Esalen Institute is open! However, Highway 1 to the south is closed — please review the alternate route directions.
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.
Since time immemorial, human beings have lived in meaningful and reciprocal relationship with the lands upon which they dwelt, and in collaborative communion with their other-than-human kin — plants, animals, fungi, stones, and more.
In more recent history, however, the dominant cultures of the globe have propelled narratives of human supremacy to justify the grave degradation and exploitation of the earth. This sea change has resulted in innumerable tragedies and has left so many of us in a state of bewilderment, grief, and painful isolation from the living world.
But we were born to belong to this earth. And even though the threads of interconnection that bind us to the land and all our wild relations may be frayed, they remain unbroken.
If we embrace this view, questions emerge:
Over the course of our month together, we will approach these questions with humility and curiosity. Taking a generalist's approach, we will introduce philosophies, modalities of awareness, crafts, and skills that can reconnect us with the land and our other-than-human kin. We will explore diverse pathways of participation and presence with the natural world to uncover meaning, nourish our human wholeness, and sense into our innate belonging to the earth.
The enchanted grounds of Esalen, and the surrounding wilderness, will be our place of practice and our primary teacher. Acknowledging Big Sur to be the ancestral lands of the Esselen Tribe, we will endeavor to behave as reverent and respectful guests on sacred land. Expanding our circle of respect, affinity, and awareness beyond the human, we will make space for the birds, flowers, and all the other beings to join our cohort. We will tend to the earth, ourselves, and the threads of kinship between us all.
Areas of focus will include:
This workshop will consist of numerous, outdoor, hands-on, physical practices and a great deal of walking, including two long-form hikes. Various hiking abilities can be accommodated, bearing in mind that our long hikes are approximately seven miles in length over uneven and often steep terrain. Participants must be able and willing to sit on the ground, work/learn outside in all weathers, and get a little dirty.
A $40 parks/permit and materials fee will be added.
Learn more about the requirements to receive continuing education credit.
As co-founder of the organization Wildtender, Noël Vietor is dedicated to helping people relate meaningfully with the land, themselves, and each other. Noël finds joy and meaning through mindful hiking, nature drawing, wildcrafting, and raising her young daughter on a Big Sur ridge-top.
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Fletcher Tucker is a co-founder of Wildtender, an organization based in Big Sur that cultivates kinship with the natural world, and explores earth-based wisdom traditions. Fletcher is also a writer, multidisciplinary artist and musician whose work engages deeply with place.
Read More
Summer Groovers will experience Esalen in a format similar to our Self Guided Explorations workshops. Each Summer Groove week or weekend will open and close with a circle, and be filled with festive, nostalgic activities that harken back to those days of yore.
More activities can be found on our open class schedule.
See general schedule information including arrival, departure and meal times.
Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive, program-specific tuition. Please note that not all accommodation levels are available for every workshop and additional faculty fees may apply.
We offer scholarship funds for those with financial need. Learn more.
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.
Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive tuition that includes lodging, three meals per day, access to the baths, and all activities on the Summer Groove schedule.
We offer scholarship funds for those with financial need. Learn more.
For this workshop, you will register and pay for accommodations and tuition in two separate steps.
Second, click Book Accommodations from this page and enter the password to complete your reservation to stay at Esalen.
Prices for accommodations include your lodging, meals, open classes, and use of the baths and other facilities. View partner program accommodations pricing.
As of June 30, 2023 we no longer require a negative COVID test at the time of check in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.
All guests and faculty must provide proof of negative test results at time of check-in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.
In addition to proof of vaccination, all guests and faculty must provide proof of negative test results at time of check-in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.
Effective January 7, 2022 in response to the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant, all guests and faculty will provide proof of negative PCR, NAAT, or antigen test results at time of check-in. The test must be taken within 72 hours nd results must come from a laboratory or healthcare provider.Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Effective December 15 in accordance with new guidance from Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Health, all guests, students, staff, residents, and faculty are required to wear masks in all indoor public settings, irrespective of vaccine status, for the next four weeks (December 15, 2021 through January 15, 2022). Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Effective November 19, 2021, in accordance with new guidance from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, all guests, students, staff, residents, and faculty are no longer required to wear masks indoors on campus. Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Starting November 5, 2021, due to substantial levels of COVID-19 transmission in Monterey County, a mask mandate established by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will go into effect. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
All guests will be required to provide proof of vaccination upon arrival starting September 3, 2021. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Masks are no longer mandated indoors or outdoors, except during massage sessions. Guests are not required to provide testing or vaccination verification before arriving on campus. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Since time immemorial, human beings have lived in meaningful and reciprocal relationship with the lands upon which they dwelt, and in collaborative communion with their other-than-human kin — plants, animals, fungi, stones, and more.
