Esalen is open!

Starting Friday May 17 at 6:30 a.m., Highway 1 north of Esalen will reopen with the use of a 24/7 signalized traffic control, providing unrestricted public access with one-way alternating traffic in both the north and southbound directions. Please plan travel accordingly to accommodate a brief delay of up to 10-15 minutes at the traffic control site.

Highway 1 south of Esalen remains closed. Guests traveling from points south of us, please take the alternate route through Monterey.

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 alternate route directions.

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.

Rhonda V. Magee

Rhonda V. Magee, M.A., J.D., is an internationally sought-after mindfulness teacher and keynote speaker, and a thought and practice innovator of mindfulness-based social justice principles, concepts, and practices. She is a professor of law and director of the Center for Contemplative Law and Ethics at the University of San Francisco.

Magee has spent more than twenty years integrating mindfulness into higher education, leadership, and everyday social engagement. Her work explores the intersections of anti-racist education, social justice, and contemplative practices and offers trauma-sensitive practices to support healing, resilience, personal wellbeing, and flourishing together. Grounded in the science of mindfulness, wellbeing, and resilience, she integrates storytelling, movement, journaling, and other research-based experiential practices for strengthening our inner resources for navigating a world of constant change.

In recognition of her uniquely innovative impact on the field of mindfulness and wellbeing in law, Magee was the inaugural recipient of the Reed Smith Excellence in Wellbeing in Law Award (2022), granted after an independent national selection process by the Institute for Wellbeing in Law. A fellow of the Mind and Life Institute, she is an international keynote speaker and mindfulness teacher trainer with a particular emphasis on integrating mindfulness into everyday life in the face of the most vexing challenges of our times. 

Rhonda V. Magee, JD, MA, is a professor of law at the University of San Francisco, and a nationally acclaimed speaker on mindfulness and social justice. She is an expert on mindful teaching and learning, race and law, and professional identity development.

Rhonda V. Magee

Rhonda V. Magee, M.A., J.D., is an internationally sought-after mindfulness teacher and keynote speaker, and a thought and practice innovator of mindfulness-based social justice principles, concepts, and practices. She is a professor of law and director of the Center for Contemplative Law and Ethics at the University of San Francisco.

Magee has spent more than twenty years integrating mindfulness into higher education, leadership, and everyday social engagement. Her work explores the intersections of anti-racist education, social justice, and contemplative practices and offers trauma-sensitive practices to support healing, resilience, personal wellbeing, and flourishing together. Grounded in the science of mindfulness, wellbeing, and resilience, she integrates storytelling, movement, journaling, and other research-based experiential practices for strengthening our inner resources for navigating a world of constant change.

In recognition of her uniquely innovative impact on the field of mindfulness and wellbeing in law, Magee was the inaugural recipient of the Reed Smith Excellence in Wellbeing in Law Award (2022), granted after an independent national selection process by the Institute for Wellbeing in Law. A fellow of the Mind and Life Institute, she is an international keynote speaker and mindfulness teacher trainer with a particular emphasis on integrating mindfulness into everyday life in the face of the most vexing challenges of our times. 

Rhonda V. Magee, JD, MA, is a professor of law at the University of San Francisco, and a nationally acclaimed speaker on mindfulness and social justice. She is an expert on mindful teaching and learning, race and law, and professional identity development.

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