When we enter the water in AQUA we lose quite a lot of ‘control’. We feel in our body the sensation of entering an alternative state of being creating a physical altered state of consciousness.
The Bushmen use the metaphor of being ‘under water’ to describe the trance experiences brought about by their healing dance. Being in trance and being under water, share some common physical sensations such as blurred vision, difficulty breathing and being formless.
To enter the water is to physically enter an altered (another) state of consciousness. Just as in trance-like or dream states the rational/control conscious centres loosens, so in water the body has a different kinesthetic experience – it does not obey the rules of dry-land. The experience is influenced strongly by the water – its qualities of buoyancy etc. have different effects on the body kinaesthetically – such as feeling the weightlessness of gravity, the resistance of water (density), or the currents moving us (turbulence).
Movements and dances that emerge from this state have the potential to become a source of new information and insight. The body (kinesthetic experience of self) is different and “altered” in water.
The warm water also relaxes the muscles in the body and alters our blood pressure. As the body relaxes, so does the mind. We are also reminded of another time and another place when we were safe and all our needs taken care of – in the womb. This primal experience of oneness is something drives our psyche to find connection again in the world. When we do connect with this we enter into an altered state of consciousness that Freud called the ‘oceanic feeling’. He describes this as being at ‘one with the world’ and a ‘sensation of eternity’.
The benefits of going into trance-like states are:
• Insights and spontaneous thoughts are easier without the filter of the rational mind
• Healing of the soul as we reconnect with the sensation of oneness
• Appreciation for our own body and sensual experience
• Integration of mind, body and soul
AQUA may not always be experienced at full blast! But as we begin to touch on any one of these aspects, we begin to connect blissfully with life. Each session takes us deeper as we learn to let go and enter the cosmic flow of life with ease and joy.
– Christos Daskalakos
Life is great, keep working on keeping it great!
When Runar Soerensen turned from his sixth decade into his seventies life seems to have started passing him by. Retired from a very busy senior position in one of the UN agencies he lost interest in the world around him, became overweight, lost interest in sex and just felt that’s it!
On a visit from Nairobi to friends in Pretoria he decided a massage is just what he needed and came across the website of Bodyworks for Men. He called to make an appointment with Johan Muller, and that is how it started him working on making his life great again.
Runar was apprehensive and explained to Johan that he was obese and asked him if that was a problem. “I was delighting when Johan assured me that as a masseur, he is dedicated to help people.”
“It was a wonderful and uplifting massage. Talking about my negative feelings about life I realised that Johan was a life coach. Over a glass of cold water (that what you drink after a massage, I would have preferred a glass of wine!), I discussed my negative feelings about manhood and losing all interest and letting myself go.
I was severely depressed. Johan suggested that before going back to Nairobi I should consider a medical check-up and recommended a specialist he works with. He helped me getting an appointment. Prior to seeing the doctor, I had a few blood tests. The diagnosis was that my testosterone level was at a dangerously low level and what I already knew, that I was overweight. He explained to me that this was a common problem in men at my age and that it can and must be rectified. He prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. Almost immediately after the first injection I could not believe the effect the therapy had on me. I started feeling a new person.”
Back in Nairobi, in addition to gym, running, Runar also started dieting, namely LCHF which he had heard about while in South Africa. The LCHF diet is an umbrella term for eating plans that reduce carbs and increase fats. LCHF diets are low in carbohydrates, high in fats and moderate in protein. This method of eating is sometimes referred to as the “Banting Diet”
It worked surprisingly well, and it only took Runar only three to four months turning him back into the man he knew he was. Some of his other health problems improved to such an extent that he could reduce taking some of the prescription medication he was on.
While talking with Johan, Runar learned about the weekend retreats Johan is holding from time to time. Events aimed at men to discover more about the inner selves.
“Johan explained to me that the tension between the inner self and outer self is common in the modern world. Each of us is tugged in multiple directions every day and our actions and behaviours do not always align with our core values as a result. However, becoming aware of your inner self and how it balances with your outer self is the foundation for good mental, physical, and spiritual health. This is why attending one of the Bodywork for men guys’ residential retreat weekend is an important aspect to consider when working on achieving a good balance in your life.
I have already attended three retreat weekends and I recommend it to all men, whether young or old, whether married or single, whether heterosexual, bi-sexual, curious or gay, actually everybody who is willing to explore the greater side of life should join a retreat.
