The chills are real when you stop and take in the storied histories of Esalen. Consider the great minds that have taught, studied, and created here: the philosophers, psychologists, writers, bodyworkers, big thinkers, and dreamers who once soaked in the healing waters beneath star-lit skies. Legends such as Abraham Maslow, Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, and Ida Rolf. On these grounds, Joan Baez played her guitar, Joseph Campbell deconstructed his myths, and Ansel Adams focused his lens to capture “the decisive moments.” To be on this land is to embody these legends and recognize that you walk in the footsteps of giants. All of that has led us to the here and now, which is your time to expand, experiment, and grow — to inspire all those who descend the hill after you.

This month, Esalen waters its psychedelic roots. First, on January 13–15, the father of the modern microdosing movement, James Fadiman, PhD, will be on campus to teach a sold-out weekend workshop — Microdosing: The Safe, Surprising, and Emerging Psychedelic Frontier — 60 years after he led Esalen's very first class (on the same subject). Then, on January 14, Fadiman, with Adam Bramlage, will lead a mind-expanding microdosing all-day digital seminar for all who are curious across the nation and around the world.

To continue our mycological adventures, rewilding citizen scientist William Padilla-Brown will share his knowledge on wild foraging and demystify medicinal mushrooms ​in Sustainable Myco-Stewardship: Ethical Foraging Interactions and Wild-to-Farm Cultivation Techniques. (To get a feel for how amazing William is, visit our Instagram profile (@esalen) on Friday for his “takeover” of our account to share some curious, informative and juicy info that includes a very, very special 15% discount code exclusively for his January 30 – February 3 workshop.)

To further keep things mind-blowing is Psychedelic Medicines and the Nature of Mind and Consciousness with David Presti, PhD, and Kristi Panik, MD, on February 24–26 — an expansive look at what plant and fungal spirit beings can teach us.

"The core elements of Esalen [rests] on a kind of nest of psychedelic experience," says Fadiman. So now we are asking: How do we make the most of this Psychedelic Renaissance in 2023? Turn on, tune in, and drop out to find some answers.

“Psychedelics, early on, from the very first beginnings of Esalen in 1962, there it was,” shares co-founder Michael Murphy. “I was fortunate; I got my first trip with Aldous Huxley. Then with Tim Leary and Dick Alpert.” Murphy and Esalen Board Chairman Dave Morin sat for a roundtable discussion about the history and reemergence of psychedelic exploration as these powerful tools become available once again. Watch this short video, “Psychedelics and Esalen,” to discover a bit more about the early days of “drug-induced mysticism” and Murphy’s vision for moving toward “a wiser, more grounded appreciation.”

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The positive, life-improving and healing benefits of psychedelics come with a shadow side: the bad trip. Esalen’s Center for Theory & Research, an incubator for innovative, cutting-edge dialogue, is designed to hold space for the dark as well as the light. As the psychedelic renaissance grows, it’s critical to dismantle the taboo and examine the narratives around these experiences. In early 2022, writer Rachael Petersen spoke at an Esalen CTR conference titled “The Psychedelic Turn: Mind, Matter, and Method.” An essay adapting her thoughts, “A Theological Reckoning with ‘Bad Trips,’” was published in the latest issue of the Harvard Divinity Bulletin. (Illustration by Debora Cheyenne Cruchon.)

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In her second installment of Conversations We Should Be Having, S. Rae Peoples speaks with Tim McKee, activist and publisher of North Atlantic Books, to discuss diversity and equity, and ask the uncomfortable-yet-pivotal question: How can white men contribute to and benefit from racial justice in a committed and meaningful way? “The process of imagining and creating a better America is all of us or none of us,” Tim asserts. “It requires all of us, including white men, to understand how to engage in the work, and to rise to the occasion.”

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In the wake of America’s psychedelics prohibition and the dismantling of this nation’s War on Drugs, there are exciting, life-changing plant medicine conversations happening here at Esalen.

Join legendary psychedelics researcher and the father of the modern microdosing movement, James Fadiman, PhD, and microdosing educator and coach Adam Bramlage as they teach live from Esalen Institute in Big Sur. Together we will learn about the most current and best practices for microdosing psychedelics and plant medicine.