The Power of Our Potential Every day we see evidence that our world is changing. Every generation has likely felt this, yet perhaps not at the level of global impact or at the break-neck speed that we are experiencing today. Some may believe that we’ve lost touch with our humanity and the result will be a dark future for people and our planet. We are threatened by extinction: not only of biodiversity but extinction of the human experiences that allow us to connect at a deeper level. At Esalen we are watching these changes with our eyes wide open. We believe the way forward must be guided by the power of our innate potential and what we can learn from each other in order to find the best in ourselves — both for our individual well-being and for our collective future. How do we tap into this potential? This question has been a driving force in recent conversations regarding Esalen’s path forward. What we continue to hear from people is an urgent desire, even imperative, to reconnect to our humanity as part of our effort to increase our mission impact and help address some of our greatest societal challenges. For nearly six decades, Esalen has been a place for exploring what it means to be fully human. We are a place to ask the questions that can’t be asked anywhere else; a place to challenge limiting beliefs in the pursuit of growth and integration; a place to be vulnerable so that we may face our fears and, in doing so, come away transformed. All of these aspects of Esalen are also aspects of our shared humanity. In the coming months, we will be sharing with you outcomes of conversations with our community — staff, faculty, seminarians and friends — that underpin a new strategic framework to guide Esalen over the coming years. We look forward to inviting you into this conversation. Together we can explore not just our human potential but also address the challenges that prevent us from embracing our full humanity — those critical components that must be preserved from extinction. Until then, please enjoy the curated selection of workshops for Spring 2020 designed to help us begin, or continue, on our path to being fully human. With gratitude,
Terence Gilbey General Manager and CEO