Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ESALEN INSTITUTE & OMEGA INSTITUTE FOR HOLISTIC STUDIES
follow your bliss at a personal growth workshop
CALIFORNIA & NEW YORK
I felt like I'd stumbled into my hippie-dippie past. And part of it was con-
firmation that idealism can be respected and that people who care really
can make a difference in our world.
—Janet Fullwood, Esalen attendee
86 |
By the time we're 35, most of us have accumulated so many commitments and respons-
ibilities that we're barely hanging on. We keep telling ourselves, “I can keep this up until the
kids graduate” or “until my next vacation.” But the cost of being so busy and overwhelmed
eventually catches up with us. Our health begins to suffer, our happiness dwindles, our spirits
sag.
What this vacation offers is an opportunity to empty your proverbial cup, to get a fresh
perspective. There's no better place to ponder the questions that tug at you in the middle of the
night than at a holistic retreat center. All the authors of the topic you've pored over—from
Maya Angelou to Dr. Andrew Weil—give workshops at these healing centers. You can choose
between weeklong and weekend workshops on such topics as “Afro-Cuban Drum and Dance,”
“The Mind beyond the Brain,” “Practicing Peace in Times of War,” and “Spontaneous Inven-
tions,” a class Bobby “Don't Worry, Be Happy” McFerrin offers on deepening your artistic
expression. Even Goldie Hawn has been known to give workshops.
Although these days you can find a yoga studio and a Gestalt center on every corner, the
two retreat centers listed below are the veritable godfathers of the human potential movement.
They both have incredibly beautiful campuses, workshop leaders that are a veritable who's
who, and a long list of enlightening workshops.
Esalen Institute.
Perched on a rocky ledge overlooking the Pacific Ocean, this 140-acre insti-
tute in Big Sur is where Gestalt therapy guru Frederick “Fritz” Perls coached Rita Hayworth
