Mary has been teaching at Esalen Institute in Big Sur since 1975.
Esalen is a gorgeous retreat site right on the ocean in Big Sur, with
natural hot spring baths and delicious food, much of which is grown in
their own organic gardens.
MARY GOLDENSON - 2008 ESALEN INSTITUTE WORKSHOP
The Courage to Be You: Letting Go and Moving On
Week of January 20-25 2008
Dr. Mary Goldenson
Birds make great sky-circles of their freedom. How do they learn it? They fall, and falling, they’re given wings. — Rumi
Much in life is beyond our control. Our choices lie in how we respond to these moments. We can develop the ability to move into these moments with aliveness and passion. This choice is an act of courage. This workshop will help you explore what you are holding in, holding onto, and holding back that keeps you from experiencing who you truly are. “The courage to be you” means the ability to appropriately express the repressed anger, fear, resentments, sadness, joy, and laughter that keep you stuck in old patterns. Using emotional release work, writing, movement, Gestalt, meditation, and silence, the workshop will provide a safe environment to explore your deepest emotions.
The focus will be on:
• Having adult relationships with partners, parents, and children
• Taking full responsibility for your life
• Discovering your own personal rhythm of closeness
• Distinguishing accountability from blame
The workshop constitutes an in-depth life review. All that is required is a willingness to engage wholeheartedly.
Communication and Partnership
Week of February 22-24, 2008
Dr. Mary Goldenson
Underlying all our
relationships—husband, wife, lover, friend, daughter, son, mother,
father—is the need to communicate. Too often we learn to express our
needs through control, power struggles, addictions, dependency, guilt,
denial, and unreasonableness. This workshop is about healing the
soul-wounds sustained in our attempts at partnership. The focus will be
on:
Exploring the possibilities of equal soul partnership
Learning new ways to express our fear, sadness, grief, and love
Defining what we need to change in our relationships
Learning different language styles to better connect with our partners
Learning ways to heal, forgive, and move on to a mutually beneficial
relationship
Come alone or with a partner. The workshop will provide a safe,
supportive environment to learn new practices of breathwork,
communication skills, movement, and Gestalt, making it easier to express
your truth and take responsibility for your feelings and issues.
This workshop may
have up to 34 participants.
Recommended reading:
Goldenson, It’s Time-No One’s Coming to Save You.
Start Over: Choose Aliveness and Intimacy
Week of May 23-25, 2008
Dr. Mary Goldenson
We have all
experienced moments of feeling totally alive, yet much of our life is
spent in a half-asleep, half-committed state of being. While there are
many life-situations beyond our control, we choose how we respond to
these events. The choice to be passionately alive is an act of courage.
To choose life is to:
Open ourselves to all of life—suffering, joy, success, failure, love,
and grief
Fully acknowledge the truth of who we are
Commit to living our deepest values and dreams
Define what we must change in our relationships
Learn new ways to heal, forgive, and communicate
The challenge is to
honestly address the ways in which we have compromised, given up, or
lied to ourselves and others. This workshop is designed to bring to
awareness our unconscious choices of how we deaden ourselves and to
create the possibility for new aliveness and passionate involvement.
Come alone or with a
partner. A safe, supportive atmosphere will be provided, using
communication skills, movement, Gestalt, and Reichian work.
This workshop may
have up to 34 participants.
Recommended reading:
Goldenson, It’s Time-No One’s Coming to Save You.
Relationships: The Courage To Begin
Week of June 22-27, 2008
Dr. Mary Goldenson
For one human being
to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks,
the ultimate test and proof, the work for which all the other work is
but preparation. — Rilke
Life is a precious gift. We have all experienced moments of feeling
totally alive, especially within our relationships. When beliefs,
defenses, fears, and emotions from the past enter into our present-day
relationships, we lose our ability to feel love, trust, and joy.
The goal of this workshop is to experience these restrictive patterns
and to create new ways to relate to ourselves, others, and our work,
thus enabling us to create new beginnings. This workshop can help you:
Find out how your relationships mirror you
Clarify what you want and how to get it
Examine ways you sabotage yourself
Learn more about how others see you
Learn practical tools and knowledge that will help create empowered
relationships
In a supportive and safe environment, experiential exercises will help
you become more adept at listening, empathizing, truth telling, creative
problem-solving, and taking responsibility to create the relationships
you want. Come alone or with a partner. The workshop will draw from
Gestalt, Reichian work, dance, imagery, and meditation.
