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Due to road closures along Highway 1 to our north and south, Esalen is closed through April 11.
Esalen Institute is open! However, Highway 1 to the south is closed — please review the current travel advisory.
past workshop

Contacting the Space Between: Gestalt, Feldenkrais, and the Subtle Body

October 19–23, 2026

Kate Flore and Dwight Pargee

“To feel is to heal. To contact is to awaken.” — Dick Price

Human beings are relational by nature. We are an intricate web of anatomy, energy, space, and time that takes shape through our life experiences. Our physical structure, function, and sense of self are reflected in our fascial layers and formed by our early development, by principles of self-organization, and by how we engage with our environment.

When we fall into habitual patterns, parts of ourselves become undeveloped, unseen. If our bodies are given a setting in which to relate to gravity, others, and our environment with curiosity and attunement, we can be free to move and relate with more choice and ease.

Using the grounds, waters, and spirit of Esalen as our laboratory, Kate and Dwight will use the Feldenkrais Method and Gestalt process as a guide to contact and nurture the influences of the subtle body – our relationship to ground, gravity, and the space between.

In this workshop, participants will:

Identify the habitual relational patterns that prevent us from cultivating ease in our lives.

Investigate how the subtle body is influenced by the principles of emotional anatomy, tensegrity, neuroplasticity, and self-organization through experiential movement.

Be guided through Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement (ATM) lessons tailored toward the subtle body and creating more sophistication in functional movement.

Explore sensation, weight, gravity, and relationship through movement and contact.

Learn tools of Gestalt Relational Process to increase presence and awareness and integration of ourselves.

Recommended Reading: Feldenkrais, The Potent Self: A Study of Spontaneity and Compulsion; Gladis, Tales of a Wounded Healer: Creating Exact Moments of Healing; Bodywise: An Introduction to Hellerwork for Regaining Flexibility & Well-Being.

Kate Flore

Kate Flore, MPH, OTR, CMP, is a somatic and bodywork practitioner, educator, and Gestalt facilitator. She is co-founder of TensegrityU, a scholarship-based practitioner education program weaving the teachings of movement and body sciences with Rolf Structural Integration, the Feldenkrais Method, and Gestalt Relational Process into contemporary trainings.

Full Bio

Dwight Pargee

Dwight Pargee, MS, is a Guild-Certified Feldenkrais Method® practitioner and Assistant Trainer in professional Feldenkrais trainings worldwide. With backgrounds in exercise physiology, biomechanics, martial arts, and rugby, he helps people refine movement, recover from injury, and discover greater ease, balance, and coordination.

Full Bio