If you have never been to Big Sur, it is one of the few remaining pristine sections of the California Coastline, with beautiful mountain forests, canyons with streams, and waterfalls, beside the Great Mother Ocean.
Living life in Big Sur for over 33 years for me, has been a beautiful experience, as well as a challenging one. My husband Daniel has lived there over 45 years, coming in his mid 20’s to Esalen and working there ever since. I arrived in Big Sur in 1984, to Esalen, where we met and married 2 years later. We purchased our home and art studios there on the edge of the cliffs above the Pacific in 1991. Esalen Institute has been our community and our workplace where we have been able to offer our gifts as teachers and staff, all of these years. "Esalen is a retreat center since 1962, and has sought to develop what Aldous Huxley originally envisioned as the “human potential”, all those unrealized capacities of mind and body that point to the further evolution of human nature. Esalen is known for it’s nuanced blend of Western and Asian cultures, its emphasis on experiential workshops, its gifted teachers, its social activism at home and abroad, and its hot mineral springs. Honoring the native Esselen people who once inhabited the land, Esalen sits on the spectacular Big Sur Coastline with the Santa Lucia Mountains rising sharply behind". "Esalen is a leading institute for exploring and realizing human potential through experience, education, and research. We work toward the realization of a more humane and all-embracing world, seeking answers to questions unlikely to be explored by traditional universities and religions. We sponsor pioneering initiatives and offer personal, spiritual, and social transformation programs for workshop participants, Work Scholars and extended students, apprentices, and property residents". From the Esalen Workshop Catalog at http://www.esalen.org At the moment we are in challenging times in Big Sur with our only thoroughfare Highway One closed, due to mudslides and a sinking bridge resulting from our summer fires and the winter storms saturating the bare mountainsides. Esalen is closed until the way is made clear to the south. Once the road opens again, guests will have to travel up from San Luis Obispo County on Highway One. All very challenging but worth every moment of our cherished time living there.
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AuthorCynthia is an artist, dancer, photographer and a meditation teacher. ArchivesCategories |