Lead Instructor and co-founder
Helene Emma Wisser
Emma holds a Master of Sociology Degree from the University of Munich. She also earned a postgraduate certificate as a Rhythmic Instructor from the Institute Rhythmikon directed by the renowned Professor Amelie Hoellering in Munich. She worked in this field for over a decade with grade school aged children, providing great academic and therapeutic value to the program through music and movement.
Emma started her meditation practice over 25 years ago, she is a certified MBSR trainer (mindfulness based stress reduction) and a trained teacher for Mindful Self compassion (MSC).
For the past 13 years she has taught mindfulness and self-compassion courses, coached individuals and run workshops in her own practice in Munich/ Germany (Practice for Mindful Living) and at various public Organizations and private Corporations.
“The meaning of Mindful living for me is, living in the present, opening up to allowing the moment to moment experiences no matter how simple or memorable they are, good or bad, and to hold them in an open minded, kind, compassionate and accepting way.”
(Helene Emma Wisser).
Instructor, Business Manager, and co-founder
Carlos Ponte
Carlos comes from many places. Italian genes, born in Argentina, Canadian by choice and now living in Bavaria, Germany. No matter where he has lived, nature has always been a pivotal part of his life. Growing up in a vineyard, part of his family farming business in Argentina, he always spent most of his free time outdoors among, and often on, trees.
Forests have always been his passion and fortunately he’s had the chance to “mingle” with a very diverse range of trees, like ancient eucalyptus specimens in his childhood in Argentina; maple, birch, oak and a extensive selection of conifers during his life in Canada and now, the European families of beech, chestnut, linden together with spruce and fir in his new life in Bavaria. His intuitive attraction to trees was then strengthened by learning about the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku or Forest Bathing.
He studied Shinrin-Yoku techniques in England, Germany and Japan. He developed a Forest Therapy program influenced by his mentor Dr. Yoshifumi Miyazaki and his 30 plus years of research showing overwhelming evidence on the body and mental health benefits of forest bathing.
He co-founded Universe Mindfulness with his wife Emma, with the idea of offering wellness escapes throughout Europe with the main theme of Mindfulness in Nature, guiding participants to become reacquainted with nature and to reconnect with it in a deeper and more healing manner than ever before.
Qigong Instructor (Select courses only)
Stefanie Heck
Stefanie holds a Master Degree from Munich University in German, communication sciences and philosophy; after many years of working as a freelance journalist and a holding a variety of teaching positions, she decided in 1994 to embark on an eight-year-long journey across the world. During this time, she also travelled through China and had her first experiences with qigong. Very quickly she was fascinated not only by the elegance, but also the deep rapid effects of this discipline.
After returning to Germany, she started to study qigong yangsheng at société medicinae chinensis with different masters and teachers; she received her degree as a qualified qigong instructor in 2006 and since then, she has been running classes with different focal points, eg the elderly, youth, people suffering from cancer and osteoporosis. Different professionals like teachers, nurses, musicians, actors or simply people who like to improve their physical flexibility, relaxation skills and mental wellbeing.
Regular ongoing training with renowned male and female masters help her improve her technique and allow her to refine her teaching methods to even better cater the needs of her clients.
The Team
Different Instructors join us depending on the location and main focus of the vacation-retreat
The regular team is made of five instructors, each team member has several years of experience in their field and strong credentials, as well as years of friendship among them.
Additional information will be submitted based on the package of your choice.