Unmute: Your Story Matters

What would happen if you stopped editing yourself before you began? At Esalen Institute in Big Sur, Unmute: Your Story Matters is an embodied writing workshop that moves you out of your head and into the body, where the stories that refuse to stay quiet tend to live. Led by award-winning playwright and performer Ann Randolph, this creative workshop is an invitation to hear your own voice before the censoring mind takes over.

The stories we avoid are often the ones most worth telling. Through writing, movement, and deep listening, you are guided toward material usually buried beneath politeness and perfection. Writers and non-writers alike are welcome. No experience is required, sharing is always optional, and the practice is presence rather than perfection.

If you have felt a story pressing at the edges of your life, or sense that you have been editing yourself for a long time, this five-day intensive on the Big Sur coast offers a place to let that voice speak.

What to Expect

The workshop unfolds through three connected practices:

- Guided writing exercises that help you reach your voice before the inner editor steps in.
- Gentle movement and experiential exercises that open insight held in the body.
- Deep listening, to yourself and to others, which builds trust and creative permission.

Irreverence and reverence are explored side by side, creating safety for vulnerable material. The aim is a space where the censoring mind can relax and something more authentic can emerge. You are welcome to come as you are.

Participants leave emboldened, with trust in their own voice and a renewed sense of boundless creative expression. Recommended reading is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.

About Ann Randolph

Ann Randolph is an award-winning playwright, performer, and master teacher. Her solo work was produced Off-Broadway by Mel Brooks, and her recent collaboration with Alanis Morissette continues her mission to help people unmute their voices through writing and storytelling. In this workshop she brings that mission into a room of writers and non-writers, guiding them toward the stories they have been holding back.

Venue & Logistics

The workshop takes place in person at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. Registration options include a workshop with on-site stay, a workshop with an off-site stay, and an individual day pass. The on-site workshop package includes housing, three meals a day, coffee, tea, and snacks, and access to the hot springs and other campus features. Healing arts sessions such as massage, specialty coffee and tea, alcohol from the bar, and bookstore purchases are not included. Scholarships are available through Esalen's application process.

Highway 1 access around Big Sur has been affected by road closures and travel advisories, so check Esalen's current travel advisory before you plan your journey.