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Learn more.

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

Integrative Gestalt Practice™: Embodied Presence, Connection, and Inner Guidance

October 5–9, 2026

Perry Holloman and Johanna Holloman

Gestalt is, at its heart, an awareness practice. It invites us to be present with what is. From that presence, insight, emotional regulation, and inner guidance begin to emerge.

Gestalt practice helps us connect with what is real and true for us, beyond old patterns, habitual self-judgment, or the impulse to fix ourselves. In a field of shared inquiry where judgment softens, authenticity has space to reveal itself. Integrative Gestalt Practice™, developed by Perry and Johanna Holloman over the past 30 years, combines deep awareness with embodied exploration. It offers practical tools for navigating relationships, life transitions, and meaningful inner questions with clarity and integrity.

During this workshop, you will:

  • Learn Gestalt-based self-inquiry practices that deepen awareness and authentic connection.
  • Engage in breath and movement-based exercises to access embodied wisdom.
  • Strengthen your ability to recognize and follow your own inner guidance.
  • Work in dyads and triads to practice deep listening to one another and your own soul’s unfolding wisdom.
  • Participate in group processes that foster presence and genuine community.

Several participants will also have the opportunity to engage in individual “open seat” sessions — live, facilitated personal inquiry processes with Perry and Johanna, supported by the attentive presence of the group. Witnessing and participating in one another’s work are often powerful catalysts for insight, as shared themes and human experiences resonate across the group field.

Join us for a week of embodied inquiry, meaningful connection, and renewed contact with your agency and inner guidance.

Recommended Reading: Gestalt Therapy Verbatim by Frederick S. Perls and Steve Andreas and The Unfolding Now by A. H. Almaas

This workshop includes an additional $50 in faculty tuition.

Perry Holloman

Perry has been a facilitator and teacher of Integrative Gestalt Coaching™ at Esalen for over 40 years, specializing in body-oriented approaches to inner development and trauma recovery. With his wife Johanna, he co-developed the transformative method of Hologenic Breathwork™. Perry is a senior teacher of Esalen Massage and the creator of Deep Bodywork®.

Full Bio

Johanna Holloman

Johanna Holloman is a German-born clinical psychologist and Diamond Approach® teacher. Her international teachings in Integrative Gestalt Coaching™, Integrative Somatic Practice™, Deep Bodywork®, Esalen Massage®, and Yoga focus on embodied presence and inner development through inquiry, breath and movement.

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Full Bio