Unmute: Your Story Matters

What would happen if you stopped editing yourself before you began? In Unmute: Your Story Matters, an embodied creative writing workshop at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA, that question becomes a practice. Led by writer and performer Ann Randolph, the weekend invites you out of your head and into your body, where the stories that refuse to stay quiet tend to live.

Most of us carry material buried beneath politeness and the impulse toward polish. Through guided writing, gentle movement, and deep listening, this creative workshop gives that material room to surface. The censoring mind loosens, and something truer emerges. The stories we avoid are often the ones most worth telling.

Writers and non-writers alike are welcome. No experience is required, and sharing is always optional. Presence, not perfection, is the practice. If you have felt the pull to write something honest and haven't yet known how to begin, this is a place to come as you are.

What to Expect

Over three days on the Big Sur coast, Ann Randolph guides you through a blend of writing, movement, and listening. The workshop holds irreverence and reverence side by side, creating the safety that vulnerable material needs in order to appear.

Participants will:

- Learn to access their voice through guided writing exercises, before the censoring mind takes over.
- Use gentle movement and experiential exercises to unlock insight held in the body.
- Practice deep listening to self and others, cultivating trust and creative permission.
- 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. Her approach to this workshop reflects that mission: speaking the unspeakable, and being inappropriate in all the right ways.

Venue & Logistics

The workshop takes place at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, a setting with a long history of embodied, human-centered learning. Registration options include a workshop with an 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, bar purchases, and bookstore purchases are not included. Scholarships are available through Esalen's application process.

Highway 1 conditions around Big Sur can affect travel, so review Esalen's current travel advisory before you plan your journey.