During most of the previous festivals in the past it has been a tradition to start each day with a welcoming by Kai and an opening ritual. This time Michael will join and we will have a big global welcoming moment for the whole 5-day festival.

Kai is a breath therapist based on Prof. Ilse Middendorf’s work, a Continuum teacher, holds the German Heilpraktiker license for psychotherapy and co-founded the Somatic Academy of Berlin. He created Authentic Eros – Explorations for Men & For and Beyond all Genders and curates the STRETCH and the BODY IQ festivals. In 2016 he initiated Village.Berlin.

Michael was born in London where he trained as a dancer at The Royal Ballet Schools. His dance credits include work with Northern Ballet Theatre, Scottish Ballet, The Lindsay Kemp Company, AMP and numerous others. Michael also works as a choreographer and makes visual art.

Sexual energy is often viewed as something that you just have to deal with and eliminate and there can be a lot of guilt surrounding this. Learning to have a healthy relationship with your sexuality and to understand the spiritual connection means that this part of your life can become a medium for pleasure and spiritual connection. Yoga through practice and specific breath exercises can help activate your sexual energy. 

It is not only about body-stretching techniques, its also breathing techniques and massage methods. A beautiful way to amplify the body's mysterious energies.

Angelos Ananda teaches internationally yoga, meditation, movement classes and personal growth workshops inspiring people to live their lives to the fullest. He leads the group  of Men Only Spiritual Yoga Retreats and workshops around the world.

This workshop will explore the topic of sensitivity as a superpower. As something that can strengthen us in our Queerness and empathy for life and nourishes our ability to love. How can I feel my body as a self-owned and self-evident queer shelter using vulnerability as a resource?
What sensitive qualities can my Queerness unfold? We´ll combine elements of bodywork, mindfulness, dance...to explore our uniqueness, articulate and celebrate our desires and needs as sensitive human beings.

Benjamin & Jochen identify as gender-queer, they are open-hearted & holistic oriented body researchers, who accompany people in times of personal change, healing and transformation. For more than 5 years they have been working as certified practitioners of various methods in different (queer) contexts. They both love empowering people reconnect with the wisdom of their own bodies.
Both also draw from their experience of 15 years of theater, dance and performance work.

Dancing, in ancient times, was not separate from worshiping. Emotions were respected and expressed through movement in conscious, ritual ways. In this workshop, we allow music to move our energy and let it flow through our bodies. Through whirling we become aware of our unmoving center when everything is moving. This technique helps us tune into our heart and connect with the love, joy and intimacy that reside there.

Khalid was born in Syria and spent his childhood there. At the age of 18, he moved to Greece where he found the delight of dancing, exploring several types of active meditation and dancing techniques from various old traditions, teachers and wisdom roots. He began a journey of acceptance and self-love finding the connection between body, mind and soul.

Let’s move together! In this dancing session, we dive separately-together into a physical-abstract journey. We learn how to listen to our body-knowledge, practice handy Mudra’s “power-stations”, set our intentions, shake to sweat mental baggage, and expand our mutual heart. Dressed-up or wear casual, come as perfect as you are! These inclusive sessions are exclusively addressed to all types of GBTQ men.

(The sessions are lead in English and will be simultaneously interpreted to Sign-Language for our Deaf brothers.)

Gal Naor is a Berlin-based Israeli Sign Language interpreter, theater maker, choreographer, and founder of “The progressive wave” performative initiative. In his work, he combines dance, performance art, visual art, and consciousness studies. Gal’s approach to the performance world is inclusive and based on the understanding that each body should move in its unique way. Including a diverse range of performers, The progressive wave’s work is encouraging the empowerment of queer identities. www.theprogressivewave.com

This workshop seeks to explore some of our own layers of intimacy. What are the layers we take off in order to connect erotically, emotionally, physically and even spiritually with our intimate partners? What are the layers we put on in order to do so? We will identify our comfort zones and see how we might stretch from them in order to grow and deepen our experiences also identifying our boundaries beyond which we may panic. We will explore how we say yes and how we say no. The workshop seeks to explore how we may shine our essence more authentically in order to connect more holistically with our lovers.

Sanjay is a psychotherapist and group work facilitator who has been working with Lovingmen.org with gay and bi men over 17 years exploring with them their journeys of self discovery, growth and intimacy. Sanjay is an integrative Gestalt practitioner using also mindfulness and meditation techniques bringing a more holistic experience to his practice. Sanjay offers sessions face to face and online and works both in the UK and India. 

