Monday 5 May 2014

Summer Workshops and Retreats



As usual, over the last months Fynbos has hosted workshops, retreats and getaways. We are not always handy with a camera at the right time but here are pics of some of these.

NORWEGIAN TOUR PARTY


20 Norwegians on a fast moving tour of the Western Cape stopped by for an overnight. They were a great group in high spirits and we cooked a South African meal of samosas followed by bobotie and rice, rotis and sambals ending with Johan’s delicious Malva pud. All this went down a treat together with a good deal of lubrication of the vinicultural variety.

Comment
On behalf of the Norwegian group, I would like to say thanks very much for the wonderful stay at Fynbos Estate last week. We enjoyed it all: the stunning location, the good “vibrations”, the excellent wines and food – and, last but not least, the warm and friendly welcome by you and the entire staff.

It was also very interesting to learn more about the ideas, philosophy and reality behind running such a rewarding and demanding project.

John and I are looking forward to visiting you with yet another group next time, next year, hopefully.

Warm regards to all,
Anne-Marie and John (Facilitators)

9 DAY TRANSFORMATIONAL RETREAT


This retreat lasted 9 days and was attended mostly by people who flew out from Europe and the US. They filled the farm with a surprisingly tangible energy of warmth and peace.  The facilitator Fabian Piorkowsky who is a doctor working in the area of transformation and medicinal herbs described the retreat as follows:

“This retreat includes intensive work with the physical, mental as well as all energetic bodies using techniques of the ancient masters from all over the world: Yoga, Mantra, Meditation, Sacred plants from the Amazon Rainforest, the South American Highlands and from the Heart of Africa as well as Raw Food and juicing workshops.”

Fabian and fellow facilitator, Nicole, will be running two further retreats at Fynbos this year.  For those interested in these or this kind of work, Fabian has sent us the following links,


Comments

This place is magical and rejuvenating. Thank you and all your staff for always providing a smiling face and a warm heart.
Floyd

Thanks for share with us this s pace of serenity and magic
Great place! Great people! Great Awareness!  Perfect!
Merce beaucoup
Jules (France)

Our healing retreat would have been special anyway but in combination with magical Fynbos Estate it has left an unwashable tattoo in my heart. Going up to the mountain, being one with nature, drawing energy from the African sun and drinking the energetic spring water made unforgettable moments.   A refreshed heart says thank you
(Unreadable signature)

What a fantastic place for a healing retreat! Very peaceful and beautiful and also nice to have a pool to swim in. It was a great week and I hope to be back
Ben
Los Angeles USA

Thank you so much for you amazing hospitality,loving,caring people. Will tell everybody of Fynbos Estate in Berlin
Philip

This place is magic healing simply wonderful.  Thank you for your warm hospitality and your kindness blessings
Sera

Thank you so much for this beautiful place. Love light laughter and blessings. See you soon
All the best
Julie 

FELDENKRUIS

Christina Schneider, a Feldenkruis teacher living and working in Germany, visited Fynbos and ran a day long Feldenkruis workshop. Apart from working with participants, the group was lucky to have two babies here at the time (one of these being Dani, Diana and Johan’s grandchild) who Christina invited us to watch. `They know how to do instinctually what we have to learn to do in workshops’ she said, and we watched the little ones move with ease and grace from lying to sitting or sitting to crawling. It was wonderful to see with new eyes such things as how they distributed their weight and used their limbs and body weight to balance themselves.  So easy!

Comment

I enjoyed doing Feldenkrais teaching in the Pavilion. That it is indoor but also outdoor with beautiful scenery around and quiet.
Christina



This is what Christina has to say about Feldendkrais:

FELDENKRAIS – Awareness through Movement
For all, who love to move – or want to rediscover their love!

FELDENKRAIS invited you to get aware of your own movements. It is not a physical training, it is a chance for learning, so that your alldays movements become more efficient, more easy, more flowing. That of course has an effect to all other movements, which you love to do: sports, long walks, dancing, playing musical instrument, singing ...

This special kind of learning belongs to „Somatic Learning“. We all did that in the very beginning of our life, we discovered ourselves being in the envirement of gravitiy. A baby learns through movement and experience how to turn, how to roll, how to crawl – and to sit, to stand, to walk. Nobody is teaching him/her. 

„When you know, what you are doing, then you can do, what you want“, said Moshé Feldenkrais – and I add: „When you know, how you behave yourself, then you get the ability to change things: you get a choice.“

For further Information see www.feldenkrais-method.org

 

Swedish Funding Evaluation


We have had numerous workshops here involving processes related to Swedish funders. . The latest of these was a fieldwork evaluation of a Swedish Aid funded organisation called the Coalition of African Lesbians. The photo is of Ingrid Obery from Gauteng and Jessica Rothman from Sweden taking time off with Johan in the kitchen.

Comment

Fynbos is a wonderful place to have workshops. – from the peaceful and relaxed atmosphere to the delicious food.
Ingrid Obery

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