Beginning September 3, 2021 all guests will be required to provide proof of vaccination upon arrival. Please review our updated COVID safety guidelines.
Esalen is a not-for-profit holistic educational center offering wild comfort and space for emergent transformation and internal exploration since 1962. Anchored by the inspiring beauty of Big Sur and an incomparable intellectual history, we are always negotiating nuance, tangling with complexity, and sitting inside contradiction. All the while, we embrace the messy, imperfect practice of moving toward our highest humanity. Enter where you are.
Paula Wild and Jiling Lin lead this workshop that engages in practices to deeply connect students with the Five Elements within and around us. Students will explore their own relationship with these elements through nourishing daily yoga and movement practices, connection with nature, journaling, creative practices, improvisational vocalization, storytelling, and physical play.
What if you could heal suffering and thrive by mending your separation from nature? Release old patterns of unworthiness, and learn simple and powerful daily practices to open your heart to yourself, your loved ones, and all existence. Love Thy Nature film director Sylvie Rokab returns to Big Sur for this incredible four day experience.
Janis Cooke Newman leads this experiential meditation retreat and writing workshop that invites writers and meditators of all levels to delve deeply into both practices. Each day will begin with a burst of freewriting; Newman calls it the “zen” of writing. You’ll generate work to share in a safe and supportive environment.
What’s in your bag? We are thrilled to announce the arrival of Jenna Bee Handmade African Mudcloth Tote Bags! Vintage 70s textiles found along the Central California coastline are reimagined for a modern carryall, while honoring the original artisans. All items purchased on shop.esalen.org will go directly back into our magical Esalen.
In this era of chaos, change, and grief for the world, you may find yourself facing difficulties that seem insurmountable. Lucia Horan and Peter Selwyn invite you to a weekend retreat to hold together what should not be held alone. Using the tools of 5Rhythms movement practice combined with a process of grief work grounded in emotional presence, non-judgment, and supportive witnessing, participants will come together in a safe space to help heal mind, body, and spirit.
Join us April 23 - 26, 2021 for a live-streamed event that is the first in an 8-part Entheowheel series. Your guides for this inaugural journey The Ceremony & Science of Psilocybin include: Jyoti Ma, Paul Stamets, Xochitl Ashe, East Forest, Robin Earhart-Harris, Dream Mullick, James Fadiman, Millana Snow, Justin Boretta, Allan Badiner, Grace Oh, Rhada Weppner, Sachin Patel and a digital pre-recorded transmission from Francoise Bourzat, and more to be announced. This event is designed as an educational opportunity to nurture a sense of belonging while you move through the arc of preparing, experiencing, and integrating a future sacred plant medicine experience.
The first installment of our new, free quarterly digital summit, The Way Forward: How To Stay Inspired, Reintegrate, and Find Hope in the Shadow of the Pandemic will explore the concept of collective trauma, how it both unifies and divides us, and most importantly, how we can face it together to heal on a local and national level. Offered for a sliding scale contribution, the two-day program includes multiple tracks to dig into, from interviews with incredible thought leaders and activists to a session on prolonged somatic grief processing through dance and movement. Each interview will be followed by a live Q&A with the speaker, and every attendee is welcome to join in connecting with our luminaries. In true Esalen style, we will open the event on Saturday and close it on Sunday with a group awareness practice.
Be a leading center for exploring and realizing human potential through experience, education, and research.
Work toward the realization of a more just, creative, and sustainable world, seeking answers to questions unlikely to be explored by traditional universities and religions.
Sponsor pioneering initiatives and offer personal, spiritual, and social transformation programs for residents, interns and workshop participants.
Esalen is a major catalyst in the transformation of humankind, working with individuals and institutions to integrate body, mind, heart, spirit, and community in a nurturing relationship with the environment.
Interviews with teachers and thinkers from the Esalen universe including Cheryl Strayed and Michael Pollan, innovators Stan Grof and Dr. Mark Hyman, Esalen co-founder Michael Murphy, and many more!
Twice weekly interviews with Esalen faculty and change agents about timely topics — coping with the pandemic, perspectives on racial justice, and overall well-being.
The Esalen Journal is our blog, with posts encompassing everything from inspiring conversations with cultural luminaries and Esalen instructors to timely news announcements, book recommendations, and soul-nurturing recipes.
In addition to unparalleled access to the leading minds of the day and rejuvenating virtual gatherings, we also welcome visitors to our California estate and retreat center, which boasts natural hot springs, an organic farm and garden, serene guest suites, and more, all set on over 100 acres along the gorgeous Big Sur coastline.
Beginning September 3, 2021 all guests will be required to provide proof of vaccination upon arrival. Please review our updated COVID safety guidelines.