In this workshop we will create and share text around the topic of absence and abstinence, about that which is missing, that which was lost. How this feels and what we become aware of. Also about that which we imagine to fill the gaps, that which might grow from the debris. This text will result from a process of exchange, collective imagination, a confrontation with the ideas and wishes of others. This kind of writing might be transformative.

Dorian is an artist based in Vienna.  Coming from power play and pain sexuality he is fascinated by the possibilities of an embodied mind/mindful body practice. Switching from solo performance work to creating spaces for collective creativity he experiments with tasks, choreographies of power and installation work. As a facilitator he teaches non-dualistic thinking and non-linear writing to a big variety of communities and is best known for his playfight-workshops. Recently he became involved in creating ritualistic tattoo-sessions.

This workshop is an evolved format of the previous, “Energy & Meditative Movement” further inspired by my yoga teachings and movement training.  Class utilizes a blend of yoga, meditative exercises, guided improvised movement, self care techniques and practices into a singular practice that will be well rounded, grounded, fun and simple, yet, therapeutic and healing.

Eddy 'damoN' Lathan IV is a multidisciplinary artist, dance, fitness and yoga teacher in Brooklyn, New York.  He trained, studied and danced with The Hip Hop Dance Conservatory (H+) in New York City from 2008 - 2013.  He received his YTT 200 and meditation teacher certification in Goa, India in 2019.  He is the Co-Founder and lead instructor for NuDance (2015 - Present; www.nudance.nyc) and Gymnasium NYC

Some of us are so talented at talking dirty, others are silent and others still repeat what they hear in porn - but the dirtiest talk of all is honesty, intimacy and expressing your needs in the bedroom! 

Lets talk dirty and learn to ask for what we want!

Hey I'm Joseph and I'm a friend of Village.Berlin for a long time as an eager participant and now also as a workshop leader. Specialised in Drama as a therapy and being naked everywhere, I love sex and am as inclusive as possible. My greatest talent is my tongue so lets put it to use!

For many queer people, coming out is an act of liberation and self-preservation as well as a model of truth-telling as an essential mechanism in creating an authentic life. Sometimes painful and fraught with contradictions, honesty, can be difficult to achieve and demands, often, that we transcend internal and external constraints created by shame and fear. In this workshop we will explore telling our truths as an activity that facilitates physical, mental and spiritual flourishing as individuals in our public and private lives.

Tony Whitfield is an artist, designer, educator and writer who has recently relocated to Detroit after decades in New York City where he pursued a multifaceted creative practice in the contexts of academia, arts administration, curating, government and design production. His work which has been shown in galleries and museums in the US and abroad, centers on the development of narratives through the exploration of material culture manifested in images, evidence, artifacts and heirlooms.

If this title makes you uncomfortable then this is the workshop for you! White people need to unlearn their own racism. Think you’re not racist? As a white person this isn’t possible. Let’s interact with the world differently. Anti-racism is a deliberate daily practice. With compassion we’ll co-regulate our nervous systems together to start to dissolve our white fragility, also known as racial stress. Real transformation requires doing. Come be a part of the solution!

Coral Short and Ryan “twinkle” Backer are both white settlers living in the unceded gathering place of the Kanien'kehá:ka, Anishinabe, and Haudenosaunee - the island called Tiohtià:ke in Turtle Island, colonially known as Montréal, Québec, Canada. Part of both their ancestries comes from County Mayo in Ireland. Although they’ve identified as Irish most of our lives, lately they’ve been exploring their ancestry more. As well as being from Ireland - Ryan is also German, Nordic, Spanish, and Dutch. Coral is Irish as well as Welsh, Roma, German and Scottish. They are actively unlearning their racism by attending workshops, organizing anti-racist book groups, and engaging in anti-racist activism, learnings and teachings.

Coral currently works as an artist and a professional gardener. www.coralshort.com They are in teacher training with True North Insight and Somatic Experiencing.

Ryan works as an age activist. They are co-founder of the website https://oldschool.info and they create and facilitate workshops to educate people about ageism.

This Stretch Festival offers you the opportunity to experience intense days in times that already are extraordinary. Here you can find a space just for yourself to talk about what moves you, in a community consisting of fellow Stretchers. 

