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A Grow with Esalen Summer Series

America in the late 60s occupied a period of major social transformation. Esalen Institute amplified that feeling, capturing that energy with a wild, unbridled sense of curiosity and openness to explore and pioneer big ideas. There was the music! The art! The literature! The call for change! Human potential personified!

This June we are looking back on what was good and magical about the late 60s while applying some deeply reflective and vulnerable wisdom of 2023 to launch some very special summer programming. Esalen’s own thoughtfully curated social phenomenon.

Real talk: The last few years have been depleting for many. Esalen is all about collective potential, collective fullness. So, to help you refill your love tank, we present to you our Summer Groove! Together we will fill up and get mindfull, heartfull, and soulfull in community. Let’s amaze and delight, get expansive and be inclusive!

Imagine the halcyon elements of the Big Sur Folk Festival and Summer of Love — from live music, dance, poetry, painting and throwback crafting, to the tech embrace of silent DJ-led discos and music-driven experiential altered state parties.

But let’s also get real vulnerable and transparent right there with you — about our past and who we want to be for everyone. While much of the late 60s messaging was about love and peace, access to the sentiment was not a reality for everyone. The Summer of Love wasn’t all love for all people. Across the country it was a “Long, Hot Summer” as riots erupted in cities nationwide in response to a serious lack of equity and equality that disproportionately affected Black and Brown citizens — which our society continues to face today.

The parallels between the harsh realities of yesteryear and the present are far too numerous. Today we face them with more self-awareness, more knowledge, a greater capacity for change, and a deepened commitment to making Esalen, and the world, a welcoming, equitable, and safe place for all. Now 60 years in operation, Esalen continues to embrace much of the 60s glow and afterglow, retaining the gold and transmuting the rest.

It’s happening right now, Baby!

Get playfull and joyfull.

During Esalen's first ever foray into a summer series, our own faculty will be joined by very special guests to add amazing and delightful programming to each uniquely different week and weekend! Think throwback meets future forward: floating flower mandalas and flower crowns in the Art Barn, mass metta meditations on the lawn and in hidden corners of the property. Evening soul shakedowns with summer loving dance parties and an Afrobeat homage to Babatunde. Together we will honor the sacred indigenous land we co-steward through a water blessing, tobacco ceremony, healing talks, share circles, and more.

Feed mind and body.

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.

Create space for reflection.

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.

A man dances facing the Pacific Ocean on the pool deck at Esalen.

Imagine if you pressed pause
on your life for four weeks to
give yourself time and space
to transform.

Self-Guided Explorations Sample Schedule

This is a sample schedule only. Please refer to the posted schedule on campus for actual class offerings during your stay.
See general schedule information including arrival, departure, and meal times.

MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY














7:00 – 7:45 pm
Orientation

8:00 – 9:00 pm
Self Guided Exploration Welcome Circle


7:30 – 8:30 am
Pathways to Joy
JJ



2:15 – 3:15 pm
Afternoon Class
Visiting Faculty

4:30 pm
Intro to Gestalt
JJ



7:30 – 8:30 am
Moja Yoga
Megan



2:15 – 3:15 pm
Bathing Rituals of Self-Renewal
Micha


7:30 pm
Wednesday Evening Program
Visiting Faculty


7:30 – 8:30 am
Soul Movement Sanctuary
Jovinna


2:15 – 3:15 pm
The Hive and the Hum
Deva






11:00 – 11:45 am
Self Guided Exploration Closing Circle




7:00 – 7:45 pm
Orientation


7:30 – 8:30 am
Pathways to Joy
JJ



2:30 – 3:30 pm
Bathing Rituals of Self-Renewal
Micha


7:30 – 8:30 am
Pranotthan Yoga
Jovinna

11:00 – 11:45 am
Self Guided Exploration Closing Circle





MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY


No classes on Monday


7:30 – 8:30 am
Enliven


7:30 – 8:30 am
Enliven


7:30 – 8:30 am
Enliven


7:30 – 8:30 am
Enliven


No classes on Sunday

4 – 5:00 pm
Restore


4 – 5:00 pm
Restore


4 – 5:00 pm
Restore


4 – 5:00 pm
Restore


4 – 5:00 pm
Restore

MONDAY


7:00 – 7:45 pm
Orientation


8:00 – 9:00 pm
Self Guided Exploration Welcome Circle

TUESDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Pathways to Joy
JJ


2:15 – 3:15 pm
Afternoon Class
Visiting Faculty


4:30 pm
Intro to Gestalt
JJ

WEDNESDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Moja Yoga
Megan


2:15 – 3:15 pm
Bathing Rituals of Self Renewal
Micha


7:30 pm
Wed Evening Program

THURSDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Soul Movement Sanctuary
Jovinna


