Soaking in Esalen's Famous Hot Tubs(photo courtesy of Lezlie Sterling / Zuma Press file)
I had some initial fears arriving at the Esalen Institute for my weekend meditation worshop. I had heard that Esalen was pretty experimental, and was forewarned of their clothing-optional policies. So, when I arrived at the Esalen as a lone female traveller, I was a little on edge.
My fears weren't dispelled upon arrival. 99.5% of the guests and residents I encountered upon my arrival at the Esalen were white. And everywhere I looked, I saw the familiar dreadlocks, Ugg boots, "North Face" gear and flowing scarves characteristic of the well-off, stereotypical hippie. I wished that there was more racial diversity, and I wished there were more of the moderate "engineering-types" that I was accustomed to in the Silicon Valley.
Did I mention Esalen's clothing optional policies? Before coming, I was forewarned by the person answering the phones that people soaking in the natural hot springs would be nude. That didn't surprise me. The Esalen hot springs are famous for being situated on a spectacularly beautiful stretch of Big Sur coastline. Esalen also spent $17 million dollars to update their hot baths, and they had recently earned a top ten listing as one of the "sexiest spas in the world". Nudity had been mentioned in that article. I asked the woman on the phone whether I could wear a bathing suit, and she said, yes.
I was also warned me that I would be sleeping in a common meeting room with a mixed gender group. Furthermore, I was warned that people usually took their showers at the bath house, which was coed. I couldn't believe that there weren't any single sex showers anywhere on the premises, so I blindly went forward with my plans.
After wandering around the rest of the premises, I decided to check out the famous baths. Meandering down the path , I was stopped in my tracks. 100 yards away was a wall of pink flesh (not unlike the photo below). The bodies came in all shapes and sizes. Mentally, I was unprepared by that sight. So I decided to turn around and get dinner...
A Wall of Pink Flesh
(photo courtesy of dearcity.blogspot.com)
Dinner at Esalen
Dinner, as were all meals, was an all-you-can eat buffet held at a common dining hall. People had the option of sitting inside, our outside on the deck (above). The organic food, some of which came from the Esalen gardens, was fairly good. Although I was not a big fan of the grain intensive, granola-ey food, I found myself eating a lot, despite not doing much activity other than meditating. On my first evening, I ate dinner with a couple of other lone female travellers, and had some pretty delightful conversation (more on this later). I was convinced that although the people around me may be crazy enough to go naked in front of others, they were still pretty well-meaning human beings.
To be Continued...
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