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Nature Therapy to Unleash Creativity: A Love Thy Nature Workshop
September 26–30, 2022
September 26–30, 2022
with Sylvie Rokab

Please note: On Wednesday September 20, online registration may be unavailable for up to 15 minutes while system maintenance is performed. If the 'Register Now' page does not load, please wait about 15 minutes and try again.

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Need a scholarship? Apply here.

Need a scholarship? Apply here.

Nature reveals a stream of creativity that you can embody in your life. Whether you’re an artist facing creative blocks or someone who yearns to feel more creatively alive, this workshop is designed to awaken your creativity through the inspirations of the natural world.  

Film director, mindfulness teacher and nature therapy guide Sylvie Rokab invites you to open your senses and commune with the magnificent Esalen land and the Big Sur coastline. Suspend disbelief. Perceive the sentience, playfulness, brilliance, and magic in every being that calls to your attention — towering trees, melodic birds, flowy clouds, hypnotic waves, and the playful sea otters barking nearby.

Sylvie welcomes you on Monday night with a screening of her award-winning film Love Thy Nature followed by a Q&A. Throughout the week, she will guide you on a path. You’ll shed your self-limiting beliefs and creative blocks. You’ll  uncover your potential for creative expressions in your life and with Nature as the ultimate muse — for poetry, storytelling, music, gardening, cooking, photography, filmmaking, computer coding, or other creative expressions.

Activities include:

  • Communion with Esalen’s beings, land and sea
  • Practice of deep sharing / deep listening in groups
  • Mindfulness of Nature (inner, outer, and relational)
  • Guided meditations
  • Creative explorations of your choice – poetry, storytelling, music, body movement, photography etc.
  • A mid-week excursion to the glorious Julia Pfeiffer State Park

Join this workshop and ignite the creative flow that seeks to emerge through you.

Learn more about the requirements to receive continuing education credit.

Lead photo:
Sylvie Rokab

Sylvie Rokab

Passionate about healing people, the collective, and the world, Sylvie offers powerful tools that help participants access the wellness, wonder, and wisdom that can only be found with nature. She is a certified mindfulness teacher, nature-therapy guide, and Emmy-nominated filmmaker.

Read More

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Workshop Schedule

Monday
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Tuesday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
4:15 pm – 6:15 pm
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Wednesday
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
4:15 pm – 6:15 pm
Thursday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
4:15 pm – 6:15 pm
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Friday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Summer Groovers will experience Esalen in a format similar to our Self Guided Explorations workshops. Each Summer Groove week or weekend will open and close with a circle, and be filled with festive, nostalgic activities that harken back to those days of yore.

More activities can be found on our open class schedule.

See general schedule information including arrival, departure and meal times.

Accommodations & Tuition

Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive, program-specific tuition. Please note that not all accommodation levels are available for every workshop and additional faculty fees may apply.

We offer scholarship funds for those with financial need. Learn more.

Please note: On Wednesday September 20, online registration may be unavailable for up to 15 minutes while system maintenance is performed. If the 'Register Now' page does not load, please wait about 15 minutes and try again.

Accommodations & Tuition

Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive tuition that includes lodging, three meals per day, access to the baths, and all activities on the Summer Groove schedule.

We offer scholarship funds for those with financial need. Learn more.

Accommodations & Tuition

For this workshop, you will register and pay for accommodations and tuition in two separate steps.

First, sign up and pay tuition directly to

Second, click Book Accommodations from this page and enter the password to complete your reservation to stay at Esalen.

Prices for accommodations include your lodging, meals, open classes, and use of the baths and other facilities. View partner program accommodations pricing.

COVID Update

As of June 30, 2023 we no longer require a negative COVID test at the time of check in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

All guests and faculty must provide proof of negative test results at time of check-in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

In addition to proof of vaccination, all guests and faculty must provide proof of negative test results at time of check-in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Effective January 7, 2022 in response to the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant, all guests and faculty will provide proof of negative PCR, NAAT, or antigen test results at time of check-in. The test must be taken within 72 hours nd results must come from a laboratory or healthcare provider.Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Effective December 15 in accordance with new guidance from Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Health, all guests, students, staff, residents, and faculty are required to wear masks in all indoor public settings, irrespective of vaccine status, for the next four weeks (December 15, 2021 through January 15, 2022). Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Effective November 19, 2021, in accordance with new guidance from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, all guests, students, staff, residents, and faculty are no longer required to wear masks indoors on campus. Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Starting November 5, 2021, due to substantial levels of COVID-19 transmission in Monterey County, a mask mandate established by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will go into effect. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

All guests will be required to provide proof of vaccination upon arrival starting September 3, 2021. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Masks are no longer mandated indoors or outdoors, except during massage sessions. Guests are not required to provide testing or vaccination verification before arriving on campus. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

All-inclusive Pricing

with Sylvie Rokab

September 26–30, 2022
Register Now

Nature reveals a stream of creativity that you can embody in your life. Whether you’re an artist facing creative blocks or someone who yearns to feel more creatively alive, this workshop is designed to awaken your creativity through the inspirations of the natural world.  