2:15 – 3:15 pm
The Hive and the Hum
Deva



FRIDAY




11:00 – 11:45 pam
Self Guided Exploration Closing Circle


7:00 – 7:45 pm
Orientation

SATURDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Pathways to Joy
JJ


2:15 – 3:15 pm
Afternoon Class
Visiting Faculty

SUNDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Pranotthan Yoga
Jovinna


11:00 – 11:45 pam
Self Guided Exploration Closing Circle



MONDAY


7:00 – 7:45 pm
Orientation


8:00 – 9:00 pm
Self Guided Experience Welcome Circle

TUESDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Pathways to Joy
JJ


2:15 – 3:15 pm
Afternoon Class
Visiting Faculty


4:30 pm
Intro to Gestalt
JJ

WEDNESDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Moja Yoga
Megan


2:15 – 3:15 pm
Bathing Rituals of Self Renewal
Micha


7:30 pm
Wed Evening Program
Visiting Faculty

THURSDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Soul Movement Sanctuary
Jovinna


2:15 – 3:15 pm
The Hive and the Hum
Deva



FRIDAY




11:00 – 11:45 am
Self Guided Experience Closing Circle


7:00 – 7:45 pm
Orientation

SATURDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Pathways to Joy
JJ


2:30 – 3:30 pm
Bathing Rituals of Self Renewal
Micha



SUNDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Pranotthan Yoga
Jovinna


11:00 – 11:45 am
Self Guided Experience Closing Circle





MONDAY


No classes today

TUESDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Enliven


4:00 – 5:00 pm
Expand

WEDNESDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Enliven


4:00 – 5:00 pm
Expand

THURSDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Enliven


4:00 – 5:00 pm
Restore

FRIDAY


4:00 – 5:00 pm
Expand

SATURDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Enliven


4:00 – 5:00 pm
Expand

SUNDAY


No classes today

MONDAY


7:00 – 7:45 pm
Orientation

8:00 – 9:00 pm
Self Guided Exploration Welcome Circle

TUESDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Pathways to Joy
JJ

2:15 – 3:15 pm
Afternoon Class

4:30 pm
Intro to Gestalt
JJ

WEDNESDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Moja Yoga
Megan

2:15 – 3:15 pm
Bathing Rituals of Self Renewal
Micha

7:30 pm
Wednesday Evening Program
Visiting Faculty

THURSDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Soul Movement Sanctuary
Jovinna

2:15 – 3:15 pm
The Hive and the Hum
Deva

FRIDAY


11:00 – 11:45 am
Self Guided Exploration Closing Circle

7:00 – 7:45 pm
Orientation

SATURDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Pathways to Joy
JJ

2:30 – 3:30 pm
Bathing Rituals of Self Renewal
Micha
‍‍

SUNDAY


7:30 – 8:30 am
Pranotthan Yoga
Jovinna

11:00 – 11:45 am
Self Guided Exploration Closing Circle

Meet Our Teachers
Staff

Staff

Ongoing
JJ Jeffries

JJ Jeffries

Ongoing

JJ Jeffries resides at the Esalen Institute, and has been offering movement classes here for almost two decades. Though BEING is his preferred state, he is intensely curious about all things DOING leading to BEING. He is a devotee of play and laughter, and welcomes your company.

Jovinna Chan

Jovinna Chan

Ongoing
jovinna.com

Jovinna Chan, E-RYT 500, YACEP, is co-founder of Shakti Initiation Yoga Leadership School and A Wild Life Sanctuary™. She is a certified Soul Motion™ and LetYourYogaDance Teacher, and co-founder of Pranotthan School of Yoga. She leads transformational programs around the world.

Megan Cassamas

Megan Cassamas

Ongoing
@moja.yoga

For nearly a decade Megan has provided a somatic-based approach to yoga. Her passion is to serve as a guide to support others in bridging meditation and motion in empowering embodiment classes. She is the founder of Moja Yoga.

