Voices Of Esalen

Michael Ableman is a farmer, author, photographer and urban and local food systems advocate. Michael has been farming organically since the early 1970′s and is considered one of the pioneers of the organic farming and urban agriculture movements. He is a frequent lecturer to audiences all over the world, and winner of numerous awards for his work. He is also the founder of the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens; co-founder and director of Sole Food Street Farms, and founder and director of the Center for Arts, Ecology and Agriculture based at his family home and farm on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia. He's an awesome person, and this interview is well worth a listen.

Peggy Horan is a longtime Esalen staff member, known far and wide for her exceptional work as an Esalen massage therapist and massage teacher. She has been practicing and teaching Esalen Massage for four decades and is the author of Connecting Through Touch, A Couples Massage Book. It was my pleasure to visit Peggy recently at her home on Gorda mountain, which she shares with her husband, artist Richard Horan. I’m joined in the interview process by Lucia Horan, Peggy’s eldest daughter, who assisted me in delving into the rich legacy and history of a beloved and respected community member. We spoke about a host of topics, including the evolution of Esalen massage, midwifery in Big Sur in the 1980's, and what Esalen was like when she arrived in 1969.

The esteemed Michael Murphy is the co-founder of the Esalen Institute, and a very smart guy; this is accepted as established fact. What’s somewhat less known about Michael is that he is a sports nut - and an expert on mysticism within the realm of sports. In 1972, Murphy published his first book, Golf in the Kingdom, which went on to sell more than one million copies, becoming a cult classic among athletes, with many celebrity fans, among them Phil Jackson, Bill Murray, and Tom Smothers. He is also the author of In the Zone: Transcendent Experiences in Sports, (with Rhea White), which, in the words of historian Jeffrey Kripal, “makes the case that there is a kind of spiritual underground in the sports world, and that the psychodynamics of athletics - extreme discipline, physical suffering, risk-taking, scripted trauma - bear some rather striking resemblances to the earlier cultural patterns of shamanism and mysticism.” In the Zone, in fact, is a book of case studies that make the compelling argument that spor

Paul Selig is a psychic gifted with the skill of clairvoyance. He is sometimes described as a “medium for the living.” Paul is also the award-winning author of many channeled texts, including I am the Word, the book of Love and Creation, the Book of Mastery, and most recently, the Book of Freedom. Of course, Paul will tell you he transcribes these books, rather than writes them - that the true authors of these books are his guides. Today he brings us into the "upper room," offers insight into his own guides, speaks about the importance of Esalen on his work, and indulges Sam with a bit of channeled guidance regarding some of his personal concerns.

Mark Coleman is the author of "Make Peace with Your Mind: How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Help Free You from the Inner Critic" and "Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path of Self-Discovery." Mark is a senior meditation teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and has taught there since 2000. He also holds a MA in Clinical Psychology. We spoke about the unique path that brought Mark to mindfulness meditation and how presence awareness lies at the heart of the work he does.

I've always been mystified by the concept of transpersonal psychology and Ken Wilber's Integral Theory. Dustin DiPerna, Harvard-trained scholar of world religions, meditation teacher, and author of several books, including Streams of Wisdom, Evolution's Ally, and Earth is Eden, took this one on for me. Dustin and I spoke about a host of topics, including his brief foray into the fashion industry as a young man, which led to his attempt to become a monk, which then lead to his years of study with philosopher and creator of Integral Theory, Ken Wilber, and a prosperous career as a heart-centered intellectual. Dustin led us through a short and beautiful meditation to close the conversation.

Dr. Rick Hanson is a psychologist and author whose interests lie in the confluence of modern neuroscience and ancient contemplative practices. Hanson is the author of Buddha’s Brain, Just One Thing, Hardwiring Happiness, and most recently, Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness, which discusses using positive neuroplasticity to develop vital inner strengths like grit, gratitude, and compassion. Rick is a Senior Fellow at the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, and is basically a wise, compassionate, and thoughtful resource.

Mikey Siegel is the founder of the Consciousness Hacking movement. Siegel studied computer engineering at UC Santa Cruz, then worked at NASA in the field of Intelligent Robotics. He’s also worked at the MIT Media Lab, focusing in part on social robotics. He uses technology to facilitate a path toward higher consciousness, self-realization, awakening, and transcendence.

