The Esalen Institute, commonly called Esalen, is a non-profit American retreat center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retreat_(spiritual)) and [intentional community in Big Sur, California, which focuses on humanisticalternative education.[2] The Institute played a key role in the Human Potential Movement beginning in the 1960s. Its innovative use of encounter groups, a focus on the mind-body connection, and their ongoing experimentation in personal awareness introduced many ideas that later became mainstream.[3]
Esalen was founded by Stanford graduates Michael Murphy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Murphy_(author)) and [Dick Price in 1962. Their intention was to support alternative methods for exploring human consciousness, what Aldous Huxley described as "human potentialities".[4][5] Over the next few years, Esalen became the center of practices and beliefs that make up the New Age movement, from Eastern religions/philosophy, to alternative medicine and mind-body interventions, to Gestalt Practice.[6]
Price ran the Institute until he was killed in a hiking accident in 1985. In 2012, the board hired professional executives to help raise money and keep the Institute profitable. Until 2016, Esalen offered over 500 workshops yearly[7] in areas including personal growth, meditation, massage, Gestalt Practice, yoga, psychology, ecology, spirituality, and organic food.[8] in 2016, about 15,000 people attended its workshops.[9]
In February 2017, the Institute was cut off when Highway 1 was closed on either side of the hot springs. It closed its doors, evacuated guests via helicopter, and was forced to lay off 90% of its staff through at least July, when they reopened with limited workshop offerings. It also decided to revamp its offerings to include topics more relevant to a younger generation.[9]
As of July 2017, due to the limited access resulting from the road closures, the hot springs are only open to Esalen guests.[9]