Food is a powerful tool for change. So much of who we are relates to it. As a species, major benchmarks in our evolution are linked to changes in our relationship with food. It influences our form and our capacity to thrive. It is a critical feature of our economy and our social relationships. Food has been used to divide and food has the power to create common ground.
Esalen’s Farm & Garden offers a special learning opportunity to four individuals seeking to expand leadership skills and knowledge to use food and farming as a tool for positive change. The deadline to apply to the Farm & Garden’s 12-month Apprenticeship in Community Agriculture has been extended to January 31, 2016.
“We are looking for teachers, pollinators, disseminators — individuals as passionate about sharing skills, inspiration, and know-how as they are about growing food,” explained Farm & Garden Manager Shirley Ward who has been with Esalen for more than 15 years.
The apprenticeship, which runs from April to April, is the central axis around which the Farm & Garden’s educational programming revolves. More than 50 individuals have graduated from the apprenticeship since its founding in 2008. But great changes are underway.
This year, Esalen’s apprenticeship program has doubled in length and its curriculum has both deepened and swelled. Themes of land stewardship, production, education, social justice, food security, and food safety are woven throughout its four “pulses,” or phases. Apprentices receive custom-tailored, hands-on learning experiences and an opportunity for personal and professional transformation that spans a full cycle of seasons and growth, from seed-to-seed.
Pulse One: Roots
Roots covers the fundamentals of sustainable agriculture with emphasis on seeds, beginnings, and root development — plus group building and bonding. (Exhale, release. Celebrate.)
Pulse Two: Shoots
Shoots deepens in its coverage of core agricultural concepts and practices and provides opportunities to begin teaching and leading within the Esalen community. (Exhale, release. Celebrate.)
Pulse Three: Fruits
Fruits introduces advanced and specialized topics in the curriculum as apprentices deepen their skills in the field and develop their own unique relationship to the work. This pulse opens up opportunities to connect with and cultivate organizing relationships with the broader regional community. (Exhale, release. Celebrate.)
Pulse Four: Seeds
Seeds increases ownership and leadership over the work and supports apprentices in visioning and creating plans for their next steps in engaging with the broader food system. (Exhale, release. Celebrate.) Graduation follows.
Esalen offers a unique model of relational agriculture, one grounded in the notion that to be truly sustainable, farming practices must build relationships with the earth, one another, and ourselves. On four acres of cultivated marine terrace, the Esalen Farm & Garden embodies the spirit of farm-to-table by growing produce a mere 400 steps from the Lodge, whose kitchen feeds approximately 300 people every day. From there, a daily alchemy of nearly 500 pounds of food and green waste is incorporated into our soil to enhance its vitality for the seventh generation.
As many as 17,000 guests meander through the Garden annually, nearly 1,000 of whom engage in caring for this land directly through volunteer and work scholar programs. Each work day begins with a brief meditation and group check-in where those present are invited to show-up as their whole selves in preparation for collectively accomplishing the day’s tasks. Weekly departmental group process with a Gestalt facilitator is part of the apprenticeship experience.
Apply for Esalen’s Apprenticeship in Community Agriculture today.
Photos by Doug Ellis.
“Remembering to be as self compassionate as I can and praying to the divine that we're all a part of.”
–Aaron
“Prayer, reading, meditation, walking.”
–Karen
“Erratically — which is an ongoing stream of practice to find peace.”
–Charles
“Try on a daily basis to be kind to myself and to realize that making mistakes is a part of the human condition. Learning from our mistakes is a journey. But it starts with compassion and caring. First for oneself.”
–Steve
“Physically: aerobic exercise, volleyball, ice hockey, cycling, sailing. Emotionally: unfortunately I have to work to ‘not care’ about people or situations which may end painfully. Along the lines of ‘attachment is the source of suffering’, so best to avoid it or limit its scope. Sad though because it could also be the source of great joy. Is it worth the risk?“
–Rainer
“It's time for my heart to be nurtured on one level yet contained on another. To go easy on me and to allow my feelings to be validated, not judged harshly. On the other hand, to let the heart rule with equanimity and not lead the mind and body around like a master.”
–Suzanne
“I spend time thinking of everything I am grateful for, and I try to develop my ability to express compassion for myself and others without reservation. I take time to do the things I need to do to keep myself healthy and happy. This includes taking experiential workshops, fostering relationships, and participating within groups which have a similar interest to become a more compassionate and fulfilled being.“
–Peter
“Self-forgiveness for my own judgments. And oh yeah, coming to Esalen.”