The Heart Circle was created by Native Americans and adapted by the US Radical Faeries. It is a place where we can sit together in trust, to speak from the heart and listen with our hearts, honoring different life experiences and lifestyles without judging and discussing.

Marco Astolfi and Torsten Bless have been hosting the Village Heart Circle since Summer 2017, both live and (lately) online. Torsten works as an editor and writer, Marco as a literature translator. Both based in Berlin, they joined the Stretch/Village community almost from the beginning, first as attendees, then as volunteers and facilitators. They both graduated at the Authentic Eros One-Year Training (Torsten in 2016 and Marco in 2018).

Gentle Men Yoga is an easy class where it's OK if you can't touch your toes!
The focus of this class is the development of a kind and nurturing attitude towards yourself while working mindfully through your perceived limitations.
The combination of Vinyasa-Flow and Yin-Yoga Asanas will help you build strength and flexibility and will benefit you by releasing energetic blockages, increasing mental clarity and concentration, and harmonizing disturbing emotions.
All of that will happen in a warm, nurturing, and soothing environment where you can feel safe and fully be yourself.

Actor, director, yogi, teacher. With an array of multi-dimensional tools under my belt, i am on a never-ending journey to nudge this world in the direction of gentle calm. Self-care is a political act!

Zoom has become a major part of our lives and now enables us to meet globally. Yet, meeting in the virtual leaves us simultaneously close and distant. It also exposes us to the focused gaze of a camera to transport us onto another person’s screen. Through improvised dance we will to explore these ambivalences. How does it feel to connect to others in the virtual? No prior dance experience is required.

Jochen dances contact and other improvisation dance, works as a sociologist and is doing a training to become an integrative dance therapist. He is a certified healing practitioner for psychotherapy. At the Village he is one of the facilitators of the Queer Contact Improvisation Lab & Jam/DisTanz

This is a special Stretch edition of the monthly Village online event "Welcoming the new month" to reconnect to the strength and love within ourselves and to share this practice together with other men.
We check in together and inspired by the time and season qualities of the month of April we have a session of self affirmation, touch and massage for ourselves together with others  ending with a silent meditation practice.

Zahiro Ji originally coming from contemporain dance is now beside a movement fascilitator mainly a Thai Massage Fascilitator and teacher. He works with this  as a natural path  in Berlin, Germany. Offering bodywork and movement in various surrounding. He  loves to link both of them together to create new fields of exploration.

Touch is a fundamental need. When we don’t get enough handshakes, hugs or sex, we can find alternative ways to stimulate the sense of touch. The workshop will have short practices to bring attention to what touches you; including self drawing, partner drawing, and sharing stories in small groups.  Different levels of intimacy are controlled by your preference and can privately be discussed in breakout rooms. Bring paper and pen.

Mike is a dancer, choreographer, somatic bodyworker and currently a PhD candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, exploring movement as a tool to blur mind, body and environment. Working at the intersection of cognitive science and dance since 2011, his artistic work articulates human perception as performative tools, specifically empathy and metaphor as ways of communicating. He teaches creative practice workshops throughout Europe to university students and teams. https://www.facebook.com/shapedbytheflow/

We invite you to the Stretch Festival  lounge, an informal open space for discussion, reflection, saying hello and relaxing. Hosted by Axel on Saturday and Tony on Sunday.

Adriaan lives in Amsterdam. He works in Medical Education as a teacher and advisor. Using meditation, socratic dialogue among other techniques, he helps students and teachers to reflect on their profession. He's also a massage therapist. He uses massage as a way to communicate and help people to feel freedom and joy in their body. He loves running and swimming.

This workshop uses movement to explore the boundaries between play, assertion and aggression. We will take the wisdom and insight that PlayFight/QueerFight offers, and use it to encounter ourselves at a deeper level. We will experiment with our own experiences of joy, rage, anticipation, threat, confrontation, curiosity, and find new embodied responses to them. Previous experience of PlayFight/QueerFight isn’t necessary, and everyone is welcome to explore, and move, within their own limits.

Marc has previously run PlayFight/QueerFight in London and internationally online during COVID. He has a background in Judo, an expressive and improvised movement practice, and is a psychotraumatologist.

The class will function as an introduction to Yoni’s unique style of fusion while giving technical notes from the format he uses. The class will include a warmup that will gently transition into the dance portion of the class, keeping everyone’s bodies warm and moving. The class will then introduce techniques without taking up too much space, perfect for being active right in your home.

