Carsten Dohnke

Carsten Dohnke
Sinologist Carsten Dohnke is now an internationally recognized teacher of Taoism and Qigong. He teaches the mystical path of Tao and offers training courses and seminars in Germany, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands.

He was born in Hamburg in 1963, where he began to study martial arts and meditation intensively at the age of 14 and took part in competitions. For example, he was German Vice Champion in Light Contact Karate twice.

SINOLOGY, KUNGFU AND TAOISM
The Asian culture soon interested him more and more. He studied Sinology (Chinese Studies) with a focus on Taoism in Hamburg. During his years of study the four years in Taiwan were the most formative years for him during which he trained daily for several hours with old Shaolin masters in Kungfu, Taiji and meditation and read the Chinese classics. Back in Hamburg he started his career as a trainer and teacher in his own school for inner Kungfu.

At the same time, his intensive 25 years as a student of the well-known Tao Master Mantak Chia in the USA and Thailand began. Carsten Dohnke is a senior teacher of Inner Alchemy in the system of the Universal Tao (also known as Healing Tao or Tao Yoga) and accompanied his teacher for 20 years as an assistant and translator to many international seminars. “I am grateful to him for showing me how to fill my whole body with Qi and absorb Qi from the cosmos. Through him I learned how to open all my meridians. I was able to explore the depths of Taoist alchemy and to open my heart to life step by step,” says Carsten Dohnke about Mantak Chia, whom he still sees regularly today. But he also studied with other Qigong and Tao masters all over the world, including ten years with Master Li jun Feng, the founder of Shengzhen Qigong, who trained the Beijing Wushu team for a long time.

YEARS OF TEACHING AND HIKING
After completing his studies, Carsten Dohnke taught in Germany and other European countries. Used to getting to the bottom of things, he also spent several years studying anatomy, physiology and traditional medicine in order to better understand the human body.

The desire to understand the depth of the human mind made him go to Suan Mokh Monastery in Thailand regularly to participate in silent meditation retreats and to Mantak Chia’s Tao Garden for a three-week darkroom retreat. There he faced his own essence. Much of the inner quality of his Qigong has developed during this time. Since then he has also acquired a deep understanding of mysticism.

Dewi de Waele

Dewi De Waele (Belgian-Indonesian, born 78 in Antwerp, Belgium) has always been travelling between East and West, with a love for Asian traditions, art and dance from the Far East, as well as for Western philosophies and therapeutic approaches. These experiences have also helped her to come into deeper contact with herself.

Finding oneself through movement, feeling the vibrancy of life and expressing oneself artistically is a large part of her life. She started dancing when she was 6: ballet and jazz ballet. As a young girl she expanded her skills and knowledge with Balinese dance, yoga and Taiji. She has been practicing Qigong and meditation since she was 20 years old.

Her interest in other cultures and art continued to grow during her studies in linguistics in Antwerp, Leipzig and Munich. After completing her studies she trained at the Art Academy in Antwerp to further improve her skills in the visual and illustrative arts. Since 2001 she has also completed several training courses in Taiji (with Crescendo in Belgium) and Qigong.

Inspiration from her Asian travels, monastic seminars and her knowledge of movement and therapeutic approaches have contributed to her compassionate approach to her courses, participants and life itself.
She teaches Qigong with great joy in both Belgium and Germany. Since 2015 she has also accompanied and supported Tao Hamburg’s courses, retreats and teacher training in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. She aims to create a soothing atmosphere in the room that allows for a connection to the inner core of being, touching and inspiring the participants like a dance.

Qigong and Kungfu years (on the beach in Portugal, 2003)

at Suan Mokh Monastery in Thailand, where Carsten participated in 11 silent retreats from 1993-2004.

Collecting Qi – by the sea in Indonesia, 2016