It is an uplifting experience with several activities aimed at bonding between the men at the retreat, sharing their concerns, their insecurities and inner most feelings in an environment where inhibitions are lifted and the men share their feelings openly. Exercises are often symbolic by writing down and burning the negatives and focussing on the positives. I found being amongst men with similar fears of life, helped me to focus on overcoming the fears of getting old, and taught me how much enjoyment there is when focussing on the positive.
The value of touch was rekindled and how it makes me feel secure. Throughout the weekend for each activity, we were paired by random selection with different guys. It added to what I was getting out of the experience. While we all look different bodily, we all go through the motions that often make us insecure. Just going through the undressing ceremony at the start and the nude massage exercise towards the end of the programme make one realise we are all the same, men who become better men by getting in touch with their inner self.
Johan Muller, besides giving a mean massage, is great life coach to take you on that journey to find that inner self and to become a better man for yourself and all the people you love and friends around you. Johan showed me how to keep living my life great!”
Runar
Rekindle our intimate relationship
P and L have been married for over 14 years and have been together as a gay couple almost 3 decades. They work together in their own communication business. P and L both had been in a previous relationship which had petered out and after being single for several years they met at a social event, and it was a magic instant attraction.
“Working together and often having to meet tight deadlines we started living past each other, our communication was no longer about us, but about the job. While we still love each other dearly we lost some of the spark in our relationship and in our intimacy”, P said.
“We read about Johan Muller’s comfort course for couples and decided that it would be an opportunity to work on our relationship.
Coach Johan, with his wealth of experience in assisting couples to achieve their best selves, offers a programme in which everything is done with the intention of facilitating one’s mutual self-discovery and achieving a deeper, more meaningful connection with each other. It is an opportunity to discover love, acceptance, and the deep awareness of fully belonging to each other.
“That is what we needed and what we experienced after a day with Johan”, P said. L takes up the story. “He gently guided us into the exploration of Touch, Intimacy and Massage. He reminded us of the power of communication, and that communication is so much more than just talking. He took us through several experiences which showed us how to take us back where we once were at the beginning of our relationship. How to communicate at a deeper level”.
“With his guidance we explored some avenues and ideas that we never would have thought about and that maybe we were reluctant to talk to each other about. Johan helped us to explore our inner selves, to shed inhibitions and obstacles that may have blocked our intimacy over time and turned our strong relationship into something even more special. After having been together for so many years who would have expected that we still had inhibitions in sharing our deeper emotions?
He taught us about lingam massage, which was one of the most outstanding experiences. Both P and L agreed that just to learn how to explore intimate zones on and around the penis certainly took our intimacy to a new level. To be nude together may be comfortable but taking our sexual being deep into our soul is a experience difficult to explain, one must experience it.
“Traveling back from Pretoria, we live in country town, we could sense a new closeness and admitted to each other that we are still very much in love with each other. Johan taught us how to keep the flame burning high. We can recommend his course to any couple whether gay or heterosexual”, P said.
Attending a retreat for men enriched my life
Attending a retreat for men enriched my life
“As a result of Covid 19 my husband and I were separated which created a growing separation anxiety. This started to consume my very being. We were together in Germany when I had to return to South Africa to attend to my mother’s funeral. Covid lockdown hit and we were unable to reunite”. This is the story of a male couple that were unexpectedly separated and lonely in two different countries.
A Cape Town friend told Brian Bekker about a mini urban retreat for men in Pretoria and suggested he attends the event to bond with other men to work through his feelings and even make new friends. “I enjoyed the event very much and realised that I had to deal with my issues and work on my separation anxiety and learn to cope with my feelings.
I was impressed the way Johan Muller, who is a life coach, approached the one-day retreat. Given that the activities of a weekend retreat was squeezed into a single day. It was quite amazing.
After the event I had several discussions with Johan and decided to join a weekend retreat for men in Outdshoorn in the Western Cape. I also attended a second weekend retreat which was held at Sima Kade (Tree of Life) which is nestled in a private valley in Magaliesburg.”
Brian takes up the story.
“The theme of the retreat was He-art to Heart. The hyphen in the first word is deliberate, splitting the word into the masculine gender combined with art, leading to a heart connection with the other men.
It was my specific objective to make connections, whether for the three days, or for long term brother relationships. This was the heart aspect.
At the Magaliesburg retreat we used painting, clay modelling and dance for the art forms, and I connected to three other concert musicians (I am also one). So the Art aspect was fully fulfilled. And the music is continuing with plans for concerts.
Additional activities which built trust and in which we shared our concerns and issues and explored ways to overcome these resulted in many emotions and tears as we got these out in the open. We learned that a problem shared results in an entire brotherhood who are there for us, with their hearts full of love and care.
