From the craggy cliffs of Big Sur to distant corners of our shared planet Earth, Esalen’s influence travels beyond our storied campus, touching all 195 nations, each with a unique population of humans seeking healing and growth. We are not alone! Annually, nearly one million digital visitors check into Esalen.org and follow our journey on Instagram and Facebook. However you get to us, we are all here to collectively draw from the transformational energy that has inspired folks for generations.
Esalen’s infusion of ideas and philosophies extends to some of the edgiest minds — first found far outside of Big Sur and invited to explore and experiment here. The institute’s origins trace back to ideas birthed in distant lands, beginning with co-founder Michael Murphy’s deep resonance with Sri Aurobindo’s teachings in India and the learnings both Michael and Dick Price received from their Stanford professor, German-born scholar Frederic Spiegelberg. Add in the varied and visionary perspectives of thinkers from around the world — Aldous Huxley and Alan Watts from the United Kingdom, the existential insights of Germany’s Paul Tillich, and the pioneering breakthrough practices of Czech psychiatrist Stan Grof, Ukrainian-Israeli engineer Moshe Feldenkrais, and Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji — and you begin to see the foundational bricks come from everywhere.
This global synergy continues today in a myriad of ways. The legendary Esalen® Massage practice and trainings are thriving in Japan, China, Indonesia, Switzerland, and Germany, and certified practitioners are now in over twenty countries. For five decades, even in the face of conflicts and wars, the Center for Theory & Research and Track Two have brought together Russians and Ukrainians, Israelis and Palestinians, and Pacific Rim leaders, fostering dialogue when it’s needed most. The evolutionary unfolding of the human potential movement and the quest for self-actualization transcends governments and borders, as we keep growing and evolving toward more diversity and inclusion.
Continuing our decade-by-decade Find Your Potential illustrated series, we now present the 1980s installment. We invite you to discover the characters who have journeyed to 55000 Highway 1 over the past six decades and notice what has changed and what has endured.
Message us if you would like us to include someone in our next two illustrations: the 1990s and the 2000s!
Consensual touch and embodied healing can be a unifier. The Esalen Massage & Bodywork Association (EMBA) brings a profound tool for healing to the far reaches of our planet. “Given our current growth and the growing interest in practicing and teaching Esalen® Massage, I would love to see Esalen® Massage in every country of the world,” says EMBA coordinator and practitioner Robin Fann.
Among the families who have emerged during Esalen’s six decade-strong history, the Horans stand out. Peggy and her daughters, Lucia and Jasmine (who are leading workshops this summer), have lived and learned here over the decades. This family innately understands the healing, community, and self-expression the land can bring. In honor of Mother’s Day, we spoke with the Horan matriarchs about their family history — firmly rooted and still blooming within Esalen.
Ready to journey beyond the here‑and‑now? Esalen faculty Michelle Brock teases her upcoming workshop, Who Do You Think You Are: An Interactive Journey Through Your Past Lives and Into Your Best Future — to share how group past‑life regressions, a soul‑cleansing fire ritual, and Big Sur’s elemental magic help us burn away old stories and rediscover our shared humanity.
Spring is an incredible time to visit Esalen. Our Self-Guided Explorations are a way to surrender and drop into the peace and quiet embrace of Mother Nature and immerse in the community — without the structure of a workshop. With an array of classes, activities, and modalities to explore, you have the freedom to curate your experience to your individual needs and interests. Shape your Esalen experience with your own intuition and curiosity.
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“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.
This is the time for rebirth and growth! To embrace the growing season, here are five titles from faculty and upcoming workshop leaders to bring us closer to our partners, ourselves, the world around us, and the world we hope to create.
From the Serpent Bench overlooking the sea, Director of Product Sadia Bruce is conceptualizing new artistic and cultural offerings and planning transformative original programming to translate “complex ideas into embodied, actionable experience, offering guests pathways for praxis, integration, and belonging.”
In the Esalen kitchen, Megan Patterson pays loving homage to her mother with her “cottage porridge” recipe, sharing the healing and joy it has brought to many mornings. “Adopting techniques to make vital nutrients within the oats and seeds more readily available, it has become part of my morning contributions to the community with a simple, comforting, and nourishing start to their days of healing work.”
“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.
This is the time for rebirth and growth! To embrace the growing season, here are five titles from faculty and upcoming workshop leaders to bring us closer to our partners, ourselves, the world around us, and the world we hope to create.
From the Serpent Bench overlooking the sea, Director of Product Sadia Bruce is conceptualizing new artistic and cultural offerings and planning transformative original programming to translate “complex ideas into embodied, actionable experience, offering guests pathways for praxis, integration, and belonging.”
In the Esalen kitchen, Megan Patterson pays loving homage to her mother with her “cottage porridge” recipe, sharing the healing and joy it has brought to many mornings. “Adopting techniques to make vital nutrients within the oats and seeds more readily available, it has become part of my morning contributions to the community with a simple, comforting, and nourishing start to their days of healing work.”
“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.
This is the time for rebirth and growth! To embrace the growing season, here are five titles from faculty and upcoming workshop leaders to bring us closer to our partners, ourselves, the world around us, and the world we hope to create.
From the Serpent Bench overlooking the sea, Director of Product Sadia Bruce is conceptualizing new artistic and cultural offerings and planning transformative original programming to translate “complex ideas into embodied, actionable experience, offering guests pathways for praxis, integration, and belonging.”
In the Esalen kitchen, Megan Patterson pays loving homage to her mother with her “cottage porridge” recipe, sharing the healing and joy it has brought to many mornings. “Adopting techniques to make vital nutrients within the oats and seeds more readily available, it has become part of my morning contributions to the community with a simple, comforting, and nourishing start to their days of healing work.”
Esalen Institute
55000 Highway 1
Big Sur, CA 93920
US: 1-831-667-3000
info@esalen.org
