There are a lot of beautiful groups that visit ‘t Zonnehuis. The last couple of years more international groups are also visiting our retreat center in the Netherlands. DaeEss 1Drea is one of the amazing people that together with a team is giving retreats. We did an interview with her to share her story, the beautiful work she does with people and to give an insight into the retreats she gives at ‘t Zonnehuis.
Who is DaeEss 1Drea?
DaeEss 1Drea is a soul living in a physical avatar. She was born in America and is currently living in the south of France. She is here to help people remember who they really are. To help them tune in to love and to live as their authentic self.
She has been a doctor, trauma therapist and an entrepreneur for 25 years. She has authored 20 books and published several and she created documentary films. She’s also an artist that creates music, sings in ceremonies and writes songs.
Since 2000 she has been in the psychedelic space and started there with MDMA therapy. A few years later she stepped on the shamanic path and started building a relationship with Ayahuasca, psilocybin mushrooms and psilocybin truffles. As a doctor in the states she also facilitates Ketamine yourney’s to help people manage ptsd, depression and anxiety.
She currently facilitates a training program to help people become psilocybin and psychedelic assisted therapy facilitators. At ‘t Zonnehuis some apprentices of their program will also be there to learn and grow as a facilitator and to be space holders for the participants.
In her early careers in documentary films and television, she’s had a somewhat prominent personality. She has been on the Oprah Winfrey show and CNN. She has had people following her online on her youtube channel and ted talks for over 20 years. With the internet and social media being so widespread she’s got to reach all around the world. Which is quite a gift if you ask me, to spread a beautiful message and work at such a wide reach.
What is the essence of your retreats? And what does it bring?
The retreat actually already begins weeks before the group comes to the Netherlands. Their retreat contains a 10 week preparation and integration program. Each of the participants has a chance to meet with DaeEss 1Drea for an initial call and screening, both medical and psychological, to make sure everyone is safe on this type of retreat.
As a preparation she offers a complete digital bundle of guided meditations, journal prompts and affirmations. So the participants can really start getting their mind ready for the journey. They are guided to set intentions and to look at their past, so that they can be aware of any blocks or parts of them that might try to resist the process. They’ll also have 4 preparation calls, via Zoom where they’ll meet with everyone; the facilitators and participants, so that everybody can get to know each other before they come to the retreat.
People can be quite nervous, this is something that a lot of people have never done before. So it can be a big step to fly around the world and then be in a very vulnerable space. So the preparation and showing what the journey is all about will help the participants ease into the process and to form a group that will go through it together.
Then the group comes for their 5 day experience in Holland. In the retreats that she does at ‘t Zonnehuis she facilitates two psilocybin journeys, breathwork in the morning, yoga and qigong and workshops on the integration days. There is also plenty of time to be in nature and to just be and process. The group activities really help the group and actually add another component to the medicine. You don’t just have to rely on the truffles, there is a whole component to magic, being seen, being witnessed, to finally hear other people talking about things that maybe others have been ashamed or afraid to talk about, so they don’t feel so alone.
After the retreat they’ll facilitate 4 weeks of integration and a special journal for that. They’ll meet on zoom so the people don’t just feel thrown back into the world after such a deep experience. And it allows them to maybe start to make sense of what happened on their journeys. We know that integration happens over a lifetime but it’s good to be able to capture these first magical remembrances.
The participants on their retreats contain a mix of people from all over the world. People that are in the process of spiritual awakening, finding clarity on their next step in life and leaders who want to activate their visionary leadership capacities.
What brings you/your retreat to ’t Zonnehuis?
We did research and there we heard about the beautiful ‘t Zonnehuis. It was perfect for us because the values aligned, with being eco conscious, health conscious and the great food. I love having food that is made with soul and heart and that of course is delicious. Being able to accommodate me and my clients with vegan, vegetarian and special medical dietary needs is important. I also love that people can have a private room if they want. And no matter if they are in private or shared that they have their own bathroom. That is really important for people to feel safe and cosy if you’re doing such deep soul work.
When you’re doing medicine work, you become very sensitive to the energies around you and everything around you puts out a frequency. Also as singers and musicians we’re always tuning our frequency to what we’re emitting. So it’s important that the physical space is also a container for that frequency, we’re very happy with ‘t Zonnehuis in that way.
How did you and the group experience your stay at ’t Zonnehuis?
They’ve all been wonderful, just excellent. All of the staff is amazing and of course Bas takes good care of us. People just love ‘t Zonnehuis, they feel really comfortable there. They like the feeling of being out in nature and not in a city. They love going on nature walks and to really feel that they’re on retreat.
What makes ’t Zonnehuis unique? What stands out?
Everything mentioned above! The nature, the food, the accommodations, the staff.
Any last words you’d like to add?
These are not retreats in the typical sense. They are really like an initiation or rite of passage. We organize our ceremonies, as ceremonies, it’s not just sitting around and drinking mushroom tea. So the whole experience for us is really sacred and I think bringing that sense of magic, reverence and respect is what makes us really different.
We also work with a quite high facilitator to participant ratio, a group of maximum 12-15 participants and 4 to 5 facilitators. It makes it easier to offer people what they might need. Different facilitators offer different qualities, for example Rene Eva is a musician, vocalist and sound healer so she comes with all these instruments and then I sing as well. So we have more facilitators who can move around the room, if they need to. It also just gives people comfort, especially if they have trauma from their past, knowing that we have therapists, trauma trained facilitators and a doctor brings a sense of ease, comfort and safety.
She can’t imagine doing it any other way.
I’d like to thank DaeEss 1Drea for her time and everything she brings to the world and of course for her trust in ‘t Zonnehuis to facilitate her beautiful retreats here.
Written by Michelle Wijnans
