sutra; and above all, she represents the ground of being, pregnant with all phenomena, the gen- etrix of the awakened state.


Shadow Yoga is a Hatha yoga system that employs vigorous stance work for strengthening the bones and marrow. It utilizes spiraling and circular movements to free the circulation of the life force in our limbs and to enkindle our digestive fire for healing and strength, making the practitioner a suitable vessel for meditation practice. Scott will teach one of the three Shadow Yoga Prelude forms in a sequential manner so that it may be memorized.


In this retreat, Scott and Chandra will weave together the dynamic, penetrating, and sub- limely simple practices of Shadow Yoga and Buddhist Prajna Paramita meditation. Begin your day with Shadow Yoga practice with Scott. After breakfast, Chandra will share mantra prac- tice, source texts, and Prajna Parmita meditation. In the afternoon, Scott and Chandra will weave together the yoga and meditation practices to create a seamless tapestry of healing and embod- ied wisdom.


Prior yoga and meditation experience is highly recommended. Please bring a yoga mat, medita- tion cushion, and a journal. To learn more about Scott and Chandra, visit www.shunyatayoga.com.


Scott Blossom is a Traditional Chinese Medical practitioner, Shadow Yoga teacher, and Ayurvedic consultant. He has studied yoga for more than 18 years and taught for 12. His primary teachers are Zhander Remete, founder of Shadow Yoga, and Dr. Robert Svoboda, Ayurvedic physician and scholar. www.shunyatayoga.com.


Chandra Easton studied Buddhist philosophy, medi- tation, and Tibetan language at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala, India, and translated Tibetan Buddhist texts on meditation with B. Alan Wallace. Chandra has taught medita- tion and yoga since 2001. www.shunyatayoga.com.


New Year’s Meditation: Opening the Mind, Awakening the Heart


Shauna Shapiro


The winter solstice and New Year’s Eve is a potent time to reflect, renew, and invite our deepest intentions for the coming year. Meditation offers a profound opportunity to focus inward, and to deeply connect with one- self, create intentions, and reflect on life values and aspirations. This darkest season is the pre- lude to a return of the light. It is a perfect time to cultivate the heart, body, and mind through meditation practices that open us to our deeper experiences of love, compassion, joy, and wis- dom.


During this retreat, we explore the simple but profound practice of mindfulness as the founda- tion of living a fully embodied, joyful, and awake life. We will engage with the rich, sensual experience of Esalen, the sounds and beauty of the ocean, and the wonder and profound rich- ness of our moment-to-moment experience. We will also engage in mindful movement practices and practices of metta (love), karuna (compas- sion), and mudita (joy). We will learn about the revolutionary research in mindfulness and neu- robiology that illustrates the profound impact meditation can have in cultivating greater health and wellbeing in our lives. Out of this depth of connection, we will set clear intentions and aspirations for the New Year.


Recommended reading: Shapiro, Carlson and Kabat-Zinn, The Art and Science of Mindfulness; Kornfield, A Path With Heart; Salzberg, Lovingkindness.


CE credit for nurses; see page 113. CE credit for MFTs and LCSWs; see page 113.


Shauna Shapiro, clinical psychologist and associate professor at Santa Clara University, researches mind- fulness meditation and has published more than 60 articles and co-authored The Art and Science of Mindfulness.


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