Film director, mindfulness teacher and nature therapy guide Sylvie Rokab invites you to open your senses and commune with the magnificent Esalen land and the Big Sur coastline. Suspend disbelief. Perceive the sentience, playfulness, brilliance, and magic in every being that calls to your attention — towering trees, melodic birds, flowy clouds, hypnotic waves, and the playful sea otters barking nearby.

Sylvie welcomes you on Monday night with a screening of her award-winning film Love Thy Nature followed by a Q&A. Throughout the week, she will guide you on a path. You’ll shed your self-limiting beliefs and creative blocks. You’ll  uncover your potential for creative expressions in your life and with Nature as the ultimate muse — for poetry, storytelling, music, gardening, cooking, photography, filmmaking, computer coding, or other creative expressions.

Activities include:

  • Communion with Esalen’s beings, land and sea
  • Practice of deep sharing / deep listening in groups
  • Mindfulness of Nature (inner, outer, and relational)
  • Guided meditations
  • Creative explorations of your choice – poetry, storytelling, music, body movement, photography etc.
  • A mid-week excursion to the glorious Julia Pfeiffer State Park

Join this workshop and ignite the creative flow that seeks to emerge through you.

Learn more about the requirements to receive continuing education credit.

Lead photo:
Sylvie Rokab

Passionate about healing people, the collective, and the world, Sylvie offers powerful tools that help participants access the wellness, wonder, and wisdom that can only be found with nature. She is a certified mindfulness teacher, nature-therapy guide, and Emmy-nominated filmmaker.

Read More

Workshop Schedule

Monday
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Tuesday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
4:15 pm – 6:15 pm
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Wednesday
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
4:15 pm – 6:15 pm
Thursday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
4:15 pm – 6:15 pm
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Friday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Summer Groovers will experience Esalen in a format similar to our Self Guided Explorations workshops. Each Summer Groove week or weekend will open and close with a circle, and be filled with festive, nostalgic activities that harken back to those days of yore.

More activities can be found on our open class schedule.

See general schedule information including arrival, departure and meal times.

Accommodations & Tuition

Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive, program-specific tuition. Please note that not all accommodation levels are available for every workshop and additional faculty fees may apply.

Accommodations & Tuition

Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive tuition that includes lodging, three meals per day, access to the baths, and all activities on the Summer Groove schedule.

We offer scholarship funds for those with financial need. Learn more.

Accommodations & Tuition

For this workshop, you will register and pay for accommodations and tuition in two separate steps.

First, sign up and pay tuition directly to

Second, click Book Accommodations from this page and enter the password to complete your reservation to stay at Esalen.

Prices for accommodations include your lodging, meals, open classes, and use of the baths and other facilities. View partner program accommodations pricing.

COVID Update

As of June 30, 2023 we no longer require a negative COVID test at the time of check in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

All guests and faculty must provide proof of negative test results at time of check-in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

In addition to proof of vaccination, all guests and faculty must provide proof of negative test results at time of check-in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Effective January 7, 2022 in response to the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant, all guests and faculty will provide proof of negative PCR, NAAT, or antigen test results at time of check-in. The test must be taken within 72 hours nd results must come from a laboratory or healthcare provider.Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Effective December 15 in accordance with new guidance from Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Health, all guests, students, staff, residents, and faculty are required to wear masks in all indoor public settings, irrespective of vaccine status, for the next four weeks (December 15, 2021 through January 15, 2022). Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Effective November 19, 2021, in accordance with new guidance from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, all guests, students, staff, residents, and faculty are no longer required to wear masks indoors on campus. Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Starting November 5, 2021, due to substantial levels of COVID-19 transmission in Monterey County, a mask mandate established by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will go into effect. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

All guests will be required to provide proof of vaccination upon arrival starting September 3, 2021. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

COVID Update

Masks are no longer mandated indoors or outdoors, except during massage sessions. Guests are not required to provide testing or vaccination verification before arriving on campus. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.

All-inclusive Pricing