Erotic Ecology: Awakening the Senses and Returning to Nature

Erotic Ecology is a week-long wellness retreat at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, led by environmental psychologist and Buddhist eco-doula Dr. Lindsay Branham. It is for people who feel numb to the Earth's touch and want to return to their bodies and to the living world through slow, sensual, embodied practice. The workshop draws on a life philosophy called erotic ecology, which treats aliveness as the compass and holds that love is an ecological process.

What to Expect

The week is immersive and unhurried. Through embodied exploration, contemplative practice, and nature rituals, participants reawaken their sensory connection to two landscapes: the body and the natural world. You will learn and practice the eight stages of interoceptive awareness, described as the body's portal to sensing the Earth, and attune to the pace of nature by moving at the rhythm of your surroundings.

Other practices include attuned and consensual touch, and creative expression through art, poetry, mandala-making, ritual, and dance. The themes run from remembering your own vitality and kinship with the natural world to learning to speak the language of the Earth, and connecting erotic vitality to collective liberation and ecological justice.

The schedule begins on Monday with check-in from 2:00 pm, room keys from 4:00 pm, an orientation called How to Drop Into Esalen from 5:00 to 6:00 pm, and a workshop welcome circle in the evening, from 7:15 to 9:30 pm. Tuesday through Thursday follow a steady rhythm: a morning session from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm, lunch and rest, then an afternoon session beginning at 4:00 pm. Evenings are mostly free, with open classes available on Wednesday and an evening reflection on Thursday. On Friday the final morning session runs from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm, with a closing circle from 11:00 to 11:45 am.

About Dr. Lindsay Branham

Dr. Lindsay Branham is an environmental psychologist and Buddhist eco-doula. She is the author of Heartwood: The Wisdom and Healing Kinship of Trees. Her life's prayer is to serve the collective remembrance of an erotic and embodied relationship with nature. Heartwood and Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass are the recommended reading for the workshop.

The Setting

Esalen Institute sits in Big Sur, where redwood forest meets the Pacific Ocean. Guests can stay on-site, with room types ranging from budget sleeping bag space and bunk beds to shared and private rooms, and premium rooms with ocean or forest views, decks, or a yurt. An off-site option and individual day passes are also offered.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided, along with coffee, tea, and snacks. Highway 1 access to northern Big Sur has been managed through scheduled Caltrans convoys, at 7:00 am and 5:00 pm, so check current travel conditions and plan your arrival and departure around them.

Before You Go

Tuition for the on-site option covers the workshop, housing, all meals, coffee, tea and snacks, access to the hot springs and other campus features, and classes on the open schedule. Healing Arts sessions such as Esalen massage, specialty coffee and tea or alcohol from the bar, and bookstore purchases cost extra. The material lists no prerequisites or experience requirements. A scholarship application is available for those who need one.