Designing the Life We Want: Self Renewal in the Winter

Designing the Life We Want: Self Renewal in the Winter is a five-day personal growth workshop at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. It is for anyone standing at a threshold who wants more aliveness and truth in the next chapter of their life. Executive coach Mark Nicolson leads it with guest faculty Caitlin Wild, drawing on the Esalen tradition and imaginal psychology.

What to Expect

The workshop begins with questions many of us rarely stop to ask. Are you showing up the way you'd like? Have you created the impact you want? Are you going in the right direction? Over the days, the work unfolds through experiential exercises: movement, reflection, intimate group work, and practical frameworks for understanding where you are and what comes next. Much of it engages embodied knowing, intuition, and the wisdom of the heart, in order to discover what calls to you at this stage of life and begin building a vision grounded in that truth. The organizers promise real depth and real fun.

The group is part of the work. Witnessing, shared vulnerability, and live coaching create a container that private reflection can rarely replicate. The setting is meant to be rigorous and warm, challenging yet safe. Active participation is warmly encouraged, and nothing is required.

The week begins on Monday with a "How to Drop into Esalen" orientation in the early evening, followed by the opening workshop session at 7:15 pm. Tuesday through Thursday follow a steady rhythm: a morning session from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm, lunch and free time, then an afternoon session from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm. Thursday offers an optional evening session at the baths, from 8:30 pm to 10:00 pm, for integration and reflection. On Friday a final session runs from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm, and guests depart by 2:00 pm or remain on campus.

About Mark Nicolson

Mark Nicolson is an executive coach in Silicon Valley. He helps visionary entrepreneurs, cultural leaders, and catalysts for social change move through upper limits and find their zone of genius.

About Caitlin Wild

Caitlin Wild is a wilderness guide, wholeness coach, musician, and facilitator of Wild Soul awakenings. A student of wild lands, she has led both traditional and experimental wilderness workshops internationally. She is devoted to re-membering people back to their creative wild soul.

The Setting

Esalen Institute sits in Big Sur on the California coast. Guests can choose from a range of lodging, from a budget-friendly shared sleeping bag space and gender-inclusive bunk rooms to standard private rooms, premium rooms with ocean or forest views, and wooden yurts with private decks. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided, along with coffee, tea, and snacks.

Travel into and out of northern Big Sur has been affected by a Highway 1 advisory, with Caltrans-operated convoys running at set times in the morning and late afternoon. Check current conditions before planning your arrival and departure.

Before You Go

No prior experience is mentioned as a requirement. The workshop fee covers instruction, housing, all meals, coffee, tea, and snacks, access to the hot springs and other campus features, and participation in the open class schedule. Esalen massage and other healing arts sessions, specialty coffee, tea, or alcohol from the bar, and bookstore purchases are extra. Guests can register with accommodation on-site or off-site, or attend by day pass, and a scholarship application is available for those who need it.