–David B.
“Hmm, this is a tough one! I guess I take care of my heart through fostering relationships with people I feel connected to. Spending quality time with them (whether we're on the phone, through messages/letters, on Zoom, or in-person). Being there for them, listening to them, sharing what's going on with me, my struggles and my successes... like we do in the Esalen weekly Friends of Esalen Zoom sessions!”
–Lori
“I remind myself in many ways of the fact that " Love is all there is!" LOVE is the prize and this one precious life is the stage we get to learn our lessons. I get out into nature, hike, camp, river kayak, fly fish, garden, I create, I dance (not enough!), and I remain grateful for each day, each breath, each moment. Being in the moment, awake, and remembering the gift of life and my feeling of gratitude for all of creation.”
–Steven
“My physical heart by limiting stress and eating a heart-healthy diet. My emotional heart by staying in love with the world and by knowing that all disappointment and loss will pass.“
–David Z.
Today, September 29, is World Heart Day. Strike up a conversation with your own heart and as you feel comfortable, encourage others to do the same. As part of our own transformations and self-care, we sometimes ask for others to illuminate and enliven our hearts or speak our love language.
What if we could do this for ourselves too, even if just for today… or to start a heart practice, forever?
Food is a powerful tool for change. So much of who we are relates to it. As a species, major benchmarks in our evolution are linked to changes in our relationship with food. It influences our form and our capacity to thrive. It is a critical feature of our economy and our social relationships. Food has been used to divide and food has the power to create common ground.
Esalen’s Farm & Garden offers a special learning opportunity to four individuals seeking to expand leadership skills and knowledge to use food and farming as a tool for positive change. The deadline to apply to the Farm & Garden’s 12-month Apprenticeship in Community Agriculture has been extended to January 31, 2016.
“We are looking for teachers, pollinators, disseminators — individuals as passionate about sharing skills, inspiration, and know-how as they are about growing food,” explained Farm & Garden Manager Shirley Ward who has been with Esalen for more than 15 years.
The apprenticeship, which runs from April to April, is the central axis around which the Farm & Garden’s educational programming revolves. More than 50 individuals have graduated from the apprenticeship since its founding in 2008. But great changes are underway.
This year, Esalen’s apprenticeship program has doubled in length and its curriculum has both deepened and swelled. Themes of land stewardship, production, education, social justice, food security, and food safety are woven throughout its four “pulses,” or phases. Apprentices receive custom-tailored, hands-on learning experiences and an opportunity for personal and professional transformation that spans a full cycle of seasons and growth, from seed-to-seed.
Pulse One: Roots
Roots covers the fundamentals of sustainable agriculture with emphasis on seeds, beginnings, and root development — plus group building and bonding. (Exhale, release. Celebrate.)
Pulse Two: Shoots
Shoots deepens in its coverage of core agricultural concepts and practices and provides opportunities to begin teaching and leading within the Esalen community. (Exhale, release. Celebrate.)
Pulse Three: Fruits
Fruits introduces advanced and specialized topics in the curriculum as apprentices deepen their skills in the field and develop their own unique relationship to the work. This pulse opens up opportunities to connect with and cultivate organizing relationships with the broader regional community. (Exhale, release. Celebrate.)
Pulse Four: Seeds
Seeds increases ownership and leadership over the work and supports apprentices in visioning and creating plans for their next steps in engaging with the broader food system. (Exhale, release. Celebrate.) Graduation follows.
Esalen offers a unique model of relational agriculture, one grounded in the notion that to be truly sustainable, farming practices must build relationships with the earth, one another, and ourselves. On four acres of cultivated marine terrace, the Esalen Farm & Garden embodies the spirit of farm-to-table by growing produce a mere 400 steps from the Lodge, whose kitchen feeds approximately 300 people every day. From there, a daily alchemy of nearly 500 pounds of food and green waste is incorporated into our soil to enhance its vitality for the seventh generation.
As many as 17,000 guests meander through the Garden annually, nearly 1,000 of whom engage in caring for this land directly through volunteer and work scholar programs. Each work day begins with a brief meditation and group check-in where those present are invited to show-up as their whole selves in preparation for collectively accomplishing the day’s tasks. Weekly departmental group process with a Gestalt facilitator is part of the apprenticeship experience.
