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.
Join us for Go Within, our annual winter festival — a communal gathering that invites the passage of illuminating light during these inward months of hibernation and darkness. Through the embrace of the arts and our own creativity, we unite again to unleash the pulsating, reverberating inner curiosity that fuels imagination, sparks innovation, and nourishes the soul.
Last year, ambient music pioneer Laraaji, indigenous wisdom keeper and musician Snow Raven, and ethereal harpist Mary Lattimore — alongside a cast of supporting and emerging artists and musicians — joined forces with resident Esalen faculty to curate a rich tapestry of experiences.
Some 200 guests gathered together to engage in deep listening practices, be transported by experimental breathwork, indulge in sound experiences at the Baths, dive into intuitive art making, be nourished by the healing waters and of course, by the sweet medicine of community.
To create and turn things outward, we must first look inward to explore with a greater heightened sense the depths of what our hidden potentials hold. Winter is a mysterious season — she can be kind and soft. Rather than fear and avoid her, let’s celebrate her (and our own) complexity.
To find and uncover our light, let’s together and individually embrace the dark, far reaches and prepare to launch into a new year, 2025, ever more illuminated.
We hope you’ll join us.
Expect an artful juxtapositioning of nurture-inward and blossom-outward programming — with the ever-present invitation to commune with yourself, and with the land. You'll have the opportunity to participate in embodiment and presencing practices, personal reflection, community-building, land-based inquiry, intuitive art-making, and play, as well as deeply restful contemplative experiences, an exploration of dreamwork and dream medicine, wildcrafting and art-making for actionable inspiration, transformative breathwork, and meditation.
For all we nurture within and inwardly, we then need the space for release; to that end, you’ll enjoy nightly howls up into the big, open starry sky, fireside music jams, site-specific sonic journeys, and dance parties designed to ignite the mind, body, and soul.
Savor three hearty, healthy meals per day. Our kitchen draws on global culinary traditions, using the fruits of the Esalen Farm & Garden and other local Big Sur providers to create delicious meals that support holistic health — for you and for the earth.
Esalen’s beloved mineral hot springs perch dramatically over the Pacific Ocean, a juxtaposition of intimate and infinite. A core part of Esalen from its inception, the baths and tubs are an ideal place to reflect, find clarity, and set new intentions.
Please note: On Wednesday September 20, online registration may be unavailable for up to 15 minutes while system maintenance is performed. If the 'Register Now' page does not load, please wait about 15 minutes and try again.
Esalen Institute
55000 Highway 1
Big Sur, CA 93920
US: 1-831-667-3000
info@esalen.org