What is the Calistoga Institute?

Calistoga Institute is a locally-based policy and program institute of internationally recognized pioneers in integral health and sustainable community working together to advance the practice of optimal well-being for individuals, communities and the world.

whitehorses
9
6
1
calistoga
Introduction (3)

The Calistoga Institute takes advantage of a new wave of transpersonal, whole-systems thinking and field theories in physics, biology, ecology, philosophy and culture that are at the core of the most advanced healing and wellness practices today.

The Calistoga Institute also pioneers a new science of community that extends the understanding of “local sustainability” into a more expansive understanding of “regenerative culture,” integrating individual, community and environment by using the kinds of holistic approaches proven to be successful in the field of Integrative Medicine.

The Institute takes multiple wellness perspectives, valuing all approaches that are tested and theoretically coherent including: Standard Western Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine), Naturopathy, Traditional herbal medicine and Homeopathy. The Institute also draws from the many disciplines of sustainability, including, ecology, systems science, urban design and planning, community organizing , life long learning and local economic development. The Institute recognizes that optimal well-being is much more than an absence of illness, but extends into the highest expressions of life that are vibrant with energy, balanced in all parts, functional, harmonious, and full of beauty.

What does the Calistoga Institute do?
The Institute convenes symposia, creates educational materials, directs cutting-edge research and initiates pilot programs at the intersection of community and wellness. Symposia attendees will have the opportunity to delve into critical health issues from traditional and integrative perspectives while enjoying the beauty and bounty of Napa Valley and its legendary hills.

- CI models multi-disciplinary solutions, including, medical, scientific, environmental, psychological, socio cultural, and spiritual understanding.

- CI promotes community integration with programs coordinated with local service groups, government, churches, schools and others serving all local residents.

- CI models a multi-cultural approach, emphasizing the wellness practices of local communities.

- CI provides resources to and consults with  local community groups and businesses.

 - CI promotes community integration with programs coordinated with local service groups, government, churches, schools and others serving all local residents.

- CI models a multi-cultural approach, emphasizing the wellness practices of local communities. The Calistoga Institute extends the current approach to alternative health by integrating the full extent of the advances in Complementary and Alternative Medicine with a Sustainable Community Development policy and practice framework.

The significance of community-building and community development practice for optimal well-being has been well documented and appreciated for some time. However, although there have been several attempts in the “public health” domain that look to include community support systems as part of the overall health care “system” there has been, as yet, no focused effort to apply the powerful insights and techniques of integrative medicine to the community dimension of wellness.

A primary goal of the Calistoga Institute is to bring together widely differing wellness and sustainability disciplines into an integrated, fully complementary practice including a strong focus on local community health and community development practices.