Perry Holloman is an internationally renowned massage instructor - he has been a teacher and practitioner of Esalen Massage, Deep Bodywork, and body-oriented approaches to Relational Gestalt Process work for more than 30 years. He and his wife Johanna Holloman teach in the U.S., Asia, and Europe, and enjoy legions of faithful followers with their brand of Deep Bodywork. Together we explored a bit of the history of the last 40 years of the Esalen institute, from dishwashing to dancing, to his mentors at Esalen, and the tribal nature of the community in the 1980's. He's one of the more articulate people running around the good state of California, so sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Suzanne Scurlock-Durana is one of the world’s leading authorities on conscious awareness. A longtime leader at Esalen, Suzanne is a Craniosacral therapist and an instructor with the Upledger Institute. She created the comprehensive Healing From the Core training curriculum, empowering her audience with practical tools that enable them to experience joy in each moment without burning out. She also teaches a popular women-only course at Esalen called Healing the Pelvic Floor. Suzanne is about using full body presence to improve every aspect of your life, from your health and well-being to your relationships, your career, your creativity, and your financial health.

Dr. Ben Sessa is a psychiatrist from the United Kingdom, and currently a senior research fellow at Bristol, Cardiff and Imperial College London Universities, where he is conducting the UK's first clinical studies with MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD and alcohol dependence syndrome. Ben and I spoke at length about the current state of psychedelic psychotherapy, exploring topics such as success rates for clients, how to work with trauma in a psychedelic state, whether depression is in fact treatable by this method, ego loss, shedding negative personal narratives, and much more. He is a stupendous voice of reason and is very much poised on the cutting edge of clinical research in regards to the sanctioned use of psychedelics for healing.

Steve Paulson is the Executive Producer and one of the founders of the beloved NPR radio show,To The Best Of Our Knowledge. He is a master interviewer, having conducted many thousands of interviews over the course of a 27-year career. Steve has been a contributing writer for Salon.com, Slate, Huffington Post and The Atlantic. His radio reports have also been broadcast on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His book, Atoms and Eden: Conversations on Religion & Science, was published by Oxford University Press in 2010. He’s working on another book exploring the intersection between science, philosophy and spiritual experience, which will probe the edges of science and such oddities as psychedelics and near-death experiences.

Janet Stone is a beloved yoga teacher and longtime faculty at the Esalen Institute. Janet grew up on a self-described “slightly crazy hippie farm” in Northern California, where she ate tofu, baled hay, and cleaned rabbit cages. As an adult she spent eleven inspiring years in film and TV production, then traveled the world, visiting New Zealand, Egypt, and then northern India, where she began her yoga journey. Janet lives in San Francisco and continues to travel the world, teaching and leading. Some of her favorite things, per her website, include "Tantric Shaivism (go, Hareesh), Egyptian Licorice Mint Tea, the search for the perfect whoopie-pie (found many times), the New Yorker, great stretchy jeans (no, not jeggings), tall boots, long boards, flip-flops, warm toes, KCRW, inner exploration, curiosity, carpooling, that spot under the tree in Golden Gate Park, sunsets from Bingin, Bali, bath time, story time, snack time, picnic time, anytime with my girls." She is an articulate and passionate speaker about y

Pico Iyer is a British-born essayist and novelist, known for his outstanding travel writing. Iyer was a King's Scholar at Eton College, and was awarded a Congratulatory Double First in English Literature at Oxford University, then received his second master's in literature at Harvard. Iyer has known the 14th Dalai Lama since he was in his late teens, when he accompanied his father to Dharamshala, India, in the early 1970s. Iyer taught literature at Harvard before joining Time magazine in 1982 as a writer on world affairs. After his home in Santa Barbara burned to the ground in 1990, Iyer was left without any possessions. In 1992 he relocated to Nara, Japan, where he has lived since, with his wife Hiroko Takeuchi. Some of his notable books include Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for Home; The Open Road: the Global Journey of the 14th Dalai Lama; and most recently, The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere.

