Update:
we decided to take a break and postpone the next edition of The Intimate Imaginarium.
Hopefully see you next time,
Theresa & Tom
Original text:
We invite you to gather in an intimate and diverse group of up to 28 intimacy explorers for six days, in a spacious house in nature near Berlin, with a beautiful wooden-floored playroom, sauna, private garden and recreational rooms, all exclusively reserved just for us. We invite you to our fifth Intimate Imaginarium.
Expressions of Intimacy
We are a psychotherapist and scientist who are fascinated by the many forms of intimacy and its potential for exploring the self and deepening relationships.
We invite you to explore intimacy through…
✦ Intimate “Speed Dating” in our Opening Circle
✦ Playful wrestling in our Playfight Workshop
✦ Temperature play in our Playing with Ice & Fire Workshop
✦ Orchestrated group intimacy, freeflow and sauna in our Queens & Kings Playparty
✦ Sensual exploration in The Lips Don’t Lie Workshop
✦ Dominance and surrender with rope bondage in our Relational Ropes Workshop
✦ Psychological power games and sauna in our Objectification Playparty
✦ Your own contributions in our Community Workshops
✦ Playing out fantasies in our Fantasy Manifestation Workshop
✦ Enhanced sensory awareness, freeflow and sauna in our Blind Love Playparty
✦ Fluidity and direction of energy in our The Flogger Dance Workshop
✦ Gratitude shower in our Intimate Integration Workshop
✦ Sensual feasting, freeflow and sauna in The Daring & Caring Feast – A Gourmet Playparty
✦ Integration in our Closing Circle
Individual and Group Development
In six days we have time to build a powerful group container to…
✦ Perceive, touch and respect our own and other peoples’ boundaries
✦ Nurture our somatic and non verbal awareness
✦ Expand our self-determination and our connectedness
✦ Live our own rhythm of perceiving and acting, opening and closing, leading and following
✦ Release old uncertainties and welcome new ones
✦ Discover our fantasies and take responsibility for their fulfilment
Consent
Consent is at the core of the entire gathering. We repeatedly encourage you to stay connected to yourself, communicate boundaries, adjust or sit-out games according to your personal needs and in general only do what feels right for you.
Our Approach
✦ Integrity & Deconstruction – We don’t present ourselves as mystical gurus but show ourselves as the vulnerable, complex human beings that we are. Instead of using a dramatifying or mystifying language, we try to communicate in a direct, down-to-earth manner with a hint of lightness and self-humor
✦ Experience, don’t tell (bottom-up approach) – Instead of verbal teaching, we focus on experiences that help you to develop your own insights
✦ Introversion – Our approach is focused on slowness, self-perception, awareness for the relationship to yourself and to the people you are interacting with
The Intimate Phase
Our gatherings are purposefully designed to include The Intimate Phase. Click here to read more about The Intimate Phase
Schedule
✦ Click here to view our schedule and to read about our workshops
✦ Each full day contains three vegan meals, two workshops, sauna and a sensuality-positive free-flow playparty with a guided introduction
✦ There is plenty of space and time for rest and integration both indoors and in the nature surrounding the venue
✦ There are opportunities for participant contributions – both during the “Community Workshops” time window as well as throughout the gathering using the community exchange board
✦ We often change the workshops spontaneously during the gathering based on our perception of the needs and interests of the group
When
✦ Arrival – October 30th between 18:00 – 19:45
✦ Departure – November 4th at 12:00
The Venue
✦ We exclusively reserved a spacious house in nature with a beautiful wooden-floored playroom, a sauna, a private garden, recreational rooms and sleeping rooms ranging from single to 5-beds
✦ It is close to Prenzlau, north of Berlin, which is very easily reachable with public transportation. A shuttle (shared taxi) is used to travel the last few km from Prenzlau to the venue. We will help you pre-arrange shuttles with other participants. This worked well in our previous gatherings
✦ You will receive the address after registering
Impressions
Meals
✦ We provide groceries and simple and delicious recipes. Participants gather in cooking teams to prepare the meals together.