Yoni Biyé is a transnational fusion bellydancer with a BA in American Vernacular Dance out of Elkins, WV, with a diverse dance background. Since 2007 he has been studying every form of dance he could get his hands on. His teaching style focuses strongly on body health, proper technique, and playing with musicality, enabling him to engage students with his way of thinking about dance and music.

How do you ask for what you need in words to clearly get what you desire? It is a challenge for many these days. Come join us for a experiment of using our voices with requests to allow us to drop into pleasure. This embodied offering is for anyone looking for practice expressing themselves clearing to attain the  safest and authentic pleasure. We will use witnessing, requesting and our bodies in this offering.

JoJo Bear is a Somatic Sex and Intimacy Coach in the United States. He uses sacred intimacy, somatic coaching and hypnosis as tools to assist men to discover their commitment to their own pleasure.

In a moment of global pandemic and protests against racism, has manhood lost its meaning? How might intersectionality, a concept formed by black feminists, help us forge new connections between different communities of men? In this guided conversation, participants will think about the intersections that exist between and among masculine-identified people, and consider how our evolving ideas of race, sexuality, eros, and community can create a more liberated and politically liberating view of masculinity.

Khary Polk is an Associate Professor of Black Studies & Sexuality, Women's and Gender Studies at Amherst College. He has taught at the JFK Institute for North American Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin, and has written for a number of queer anthologies, including Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots?: Flaming Challenges to Masculinity Objectification, and the Desire to Conform, If We Have To Take Tomorrow, Corpus, and Think Again.

What cosmic worldviews exist simultaneously between queer men?  If spirituality were a landscape painting, what would yours look like? If we take a collective survey, how would the landscape between us look?  A short lecture will lead into a guided inquiry. Then together we will create a listening and sharing space. By gathering landscapes, we will get a sense of how many different worlds are worlding what worlds.

Jorge De Hoyos is a contemporary dancer, performer and choreographer from Southern California, based in Berlin since 2012. He recently completed a Masters study called Solo/Dance/Authorship through the University of Art Berlin. He’s currently retaking a Permaculture Design Certification course after the one he did in San Francisco 10 years ago. He started training Kung Fu and Tai Chi at the end of 2020 and it’s revolutionizing his approach to dancing and grounding.

I'll be sharing my butoh dance practice. It will be an easy dip into this art form, connecting movement and embodiment with emotions and imagination, journeying into inner worlds / invisible worlds. I will make it special in the spirit of easter stretch.

Tchivett is a berlin based dancer, improviser and performer. He comes from france and has training in contemporary dance, butoh, performance art, somatic practices and martial arts. Since 2011 he creates his own solo pieces and workshops, and toured throughout europe on alternative scenes and in festivals. He also takes part in different constellations of dance creative group processes and research collectives seeking to develop artistic and political practices around dance, improvisation, self-organisation, queer culture and feminism.

Imagine a rollercoaster GoGo party with a steamy music playlist and sexed up zoom participants creating a safe space to watch and be seen jerking twerking or f*cking. Public chat is encouraged with creative cams from across the globe. The main rules : CAMS ON, sex-positive vibes, no breakout rooms and unmute when you cum.

DJ MAJ is a New Mexico based queer artist who has been co-producing the twice-monthly Radical Færie “Love Temple” since the early days of the pandemic and the start of the K(no)w Talent Show of the Radical Færies.

Through chanting, breath, yoga, and stillness, let's revel naked in the symphony of sensation that can arise in the body. By cultivating self-acceptance we will courageously and joyfully embrace the challenges of diving in to embodied pleasure, and playfully confront any resistance to welcoming all the sensations our beautifully unique bodies have to offer. No previous yoga experience needed.

I'm currently a nomadic yoga teacher offering regular Zoom Yoga and Meditation classes, and I'm the founder of a Yoga community for GBTQ Men, hosting adventurous Men's retreats around Europe.
I'm trained in Forrest Yoga, Power Yoga and Meditation. My passion is to bring people together, to create a space where people feel free and empowered to face up to what holds them back in life, to embrace joy, to welcome pleasure, and to come alive!