Stanislav Grof is not only one of the godfathers of psychedelic psychotherapy -- not only one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology -- not only a renowned researcher into the use of non-ordinary states of consciousness to gain insights into the human psyche -- he was an integral part of the fabric of the Esalen Institute during the 1970's and 1980's, helping to shape the culture in Big Sur via his popular workshops and month long programs. In our interview, we talked about his relationship with Esalen co-founder Michael Murphy and how he came to be invited to live and teach at Esalen in the 1970's (where he created the practice of holotropic breath work, in part out of necessity to abide with the law), his abiding affection for Dick Price, and his collaborations with Fritjof Capra, Gregory Bateson, Rupert Sheldrake, as well as many more legendary teachers. Definitely tune in to the man, the myth, the legend - Stan Grof.

Ken Dychtwald is a lifelong friend of Esalen and certified amazing guy. Besides being the best-selling author of more than ten books, he's a ground-breaking gerontologist, a psychologist, an educator, a professional lecturer (one of the best to ever pick up a microphone), a superb storyteller, a consultant to several White House administrations, an amazing father and husband -- and apart from all that, he knows quite a lot about Esalen back in the day. As Voices of Esalen begins to develop into a larger body of work, I'm finding that some of the holes in our history are gradually getting filled in. To that end, I got into the 1970's with Ken Dychtwald, and we dug into the work of Will Schutz, famous for his encounter groups, and the psychodrama technique that came with it. Ken and I also talked about his seminal book, Bodymind, which he developed in his early twenties, and how he came to be at the forefront of the holistic health movement at its inception. We also chatted about his lifelong work with aging

Dr. Hyman is an eleven-time #1 New York Times bestselling author, an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in the field of functional medicine. He is the Director the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, the founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center, chairman of the board of the Institute for Functional Medicine, a medical editor of The Huffington Post, and a regular medical contributor on many television shows, including CBS This Morning, Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, The View, and The Dr. Oz Show. We talked about many topics, including healthy fats, what NOT to eat, organ meats, dairy (nature's perfect food, if you're a calf, says Mark), fluoridated water, and more. This podcast is full of actionable knowledge. Have a listen.

Bob Walter is the executive director and board president of the Joseph Campbell foundation. Walter was Joseph Campbell’s editor for the last ten years of his life and the editorial director of "The Historical Atlas of World Mythology." Following Campbell’s death in 1987, he served as literary executor of Campbell’s estate, and continues to oversee the publication of Joseph Campbell’s writings. We got a chance to chat about the work and the life of Campbell, a central figure in Esalen’s history, as well as the human potential movement. Bonus: I got the chance to play some original Joseph Campbell clips taken from a speech he gave at the Esalen institute, on October 12th, 1967, entitled, “Freud, Jung, and Kundalini Yoga.” Enjoy.

Jean Houston is an interdisciplinary thinker and author, known for her ability to weave history, culture, spirituality, and science. While participating in a US Government-sanctioned research project on the effects of LSD (before such research was banned), Houston became acquainted with Robert Masters, a writer and a researcher into the varieties of human behavior and potentials. The two married in 1965, and soon became known for their work in the Human Potential Movement. During the first term of the Clinton administration, First Lady Hillary Clinton, while she was writing "It Takes a Village", invited Houston to work with her in the White House as an advisor. Dr. Houston is the author of 26 books and has worked in over 100 countries. She came to Esalen to teach about quantum theory and concurrent realities, and she and I spent much of our time together talking about her relationships with Margaret Mead, Joseph Campbell, Alduous Huxley, Eleanor Roosevelt, Deepak Chopra, and Hilary Clinton. “Jean Houston’s mi

Steven Harper is a wilderness guide, author, artist, and longtime teacher at the Esalen Institute. He focuses on wild nature as a vehicle for awakening; his work is inspired by a deep connection to inner wild nature. Steven is a contributor to the emerging field of ecopsychology, and has written at length on the subject. He was also a longtime student and close friend of Esalen founder Dick Price, and in our conversation, Steven’s son Kai and I spoke to him about his history with Dick. We also touched upon Esalen in the 80’s, what it was like to raise a family in Big Sur, and how he continues to connect to wild spirit.