The summer is over and most of us are back on track with our daily lives and routines. Perhaps some of us are still a bit lazy and nostalgic. And perhaps some came back with the batteries recharged. Enthusiastic about the upcoming autumn months of harvest and impatient to start reaping what you planted earlier during the year. Well, I am both those things. On the one hand, I found my hometown Valencia to be as beautiful, sunny and welcoming as always. So I didn’t have any problems with reinserting myself into this reality. On the other hand, I do find myself a bit slow and partially still immersed in the processing of what I have experienced this summer. Clearly, there are reasons for that. Today, I’d like to share with you how I got to know the Berlin alternative medicine scene personally and how this experience contributed to my personal and professional growth.
Alternative medicine Berlin – 3 highlights
This past summer wasn’t quite like any other. I feel that I have grown and learnt so much. But it wasn’t always easy, of course. As you probably know, for the most part, personal growth requires getting out of our comfort zone. Sometimes it might even mean getting burnt, and having to take some “me time” to lick the wounds. Now, to make it clear, I am not talking about learning from your own mistakes. Why? Because if there was one thing I learnt from a workshop for Conscious Entrepreneurs is this one: errors do not exist. Instead, life presents us with countless opportunities for growth and learning. But let’s get to the point. What makes Berlin so special? Here are the 3 alternative medicine Berlin examples, based on my own experiences:
Healing practitioners & tantric healing Berlin
It turns out Berlin is a hub for healing practitioners and spaces dedicated to alternative health care. Being a heil praktiker is pretty common here. Thanks to the wonder of the Internet and my caring friends from all over the globe, I was put in contact with a number of people and institutions established here in Berlin. The list of people “I should definitely meet” was long, so I decided to get going right from my arrival. Meeting all of them, seeing how they work, and how they organise their space was an adventure. One particular connection eventually led me to finding a place where I can now offer my transformative healing work. My friend Agnieszka, who is a body worker herself, introduced me to Conny from Heilpraxis am Bürgerpark.
Conny’s heil praxis is located in a zone easily reached by S-Bahn. The neighborhood is quiet and the centre is conveniently situated on the ground floor. Distributed on a surface of over 150 sq meters, the Heilpraxis am Bürgerpark has a huge main room with wooden floor and big windows, another room for more intimate group work, and two smaller cosy rooms with carpeted floors for private sessions. There’s also a well equipped kitchen, and of course the toilets and a shower.
The scale of healing practices and workshops that Conny promotes is impressive. From classical homeopathy, healing plants and cacao ceremonies, to Thai massage, yoga classes (Kundalini, pregnancy, baby-yoga and so on…) gong baths, Cuddle Parties, personal coaching and much, much more. I am so grateful to Conny for letting me guide Tantric Journey – Emotional Detox healing sessions in her centre.
Another place I want to recommend has a winner’s name, and it’s Spirit Berlin. The venue itself is quite an attraction – over 300 square meter penthouse, with spectacular views and heart-felt organic interior design. This centre offers all kinds of activities based around spirituality and bodily awareness. I was so happy to spend two full days in the cosy backstage of Spirit Berlin. As an invitee, I attended a workshop on Conscious Sensuality led by Robert Silber. Robert’s work is a mixture of proven set of tools for authentic interpersonal relating and a uniquely daring approach to individual self-enquiry. I definitely resonated with his original view on the matter, which led me to attending his Conscious Sensuality Level One practitioner training in Málaga, Spain. But I will tell you about it on another occasion.
Bodily awareness in a fun way
Emotional Detox is a deeply transformative type of alternative therapy. Here, the human body has a vital role. I use the person’s body as the main indicator of where they are currently in their life and where the old traumas are stuck. On more subtle levels, I closely observe the person’s energy body. This helps me to direct the energy to different parts of the body and to facilitate healing. Now all of this might sound a little bit too technical and perhaps “too deep”. I agree, we don’t always need to dive so deep to get some good energy going in the through our body.
During my days in Berlin I was lucky to be introduced to a lovely group of people who approach the alternative health care in a non-dogmatic, fun way. I was told about an event dedicated to bodily awareness. Contact improvisation, Acro Yoga, authentic relating and massage. All put into one Jam.
Obviously, it sounded like a perfect event for me. Well, perhaps with an exception for Acro Yoga. I had tried this thing before but to be honest, I wasn’t very impressed. I felt the person who was flying was quite unstable and their feet were digging into my hips. Overall I felt tense and shaky, so I assumed that Acro Yoga wasn’t my cup of tea and I never tried it again. Not until I met Joe from Sunday Jam Berlin.