The invitation to this workshop goes to all those who are interested to approach one's own whole-body self, pleasure, excitement and the ability to sense. Through the collective framework we enter those states and the possibility to share these experiences. The senses and various states of an embodied self supports regulation. We focus on the breath, sounds, movement and self-touch. With that inspiration we enter a focused space for yourself to dive into embodied self-love / masturbation as much as you want. It is a self-awareness workshop for more embodied connection to yourself. There is no right or wrong, no need to do anything and no performance pressure! Of course the camera can also be turned off and on, however you want.

Alexander Hahne, Hamburg.
gay transmen, sex educator (gsp) and somatic educator and Sexological Bodyworker in training. Head of workshops on the subject of body experience, intimacy and sexuality. Trainer for trans* specific awareness work as well as HIV/STI prevention for trans* people. www.alexanderhahne.com

Nino Mar Seliz, Berlin.
Somatic-systemic counsellor, sexological bodyworker, somatic sex eduacator in own practice, co-teacher ISB Berlin, Trans*dad. My main idea as a facilitator is to open up non-judgmental learning spaces for peoples` approach to their own body, to (re)connect, to strengthen and nourish in order to be able to live and love with (full) pleasure through finding own resources to support this.
www.verkoerperungsatelier.com

„Self bonding slow dance” is a practice focused on developing a caring, commpasionate and nurturing relationship with the cosmos of your entire being. By tunining in with your internal landscape of feelings,emotions and desires you will move following your individual flow offering your body exactly what it needs. Tapping into a deeper part of your true nature and through that with the nature at large. Slow dance is a great way to savour your sensuous self.

For the workshop please prepare a candle, some body lotion or oil (I recommend plenty of coconut oil). Make sure your room is warm enough so that you have an option to work with less clothes and more skin. This workshop is an intimate act of self care and self love therefore you may keep your camera off.

gender expansive free spirited person*pleasure enthusiast * plant whisperer * erotic dancer for plants * choreographer * sexological bodyworker in training * personal assistant for people with disabilities * future pleasure oracle * Queer Leo and Leo rising. Miau. Current sexuality status: dating all zodiac signs.

Fermenting foods is an essential part of human culture, and some nonhuman ones as well! Many of us have recently rediscovered home fermentation. This beautiful, productive, and delicious relationship with microorganisms surrounding us can balance some of the fear currently permeating our relationship to the microbial. In this workshop, we will somatically explore our digestive system, as well as discuss some practical methods of fermenting foods that will allow us to start fermenting like demons!

David's Sourdough Video: https://vimeo.com/514629707

David Bloom is a choreographer, dancer, teacher, father, filmmaker, bodyworker, pianist, and tea collector. Graduated from the M.A. Choreography course at HZT Berlin. David has taught in many contexts, including HZT Berlin, Tanzquartier Vienna, Tanzfabrik Berlin, Human Architecture Lab in St. Petersburg, K3 in Hamburg, the Masters of Contemporary Dance Education in Frankfurt, the Rietveld Academy for Fine Arts & Design in Amsterdam, & the ImPulsTanz Festival in Vienna. More info at: https://davidbloom.info

How can we fully embrace the invitation for self-observation resulted from the world pandemic? What is our collective mission as love-ambassadors these days? Can we first come to terms with ourselves and redefine our freedom? Let’s revive the inner dialogue with our Sacred Animals and discuss all that is vital for our wellbeing.

Gal Naor is a Berlin-based Israeli Sign Language interpreter, theater maker, and choreographer. In 2014, together with his partner, he established “The progressive wave” performative-initiative. For the past sixteen years, Gal is studying Jewish secret mysticism, a.k.a Kabbalah* in a unifying prism, encoding the ancient wisdom into an up-to-date comprehensive practice, (re)claiming religious ideas to the gay community.  (*In Hebrew also means “Acceptance”)

We invite you to the Stretch Festival &nbsp;lounge, an informal open space for discussion, reflection, saying hello and relaxing. Hosted by Axel on Saturday and Tony on Sunday.</p>

Tony Just is an artist from America and lives in Berlin, and has studied meditation for three years with Axel Müller. He uses a combination of techniques, eye to eye or partner meditation and also guided meditation using colors to represent different emotions. He regularly hosts the village meditation and healing spaces.

Julian presents his awards winning short movie which gives an intimate glimpse of sensual man to man massage during a performance in front of a mixed audience.
After watching the movie, Julian introduces the technique of the „Big Draw“ and guides through an exercise. The „Big Draw“ allows to have a dry orgasm without ejaculation and can be performed alone in masturbation setting, as a part of an erotic massage or sexual encounter.

