So, for a little context, I spent my mid- to late-twenties living, working, and studying at Esalen after doing a 180 with my path at age 25 and leaving my Washington, DC-based healthcare consulting job to head West in search of a life that felt more meaningful, more connected, and more authentic than the one I was living at the time.

I arrived at Esalen Institute a few days before Christmas 2007.

I spent nearly four years living on the cliffs of Big Sur learning how to be in better relationship with myself, others, and the world in general.

Those precious years were – hands down – some of the most formative, challenging, and healing times of my life (it’s where I met my husband and formed some of the deepest friendships of my life, not to mention the place where I clarified and acted on my desire to become a therapist).

It was there at Esalen, thanks to my many teachers — my facilitators, my workshop leaders, my coworkers, my friends, and even the workshop participants themselves — that I learned lessons that helped me then (and now) in my quest to live a more enlivened life.

The very thing I set out looking for in my mid-twenties.

These are the same lessons I weave into all of my psychotherapy work, helping my clients likewise craft more enlivened, authentic, and connected lives for themselves.

So in today’s post, I want to share these 44 lessons — filtered through my unique experience and interpretation — learned from my nearly four years of living at Esalen and now almost 7 years living away, in the hopes that these ideas may feel helpful to you, too, no matter where you are on your life journey.

I invite you to read this latest letter from the archive while on maternity leave post, and, when you’re done, please leave me a message in the comments on the blog to let me know which of the 44 lessons resonated with you the most. I would love to hear from you.