Gestalt Practice and Principles: Cultivating Embodied Wholeness in Daily Life

This five-day Gestalt Practice workshop at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, is an introduction to Gestalt as an awareness practice for everyday life. Led by Steven Harper with guest faculty Joy Margolis, it invites you to pause, sense, and make direct contact with what is happening in your body, your feelings, and your relationships right now. It suits people of all experience levels who want a practical, embodied way to notice habitual patterns and respond to life with more choice.

What to Expect

The workshop treats Gestalt Practice as an awareness gym or lab for living, not a therapy. The focus is on cultivating curiosity, equanimity, and acceptance rather than fixing yourself or achieving anything. You practice noticing habitual, reactive behavioral and emotional patterns, especially those that may no longer serve you, and learn to turn toward whatever arises with support and respect. There is room for silence, sensation, emotional expression, and honest communication.

Work happens through experiential practices, interactive exercises, and Gestalt Awareness Movement, done solo, in pairs, triads, and whole-group settings. Some participants will have the chance to try classic one-to-one Open Seat sessions with Steven, in the roles of Initiator and Reflector, held within the group. The history, theory, and neuroscience behind the approach are touched on lightly.

The days follow a steady rhythm:

- Monday: An early evening "How to Drop into Esalen" orientation, then an opening session with welcome and practice in the evening.
- Tuesday and Wednesday: Morning and late-afternoon sessions covering Gestalt foundations, emotional and somatic awareness, present-moment awareness, Gestalt Awareness Movement, and relational practices.
- Thursday: Exploration of choice and responsiveness in the morning, then Open Seat sessions and group work in the afternoon.
- Friday: A final late-morning session on bringing the practice into daily life, with departure by 2:00 pm.

Morning sessions generally run from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm and afternoon sessions from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm.

About Steven Harper

Steven Harper is a wilderness leader, author, and personal and organizational facilitator who lives in Big Sur. He has studied meditation since 1972 and weaves Buddhist psychology, mindfulness practices, and neuropsychology into his work. He is a long-time student and facilitator of Gestalt Practice in the tradition of Esalen's co-founder, Richard Price.

About Joy Margolis

Joy Margolis joins Steven as guest faculty.

The Setting

Esalen sits on the Big Sur coast, and your stay includes access to its hot springs, gardens, and other campus features, as well as the open-schedule classes offered during the week. Meals are included: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus coffee, tea, and snacks.

Accommodations range from budget to premium. Options include sleeping bag space on the floor (bring your own bedding), shared bunk rooms, standard shared rooms, private rooms with a queen bed or two beds, and premium rooms with ocean or forest views. Premium choices extend to king rooms with a private deck or patio and wooden yurts with ocean views. You can also choose to stay off-site.

Highway 1 access in northern Big Sur has been managed through Caltrans convoys, which run only at 7:00 am and 5:00 pm each day. Check the current travel advisory and plan your arrival and departure around those times.

Before You Go

No prior experience is needed. A welcome letter with more information is sent after registration. The workshop fee covers instruction, housing, meals, hot springs access, and open classes. Esalen massage and other Healing Arts sessions, specialty drinks and alcohol from the bar, and bookstore purchases are extra.