Julian originally studied acting, singing and dance before he discovered his passion for massage and bodywork. He regularly organises and leads courses for men and weekend workshops in Zürich. In his work the main focus is on breath, voice, movement, touch, expression and self-acceptance. His short movie «Eros Touch Ritual» is presented at several festival worldwide and won 5 award so far.

Body? HELL YEAH! But when it comes to your belly fat, body negative anti-fat logics are deeply internalized and hard to challenge. There is no other tissue with such a bad reputation regarding health, performance and desirability.
Let’s gain a new frame with Mäks favorite fat facts and sense into the many gifts our fat tissue grants us unconditionally, invite peacefulness and whisper thanks to the silky honeycombs of fat.

Mäks is a psychologist, systemic therapist, artist and somatic practitioner (Somatic Academy Berlin), centering their work around fat tissue on a collective and cellular level. Asking themself how to transform the traces of discrimination in the body to build resilient communities, the endgame is the anticapitalist revolution_transformation! Their positioning is relevant because powerstructures doesn’t end at the door of somatics: They are queer, fat, middleclass, nonbinary transgender, white. And excited to meet you. Insta: the_fat_maksias

Many of our lives have been shaped by ongoing struggles with the domination of white heterosexual men. Those struggles are complicated by our own embrace of the masculine aspects of our beings and the extent to which our changing individual practices of masculinity defy and are undermined by the dominant stereotype. In this workshop we will explore the intersectional  relationships of race, gender, economics, ethnicity, ability and religion on the construction of our authentic, forgiving, thriving and rich masculine selves.

Tony Whitfield is an artist, designer, educator and writer who has recently relocated to Detroit after decades in New York City where he pursued a multifaceted creative practice in the contexts of academia, arts administration, curating, government and design production. His work which has been shown in galleries and museums in the US and abroad, centers on the development of narratives through the exploration of material culture manifested in images, evidence, artifacts and heirlooms. http://tonywhitfieldprojects.blogspot.com

The laziest, sexiest dance class you’ll ever take. We will gogo dance for each other in small groups. For some this sounds easy and pleasurable while for others a nightmare. But don’t worry! The aim of our gogoing is to discard all ambition, sexiness-standards and dance ability. As watchers, we’ll tune into and celebrate the sexiness inherent in each person…especially when they’re not trying. As dancers, we won’t even attempt to be good.

Jorge De Hoyos is a contemporary dancer, performer and choreographer from Southern California, based in Berlin since 2012. He recently completed a Masters study called Solo/Dance/Authorship through the University of Art Berlin. He’s currently retaking a Permaculture Design Certification course after the one he did in San Francisco 10 years ago. He started training Kung Fu and Tai Chi at the end of 2020 and it’s revolutionizing his approach to dancing and grounding.

"Meditating on the qualities, the colors and healing aspects of several Queer deities from different cultural backgrounds. Inviting their Spirits into our hearts, consciousness and surroundings. 

What can Queer history mean to us nowadays? A colorful journey connecting Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Aztec mythology, traveling  from Ancient Greece, Egypt, Africa to Scandinavia.. 

Embrace the peace, power and harmony our rainbow tribe has blessed the world with and find support in life's challenges aka lessons.

Empower yourself with the inspiration of Queer deities. "

Robert has a background in dance & theatre. He works as a massage therapist, healer, sexological bodyworker and Sacred Intimate. Robert has followed a path of Plant Medicine for over 25 years, his studies with plant teacher Ayahuasca has influenced his work greatly. He is an initiated healer in Umbanda ceremonies, an Afro-Brasilian religion that acknowledges nature elements and deities as a spiritual pathway. Oxumaré (rainbow) is the base for his ceremonies celebrating our tribe of rainbow warriors. Since 2019 he is studying De-armouring including the healing of Sisterhood. Uniting the Queer Spirit with the sacred Feminine. Robert travels the world offering his rituals and sharing the magic and inspiration he received during many journeys inner and outer worldly.

What if we could set aside any shame about our sensual self or our sexual expression for a moment? How would our life look like? How would we look like? How would it feel? This is an invitation to explore this realm, a landscape where we experience our bodies with no or less shame. In this 90 min workshop we'll re-configure our relationship with shame through a guided meditation followed by mindful self touch, including acupressure and massage. In this session, some genital work is incorporated but it's not the sole focus of the workshop. Join us in beauty.