I went to his weekly Sunday jam and was very surprised to be quickly absorbed into the group. It was composed mostly of Berliners, but luckily there were some other international people. The space itself was a high standard, spacious yet cosy dance room with wooden floor, impeccable white walls and a professional set of lighting. I spotted Joe from a distance and was immediately greeted with a friendly smile. He and a few other people were still setting up the space, dividing it into three sections. One section for dancing, the other section for Acro Yoga (“not that one again” I thought) and the third section with mattresses for rest, massage and cuddling.
I started a conversation with a girl that I met right at the door. We were getting into it as we looked at other people doing their acro and their contact. And then, to my surprise, Joe approached me and asked if I could be his model. “Model for what?” – I asked. – “For a video with some basics of acro”, he replied. I felt strangely excited but incredibly nervous. Do you know that feeling when you think you are so bad at something, and now it turns out they want to film you doing it? Right, that one…But Joe reassured me that I don’t need to know any technique, and that all I need to do is to simply relax and let him fly me… I couldn’t resist. Relax and then fly – that’s exactly what happened to me during the next ten minutes. I was relaxed beyond belief as he was flying me high. His stable stand helped me to trust even more, lay back and rest onto his feet and hands. The deeper we went into the different postures, the more awakened I felt in my body. By the end of this flying session, when he gently put me on the floor in the fetal position, my whole body was vibrating. I felt my energy channels wide open and ready for an energy orgasm.
Well, didn’t happen then, perhaps it was the presence of the camera. However, I can’t wait for the next time!
Throughout the whole evening Joe held the space in a very unobtrusive way and allowed for the energy to simply flow and fill the room. I felt very welcome and safe, and I definitely recommend those jams to anybody who understands the importance of taking care of their body but doesn’t necessarily want to go into any dogmatic practice. Joe is really passionate about his work and his enthusiasm is contagious. He is also my game changer when it comes to acro yoga. Thank you for that Joe!
Conscious Festivals for global change
Berlin is a meeting point for people from all over the world. English is widely spoken here and the city is home to the majority of the world’s nationalities, with foreigners constituting 30% of the inhabitants.
As a child of Earth’s 21st century global village I begin to understand that our next evolutionary step is coming back to the origins. Human connection is at the core of the change we want to see, and many people already take the initiative and create opportunities for those connections to take place.
Tribal Gathering Berlinis a conscious festival that Ron Kleiner has started here; in the city of Berlin. This Gathering is largely inspired by the tradition of Rainbow gatherings. Every day begins with a meeting in a big circle, where important issues concerning the whole community are discussed. Followed by shared breakfast, some clan time – meetings within smaller groups and different workshops & activities offered by international teachers and facilitators. Lunch and dinner are also communal. Ron stresses the importance of working as a family – a tribe. As a natural born leader, he skilfully manages the whole gathering, and motivates individuals to volunteer in the kitchen, or to help out with whatever needs to be done.
I had the honour to meet Ron personally before the festival. Our spontaneous meeting over the Internet has surprisingly quickly turned into an honest and deep connection. Ron suggested that the Tribal Gathering Berlin needs the kind of healing work that I do. He asked me whether I’d like to teach a workshop. His proposal made me feel excited and a bit scared at the same time, but I couldn’t say no. I knew all too well the law of attraction & synchronicity, and that I was finally presented with what I had been asking for. I ended up working with a group of 20 people, teaching them about the power of Emotional Detox and the importance of knowing one’s boundaries. Although the time was a limitation (I got an hour and a half) the people who attended the workshop left with a sense of knowing themselves a bit better and definitely hungry for more. I was feeling immensely grateful and deeply touched by the energy that was created within the group. There’s no way I could thank Ron enough for giving me this opportunity.
On a personal level, I’d like to highlight the evening with Cacao ceremony followed by an open-air concert and a dance jam. I’d been going through a process a few weeks prior to the Gathering, it wasn’t until that night that I’d reached the limit and allowed for the emotions to surface. I shed a layer of armouring, and let my heart get crack open once more. In the dance, Ron called for the clans to get together. I was reunited with my people, laughing and crying at the same time. Deeply moved by my own vulnerability I came even closer to essence of my being… This festival, as it turned out a little later on, was a warm up for what was awaiting me in Touch & Play. But I will tell you about it next time.
To wrap it all up I can say this: Berlin is the place to be. Especially for someone like me who normally lives in Spain, a nice fresher summer in northern Europe is a great incentive. But of course what made it a great summer for me, was meeting all those people dedicated to alternative medicine. Seeing how and where they work was very inspiring. I came back to my beloved Valencia with much less mental bullshit and full of enthusiasm. I’ve got more clarity when it comes to how I want to work and what kind of space is best for different types of treatment sessions. Thanks Berlin, I will be coming back very soon.
To book a session with Tantric Journey therapist Kamila, please click here.