Self-Guided Explorations Week of December 7 - 11, 2026

There is a week at Esalen with no curriculum to follow and no schedule that decides who you should be by Friday. Self-Guided Explorations is a retreat built around a simple, generous invitation: choose your own days. Set on the Big Sur coast at Esalen Institute, it gives you the freedom to move between yoga, breathwork, writing, dance, and quiet hours on the land, shaped by your own intuition and curiosity.

The week suits anyone who wants to reconnect with dormant desires, work through accumulated tension, or simply remember what it feels like to be alive. Opening and closing circles with your fellow participants anchor the experience, while the days between stay open. With musicians Sam Stern and Micha Merrick among the teachers in residence, the retreat holds a creative, embodied thread alongside the rest and solitude.

If you have been craving a reset that does not ask you to perform, this retreat in Big Sur offers a supportive community and plenty of room to be alone with the Pacific.

What to Expect

The retreat begins with an opening circle with your cohort and ends with a closing circle. In between, you decide how to spend your time. Options may include:

- Deepening your yoga practice
- Exploring breathwork and meditation
- Conscious dance and movement
- Journaling and writing
- Creative arts
- Presentations by guest faculty
- A long soak in the hot springs under the stars
- Doing much less, and resting

Daily open classes are led by teachers in residence, who may offer yoga and dance-based movement, journaling sessions, breath work, and other practices meant to encourage joy and mindfulness. You can also add Esalen Massage or holistic healing services with compassionate practitioners, which are booked separately.

The atmosphere is nurturing and unhurried. Participants often come to awaken dormant passions, heal past wounds, or cultivate vitality through embodiment, writing, and quiet enjoyment of the land. Faculty at Esalen span psychology, somatic practice, creative expression, and the healing arts, offering breadth without prescription.

About the Lineup

Sam Stern is a musician among the teachers in residence for this Self-Guided Explorations week. Teachers in residence lead the daily open classes, which may include movement, journaling, and breath work designed to encourage joy and mindfulness.

Micha Merrick is a musician also joining as a teacher in residence. Together with the wider community of faculty, Micha helps shape the open schedule that participants move through at their own pace.

Venue & Logistics

The retreat takes place at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, on land with gardens, the hot springs, and views of the Pacific. The registration includes housing accommodations, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, coffee, tea, and snacks, access to the hot springs and other campus features, and classes on the open schedule. Healing arts sessions such as Esalen Massage, specialty coffee and tea or alcohol from the bar, and bookstore purchases are not included.

Participants have access to open classes but not to preregistered workshops. Registration options include a workshop with an on-site stay, a workshop with an off-site stay, or an individual day pass, and scholarships are available through Esalen. Highway 1 access around Big Sur has been affected by road closures, so review Esalen's current travel advisory before planning your journey.