Wild Presence: Relational Gestalt Practice in Nature

With Dorothy Charles, Noël Vietor and Fletcher Tucker

July 17 - 21, 2023

Workshop Schedule

Monday
5:00 pm – 5:45 pm *How to Drop Into Esalen*
7:15 pm – 9:30 pm
Tuesday
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Wednesday
9:30 am – 4:30 pm
Thursday
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Friday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm

See general schedule information including arrival, departure and meal times.

  • Sleeping Bag Space – $1,000.00
  • Bunk Bed Space – $1,300.00
  • Standard Shared Space – $1,600.00
  • Standard Queen Room – $2,100.00
  • Standard Room Two Beds – $3,300.00
  • Premium Queen Room – $2,900.00
  • Premium King Room – $3,100.00
  • Premium Plus King Room – $3,500.00
  • Premium Wooden Yurt – $3,500.00
  • Premium Wooden Yurt Two Beds – $3,500.00
  • Price House Suite – $4,700.00
  • Rolf Suite – $6,600.00
  • Point House – $6,600.00
  • Fritz Point House – $6,600.00
  • South Point House – $8,100.00
Program is fully booked
Program is fully booked

“Wilderness, by itself, has its own way of teaching. The direct experience of wilderness can spontaneously bring wholeness back into the human community.”  – Manual of Gestalt Practice in the Tradition of Dick Price

When we are present in the here and now, every moment in the natural world represents an opportunity to enrich, heal, and clarify our relationships to the Earth, ourselves, and one another. Esalen’s co-founder Dick Price spent much of his time hiking in the Big Sur wilderness, and he believed that wild nature supported wholeness and healing for himself and others. With roots in the Gestalt tradition and values Dick developed at Esalen, Relational Gestalt Practice is designed to help us live our lives with increased awareness and embodied presence — and can be powerfully explored within the natural world.

For five days, we will immerse in awareness practices and deep nature connection on the sacred grounds of the Esalen Institute and in the Big Sur wild (ancestral lands of the Esselen People). Together, we will explore our inner and outer landscapes by mindfully engaging with biodiverse wilderness and Gestalt practices under the open sky. Dorothy Charles, co-founder of Tribal Ground Circle and founder of Relational Gestalt Practice, will support the cultivation of presence, awareness, and the authentic expression of our hearts and minds. Wildtender co-founders Noël Vietor and Fletcher Tucker will guide our reconnection with the living world through a framework of kinship. A community of wild relations — redwood groves, ravens, mossy boulders, and all the beings and aspects of Big Sur — will expand our circle to include the more-than-human world. 

  • Answers to frequently asked questions about the workshop can be found here
  • Various hiking abilities can be accommodated, bearing in mind that day hikes for this workshop will be up to four miles long with rugged, uneven, and sometimes steep terrain. Participants must be able to sit on the ground for periods of time. If you have any questions about your ability to participate, please read the workshop FAQs or email info@wildtender.com.
  • A fee to cover park permits and parking fees will be added to the workshop cost.

About the Leaders

Dorothy Charles

Dorothy Charles has been a student and teacher at Esalen since 1982. A student of Esalen co-founder Richard Price, she combines Esalen body-centered Gestalt with relational Gestalt theory, and leads workshops in Asia, Europe and the U.S. Email Me www.dorothycharles.com

Learn more about Dorothy Charles

Noël Vietor

Noël Vietor has been in an ongoing apprenticeship with the sacred gardens and wilds of California for the last two decades. Noël is a co-founder of the organization Wildtender, based in Big Sur, whose immersive wilderness programs cultivate kinship with the natural world, explore earth-based wisdom traditions, engender creativity, and nurture wholeness of self. Email […]

Learn more about Noël Vietor

Fletcher Tucker

Fletcher Tucker is a co-founder of Wildtender, an organization based in Big Sur that cultivates kinship with the natural world, and explores earth-based wisdom traditions. Fletcher is also a writer, multidisciplinary artist and musician whose work engages deeply with place. Email Me www.wildtender.com

Learn more about Fletcher Tucker

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