The Esalen Institute is located in Slates Hot Springs, a community on the Big Sur coast at an elevation of 118 feet (36 m), about 34 miles (55 km) southeast of Monterey, and 46 miles (74 km) northwest of San Simeon, California. In 1882, Thomas B. Slate filed a land patent for the site and developed the hot springs for tourists. The official business name was “Big Sur Hot Springs,” though it was commonly known as “Slate’s Hot Springs.” In 1910, he sold the property to Dr. Michael Murphy, a physician from Salinas.

The Esselen people historically resided along the upper Carmel and Arroyo Seco rivers, and the Big Sur coast. Carbon dating of artifacts found near Slates Hot Springs indicates human presence as early as 3500 BC. With access to the ocean, freshwater, and hot springs, the Esselen regularly used the site, reserving certain areas as burial grounds. Their population was largely decimated by diseases when they were forcibly relocated to Spanish missions at San Carlos in Carmel, Nuestra Señora de la Soledad in Soledad, and San Antonio de Padua in Jolon.

Michael Murphy and Dick Price purchased the estate from Murphy’s grandmother to create a venue for non-traditional workshops and lectures, free from the dogma of traditional education. In 1963, the Esalen Institute was incorporated as a business. The institute offers workshops on humanistic psychology, physical wellness, and spiritual awareness. Additionally, it provides courses on permaculture and ecological sustainability. Read more here and here. Explore more of Esalen Institute and Slates Hot Springs here: