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Teach at Esalen

Join us at the leading edges of consciousness,
where spiritual possibility, intellectual rigor, somatic practice, and sustainable living create ripe conditions for expanding human potential.

Esalen is a world-renowned holistic learning retreat center located at the cliffs edge in Big Sur, CA. The remote natural setting is an invitation for guests and faculty to explore and realize their human potential through experience, education, and research. Esalen is a creative laboratory, an incubator of human potential asking the daring and curious questions that traditional university and religious institutions can’t and/or won’t.

Esalen is a nonprofit that offers weekend and weeklong workshops designed to facilitate self-exploration, personal growth, and healing in a group setting.

Esalen is now accepting workshop proposals for the 2024 calendar year.

2024 Workshop Proposal Criteria

Please carefully read below to see if you meet the criteria for this workshop period. If you do, submit your workshop proposal. If you do not meet this current criteria, we look forward to reviewing your offering for future opportunities.

The Workshop Facilitator(s) must be in operation to have up-to-date credentials in their field of study.
This proposed workshop must have been already attended by at least 20-65 participants, OR, you are a workshop facilitator who is already an established Esalen faculty member and now actively in development of a new workshop.
Time periods: Weeklong and weekend workshops. Weeklong = 22 hours of content and Weekend = 10 hours of content.
Your workshop content connects meaningfully to one of the following overarching content threads:
Altered States of Consciousness
Creativity and Curiosity
Interconnection / Intraconnection: Equality, Equity, Justice, Togetherness
The Healing Arts: Mind, Body, Heart, and Spirit
Our Planet through the lens of sustainability and regeneration

Thank you for taking the time to review our current workshop criteria. We look forward to reviewing your proposal.

Submit a Workshop Proposal

Teacher in Residence proposals

Launched in 2020, the Teacher in Residence program is a new Esalen offering that welcomes educators and leaders across an array of experiences and perspectives. Example disciplines include yoga, meditation, creative expression, writing/journaling, sound healing, nature awakening, etc. Balanced with independent time to explore and create, teachers will spend 8-10 hours of time each week leading classes available to all guests and staff. While the program features a grounded blueprint, teachers are encouraged to bring their own unique approach.

The program residency is funded by Esalen. This includes access to the Esalen campus and facilities, private accommodation, and meals across the duration of one's time in the program. Program participants will also have the opportunity to have their work highlighted across Esalen's social media, online channels, and other communications.

We are currently reviewing applications for late 2021.

Submit a Teacher in Residence proposal

Teacher FAQ

What qualifications do teachers need?

How many hours of class time are in a workshop?

What technology needs can Esalen accommodate?

Past Faculty

Philosophers, artists, theologians, writers, scientists, musicians, psychologists — they all help us expand our understanding of who we are, and Esalen has been informed and shaped by all of them. Early leaders like Ansel Adams, Timothy Leary, Gia-fu Feng, Virginia Satir, B.F. Skinner, and Buckminster Fuller. Scholars-in-residence Joseph Campbell, Alan Watts, and Stanislav Grof. Workshop instructors Susan Sontag, Ray Bradbury, Moshé Feldenkrais, Ken Kesey, and Aldous Huxley. An Esalen faculty list doubles as a list of some of the most transformative luminaries of the 20th century.

All faculty

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