Make Peace with Your Judging Mind: How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Help Free You from the Inner Critic

This meditation retreat at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, is for anyone worn down by self-judgment and the voice of the inner critic. Led by Buddhist meditation teacher and author Mark Coleman, it offers a weekend of mindfulness and self-compassion practice for people who find themselves harshly judging their work, their meditation, or their spiritual practice as never quite good enough.

What to Expect

The weekend teaches practical ways of working with the judging mind. Over the course of the retreat you learn to recognize judging thoughts, to deal with inner critic attacks, and to tell negative judgment apart from wise discernment. Self-acceptance, self-compassion and love are explored as antidotes to the critic, along with forgiveness as a response to judgment and the part humor can play in loosening the critic's grip.

The format combines talks, interactive exercises, mindfulness practice, loving-kindness techniques and guided meditations. It is experiential and practical, and it is taught with lightness and compassion, with room for not taking ourselves too seriously. Participants leave with tools they can keep using at home.

The schedule runs from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. On Friday, an orientation called How to Drop into Esalen takes place in the early evening, and the workshop opens later that night with arrival and an opening session. Saturday is the full workshop day, with morning and midday sessions, a break, and afternoon sessions, followed by open classes and campus activities in the evening if you want them. On Sunday there is a final morning session, a closing lunch, and departure at 2:00 pm.

About Mark Coleman

Mark Coleman is a Buddhist meditation teacher who has taught insight meditation for 20 years. He is the author of Awake in the Wild, From Suffering to Peace, and Make Peace with Your Mind, the book that shares its name with this workshop and is the recommended reading. He leads nature-based meditation retreats and mindfulness teacher trainings in the U.S. and Europe, and is known for bringing nature and mindfulness together.

The Setting

Esalen Institute sits on the Big Sur coast, with ocean views, gardens and natural hot springs. Guests stay on campus, and the choice of rooms is wide. Options include a shared space for people who bring their own sleeping bag, bunk rooms, shared rooms, private rooms with queen or two beds, premium rooms with ocean or forest views, wooden yurts with decks, and suites such as the Price House Suite, the former home of Esalen co-founder Dick Price. Off-site stays are also possible.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served, with coffee, tea and snacks between meals. Hot springs access and the rest of the campus are open to workshop guests, and open schedule classes are offered during free hours.

When the page was last updated, access to northern Big Sur by Highway 1 was by Caltrans convoy, at 7:00 am and 5:00 pm only. Check the current travel advisory and plan your arrival and departure around it.

Before You Go

No prior meditation experience is required. The material describes the course as practical and open to anyone troubled by self-judgment.

Your workshop fee covers the sessions, housing, all meals, coffee, tea and snacks, hot springs access and open schedule classes. Esalen Massage and other healing arts sessions, specialty coffee, tea and alcohol from the bar, and bookstore purchases cost extra. The workshop also carries an additional faculty tuition charge. A scholarship application is available, and day passes are offered for those who prefer not to stay on-site.