In more recent history, however, the dominant cultures of the globe have propelled narratives of human supremacy to justify the grave degradation and exploitation of the earth. This sea change has resulted in innumerable tragedies and has left so many of us in a state of bewilderment, grief, and painful isolation from the living world.
But we were born to belong to this earth. And even though the threads of interconnection that bind us to the land and all our wild relations may be frayed, they remain unbroken.
If we embrace this view, questions emerge:
Over the course of our month together, we will approach these questions with humility and curiosity. Taking a generalist's approach, we will introduce philosophies, modalities of awareness, crafts, and skills that can reconnect us with the land and our other-than-human kin. We will explore diverse pathways of participation and presence with the natural world to uncover meaning, nourish our human wholeness, and sense into our innate belonging to the earth.
The enchanted grounds of Esalen, and the surrounding wilderness, will be our place of practice and our primary teacher. Acknowledging Big Sur to be the ancestral lands of the Esselen Tribe, we will endeavor to behave as reverent and respectful guests on sacred land. Expanding our circle of respect, affinity, and awareness beyond the human, we will make space for the birds, flowers, and all the other beings to join our cohort. We will tend to the earth, ourselves, and the threads of kinship between us all.
Areas of focus will include:
This workshop will consist of numerous, outdoor, hands-on, physical practices and a great deal of walking, including two long-form hikes. Various hiking abilities can be accommodated, bearing in mind that our long hikes are approximately seven miles in length over uneven and often steep terrain. Participants must be able and willing to sit on the ground, work/learn outside in all weathers, and get a little dirty.
A $40 parks/permit and materials fee will be added.
Learn more about the requirements to receive continuing education credit.
As co-founder of the organization Wildtender, Noël Vietor is dedicated to helping people relate meaningfully with the land, themselves, and each other. Noël finds joy and meaning through mindful hiking, nature drawing, wildcrafting, and raising her young daughter on a Big Sur ridge-top.
Fletcher Tucker is a co-founder of Wildtender, an organization based in Big Sur that cultivates kinship with the natural world, and explores earth-based wisdom traditions. Fletcher is also a writer, multidisciplinary artist and musician whose work engages deeply with place.
June 4 – July 1, 2022
This program is full. Find another.
Applications are closed.
Applications are closed.
Since time immemorial, human beings have lived in meaningful and reciprocal relationship with the lands upon which they dwelt, and in collaborative communion with their other-than-human kin — plants, animals, fungi, stones, and more.
In more recent history, however, the dominant cultures of the globe have propelled narratives of human supremacy to justify the grave degradation and exploitation of the earth. This sea change has resulted in innumerable tragedies and has left so many of us in a state of bewilderment, grief, and painful isolation from the living world.
But we were born to belong to this earth. And even though the threads of interconnection that bind us to the land and all our wild relations may be frayed, they remain unbroken.
If we embrace this view, questions emerge:
Over the course of our month together, we will approach these questions with humility and curiosity. Taking a generalist's approach, we will introduce philosophies, modalities of awareness, crafts, and skills that can reconnect us with the land and our other-than-human kin. We will explore diverse pathways of participation and presence with the natural world to uncover meaning, nourish our human wholeness, and sense into our innate belonging to the earth.
The enchanted grounds of Esalen, and the surrounding wilderness, will be our place of practice and our primary teacher. Acknowledging Big Sur to be the ancestral lands of the Esselen Tribe, we will endeavor to behave as reverent and respectful guests on sacred land. Expanding our circle of respect, affinity, and awareness beyond the human, we will make space for the birds, flowers, and all the other beings to join our cohort. We will tend to the earth, ourselves, and the threads of kinship between us all.
Areas of focus will include:
This workshop will consist of numerous, outdoor, hands-on, physical practices and a great deal of walking, including two long-form hikes. Various hiking abilities can be accommodated, bearing in mind that our long hikes are approximately seven miles in length over uneven and often steep terrain. Participants must be able and willing to sit on the ground, work/learn outside in all weathers, and get a little dirty.
A $40 parks/permit and materials fee will be added.
Learn more about the requirements to receive continuing education credit.
As co-founder of the organization Wildtender, Noël Vietor is dedicated to helping people relate meaningfully with the land, themselves, and each other. Noël finds joy and meaning through mindful hiking, nature drawing, wildcrafting, and raising her young daughter on a Big Sur ridge-top.
Fletcher Tucker is a co-founder of Wildtender, an organization based in Big Sur that cultivates kinship with the natural world, and explores earth-based wisdom traditions. Fletcher is also a writer, multidisciplinary artist and musician whose work engages deeply with place.
Esalen Institute
55000 Highway 1
Big Sur, CA 93920
US: 1-831-667-3000
info@esalen.org