Recommended reading:
Goldenson, It’s Time-No One’s Coming to Save You.
Please contact the Esalen Institute for more information.
(And for information about CE credit.)
A New Beginning: Courage & Heart
Week of August 24-28, 2008
Dr. Mary Goldenson
One Day you finally
knew What you had to do, and began
-Mark Oliver
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.
-Mark Twain
“In this workshop,” Mary Goldenson writes, “we will courageously peer
into the depths of our hearts and minds to ask:
- Does my life reflect my heart’s desires?
- If fear did not stop me, what might I be doing differently?
- What truths do I need to tell to live?
- To whom or what have I given power over my life? What must I do to
reclaim it?
- How shall I live, knowing I shall die?
“More than the answers, our questions define where the real meaning of
our life resides. Firmly grounded in the moment, we will explore ways to
reconnect with our source of creativity and spirituality.”
This workshop offers ways to help complete the past, be open to the
present, and create the future. A safe, supportive environment will be
provided. Didactic and experimental exercises will draw from Gestalt,
Reichian work, imagery, dance, and meditation.
This workshop may have to 34 participants.
Recommended reading:
Goldenson, It’s Time-No One’s Coming to Save You.
CE Credit for MFT’s and LCSW’s
Forgiveness & Intimacy: A Time of Acceptance
Week of July 6-11, 2008
Dr. Mary Goldenson
A life is about
relationships. Creating an alive and honest connection with an intimate
partner requires us to go deeply into our hearts and allow the
courageous self to emerge. This journey to intimacy begins with the path
of forgiveness. How does forgiveness lead to intimacy?
- It allows us to let go of anger, resentment, and grief.
- It allows the agitated mind to move more deeply into the healing
heart.
- It resolves separation from ourselves and from others.
- It allows us to complete unfinished business.
The workshop will present ways to help complete the past, be open to the
present, and create the future. It will offer a safe, supportive
environment that will include taking risks, intense bodywork, Gestalt
imagery, dance, and meditation.
The workshop can be especially helpful for those dealing with boundary issues, the effects of a dysfunctional family life, or addictions that have been used as defense against intimacy. It is appropriate for everyone: individuals and couples, mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons, and healing professionals.
The workshop may have
up to 34 participants.
Recommended reading:
Goldenson, It’s Time-No One’s Coming to Save You.
CE Credit for MFT’s and LCSW’s
Public Speaking: Powerfully Presenting Yourself
Week of December 26-28, 2008
Dr. Mary Goldenson &
Robert Corff
Why are some people so inspiring and impactive when they speak? What
inhibits us form delivering our message? This workshop will explore the
inhibitions to self-expression and communication, and help participants
move beyond them with more freedom in both personal and professional
life. It is designed for those who want to develop a more powerful
personal and public presentation, and better professional and business
communication skills.
The leaders combine their expertise in the fields of psychology and the
performing arts to guide you through this pulse-raising adventure. The
focus will be on self-exploration through individual and group work.
Participants will use voice and body to express themselves with more
power and passion.
Courage, passion, and clarity need not be restricted to rate moments in
life. Learn to express yourself more fully and experience the
satisfaction of being more authentic and self-assured. This process can
help awaken your dreams and invigorate your life.
Recommended listening
and reading Corff, Bob Corff’s Speakers Voice Method, B & C Corff,
Achieving in Standard American Accent (CD and workbook), available at
www.corffvoice.com
Recommended reading:
Goldenson, It’s Time-No One’s Coming to Save You.
CE Credit for MFT’s and LCSW’s
It's Time: The Courage To Be You
Week of Oct 5-10, 2008
Dr. Mary Goldenson
Much in life is
beyond our control. Our choices lie in how we respond to these moments
with aliveness and passion. This choice is an act of courage.
