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.

Ways to Visit Esalen

We welcome visitors with advance reservations for workshops and massages to our California campus. Scholarships are available to make the healing and transformational magic of Esalen more easily accessible to a more diverse community of brains, hearts, and souls.

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Choose Your Dates

Stay on our Big Sur campus for a weekend or week-long course. Esalen workshops are designed to facilitate self-exploration, personal growth, and healing in a group setting. They are led by visiting faculty who represent a spectrum of disciplines, experiences, and perspectives.

Join us for a lightly-structured week and find nourishment for body, mind, and spirit. Our Self-Guided Explorations programs are designed for those who wish to do their internal work outside of a workshop. Enjoy open classes led by an Esalen staff member or a visiting teacher, with plenty of leisure time.

Scholarships
Apply Now

Inspired by what was good and magical about the late 1960s, our first-ever summer series will feature festive programming in an open, a-la-carte format similar to our Self Guided Explorations workshops. Esalen’s own faculty-in-residence will be joined by very special guests to add amazing and delightful programming to each uniquely different week and weekend!

Providing access to the growth and healing opportunities through our programs and faculty is a priority for Esalen. We offer a number of partial scholarships per workshop and programming opportunities with up to 90% coverage based on need. We encourage you to make use of this potential support and apply now.

We welcome visitors with advance reservations for workshops and massages to our California campus. Scholarships are available to make the healing and transformational magic of Esalen more easily accessible to a more diverse community of brains, hearts, and souls.

Scholarships
Apply Now

Inspired by what was good and magical about the late 1960s, our first-ever summer series will feature festive programming in an open, a-la-carte format similar to our Self Guided Explorations workshops. Esalen’s own faculty-in-residence will be joined by very special guests to add amazing and delightful programming to each uniquely different week and weekend!

Providing access to the growth and healing opportunities through our programs and faculty is a priority for Esalen. We offer a number of partial scholarships per workshop and programming opportunities with up to 90% coverage based on need. We encourage you to make use of this potential support and apply now.

Campus-Wide Festivals

Esalen's special campus-wide festivals enhance your “me” time with glorious “we” time by building community and elevating healing through transformational revelry.

Altered States: Pathways to Expansion, September 9–13, 2024

September 9–13, 2024

Learn More
Go Within: An Esalen Institute Winter Series, December 13–16 & December 16–20, 2024

Dec 13–16 & Dec 16–20

Learn More

We welcome visitors with advance reservations for workshops and massages to our California campus. Scholarships are available to make the healing and transformational magic of Esalen more easily accessible to a more diverse community of brains, hearts, and souls.

Scholarships
Apply Now

Inspired by what was good and magical about the late 1960s, our first-ever summer series will feature festive programming in an open, a-la-carte format similar to our Self Guided Explorations workshops. Esalen’s own faculty-in-residence will be joined by very special guests to add amazing and delightful programming to each uniquely different week and weekend!

Providing access to the growth and healing opportunities through our programs and faculty is a priority for Esalen. We offer a number of partial scholarships per workshop and programming opportunities with up to 90% coverage based on need. We encourage you to make use of this potential support and apply now.

Scholarship

Human and collective potential are part of Abraham Maslow‘s hierarchy of needs. Providing access to the growth and healing opportunities through our programs and faculty while ensconced in this sacred stretch of land and water is a priority for Esalen. We offer a number of partial scholarships per workshop and programming opportunities with up to 90% coverage based on need. We encourage you to make use of this potential support and apply now.

Apply Now
Ways to Stay With Us Longer
Live Extended Education Program (LEEP)

Apply to join a curated cohort of learners on campus for a month, exploring thematic topics while contributing in service to the Esalen community.

Take the LEEP
Residential Extended Education Program (REEP)

Apply for a paid, three-month cycle of working, learning, and playing that explores monthly themes facilitated by visiting faculty and staff leaders.

Join Us
Create at Esalen

Apply to be an Artist in Residence, and be supported for a month on campus to develop your work immersed in the inspiring beauty of Big Sur.

Learn more

LEEP

Study & Serve

Apply to join a curated cohort of learners on campus for a month, exploring thematic topics while contributing in service to the Esalen community in our Live Extended Education Program.

Apply Now

REEP

Work & Live

Apply for a paid, three-month cycle of working, learning, and playing that explores monthly themes facilitated by visiting faculty and staff leaders in our Residential Extended Education Program.

Apply Now
Create at Esalen

Apply to be an Artist in Residence, and be supported for a month on campus to develop your work immersed in the inspiring beauty of Big Sur.

Learn more
How to Spend the Day With Us

BLISS OUT

Book a Massage

If you aren't staying with us for a workshop, we offer a limited number of Esalen Massage Visitor Passes that allow you to enjoy the day on our Big Sur campus.

Reserve Now

HELP OUT

Volunteer

Lend a helping hand in one of our departments for a three-hour shift, and the rest of the day is yours to bask in the healing majesty of Esalen.

Reserve Now
Share Your Talent
Live Extended Education Program (LEEP)

Apply to join a curated cohort of learners on campus for a month, exploring thematic topics while contributing in service to the Esalen community.

Take the LEEP
Residential Extended Education Program (REEP)

Apply for a paid, three-month cycle of working, learning, and playing that explores monthly themes facilitated by visiting faculty and staff leaders.

Join Us
Create at Esalen

Apply to be an Artist in Residence, and be supported for a month on campus to develop your work immersed in the inspiring beauty of Big Sur.

Learn more

JOIN US

Work at Esalen

Esalen isn’t just a place to work, it’s an invitation to help change the world. We offer generous benefits packages, competitive pay, and a great work environment.

Learn More

INSPIRE US

Teach at Esalen

Are you an innovative and dynamic teacher? Does your work align with Esalen’s mission? We accept workshop proposals on an ongoing basis.

Learn More
Create at Esalen

Apply to be an Artist in Residence, and be supported for a month on campus to develop your work immersed in the inspiring beauty of Big Sur.

Learn more
Host Your Conference

While our workshops and campus-wide festivals are at the heart of Esalen programming, mission-aligned organizations can apply to produce their own company-curated conferences on our Big Sur campus.

Learn More

Photos: Angie Smith, Q Stern Photography, Richard Tauber, Ali Kaukas, Tristan Kolkhorst, Stephanie Lewis, Len Lehmann.