Apply for Esalen’s Apprenticeship in Community Agriculture today.
Photos by Doug Ellis.
“Remembering to be as self compassionate as I can and praying to the divine that we're all a part of.”
–Aaron
“Prayer, reading, meditation, walking.”
–Karen
“Erratically — which is an ongoing stream of practice to find peace.”
–Charles
“Try on a daily basis to be kind to myself and to realize that making mistakes is a part of the human condition. Learning from our mistakes is a journey. But it starts with compassion and caring. First for oneself.”
–Steve
“Physically: aerobic exercise, volleyball, ice hockey, cycling, sailing. Emotionally: unfortunately I have to work to ‘not care’ about people or situations which may end painfully. Along the lines of ‘attachment is the source of suffering’, so best to avoid it or limit its scope. Sad though because it could also be the source of great joy. Is it worth the risk?“
–Rainer
“It's time for my heart to be nurtured on one level yet contained on another. To go easy on me and to allow my feelings to be validated, not judged harshly. On the other hand, to let the heart rule with equanimity and not lead the mind and body around like a master.”
–Suzanne
“I spend time thinking of everything I am grateful for, and I try to develop my ability to express compassion for myself and others without reservation. I take time to do the things I need to do to keep myself healthy and happy. This includes taking experiential workshops, fostering relationships, and participating within groups which have a similar interest to become a more compassionate and fulfilled being.“
–Peter
“Self-forgiveness for my own judgments. And oh yeah, coming to Esalen.”
–David B.
“Hmm, this is a tough one! I guess I take care of my heart through fostering relationships with people I feel connected to. Spending quality time with them (whether we're on the phone, through messages/letters, on Zoom, or in-person). Being there for them, listening to them, sharing what's going on with me, my struggles and my successes... like we do in the Esalen weekly Friends of Esalen Zoom sessions!”
–Lori
“I remind myself in many ways of the fact that " Love is all there is!" LOVE is the prize and this one precious life is the stage we get to learn our lessons. I get out into nature, hike, camp, river kayak, fly fish, garden, I create, I dance (not enough!), and I remain grateful for each day, each breath, each moment. Being in the moment, awake, and remembering the gift of life and my feeling of gratitude for all of creation.”
–Steven
“My physical heart by limiting stress and eating a heart-healthy diet. My emotional heart by staying in love with the world and by knowing that all disappointment and loss will pass.“
–David Z.
Today, September 29, is World Heart Day. Strike up a conversation with your own heart and as you feel comfortable, encourage others to do the same. As part of our own transformations and self-care, we sometimes ask for others to illuminate and enliven our hearts or speak our love language.
What if we could do this for ourselves too, even if just for today… or to start a heart practice, forever?
Food is a powerful tool for change. So much of who we are relates to it. As a species, major benchmarks in our evolution are linked to changes in our relationship with food. It influences our form and our capacity to thrive. It is a critical feature of our economy and our social relationships. Food has been used to divide and food has the power to create common ground.
Esalen’s Farm & Garden offers a special learning opportunity to four individuals seeking to expand leadership skills and knowledge to use food and farming as a tool for positive change. The deadline to apply to the Farm & Garden’s 12-month Apprenticeship in Community Agriculture has been extended to January 31, 2016.
“We are looking for teachers, pollinators, disseminators — individuals as passionate about sharing skills, inspiration, and know-how as they are about growing food,” explained Farm & Garden Manager Shirley Ward who has been with Esalen for more than 15 years.
The apprenticeship, which runs from April to April, is the central axis around which the Farm & Garden’s educational programming revolves. More than 50 individuals have graduated from the apprenticeship since its founding in 2008. But great changes are underway.
This year, Esalen’s apprenticeship program has doubled in length and its curriculum has both deepened and swelled. Themes of land stewardship, production, education, social justice, food security, and food safety are woven throughout its four “pulses,” or phases. Apprentices receive custom-tailored, hands-on learning experiences and an opportunity for personal and professional transformation that spans a full cycle of seasons and growth, from seed-to-seed.
Pulse One: Roots
Roots covers the fundamentals of sustainable agriculture with emphasis on seeds, beginnings, and root development — plus group building and bonding. (Exhale, release. Celebrate.)
