EFA-Gatherings past
A Fiesta of Focusing, let’s share…
SEPTEMBER 2025 – from Wednesday, 17th to Sunday, 21st
In 2025 the EFA gathering took place in the beautiful retreat center Koningsteen in Kapelle-op-den-Bos in Belgium.
WHAT HAPPENS AT THE GATHERING?
During this gathering, we followed the structure, which was much appreciated over the past years.
– A variety of happenings throughout the day, offered by those excited to share something
– Daily meetings with the whole group
– Daily Focusing Partnerships
– Home Groups
We co-created the program during the first couple of hours of our gathering. As the program was not planned in advance, there was plenty of time and space for participants to share what felt alive for them and offer workshops and groups on specific topics. Ideas were brought along or emerged spontaneously as we came together.
Happenings 2025 –A Fiesta of Focusing, let’s share…
- Pausing: interest group or conversation around different things that can occur / can be done when pausing – Bie
- Listening in 3 directions (non-verbal): presentation of client and discussion – Harriet
- Experiencing authentic movement: workshop crossing Authentic Movement with Focusing – how do Focusers do this? – Heidrun
- Holding & letting: using Gendlin’s process model chapter 8; ‘how to’ – Robert Lee
- Deepen your spiritual connection: workshop using Thinking at the Edge – Fiona
- Silence – felt sense – spiritual awareness: a quaker-like exploration – Barbara
- Inner movement: experiential workshop, embodied movement from the inside out – Adam
- Living our questions; planting Focusing seeds in Ukraine: exploration and sharing – Gosia
- Rest is resistance: (non) activity – Joke
- Climate, environmental – how do I experience it?: interest group to share experiencing – Teresa
- ‘There is always someone in’: workshop development and feedback using Focusing, Qi Gong – Regina
- What happens when your breath guides your Focusing process?: exploration – Saren
- Felt sensitive ways towards an increasingly uncomfortable future (climate change): workshop – Peter
- Experiencing Thinking at the Edge playfully: experiential workshop and Q&A – Evelyn
- A taste of Home Focusing: workshop around communicating with non-Focusers in a Focusing way – Annat
- Trauma resilience: workshop around trauma prevention elements in Wholebody Focusing – Astrid
- Process-oriented practices inspire each other: presentation, Feldenkrais experiential, sharing – Amona
- Leading a Focusing listening to children’s books: playful experience of listening, looking, reading – Joke
- Keeping a space when under threat: workshop around physical threat and keeping space, using martial art inspired techniques – Mathias
- Rest – nap – doing nothing together – Joke
- Deep listening and Focusing, letting music happen: workshop using sound and music – Joachim and Machiel
- Dreams and their collective facets: exploring dreams and how they might point out to more than the
- individual – Teresa
- Focusing & sacred geometry: workshop around the language of sacred symbols – Hillie
- Focusing, movement & breath: offering a space to exchange between Focusers who use meditation, movement, breath – Saren
During free times – outside happenings
- Qi Gong: before breakfast each day outside with Regina.
- Adventures in Tetaland – game – in the evening with Regina.
- Focusing with nature – Anastassia
- Five Rhythms and dancing in the evening with DJs Eveline & Amona.
- The political relevance of Focusing – discussion with Astrid.
- Music and singing in the evening with Amona & Heidrun.
And in addition…
- Robert, assisted by Machiel, presented an introduction to Focusing to some Koningsteen volunteers
- Book presentation ‘Verbinden met je essentie’ by Mia Leijssen
- Explanation of Colour Cards by Fiona
Carrying forward EFA, exploration and sharing – topics by EFA
- Conflict & aggression in Focusing Communities
- Mini Focusing in Every Day Life
- The Focusing Paradigm of Change
- Engage in social/political to foster Focusing in …
Final harvest and celebration of ‘The Fiesta of Focusing we shared …’
- A musical and creative conclusion and sharing to say good-bye and see you!
Impressions of the EFA Gathering 2025
By Machiel Swillens
‘From all corners of Europe we gathered – 41 Focusers from the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Scotland, England, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, and from Israel and the US – in a small Belgian village for four days of Fiesta of Focusing. Retreat Centre Koningsteen consists of multiple buildings and is surrounded by green farmlands and beautiful old trees.
After arrival, we meet on the square by the yin-yang pond. Reunion with old friends, and new introductions. The next morning, we gather in a large hall called Isis. A program is put together with everyone’s input. Soon, 24 happenings are on the agenda. So much beauty and interest! How will I choose? There are workshops, and smaller get-togethers centered around a theme or question, there is time for Focusing partnerships, and, at the end of every afternoon, home groups where you can catch your breath and share your experiences. There, I also hear about the happenings I missed. Those about climate, the situation in the world, what we do when we pause, listening in three directions, TAE, inner movement, living your questions, trauma, how different process-oriented practices inspire each other, breath, children’s books, space holding with physical threat… too many to list. One happening is called Doing Nothing Together. That was done outside under a tree. I hear only enthusiastic stories about it.
I personally experience constellation exercises in Home Focusing, I attend an introduction to Focusing for the Koningsteen volunteers, I sing mantras in a small group and experience how intense inner images arise in the shared silence that follows. Together with Joachiem I give a happening about deep listening, and letting music emerge from that listening. We sit in a large circle, we listen to the silence, we listen to each other, we sing long tones, and we improvise with the instruments we brought. An almost liquid music arises, slowly gets louder, more dynamic, then changes, and slowly fades away again. That silence afterwards… In the evenings there is more music. Songs are sung together, and during a long dance evening in the festively lit garden room, with music from DJs Amona and Eveline, I dance a muscle soreness into my legs that lingers for days.