Serge has been a bodyworker and massage therapist for over 7 years. During this time he’s supported people with a wide range of injuries, physical and emotional trauma, working both from a clinical and holistic perspective. In 2016, he completed his Yoga Teacher Training, combining his passion for yoga practices, healing and bodywork. When in his classes/workshops, expect hands on work, deep powerful assists, informed adjustments and an invitation to practice your own way.

Authentic Relating is an interpersonal meditation. It is the practice of acting and speaking from a place of heartfelt vulnerability and deep presence, allowing us to be in alignment with our deepest feelings and weave a more rich and truthful human experience. You are invited to play three Authentic Relating games in a safe, non-judgemental space.

I'm Laurie, and I love bringing people together. Since 2019, I've facilitated Authentic Relating and Authentic Dating workshops in 15 cities, 6 countries and 3 continents, including online, at festivals, and with organisations. My workshops have sparked thousands of global connections

An open talk & sharing with Kai Ehrhardt (representing Village.Berlin as a whole), Thomas Schallhart (representing: Queer Matters e.V. & Queers For Future), Aravind Parameswaran (representing Anti-Racism Committee for the questionnaire), Tchivett (representing Village Inclusion & Diversity Committee), Eric Le Rouge (representing Instinct Queer Art).

Five years and one pandemic later, Village.Berlin would like to look back, sum-up what happened, look at where we are and introduce some thoughts and ideas for the future. We have achieved a lot based on the generosity and good will of many - the devotion of countless hours put in by organisers, facilitators, volunteers, members, counsellors and donors.

We are proud where we are and what we achieved despite the lack of adequate financial resources and humans capacities. The vision of this project resonates very strongly in the hearts of many and this is why we are where we are today.

At the same time, we know we could not always tend to everything people expected of us and in some situations we downright failed.

From all that we are learning. We used the pandemic as an inflection point to look at everything and to re-dream this project, grow it to its next place and improve it where we fell short in the past. Please join us for this time of reflecting and dreaming.

After a wonderful weekend of STRETCH FESTIVAL, this time will help you integrate and relax into all that has been stirred and discovered within you. Yoga Nidra induces deep relaxation throughout your entire body and mind. Kevin will guide you through your body, breath, emotions, into your deepest essence.
Would you like to:
- have more energy, be more relaxed?
- improve your memory, concentration?
- free yourself from emotional reactivity?
This practice offers tools to:
- relax
- rejuvenate
- sleep well
- improve digestion
- reduce pain, fatigue
- support your immune system
- resolve personal problems, trauma
- neutralize anxiety, anger, depression
Gentle movements segue into Yoga Nidra, done lying down. "I finally found a practice that allows me to deeply relax and meditate." Come experience it for yourself.

Yoga Nidra is done lying on your back. To prepare, I would suggest you have the following ready for the workshop:
   - Your practice space is warm enough.
   - You will not be disturbed during practice.
   - Enough cushioning on the floor for you to lie on your back for 45 minutes or so.
   - A blanket to cover yourself with, if you wish.
   - A blanket to fold to support your head and neck, if you need that to keep your neck neutral.
   - A bolster, or could be a couple of blankets rolled together, to put behind your knees.  Some people like another bolster, possibly a bit smaller, to put underneath your ankles/heels.

Kevin Kortan enjoys working with men in groups and individually, helping them become more authentically themselves through the practices of yoga, touch, and sound healing.  He co-created and taught the workshop "Power, Pleasure, & Play" with Kai Ehrhardt in New York and Easton Mountain. Kevin danced professionally, touring internationally including the world-renowned Trisha Brown Dance Company.  He has taught yoga for 25 years and trained yoga teachers for over 15 years.  Kevin is also a Yoga Therapist, Movement Therapist, and teaches Experiential Anatomy, Dance, and Chanting.

We invite you to the Stretch Festival &nbsp;lounge, an informal open space for discussion, reflection, saying hello and relaxing. Hosted by Axel on Saturday and Tony on Sunday.</p>

Axel lives in Berlin and does bodywork with the Pantarei Approach and embodied counseling. He has roots in the Copenhagen left/trans/queer activist scene and now uses embodiment to assist groups and people on their journeys towards living lives full of strength, compassion and resilience.

Podium