Pulse Two: Shoots
Shoots deepens in its coverage of core agricultural concepts and practices and provides opportunities to begin teaching and leading within the Esalen community. (Exhale, release. Celebrate.)
Pulse Three: Fruits
Fruits introduces advanced and specialized topics in the curriculum as apprentices deepen their skills in the field and develop their own unique relationship to the work. This pulse opens up opportunities to connect with and cultivate organizing relationships with the broader regional community. (Exhale, release. Celebrate.)
Pulse Four: Seeds
Seeds increases ownership and leadership over the work and supports apprentices in visioning and creating plans for their next steps in engaging with the broader food system. (Exhale, release. Celebrate.) Graduation follows.
Esalen offers a unique model of relational agriculture, one grounded in the notion that to be truly sustainable, farming practices must build relationships with the earth, one another, and ourselves. On four acres of cultivated marine terrace, the Esalen Farm & Garden embodies the spirit of farm-to-table by growing produce a mere 400 steps from the Lodge, whose kitchen feeds approximately 300 people every day. From there, a daily alchemy of nearly 500 pounds of food and green waste is incorporated into our soil to enhance its vitality for the seventh generation.
As many as 17,000 guests meander through the Garden annually, nearly 1,000 of whom engage in caring for this land directly through volunteer and work scholar programs. Each work day begins with a brief meditation and group check-in where those present are invited to show-up as their whole selves in preparation for collectively accomplishing the day’s tasks. Weekly departmental group process with a Gestalt facilitator is part of the apprenticeship experience.
Apply for Esalen’s Apprenticeship in Community Agriculture today.
Photos by Doug Ellis.
“Remembering to be as self compassionate as I can and praying to the divine that we're all a part of.”
–Aaron
“Prayer, reading, meditation, walking.”
–Karen
“Erratically — which is an ongoing stream of practice to find peace.”
–Charles
“Try on a daily basis to be kind to myself and to realize that making mistakes is a part of the human condition. Learning from our mistakes is a journey. But it starts with compassion and caring. First for oneself.”
–Steve
“Physically: aerobic exercise, volleyball, ice hockey, cycling, sailing. Emotionally: unfortunately I have to work to ‘not care’ about people or situations which may end painfully. Along the lines of ‘attachment is the source of suffering’, so best to avoid it or limit its scope. Sad though because it could also be the source of great joy. Is it worth the risk?“
–Rainer
“It's time for my heart to be nurtured on one level yet contained on another. To go easy on me and to allow my feelings to be validated, not judged harshly. On the other hand, to let the heart rule with equanimity and not lead the mind and body around like a master.”
–Suzanne
“I spend time thinking of everything I am grateful for, and I try to develop my ability to express compassion for myself and others without reservation. I take time to do the things I need to do to keep myself healthy and happy. This includes taking experiential workshops, fostering relationships, and participating within groups which have a similar interest to become a more compassionate and fulfilled being.“
–Peter
“Self-forgiveness for my own judgments. And oh yeah, coming to Esalen.”
–David B.
“Hmm, this is a tough one! I guess I take care of my heart through fostering relationships with people I feel connected to. Spending quality time with them (whether we're on the phone, through messages/letters, on Zoom, or in-person). Being there for them, listening to them, sharing what's going on with me, my struggles and my successes... like we do in the Esalen weekly Friends of Esalen Zoom sessions!”
–Lori
“I remind myself in many ways of the fact that " Love is all there is!" LOVE is the prize and this one precious life is the stage we get to learn our lessons. I get out into nature, hike, camp, river kayak, fly fish, garden, I create, I dance (not enough!), and I remain grateful for each day, each breath, each moment. Being in the moment, awake, and remembering the gift of life and my feeling of gratitude for all of creation.”
–Steven
“My physical heart by limiting stress and eating a heart-healthy diet. My emotional heart by staying in love with the world and by knowing that all disappointment and loss will pass.“
–David Z.
Today, September 29, is World Heart Day. Strike up a conversation with your own heart and as you feel comfortable, encourage others to do the same. As part of our own transformations and self-care, we sometimes ask for others to illuminate and enliven our hearts or speak our love language.
What if we could do this for ourselves too, even if just for today… or to start a heart practice, forever?
Esalen Institute
55000 Highway 1
Big Sur, CA 93920
US: 1-831-667-3000
info@esalen.org