This workshop will help you explore what you are holding in, holding onto, and holding back that keeps you from experiencing who you truly are. “The courage to be you” means the ability to appropriately express the repressed anger, fear, resentments, sadness, joy and laughter that keep you stuck in old patterns. Using emotional release work, writing, movement, Gestalt, meditation, and silence, the workshop will provide a safe environment to explore your deepest emotions. The focus will be on:
-Having adult relationships with partners, parents, and children.
-Taking full responsibility for your life.
-Discovering your own personal rhythm of closeness.
-Distinguishing between accountability and blame.
The workshop
constitutes an in-depth review of our lives. If you are willing to
engage wholeheartedly, it can help you to accomplish the transformative
change you seek.
This workshop may
have up to 34 participants.
Recommended reading:
Goldenson, It’s Time-No One’s Coming to Save You.
Relationships: A Spiritual Journey
Week of November 21-23, 2009
Dr. Mary Goldenson
Relationships present profound opportunities for personal development and spiritual fulfillment. Healthy relationships are the foundation of healthy families and ultimately a healthy society. If we embrace the challenges of our relationships they become great teachers, mirrors reflecting unseen and often rejected parts of ourselves. Relationships provide the opportunity to experience both our greatest pain and joy. The challenge of this journey is to:
- Open ourselves to all of life-suffering and joy, success and failure,
gain and loss.
- Fully acknowledge to ourselves the truth of who we are.
- Commit to living our deepest values and dreams, and make powerful
choices to
actualize them.
This workshop is for all who wish to look deeply into themselves and their lives through their relationships: fathers and mothers, daughters and sons, lovers and partners. Come alone or together. In a supportive environment, you will have the opportunity to heal old wounds, learn new skills to help you in troubled times, and actively create the heartfelt and spiritual relationships you desire. The workshop will draw from Gestalt, Reichian work, dance, imagery, and meditation to make it easier to express your truth and take responsibility for your feelings.
This workshop may have up to 34 participants.
Recommended reading:
Goldenson, It’s Time-No One’s Coming to Save You.
MARY GOLDENSON - 2007 ESALEN INSTITUTE WORKSHOP
The Courage to Be You: Letting Go and Moving On
Week of January 14-19 2007
Birds make great sky-circles of their freedom. How do they learn it?
They fall, and falling, they’re given wings. — Rumi
Much in life is beyond our control. Our choices lie in how we respond to these moments. We can develop the ability to move into these moments with aliveness and passion. This choice is an act of courage. This workshop will help you explore what you are holding in, holding onto, and holding back that keeps you from experiencing who you truly are. “The courage to be you” means the ability to appropriately express the repressed anger, fear, resentments, sadness, joy, and laughter that keep you stuck in old patterns. Using emotional release work, writing, movement, Gestalt, meditation, and silence, the workshop will provide a safe environment to explore your deepest emotions.
The focus will be on:
• Having adult relationships with partners, parents, and children
• Taking full responsibility for your life
• Discovering your own personal rhythm of closeness
• Distinguishing accountability from blame
The workshop constitutes an in-depth life review. All that is required is a
willingness to engage wholeheartedly.
Public Speaking: Powerfully Presenting Yourself
Weekend of February 9-11 2007
Mary Goldenson & Robert Corff
Why are some people so inspiring and impactive when they speak? What inhibits us from delivering our message? This workshop will explore the inhibitions to self-expression and communication, and help participants move beyond them with more freedom in both personal and professional life. It is designed for those who want to develop a more powerful personal and public presentation, and better professional and business communication skills.
The leaders combine their expertise in the fields of psychology and the performing arts to guide you through this pulse-raising adventure. The focus will be on self-exploration through individual and group work. Participants will use voice and body to express themselves with more power and passion.
Courage, passion, and clarity need not be restricted to rare moments in life. Learn to express yourself more fully and experience the satisfaction of being more authentic and self-assured. This process can help awaken your dreams and invigorate your life
Relationship: A Spiritual Journey
Weekend of March 30-April 1 2007
Relationships present profound opportunities for personal development and spiritual fulfillment. Healthy relationships are the foundation of healthy families and ultimately a healthy society. If we embrace the challenges of our relationships they become great teachers, mirrors reflecting unseen and often rejected parts of ourselves. Relationships provide the opportunity to experience both our greatest pain and joy.