The Work Study Program consists of more than simply working and studying.
Studying, of course, can happen every moment, not only during class. We can learn as we are working, walking, cooking, or watching the clouds drift by. The Work Study Program aims to provide an experience of self growth and to broaden and deepen your own personal view of life. It is the objective of the Kientalerhof to support and to empower its students and guests to discover for themselves their fullest potential.
The Program offers a 140 hours Qi Gong Training with Ron Timm which will be finalized with a test and certification.
By practice we will discover that Qi Gong is more than exercising our body, or a kind of gymnastic, it is about being present in the very moment.
Being present in the moment offers a whole experience in itself. Since the day consists of moments, "classes" can actually happen throughout the whole day. This is the way one truly learns.
Qi Gong is a Chinese term. In a translation Qi is the energy of life or life force. Gong means work or practise. Basically Qi Gong means nothing more than to work with energy, to exercise the force of life. Qi Gong is the foundation for any kind of bodywork, work with energies and martial arts.
(please read more information about the Qi Gong Training down)
During Qi Gong classes we will learn to understand and experience the Eastern energetical view of the world, in comparison to our Western material view. We will come in touch with some concepts like the concept of Wu (Nothingness), Yin and Yang, and The Five Transformations.
Other lectures will be held, over the subjects of healthy cooking with Jean Torné and personal development.
During the day, as part of the program, Work Study students also work 4h / 6 days in a week (average), in different areas of the house such as housekeeping, kitchen, dishwashing and maintenance. The work is organized in a rotation system whereby you change the working area constantly during your staying according to the needs of the house.
The strength of the Work Study Program lies in its being structured around daily life: there is time for work, time for studying and time for leisure - much like in "real" life. The work study does not happen in a "lab" environment, but in a living place. This means that learning and growth become integrated into the self, in a way one can afterwards continue with it also "at home". The duration of the program (3 or 4 months) also supports this, since integration is a process which takes its time.
Such a program requires also an adequate place for it to come into being. The Kientalerhof provides a good supportive environment within which these processes can take place.
I wouldn't hesitate a minute if I were asked if it's the right program to take part in. it's amazing how much you learn and how rewarding is the work you do in the Kientalerhof. Sometimes I feel that for everything I give, I receive two times more.
Lila Dawidziuk, Poland
