Esalen Institute is open! However, Highway 1 to the south is closed — please review the current travel advisory.
Learn More.

Learn more.

Due to road closures along Highway 1 to our north and south, Esalen is closed through April 11.
Esalen Institute is open! However, Highway 1 to the south is closed — please review the current travel advisory.

Esalen opens May 3, 2024

Visitors are now able to access Esalen as well as other businesses and trails in northern Big Sur via twice-daily convoys on Highway 1 operated by Caltrans.

Convoys run only at 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. each day. These are the only opportunities to travel into and out of Big Sur, so visitors must plan accordingly.

Learn more.

Janis Cooke Newman

Janis Cooke Newman is the author of the novels,  ‘Mary; Mrs A. Lincoln,’ which was a Finalist for an LA Times Book Prize and USA Today’s Historical Novel of the Year, and ‘A Master Plan for Rescue,’ which was an SF Chronicle Best Book of the Year. She is also the author of ‘The Russian Word for Snow,’ a memoir about adopting her son from Russia. 

Newman is the founder of the Lit Camp writers conference, and Page Street, a co-working space for writers in San Francisco. A long-time creative writing teacher and meditator, she has taught writing and mindfulness workshops at Esalen and for the SF Zen Center.

Janis Cooke Newman is the author of two award-winning novels, and a memoir. She has taught writing and mindfulness workshops at Esalen and for the San Francisco Zen Center. She is a long-time practitioner of Zen.

Janis Cooke Newman

Janis Cooke Newman is the author of the novels,  ‘Mary; Mrs A. Lincoln,’ which was a Finalist for an LA Times Book Prize and USA Today’s Historical Novel of the Year, and ‘A Master Plan for Rescue,’ which was an SF Chronicle Best Book of the Year. She is also the author of ‘The Russian Word for Snow,’ a memoir about adopting her son from Russia. 

Newman is the founder of the Lit Camp writers conference, and Page Street, a co-working space for writers in San Francisco. A long-time creative writing teacher and meditator, she has taught writing and mindfulness workshops at Esalen and for the SF Zen Center.

Janis Cooke Newman is the author of two award-winning novels, and a memoir. She has taught writing and mindfulness workshops at Esalen and for the San Francisco Zen Center. She is a long-time practitioner of Zen.

Website

Past Workshops