HAND-PICKED EXPERIENCES

Editor's Picks

Curated events selected by the BrightStar team — transformational gatherings worth your time.

8 events curated

wellness retreat

Self-Guided Explorations Week of July 27–31, 2026

Self-Guided Explorations at Esalen offer a structured yet self-directed immersion into the institute's ethos of personal growth and human potential. Unlike traditional workshop formats, these five-day retreats invite participants to move fluidly through a rotating schedule of open classes while anchoring their experience in Esalen's distinctive setting: mineral hot springs perched above the Pacific, organic meals from the campus farm, and the contemplative landscape of Big Sur. The program balances structure with autonomy. An opening circle on arrival and closing circle on departure bookend the stay, while daily offerings span meditation, yoga, dance-based movement, journaling, and breathwork. Teachers in Residence—credentialed facilitators with backgrounds in psychology, somatics, creative arts, and holistic healing—lead classes on a drop-in basis, allowing participants to follow their own rhythm and interests. The underlying intention mirrors Esalen's founding vision: examining entrenched beliefs about self and world, exploring one's connection to the larger whole, and creating conditions for genuine transformation. Unlike preregistered workshops, Self-Guided Explorations require no prior commitment to specific classes, making them accessible to those new to practice or seeking a more intuitive approach to retreat time.

Mon, Jul 27, 2026Esalen Institute, Big Sur

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wellness retreat

Designing the Life We Want: Self-Renewal in the Summer

This five-day workshop at Esalen Institute creates space for deliberate pause and reflection on how one is living. Participants engage in a series of experiential exercises—movement, coaching, dialogue, and introspection—designed to clarify what brings genuine fulfillment and to chart a course aligned with one's truest capacities. Led by Mark Nicolson, an executive coach who works with entrepreneurs and change-makers, and guest faculty Caitlin Wild, a wilderness guide and wholeness facilitator, the program invites participants to examine the behaviors that support their goals and those that undermine them. Rather than lecture-based instruction, the workshop emphasizes active participation, voluntary contribution, and the cultivation of a supportive community. The setting—Esalen's Big Sur campus—provides access to hot springs, open classes in yoga and somatic practice, and the natural landscape as a backdrop for contemplation and renewal.

Mon, Jul 27, 2026Esalen Institute, Big Sur

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wellness retreat

Experiencing the Esalen Farm and Garden

This five-day immersion at Esalen's working farm and garden invites participants into direct engagement with the cycles of cultivation, harvest, and soil stewardship. Led by Candice Isphording, James House, and Becca Gallagher—practitioners with decades of combined experience in organic production and land management—the program weaves hands-on agricultural work with structured curriculum sessions and community participation. Participants will learn bed preparation, seed starting, irrigation systems, composting, and transplanting alongside the Esalen Farm and Garden crew. The work addresses food security as both practical skill and form of activism, rooted in the principle that growing one's own food deepens connection to the land and its seasonal rhythms. Days blend morning and afternoon labor in the fields with evening discussions, creating space for questions and reflection. This is farming education grounded in place: working with soil, plants, and people in the collaborative spirit that has defined Esalen's mission for six decades. A materials fee of forty dollars is additional to tuition.

Mon, Aug 10, 2026Esalen Institute, Big Sur

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wellness retreat

Experiencing the Esalen Farm and Garden

A five-day immersion at California's Big Sur coast inviting participants to work directly alongside Esalen's farm and garden staff in the cultivation of food and flowers. Candice Isphording, James House, and Becca Gallagher guide attendees through the full cycle of organic and regenerative agriculture, from soil preparation through harvest. The program emphasizes the relationship between human care and earth stewardship, grounded in the conviction that growing one's own food represents a form of both activism and restoration. Participants engage in hands-on work—composting, seed starting, irrigation, transplanting, bed preparation—interspersed with daily curriculum sessions exploring specific agricultural topics and community dialogue. The week unfolds within Esalen's ethos of human potential in concert with nature, offering a tangible path toward food self-sufficiency and land literacy. All meals sourced from local, organic production.

