Back in the Day

“The ’70s at Esalen were a good time,” says Rick Tarnas. The cultural historian, astrologer, and author remembers heading out west with all his possessions — “a suitcase, a typewriter, and a guitar” — and raising his son in the deep pluralism of a growing community.

Tom “Little Bear” Nason, Tribal Chairman of the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, takes us back to a moment in time when arriving at Esalen was like entering a tribal village.

Our first female general manager on her friendship with Fritz Perls and ushering in her brand of equality: “I realized how much power men seemed to have. Or, more accurately, how much of my own power I had been giving away. I learned to tap into my own power and speak up without hesitation.” Beverly Silverman takes us back to Esalen’s early days for a story of personal discovery and growth.

“I love conflict. It's where the truth is.” Josef London, Esalen’s current safety manager and beloved longtime resident, tells us about his three-plus decades (and counting) on campus, including an epic love story that began on his very first day: “I'm a very lucky man. I just saw her, and I fell in love with her immediately.”

“Vast ideas like this were in the air, and my windows were wide open,” says Keith Thompson, recalling his days at Esalen in the late ’70s. The acclaimed journalist and author of Angels and Aliens and The UFO Paradox tells us how he went from being a senatorial staffer to helping to coordinate a series of annual think tank-style conferences packed with new intellectual and spiritual energies.

Michael Murphy, who will celebrate his 94th on September 3, 2024, shares tales of the Institute’s earliest days — the “bohemian gathering place” he created with Dick Price. It’s the Esalen origin story only Esalen’s co-founder could tell, complete with genius ideas, psychedelics, and legendary figures such as Aldous Huxley, Abraham Maslow, Paul Tillich, Alan Watts, Fritz Perls, Dick Alpert, Tim Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Henry Miller, Anais Nin, Hunter S. Thompson, Gia-Fu Feng, Arnold Toynbee, and the Monterey sheriff who told Michael to get some guns. “It was that wild,” he recalls.

Richard Horan began his journey at Esalen Institute in the early 1960s, cleaning up at night. An originator of Esalen’s first garden, the multifaceted Horan was also an early Esalen massage therapist who delved into pottery, jade jewelry making, and music while exploring altered states of consciousness and psychedelic experiences. His innovative spirit and deep connection to nature left an indelible mark on the Institute’s history and culture — and his wild, youthful memories bring us back to an early era of freedom and experimentation.

Forty-six years after her first visit, Andrea Juhan remembers the Esalen of the late ’70s. The co-founder of Open Floor International on the personalities, the “pillow pounding,” the emphasis on the humanistic principle, and the entirely unique experience of not “making wrong.” (“I don’t know anywhere else that happened.”) The dedicated teacher and lifelong student shares some of the incredibly valuable lessons, including holding dual relations, that she learned right here on campus.

Don Hanlon Johnson remembers his incredible journey from Jesuit seminarian to somatics pioneer, the Esalen of the 1960s, and the genius of Ida Rolf, Fritz Perls, Carl Rogers, Moshe Feldenkrais, Charlotte Selver, Michael Murphy, and more.

Esalen student, teacher, and workshop leader Jessica Britt on the Esalen of the ‘80s: “A very robust, dynamic place. People were coming to really own and express their dynamic aliveness. We were a sexy bunch, we were an attractive bunch, we were a juicy bunch.”

“And I came back into myself again.” A young grad student is handed a book of Joy and finds a new land of beauty and diversity. LaVerne McLeod remembers how she processed her traumas and transformed herself with dance at Esalen — and giggled her way through a few naked volleyball games.

This longtime Esalen student-turned-teacher reminisces about the Esalen of the early ’80s and discovering a spiritual path through Gestalt therapy. Dorothy speaks of staying open to possibility, working with the children of the Gazebo School, and the innate wisdom we all hold inside: “Dick [Price] always said, ‘Trust process, allow process, and get out of the way.’”

Expert Gardener Steve Beck on half a century of greenery, growth, and the origins of farming at Esalen — from clearing the land to planting the original crops to building the fields that now sustain the faculty, guests, and staff. “We kind of invented the whole thing,” says Beck. “It was like we were reinventing the world.”

Theda Zawaiza tells us about finding Esalen in 1986 and other life-changing discoveries, including Eli Jackson-Bear and Gangaji's Enneagram workshop, Janet Zuckerman's warm energy, Babatunde Olatunji's exhilarating drums, and Gabrielle Roth's cool magnetism.

The psychedelic pioneer and father of Holotropic Breathwork® tells us about the early days at Esalen, discovering his life’s work, and how building a garden in a patch of poison oak led to the practice’s supportive system of “breathers” and “sitters.”

Perry Holloman, a practitioner of Esalen massage, deep bodywork, and body-oriented approaches to relational Gestalt process work for more than 30 years, takes us back to the early 1980s, when the Ivy League undergrad held court as Esalen’s resident dishwasher, chess player, dancer, and preschool teacher.

Peggy Horan found her calling in Esalen Massage®. After managing the Healing Arts department at Esalen for over a decade while teaching workshops and leading teacher training programs, the certified meditation teacher now has a coaching practice. She reflects on the summer of ’69 and the Esalen of that very poignant time in American culture. “I wasn't a hippie,” she says. “But I was fringe; I believed in the movement.” Peggy tells the tale of a formative moment: young dreamers discovering themselves through cutting edge spiritual practices and psychedelics — all to a soundtrack by Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez.

Though he’s one of our most beloved teachers, “perpetual student” is the title Master Huang prefers. “I don't want to be the guru…I am always evolving.” The Tai Chi master and teacher honors us with memories of Esalen’s earliest days — almost 60 years back! — alongside the institute’s founders and legends.

World-renowned for his research on microdosing psychedelics, Jim Fadiman was one of Esalen’s first workshop leaders, and he’s continued a lifelong association with this institute ever since. His books include "The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys", "Be Love Now, Essential Sufism", and "The Other Side of Haight".

It’s 1970. A smart kid from Newark drops out, grabs his guitar, and heads west to find magic and meaning in Big Sur. Half a century later, Dr. Ken Dychtwald is a psychologist, best-selling author, and world-renowned expert on aging — and yet he's still enchanted by those early days at Esalen.

Back in the Day is a new feature that spotlights the colorful memories of long-time Esalen community members and alumni — to capture magical moments that happened once upon a time and are still treasured today. We start off by hearing from Brita Ostrom, founding member of the Esalen Massage School, who has been a part of Esalen since 1967.