Micha Merrick

Micha Merrick

Ongoing

Micha shares vibrational ritual and embodied herbalism as a heartfelt communion with our living ecosystem. Through personal mentorship with shamanic Lahu medicine women of Thailand and spiritual midwives in Bali, Micha currently facilitates the Herbal Clearing Ritual at Esalen, an energetic healing practice combining sound, touch, herbs, and intention. Micha offers sanctuary and grounding in connection with the earth.

Sadia Bruce

Sadia Bruce

Ongoing
@breathisalanguage

Sadia Bruce (E-RYT 500, YACEP) combines her expertise in breath-based movement, her reverence for the human experience and her energetic gifts to guide you to an electrifying sense of your own embodiment. With over 20 years of teaching experience across disciplines and contexts, and over 15 years of dedicated yoga practice, Sadia endeavors to create energized, radically inclusive learning environments that are guided by breath and driven by inquiry. As Head of Experiential Programming, she stewards Esalen’s pioneering self-development curriculum, curating experiences that are supportive of personal and planetary healing.

Class Descriptions

Bathing Rituals of Self Renewal

Micha Merrick

(

Ongoing

)

Meditate with the surging energy of the waves and let tension dissolve on the ocean breeze. Adorned with flowers and local healing herbs, this unique experience at the Esalen baths blends personal inquiry, herbal education, and sensory delight. Each ritual is an emergent collaboration of sound, sensation, intention, and floral offering to the sea. Come early, class size is very limited.

Body Language

Sadia Bruce

(

Ongoing

)

A spacious, slow-paced exploration of the body home using therapeutic yoga and other somatic modalities to make space for breath, alleviate tension, and access greater mobility and fluidity— in flesh and bones, and in life. Accessible to all levels.

Breathscapes

Sadia Bruce

(

Ongoing

)

Rhythmic breathwork for breath-body intimacy and heightened aliveness. Learn to shape, adapt and dance with your breath through joyful experimentation, using the medicine of rhythm as your anchor.

How to Drop Into Esalen

Staff

(

Ongoing

)

So, you’ve finally arrived at Esalen — welcome home! Join us in exploring Esalen’s historic, culture-shifting origins, the vision for human potential, and our core values, as we embark on another 60 years of transformational education. Prepare to learn, grow, experiment, and evolve as we shepherd you on how best to integrate into this unique community and get the most out of your time on this sacred, ancient land.

Intro to Gestalt Practice

JJ Jeffries

(

Ongoing

)

Gestalt, like meditation, is an awareness practice that also provides a means for us to connect in the present moment. In this class, we will re-create and experience an Esalen style check-in, building spontaneous and intentional community. An Esalen tradition.

MojaFlow

Megan Cassamas

(

Ongoing

)

MojaFlow is an experience to provoke and elevate you to discover new realms of energy and inspire you to experience the joy of going beyond barriers in your own practice and life. Class will include a somatic warm-up, breath-work, and strengthening exercises to support the body/mind connection.

Pathways to Joy

JJ Jeffries

(

Ongoing

)

Start your morning by awakening your energetic body, tracking each of the chakras through the experience of meditative guitar and resonant voice. Then, emerge fully into sunrise energy with Dance Awake, connecting to your YES! and inviting ecstatic play and heart opening!

Pranotthan Yoga

Jovinna Chan

(

Ongoing

)

In class we contemplate spiritual/philosophical teachings, slow down and move mindfully by co-ordinating breath with movement, sustain poses to deepen focus and awareness, practice breathing exercises and meditation to hone skillfulness in listening to the inner subtle experiences.

Soul Movement Sanctuary

Jovinna Chan

(

Ongoing

)

This is a conscious dance practice for people who love or are curious about movement. Here in the company of non-dancers and dancers, we get supple and strong, we explore expressions, we celebrate creativity, we expand empathy, we move and are moved.

The Body Electric

Sadia Bruce

(

Ongoing

)

Take a somatic dive into the depths of the self with an enlivening, vigorous moving meditation that borrows from a variety of modalities, incorporates ancestral movement, and culminates in seated stillness. Shake, sound, and dance your way to deepened connection with your miraculous body, and with the body of the world.

Choose Your Dates

Please note: All guests 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.

5 Days / 4 Nights
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3 Days / 2 Nights
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