Mon, Sep 14, 2026Esalen Institute, Big Sur

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wellness retreat

Pelvic Health Self-Care Retreat: Exploring the Pelvis Through Anatomy, Nutrition, and the Nervous System

This three-day retreat examines pelvic health across the reproductive spectrum, from preconception through menopause. Led by Dr. Anietie Ukpe-Wallace, a physical therapist specializing in pelvic health, and Krishna Dholakia, a nutritionist and yoga teacher focused on women's wellness, the program weaves together manual therapy principles, nutritional science, and nervous system awareness. The retreat addresses pelvic floor anatomy and function, menstrual and sexual health, digestive wellbeing, hormonal patterns, and fertility across different life stages. Through anatomical education, guided movement practices, mindfulness sessions, nutrition exploration, and community-based journaling, participants develop concrete self-care tools and deepen their understanding of how the pelvic basin functions within the whole body. The retreat is grounded in the principle that embodied knowledge of one's own body is foundational to wellbeing.

Fri, Sep 25, 2026Esalen Institute, Big Sur

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wellness retreat

Designing The Life We Want: Self Renewal in the Fall

This five-day workshop at Esalen invites participants to step back from their daily lives and examine the trajectory they are on. Facilitated by executive coach Mark Nicolson and wilderness guide Caitlin Wild, the program uses experiential exercises, movement, and group dialogue to help attendees clarify what brings them joy and purpose. Rather than lecture-based instruction, the workshop emphasizes active participation through reflection, intuitive listening, and embodied practices. Participants explore behavioral patterns that either support or undermine their goals, and work to cultivate a vision for the year ahead and the next phase of life. The program is designed for those seeking to align their actions with their values, navigate major life transitions, and deepen their sense of authentic impact in the world. All participation remains voluntary, though attending all sessions, including the final morning, is encouraged.

Mon, Oct 26, 2026Esalen Institute, Big Sur

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wellness retreat

Primordial Qigong: Vibrant Health, Harmony with the Tao

Primordial Qigong, taught by world-renowned master Kenneth Cohen, offers a week-long immersion in meditation in motion grounded in Taoist philosophy. The practice centers on two foundational forms of meditation: the Microcosmic and Macrocosmic Orbits, through which practitioners learn to circulate solar and lunar energies in balance. Participants study all twelve movements of Hunyuan Qigong, designed to build resilient qi and strengthen the body's three primary energy centers, or dan tians. The workshop bridges classical Taoist practice with contemporary scientific understanding of qigong's physiological benefits. Cohen carries the lineage of Madame Gao Fu, a central figure in modern China's medical qigong movement. The course welcomes newcomers and experienced practitioners alike, emphasizing accessible technique and sustainable energy cultivation as a buffer against stress and depletion. Throughout the week, structured practice is paired with discussion of the somatic and biomechanical principles underlying qigong, creating space for both embodied learning and intellectual inquiry.

Mon, Nov 9, 2026Esalen Institute, Big Sur

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wellness retreat

The Power in Your Hands: Turning from Screens to Souls

Over five days in December at Esalen Institute, psychotherapist Shannon Algeo leads an inquiry into humanity's relationship with technology and the possibility of reclaiming presence, creativity, and connection. The workshop begins from a sobering premise: the average person spends roughly two months each year on their smartphone, and insecure attachment patterns make us especially vulnerable to compulsive phone use as a substitute for genuine human connection. Rather than offering condemnation, the program invites participants to examine the psychological and relational roots of digital dependency and to rebuild the capacity for turning toward one another. Each day combines morning meditation, lectures on technology's impact on the psyche and relationships, guided reflections on attachment history, and interpersonal practices designed to replace screen time with embodied presence. The week culminates in a 72-hour offline ritual. Poetry therapy, movement, singing, and nature-based meditation serve as vehicles for reconnecting to creative impulse and somatic wisdom. Set against Big Sur's wild landscape, the workshop rests on the belief that our hands—ancestral hands—still hold untapped creative potential when we choose to use them for living rather than scrolling.

Mon, Dec 14, 2026Esalen Institute, Big Sur

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