Voices of Esalen

• Publishing at the Edges: A Conversation with Tim McKee of North Atlantic Books

  Since 2016, Tim McKee has been the publisher of North Atlantic Books, a nonprofit press with a 50-year legacy of advancing healing, consciousness, and cultural transformation. North Atlantic Books has long been aligned with a similar spirit that animates Esalen: a commitment to somatics, trauma-informed healing, a willingness to platform voices working at the edges of personal and collective awakening. The catalog at North Atlantic books includes seminal works ranging from The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller to Gabor Maté’s In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts — books that helped introduce somatic and trauma-based healing to the broader culture. Other books they publish include Black Psychedelic Revolution by Nicholas Powers, Mystery School in Hyperspace by Graham St. John, a cultural history of DMT, Reclaiming Ugly by Vanessa Rochelle Lewis, and Antifascist Dad coming soon, from the conspirituality podcast host Matthew Remski. In this conversation, Tim and Sam explore how publishing at its best can be a liberatory act, how the “personal” and the “political” have become difficult to separate in the current landscape, and issues surrounding publishing marginalized and emergent voices. They discuss what it takes to support authors whose work challenges dominant narratives, and how a publishing house can strive toward equity not just in output, but in process.

  --------  

  34:32

  --------

  34:32
• From the Archives: John Lilly and the Quest for Satori (1971)

  Today we revisit a 1971 talk by Dr. John C. Lilly: physician, neuroscientist, tireless psychonaut, and one of the most audacious explorers of consciousness in the twentieth century. John Lilly was a frequent teacher at Esalen and a close friend of Esalen co-founder Dick Price. He begins teaching at Esalen as early as 1968, focusing on what he called the human biocomputer and lecturing in part on “isolation, solitude, and confinement experiments.” Lilly is widely known for three things; first, he invented the first isolation tank — a dark and silent vessel filled with a saline solution that is meant to suspend the body and expose the mind to itself. He made his first one in 1954. Second, Lilly was convinced of the possibility of interspecies communication, notably between dolphins and homo sapiens. And finally, Lilly was an early experimenter with ketamine, from a psychedelic point of view, an interest that ultimately led to an addiction which drove him quite mad. However, during this talk from 1971, he is in great form, speaking about the concept and practice of Satori: the instantaneous awakening, the shock of direct perception.

  --------  

  1:22:08

  --------

  1:22:08
• Eckhart Tolle at Esalen in June, 2001: The Power of Now

  In June of 2001, the Esalen Institute hosted Eckhart Tolle for a weekend workshop. By that time, Tolle’s book The Power of Now had already begun an improbable ascent, exploding from a totally unknown into something of a cultural phenomenon. The central insight of Eckhart Tolle’s work is that the future doesn’t hold your salvation, and it doesn’t pay to get lost in the past, either. What we long for, what we chase after, what we regret, all of it obscures the deeper truth: the only real place life exists is in this living present moment. In this archival talk that Tolle gives in the Leonard Pavilion at Esalen, he moves through his major themes. He talks about: • Identification with thought - that most of us unconsciously believe we are our thoughts and emotions, which creates suffering and an endless search for fulfillment. • Surrendering and saying ‘yes’ to what is: what can happen when you stop resisting the moment and accept exactly what arises, even if it is painful. • the relief that comes in resting in presence. Visit Tolle online: https://eckharttolle.com/

  --------  

  1:12:32

  --------

  1:12:32
• How We’re Really Using AI

  What if AI was capable of being more than just a new and improved Google search? What if there was ways to harness its predictive powers for growth, self-realization, or even freedom? Today we'll hear from four thinkers: Larissa Conte, a leadership guide and systems healer with a focus on power, on the principle of mutual co-enactment. Then we hear from Cecilia Callas, co-founder of The AI Salon, about convening global conversations that wrestle with the societal stakes of technology. Next is Sadia Bruce, Esalen’s Director of Product, who speaks candidly about using AI as an adjunct to therapy. And then Sam shares his own journey, from glitchy AI songs and translated prayers to the creation of a new weekly circle at Esalen called AI for Social Good. It’s a messy middle full of experiments, missteps, and glimpses of possibility. Larissa Conte & Wayfinding Website: https://www.wayfinding.io/ Weekly Contemplations: https://www.wayfinding.io/community AI Summer Camp: https://www.wayfinding.io/ai-summer-camp LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larissaconte/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lbconte Cecilia Callas: Substack: https://ceciliacallas.substack.com/ RemAIning Human podcast: https://ceciliacallas.substack.com/podcast AI Salon: https://aisalon.xyz/ Sadia Bruce: IG: @breathisalanguage Esalen: https://www.esalen.org/faculty/sadia-bruce https://www.esalen.org/post/the-proust-questionnaire-sadia-bruce-012023

  --------  

  42:24

  --------

  42:24
• From Pelvic Floor to Whole Self: A Conversation with Dr. Tia Ukpe-Wallace and Krishna Dholakia

  The pelvis, home to our reproductive, digestive, and eliminatory systems, is responsive to stress, pregnancy, birth, hormones, lifestyle, and trauma. When balanced, it supports vitality and ease. When out of balance, it can profoundly affect quality of life. Joining the conversation are two extraordinary practitioners: Dr. Tia Ukpe-Wallace, an orthopedic and pelvic health physical therapist, yoga teacher, and founder of Self-Care Physio, whose own pelvic floor challenges and pregnancy loss fueled her passion for empowering women with knowledge and healing practices. Krishna Dholakia, a nutritionist, certified diabetes care and education specialist, and yoga and mindfulness teacher. Through her practice Om and Spice Wellness, Krishna offers an integrative approach to women’s health from preconception through menopause, weaving together nutrition, mindfulness, yoga, and bodywork. Together, they share insights from their upcoming Esalen workshop on pelvic health, covering pelvic floor anatomy, menstrual and sexual health, nutrition and digestion, mindfulness, yoga, and community-building practices. Their goal: to help participants increase knowledge, self-awareness, and literacy around pelvic and reproductive health while cultivating a supportive community and a lifelong toolkit of self-care practices. This conversation is guest hosted by Shira Levine, Esalen’s Director of Communications and Storytelling, whose background spans documentary film, editorial journalism, and global communications with organizations ranging from the United Nations to leading print and digital outlets. Esalen workshop: https://www.esalen.org/workshops/pelvic-health-self-care-retreat-exploring-the-pelvis-through-anatomy-nutrition-and-the-nervous-system-10102025

  --------  

  1:09:48

  --------

  1:09:48

More Religion & Spirituality podcasts

Trending Religion & Spirituality podcasts

About Voices of Esalen