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Esalen Institute
Retreat center in Big Sur, California, US / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Esalen Institute, commonly called Esalen, is a non-profit American retreat center and intentional community in Big Sur, California, which focuses on humanistic alternative education.[2] The institute played a key role in the Human Potential Movement beginning in the 1960s. Its innovative use of encounter groups, a focus on the mind-body connection, and their ongoing experimentation in personal awareness introduced many ideas that later became mainstream.[3]
![]() | Parts of this article (those related to reopening after the 2017 highway closure) need to be updated. (November 2022) |
![]() Esalen buildings and hot springs | |
Founder(s) | Michael Murphy Dick Price |
---|---|
Established | 1962 |
Focus | Humanistic alternative education |
President | Gordon Wheeler |
Key people | Camille Allen Jeffries CEO, CFO Ana Gadban, Director of Operations |
Owner | Esalen Institute |
Address | 55000 Highway One, Big Sur, CA 93920[1] |
Location | , , , |
Coordinates | 36.12701°N 121.64159°W / 36.12701; -121.64159 |
Website | Esalen Institute |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Meditation_Room_-_panoramio.jpg/320px-Meditation_Room_-_panoramio.jpg)
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Esalen was founded by Michael Murphy and Dick Price in 1962. Their intention was to support alternative methods for exploring human consciousness, what Aldous Huxley described as "human potentialities".[4][5] Over the next few years, Esalen became the center of practices and beliefs that make up the New Age movement, from Eastern religions/philosophy, to alternative medicine and mind-body interventions, from transpersonal to Gestalt practice.[6]
Price ran the institute until he died in a hiking accident in 1985. In 2012, the board hired professional executives to help raise money and keep the institute profitable. Until 2016, Esalen offered over 500 workshops yearly[7] in areas including Gestalt practice, personal growth, meditation, massage, yoga, psychology, ecology, spirituality, and organic food.[8] In 2016, about 15,000 people attended its workshops.[9]
In February 2017, the institute was cut off when Highway 1 was closed by a mud slide on either side of the hot springs. It closed its doors, evacuated guests via helicopter, and was forced to lay off 90% of its staff through at least July, when they reopened with limited workshop offerings. It also decided to revamp its offerings to include topics more relevant to a younger generation.[9] As of July 2017, due to the limited access resulting from the road closures, the hot springs are only open to Esalen guests.[9]