On 27 November 2023, Alanja Forsberg messaged me asking if I still cook for events. She was planning on going to Kenya for the first time to give her Avalon retreat and wanted a steady chef in the kitchen, someone she could trust, thus removing the worry of good nourishment.
As some of you might have read here, I decided to slowly phase out the cooking because I wanted to focus more on my practice of body-oriented therapy. But something in me screamed yes, so I said exactly that to this adventure.
I had cooked for Alanja before when she started doing her first Avalons back in 2015/2016, and hearing her voice and thinking of collaborating in Africa felt like an opportunity I could not pass up.
And am I glad I didn't...
The first Avalons
In 2015, I decided to convert my passion for cooking into a professional service in addition to my body-oriented integral coaching practice. I have been cooking as an apprentice of an experienced vegan chef for a year to get the hang of organising the mise en place for 100+ groups, when in September 2015, I received a call from Kathryn Piper.
That December, she would assist Alanja Forsberg in organizing her first Avalon in England. They were looking for a grounded chef who could come out of the kitchen and help in the processes of healing deep trauma. That was me... I cooked for Avalons in England, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the US. Then she found a venue on Gran Canaria where they had a resident chef. That's where our ways parted until now...
Kenya
So, in January, I headed off to Kenya to cook for an Avalon again after eight years. It was amazing, and I could feel the group and thus attune to whatever they needed daily. Alanja and I worked together like we never had the 8-year break, and she invited me into the retreat whenever possible. I felt at home; my body felt at home.
In the past eight years, I have been developing my skills as a body-oriented therapist, and being involved in this retreat seamlessly connects to my work. So, after the retreat, Alanja asked me if I wanted to join the team that would facilitate these retreats and contribute as a body-oriented psychotherapist to create better leaders worldwide.
My mind said to think about it, but my body responded with a yes. I listened to that, and since then, I have been a leader in training, co-leading one of the most potent (if not the most potent) trauma-healing events I have ever encountered in the world.
What is Avalon?
Avalon is a seven-day intense retreat where participants are met with love, patience, and respect, no matter where they are on their path. It's a sanctuary where you can explore and embrace your power, anger, pain, and trauma and rewrite your own story.
Avalon is a retreat where leaders are born, where every participant leaves with full awareness of their power, leadership, and leadershit (like Alanja likes to emphasize :-) )
It is a place where people come from all over the world and enjoy the human connection and diversity of each other's cultures and backgrounds.
It is an intense pressure cooker where everyone is seen, loved, and valued, just as and where they are.
This year, the retreats have been magically held by the intense beauty of Kenyan nature, but besides this home base, they will spread again across the globe.
Why is Avalon important?
To contribute to Avalon is to contribute to a better world. In Avalon, we create heartfelt leaders that lead from surrender. They lead from the heart instead of strategy and control.
My work as a therapist is all about what I call Heartfelt Leadership.
Imagine a world where leaders lead from surrendered leadership, are fully present, fully connected to their bodies, and continuously attuned to others. Where they lead with masculine as well as feminine qualities to receive someone or a situation, meet it with their full awareness, asses, and feel what is needed to go forward, moment by moment.
That is the kind of leadership the world needs and is ready for.
That's why we need the body
If I hadn't connected to my body, I would not have heard it say yes to this opportunity, and from the mind, I would probably have passed on the cooking job. This again proves the importance of being connected to our bodies and, sometimes, following our heart and gut when they scream yes, even though this is against our agreement or choice.
Can you trust your body's intelligence, hear when it points you in the right direction, and discern when it takes you down a rabbit hole of patterns and defense?
Our body knows; our body is intelligent, and it is up to you to learn its language. You can surrender to what life brings you, follow your intuition, and direct your life, as I did in this case.
That's Heartfelt Leadership!
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