Maps to Ecstasy

 Lucia Horan and Douglas Drummond with Guest Musicians Leah Song, Sanga of the Valley, Nick Ayers & Guest Artist Martha Peabody

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When we experience moments of ecstasy, we taste what life is meant to be. — Gabrielle Roth

The 5Rhythms® maps hold all the information required to lead us where we want to go. What is your destination? There is a science to achieving ecstatic states, and this is the mastery we have come to share. This workshop is designed for all who want to discover these possibilities for entering altered states in a natural way.

"I want to take you to a place of pure magic ... It's the place athletes call ‘the zone.’ Buddhists call ‘satori’ and ravers call ‘trance.’ I call it the Silver Desert. It's a place of pure light that holds the dark within it. It's a place of pure rhythm,” wrote Gabrielle Roth. Her dance and somatic meditation can assist you in navigating your way out of resistance and into ecstasy and help you build a skill set that supports balance, ease, and joy. If you have been looking to increase appreciation, gratitude, and happiness, now is a perfect time to celebrate being alive in the wild, wondrous, natural beauty of Esalen.

This course will include:

5Rhythms dance both indoors and outside by daylight and moonlight

Creating art in nature through group projects with resident artists

Trauma-sensitive mindfulness, including Dharma talk and sitting and walking meditations

Live and recorded music

An evening program guest speaker

Lucia and Douglas, the dancing duo, invite you to join them for a week of dance and celebration under the new moon. Together with our team of musicians and artists, we seek to bring you inspiration and lightness so you return home feeling nurtured and alive.

Leah Song of Rising Appalachia will lead a collective community song practice! Join voices and feel the collective power of unity through song and breath!

Sanga of the Valley, master drummer and living embodiment of the 5Rhythms cosmology, will be joining along with musical savant Nick Ayers.

Martha Peabody, original Gabrielle Roth dancer and founder of the art installation branch of the 5Rhythms, will lead daily community art sessions.

Recommended Reading: Sweat Your Prayers by Gabrielle Roth, Maps to Ecstasy by Gabrielle Roth, Connections by Gabrielle Roth, Dancing with the Dharma edited by Harrison Blum

Dancing With The Dharma

 In order to truly understand the dance, one must be still. And in order

to truly understand stillness, one must dance. – Rumi

If you can liberate the body then the heart-mind can follow.

In this retreat of meditation and movement, will we integrate the stillness of

Buddhist mindfulness meditation with the moving meditations of the 5Rhythms®.

The Buddha encouraged us to bring wise attention to every aspect of our lives.

In sitting meditation, we have the opportunity

to observe the mind and body at rest through silent introspection.

In the practice of the 5Rhythms, we engage in mindfulness while in motion.

The 5Rhythms is a map that teaches how energy moves.

The two polarities of moving and sitting meditation together mirror the dance of life.

In this journey we are always moving between these two spectrums.

If one learns to not cling or avoid, one can then hold the

place of the silent witness and be at ease with all that life offers.

We encourage meditation students to practice mindful dancing in order

to bring balance and insight into their lives.

We invite dancers to engage in sitting meditation in order to embody integration, balance, and

insight.

Join us for the groundbreaking union of these two deep and

wise practices.