Next year, Scotland!’
By Barbara Rolsma
‘Creating a four-day program for 41 people? We can do it!
Under supervision, we’ll calmly agree on who will do what. We’ll start by taking stock. There are time slots of 1, 1.5, and 2 hours, during which we’ll then specify what we want to offer. If we want to do something in the same time slot, we’ll consult with each other. Within 1.5 hours, it was done.
Yes, the peace we have in reaching a decision through felt sensing is healing for my heart. And not just mine.
I experience it as a warm feeling to be together like this. Having space for what everyone brings and that everyone is welcome to be there, with all their being, makes us whole, makes our world whole.
Focusing! I love it.’
By Eveline Kroese
‘What a special EFA gathering this year in Koningsteen. What a fiesta! The location, with all those cozy nooks and crannies in the garden, house, and outbuildings, the rich selection of workshops and get-togethers, the presence of very close friends, but especially the significant contribution of music (and conscious silence), dance, and forms of yoga and chi-gong (with the chickens!). It was a feast for all the senses – a big felt-sense.
Highly recommended.’
By Jacqueline Plug
‘This was my first time attending an EFA meeting, and how fortunate we were that the beautiful, green Koningsteen was available for us. Upon entering, I was immediately struck by the open and welcoming atmosphere. There was space to be yourself, to share, listen, learn from each other, and enjoy new encounters—including with people I knew.
What made me most happy was that the foundation was so well-organized: delicious food and accommodations, a clear program structure, and ample breaks. From this foundation, we shaped the workshops together. This resulted in days full of knowledge sharing, creativity, movement, and introspection.
It was a true Fiesta, one where we hung the streamers ourselves.
I look back on these wonderful days gratefully, inspired, and enriched.
It definitely leaves me wanting more!’
By Frans Depestele
‘Many things appealed to me about the EFA meeting in Koningsteen.
First of all, the small scale; a massive event like the upcoming world congress is less inviting. Of course, the location: ideal for this kind of retreat.
And the rich presentations, which inspire and encourage further development and connections.
But above all, the people: being among focusers, all of whom create a “focusing mood,” reconnecting with familiar faces and making new friends.
So many beautiful little moments.
It encourages me to keep the next meeting in Scotland in mind and to prepare something.’
By Bie Draulans
‘My reflection on EFA: What wonderful people! What fascinating themes from these people, not just mentally, but from their very humanity. It was wonderful to work together, to discover, to discuss, to explore.
Experiencing that in everyone – including me – impulses exist from deeper layers, sometimes unsuspected, so beautiful.
It felt like a new path, a further journey on those unexpected paths because the environment, the space, felt safe and welcoming.’
By Tine Swyngedouw
‘After a 10-year absence, I was finally able to attend an international Focusers gathering again, and what a blessing it was!
It was a wonderful few days filled with reconnecting with old friends and new people; enjoying a warm home group, nature, and singing together; discovering the next project that’s starting to blossom within me; a pleasant rhythm of engagement and tranquility, of being in a group and being alone…
Thank you to the organizers. I’m already looking forward to the next time in Perth, Scotland, in September 2026.’
By Hildegarde Vansintjan
‘For me, the unknown Koningsteen was like arriving in the landscape of my youth, not far from my Flemish birthplace. And so much more.
A passionate owner tells us a wonderful story about people who dare to do what aligns with their essence. Starting a meeting without a program, putting one together yourself? Yes, it’s possible. Thank you, Heidrun, for letting us experience how that can be achieved. Talking together about how to proceed, all together at the end—that’s also possible, thank you, Fiona. Thank you, Regina, for opening us to the air and heaven in the early morning and focusing with me in the afternoon. Thank you, Hillie, for that wonderful Dutch workshop on symbols—what a wonderful revelation that was! Thank you, Robert, for your empathy with us and for showing us how we can have more empathy for ourselves. Thank you, Astrid, yes, I can let my body speak… Barbara, you taught me the all-encompassing, protective sound, Hu, with which I can evoke silence and more… So grateful for this. Thank you, Eveline, no longer afraid of The Volcano.
I sometimes thought I was missing something, but it all came to me just like that. I missed the music workshop and was given those melancholic sounds of the soul as a gift. Thank you, Annat, I missed your workshop and one morning at breakfast, you actually gave me the impetus to take a step further in the grieving process for my husband. Frans, how sad not to hear about those little things, and then your insights were just slipped into my hands. Gosia, it’s a shame I didn’t delve into Ukraine with you, but our moment of focus was practically… And you know, Gosia, focusing with you was a major turning point for me? Thank you.
Thank you to the many who dared to be vulnerable and gave so much in doing so. Thank you, Mia, for constantly sharing your experience and wisdom with us. Thank you, Ria, for being there for me from beginning to end, modestly, motherly, and encouraging. Thank you to Amona, everyone who made the meeting possible, and everyone who was there; you gave me a safe space to move forward. How wonderful to see that everyone can simply be themselves – in speech, clothing, and dance. Thank you, Sari, for the photos. Thanks to you, I heard Finnish for the first time in my life. Thank you to the group I came home to. Thank you, Japke, for noticing that I looked a bit dejected at first, but radiant by the end. Thank you, Ruth, for letting me take you to Antwerp station; it wasn’t a goodbye, but the beginning of a warm connection. All the warmth I experienced at Koningsteen will remain.’.
