Leaders: Chris Price and Sharon Terry

Note that webinar days are from 10 AM to 4 PM, with a lunch break.

September 6 and 7 - Webinars

October 5 - Webinar

November 2 - Webinar

December 13 and 14 - In person in Aptos

January 18 - Webinar

February 22 - Webinar

March 22 - Webinar

April 24, 25, 26 - In person in Aptos

Tuition: $3200

Clearing and Cultivating in the GAP Approach

We are contacting you as someone who would be eligible for and may be interested in, our next course of Study Abroad*. This course will focus on the process of clearing and the practice of cultivating through the GAP approach. Each of these aspects is worthy of a deep dive but working with them simultaneously allows us to integrate the realities of pain and pleasure, suffering and happiness, broken and whole. We can move from viewing these as opposites (either/or) and relate to these all as parts of life experience (both/and). 

Fritz Perls proposed that growth stops with avoidance of pain. Wilhelm Reich described how physical habits and behaviors, built up over the years to hide suffering, create armor that keeps us from allowing life in and blocks aliveness from flowing out. Pema Chödrön suggests two steps to dealing with suffering: acknowledge feelings and then welcome, embrace, and accept “negative” emotions.

These teachers all respect the need to face, feel, and make friends with difficulty and pain. But that process can be... painful! Therefore, working with such potent material also requires contact with the goodness of life. There is a need to recognize, nurture, open to and embody the well-being around us and within us. Without a connection to beauty, kindness, and laughter, working with pain can be too grim, too discouraging, and too overwhelming. Cultivating awareness of basic goodness allows ground and ballast as we face, feel, and express pain.

On the other hand, connecting to goodness and light while refusing to acknowledge and attend to painful feelings and situations is rarely sustainable. Avoiding pain, ignoring taboo emotions like need, longing, and rage, and denying incomplete experience requires a huge amount of life force. Running from and suppressing these feelings and experiences, is a full-time job. Plus, an inability to tolerate feelings, including pain, limits our capacity to empathize with others and diminishes our connection to life and each other.

Clearing practices will emphasize self-expression tools, including somatic discharge, identifying self-defeating patterns and exploring their source, and facing unfinished business from the past.

Cultivating practice will include taking our seat, working with gratitude and devotion, and opening to inspiration and aliveness. Visualization, art, affirmations, and other tools will be employed to help this garden grow. Buddhist practices of taking refuge and Tonglen will also offer structures for cultivating open heart and open mind.  

Details for Clearing and Cultivating (September to April)

Required elements 

• Daily Practice ​​​​5-15 minutes

• Independent Study Practice (ISP) ​2-3 hours a month

• ISP are monthly assignments that often include reading, journaling, and various experiential explorations. 

• Webinars - ​​​​​6-hour webinar, once or twice a month (note the reduction from 8 hours in the past)

• Partner Practice​​​​ - 2-hour monthly meeting with participant

• Two small group sessions: 3.5-hour triad

• Two individual open seat with group leader​: 1 hour

• Two office Hours meetings: ​1 hour, chosen from monthly options

 Optional Offerings

• Office hours every month 

• Monday night essential practice meetings, once a week

• Meditation in action days, once a month suggested

• ISP often includes optional suggestions

 Additional individual open seat sessions for Study Abroad participants are available at a discounted fee of $120/hour. Contact Chris and/or Sharon.

 Payment plans - all require and presume $200 nonrefundable deposit prior to August 15.

$375 on the first of each month starting in September and concluding April 1

$750 on September 1, December 1, February 1, and April 1

$1500 on September 1 and December 1

$3000 on or before September 1

Register here. If financial circumstances are a concern, contact Sharon to discuss options.

Note: We welcome donations to the scholarship fund so that those who cannot afford this program are able to participate.Donations to the scholarship fund are welcome and will enable participation by those who may not be able to afford the program.

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What is GAP Study Abroad?

The GAP Study Abroad program is a long-term exploration focused on a certain topic. We

gather as a community of people in the educational model to support each other is our curiosity and discovery. As always, the essential practices* are the foundation of whatever we do. They will be an integral and daily part of this course. This program is not intended as therapy or a substitute for therapy.

*GAP essential practices:

Taking our Seat: grounding and connecting to support

Basic Breath Practice: being in touch with the movement of breathing

Continuum of Awareness: noticing sensation, perceptions, and thoughts

Chris Price and Sharon Terry met in 2015 in the Wellbeing Project, an international gathering of participants from many cultures. A few years later, they piloted a long-term online program designed to include people from many time zones. They called it GAP Study Abroad: A Distance Learning Program In Gestalt Awareness Practice

“Abroad: in different directions; over a wide area. “millions of seeds are annually scattered abroad in circulation, widely current, in the air, here, there, and everywhere”

Since then, they have offered these virtual programs annually, each focused on a theme. This has enabled in-depth participation for people who could never have attended a program of this length in person. The length of each program allows the creation of a community and a way for participants to support each other over time. The title word “study” is intentional. This program includes experiential process and didactic exploration with significant amounts of reading and journaling. This is a fundamental aspect of the program, not an optional addition. 

As the work is both personal and congregational, participants must commit to full engagement. By registering, participants agree to attend all aspects of the program, including all webinars. In the case of an unavoidable absence, listening to the recording and arranging to do the exercises before the next meeting is expected. Without that level of involvement, the course's impact is reduced for everyone. Participants also agree to engage in daily practice, as GAP Study Abroad is designed to incorporate ongoing practice into our lives.

We ask prospective participants to consider whether this program is appropriate for them in terms of structure, time, and financial commitment. This group only works well for people who like connecting virtually and can manage any fatigue associated with online work.

The program relies on previous experience with Gestalt Awareness Practice. Participants must have completed a recent introductory workshop in GAP and an intermediate or another intensive program involving open seats or have completed an in-depth study program with Chris and or Sharon in the past.