There were many straightforward activities, which included the formal introductions and guidelines, the daily group feedback, the daily yoga and so on. But most of the activities had a deeper symbolism which cannot be shared in words but must be experienced in person.
Altogether, this retreat, combined with an earlier one had a profound influence on my outlook and (to be honest) I am still processing, and probably will be for quite some weeks to come.
I enjoyed the retreat in the bush even more than in Oudtshoorn. We were in the middle of nature, no mobile phones to intrude, just us men and nature. That alone was bliss!”
Brian shared his experiences with his husband in Germany who, by an amazing coincidence, had attended a similar retreat in Munich, and like Brian, had found a better way of coping with their Covid-forced separation. “I hope to soon join him in Germany, and we may well together attend a retreat whether in South Africa or Germany”.
“The two retreats had different elements to draw out the things that I did not like about myself. Both started with a disrobing ceremony which was very sensitively handled by Johan and very much helped the other men and I to shake off any inhibitions we may have had. Nudity makes one feel free and promotes the ability to connect and create a brotherhood that is difficult to describe. It brings the group together to openly share feelings and open talk about underlying issues that are difficult to talk about in day-to-day life.
One of the other important outcomes was the appreciation of touch. Heart to heart hugging a friend just has so much more meaning and creates a warm feeling between two people. Men do not easily touch each other. Johan masterly taught the value of touch. I certainly will practice touch instead of the just shaking hands, or even worse the pandemic elbow touch!
I recommend Johan Muller’s weekend retreat for men and if you cannot make a weekend one, at least try his one-day mini urban retreat. It is something every guy should experience. I am only sorry that it took me so long to find this help I so deeply need.”
astounding journey – Bondage for beginners 13 March 2021
So, after many years of looking for a rope bondage man who really knows his stuff, my friend Chris recommended me to Gerrie.
It so happened that Coach Johan had discovered the same person and booked him for a bondage class for beginners.
To say the day was amazing, and informative, is not enough to do justice to all the fun and the insights we gained into safety, stimulation of the senses, and the sheer pleasure of rope.
The organisation was superb, refreshments top class, and nearly everyone participated voluntarily in the joy of a day spent naked with other men.
I was fortunate enough to get an individual appointment with Gerrie (through Johan’s assistance) for the next morning. It was an astounding journey into sub space and back.
So Johan: where do I sign up for the next part? And what else is in store next?
Best wishes,
Barry Beks
Well balanced individual – Authentic self retreat WC – 06-08 Nov 2020
Stepping out of ones comfort-zone is never easy, but with the care & nurturing energy brought forward by Johan the retreat pushed boundaries within myself that I am doubtful I would have ever reached unguided.
For anyone who wants to explore what masculine energy could be like if we were all more in touch with ourselves & our own masculinity, this is the one to do.
Engaging, challenging, safe, caring, nurturing, enjoyable are all words that I would use to describe the experience.
Leaving the weekend, I can feel a calm sense of balance within myself that was not there before.
One step closer along the journey to becoming an upright & well balanced individual.
Learnt so Much – Authentic Self WC – 06-08 Nov 2020
I learnt so much at this retreat. People wear so many masks for different reasons and this weekend truly was just freedom. Thank you again Johan Muller
Deep connections – Authentic Self Retreat WC – 06-08 Nov 2020
An amazing and life changing experience meeting all my expectations. I experienced so much joy, love and emotion in the company of brave and like minded men. It was a real pleasure sharing and making deep connections. This is the start of a journey. Heartfelt thanks to Johan Muller
and all the beautiful souls who attended. Wishing all of you well on your journey!
Thank you – Authentic Self retreat WC – 06-08 Nov 2020
Hey Johan… Thank you so much. And thank you for your time and initiative to make it possible for me to have attended the opportunity. Blessings to you and have an amazing day
Reaffirmation of my masculinity – Authentic Self retreat WC – 06-08 Nov 2020
Dear Johan, Thank you for a beautiful (yet, challenging) weekend. I came to your retreat to work on my body image, especially on how I view my own penis. The rain and cold weather exacerbated these anxieties. Your exercises and rituals assisted me in confronting those anxieties and to essentially ‘make peace’ with my penis. During the burning of the masks I decided to release myself from these anxieties. Then, when we had the massages the next day, I was proud to display my penis (in all its fully erect glory). Yes, it was a sensual and pleasurable experience. But more importantly my erect cock was a reaffirmation of my masculinity – a sign that I was no longer embarrassed by it’s size. My hard cock became a source of pride as opposed to a source of shame. Without your workshop I would not have been able to confront this unnecessary shame. Thank you, once again