✦ Cooking together does not only lower the ticket prices but also helps connect us as a group and has worked very well in all our previous gatherings
✦ The food we provide is vegan, tasty, healthy and simple:
✧ For breakfast we have various porridges and muslis with nuts, fruits and hot berries
✧ For lunch we have various warm dishes, e.g. vegetable curry with rice and fried tofu
✧ For dinner we have various soups, vegetable salat, bread with spreads and hummus
✦ There are also rumors of a delicious dessert for the last dinner and of a sensual nightly feast following it
✦ There is a second, small kitchen with a stove and a microwave for your private use
This gathering is probably for you if you…
✦ are curious about new ways to explore and unfold your sensuality, sexuality, self-perception, creativity and social skills
✦ are principally open to personally and non-verbally interact and play with strangers including same-gender (while staying in tune with your boundaries)
✦ can take responsibility for your own inner state, for expressing your boundaries and are willing to try and resolve arising conflicts between you and others
✦ are motivated to bring your own creative impulses and co-create the space instead of being a passive “consumer”
This gathering is probably not for you if you…
✦ hope for overexcitment or hyper stimulation
✦ need or want others to be responsible for your needs
✦ dislike silence, slowing down, observing your impulses
✦ do not want to proactively do community services like cooking, cleaning and decorating
✦ want to do most games with your partner(s)
✦ only want to play with a person of your preferred sexual orientation or a person you feel attracted to
Testimonials
The exchanges wth the other people where at first shy, but with the time it went deeper and deeper, and the bonds started to take life, way more than I could have expected. At the same time, I learned a lot over my positive and negative boundaries related to the sensuality through the multiple workshops and exercises led by Theresa and Tom, and I discovered some fantasies in myself I didn’t thought of. At the same time, I really appreciated the open way of Theresa and Tom, encouraging individual impulses and creativity, and that my creative cooking skills were welcome helped me to feel really part of the group with the time.
If you are looking for an experience for making bound of trust with some atypical individuals, and discover more about yourself, your desire and limits, then definitely go for it.❞
– Claude (The Intimate Imaginarium Gathering 4, Berlin 08.03-13.03.2024)
The variety of playful, embodied, non-verbal activities at the Imaginarium is a perfect framework for this inner exploration. There is enough space for sharing and verbal exchange but the focus is on experiential learning. And Theresa and Tom’s careful facilitation from the “back of the room” allows one to dive deep, while having fun. They create a comfortable but not overly decked-out physical and emotional space. They give just enough input and lighthearted demonstration to lead people into activity, and then hold space in a highly aware yet restrained way. They often participate themselves. They demonstrate great clarity in communicating edgy themes and desires, while also revealing their own doubts and vulnerabilities. There is as much to learn from the activities as there is to learn from their way of guiding us through them. I highly appreciate this humane way of facilitation that needs no guru and no woo-woo.
As for the setting, I feel that not having the anonimity of short-term play spaces makes people and interactions more authentic and vulnerable. At the same time this intimacy (and the sharing groups and reflection rounds) provides a receptive ground to process and digest strong emotions and thought patterns. I can wholeheartedly recommend attending an Intimate Imaginarium to anyone who wants to explore themes of desire, relating and fragility with a sprinkle of kink and playful edginess. ❞
– Felix (The Intimate Imaginarium Gathering 3, Berlin 29.09-04.10.2023)
The Facilitators
Theresa
Photographer: Slava Poliantsev
Dr. Theresa works as a medical doctor in psychotherapy. After studying Medicine and Health Economics in Heidelberg, Mannheim and Montpellier, she is currently specialising in Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy with a psychodynamic psychotherapy approach. Theresa is inspired by intersubjectivity, embodiment, opposites and their connection. She loves playfulness and relaxing into the unknown, for instance in contact improvisation dance, yin yoga, shibari rope play, play fight and authentic relating. She also offers coaching on open relationships (openrelationshipcoaching.de).
Tom
Photographer: Uli Stern @ Touch & Play Festival.
Dr. Tom is father, intimacy & somatic explorer, nuclear physicist, developer and digital sculptor. He appreciates the intense aliveness and psychological nakedness available in sensuality-positive somatic spaces and enjoys attending and facilitating them with a hint of self-humor and deconstruction.
Daring & Caring
Together we are “Daring & Caring”. Since 2019, we have been facilitating sensuality-positive events and retreats, in which we nurture exploration of the self, of the other and of the relational space in-between while questioning taboos around sensuality. We gave workshops in Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Berlin, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and in festivals such as Blaue Blume and Touch & Play, as well as our own retreats under the label “The Intimate Imaginarium” (four editions so far).
Ticket Prices
The total fee is comprised of workshop, accommodation and groceries fees:
✦ Workshop fee – The fee for the organisation, materials and facilitation is between…
✧ Super early bird – 400-800 euros. 350-800 euros if you already attended one Intimate Imaginarium. 300-800 euros if you already attended several. Limited to six tickets.
✧ Early bird – 500-800 euros. 450-800 euros if you already attended one Intimate Imaginarium. 400-800 euros if you already attended several. Limited to ten tickets.
✧ Regular – 600-800 euros. 550-800 euros if you already attended one Intimate Imaginarium. 500-800 euros if you already attended several.
You decide how much (within the given range) based on your financial situation.
✦ Accommodation fee – The fee for the accommodation including usage of the whole venue (play room, sleeping rooms, recreational rooms, kitchens, garden and sauna) is:
✧ for one bed in a room for five or four – 175 euros
✧ for one bed in a room for three – 200 euros
✧ for one bed in a room for two – 250 euros
✧ for a private room – 325 euros
✦ Groceries fee – The fee for the groceries, hot beverages and snacks is 100 euros
✦ Included in the ticket price: All workshops and play evenings, vegan groceries and snacks, five nights in a private house with usage of the play room, sleeping rooms, recreational rooms, kitchens, private garden and sauna, use of the equipment and the organisation
✦ Friends discount – Bring friends who never attended our events before, who mention you in their application form and whom we accept, and we will reward each of your friends with a 50 euros discount as well as you with a 50 euros discount per friend. Registering as friends does not affect how often you will play with each other in the workshops.
How to REGISTER
✦ Step 1 – Make sure you read everything carefully and also that you agree to our disclaimer. Click here to read our disclaimer
✦ Step 2 – It is important for us to have a diverse group and to understand whether your and our wishes for the event are compatible. For that reason we ask our applicants to fill a form. The form is not available as the current edition is postponed, see above.
✦ Step 3 – We review your application and maybe suggest a short virtual get-to-know. Once we accept your application, you will be asked to purchase your ticket
✦ Step 4 – After purchasing your ticket and a few weeks before the gathering starts, we will send you the info mail, which contains the address, our recommended packing list, a shared rides list, our digital library and all other relevant information that you need in order to get ready for the gathering
By The Way
✦ Previous experience or technical skills (such as in bondage or kink) are welcome, but not required
✦ You can apply on your own, with partners or with friends. Registering together does not affect how often you will play with each other in the workshops
✦ We have a small child who will be present during shared meals and pauses. Our child will not be present in any space involving sensuality, such as the workshops, the play evenings or the sauna
✦ We strive to have a balanced group in terms of gender, age and experience level
✦ The facilitation language is English
✦ We will host an online group integration meeting after the gathering
✦ As mentioned in the disclaimer, it is prohibited to consume alcohol, drugs and illegal substances during the gathering
Cancellation
✦ In the unlikely case that we cancel the event, we will fully refund your ticket. Further claims are excluded
✦ You may cancel your participation up to four weeks before the gathering starts. You will then receive a full reimbursement except for 25 Euros. After that, cancellation is no longer possible for any reason. However, if you find a new participant to replace you which we accept, we will reimburse your ticket in full except for 25 Euros
Questions?
Contact us at info@daringcaring.com or use our contact form