The Summer Festival of Love is an event that you will experience on many different levels: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. During this week-long event, Dr Marc Gafni gives you the very best of his heart, mind and being when he passionately brings the Dharma. His teachings have their roots in cutting-edge scientific knowledge and developmental theories. The mind, soul and body work that you will do throughout the day will help you digest all the impressions. This personal story gives you an idea of the effect the Festival can have, helping you to discover and live your Unique Self, and create a better world. Mathi Gijbels, CEO of the Gijbels Group, from Antwerp, Belgium shares his experience.

Living from joy and fulfilment makes a significant difference

“In my personal and business life, recharging is essential. It is helping me in the quest for discovering who I am, what it is that I really love to do and what I am good at. It helps me get in touch with my primal force and its expression. On that quest, I meditate, enjoy the silence, have meaningful conversations, participate in workshops, all with the goal of going deeper and deeper within. My personal development and growth in consciousness has been an evolution of many years, in which James Bampfield and Micky Masset from Quinx have played an important role. Last year, they invited me to join them and participate in the Summer Festival of Love, where they are giving workshops.

I want to contribute to the creation of a better world. For a long time, I was doing this from a feeling of duty and responsibility. Marc Gafni gave me a framework for acting from a feeling of joy and fulfilment instead, and that makes a significant difference. This insight has made my life lighter, more positive, and it helps me in my connection with my true self too. That is what Marc is bringing: he makes you step into pleasure and fun, and work from allurement, attraction, love, rather than from something that is pushing you, an obligation. He is like fuel in this process, triggering me, holding a mirror. This insight has become an important anchor within me. The energy is not constant though, it is a movement, inside and out, self-care and care for others, it gives an abundance of strength and trust, without becoming presumptuous. It is like the seasons, a dance, like the tides of the sea: every moment is giving impulses to the truth, which looked different before.”

I have evolved from a rational to a heartful approach, both personally and in my business

“Earlier, I found my balance more on a mental plane. Now I have learned to live more from my heart and intuition. That means more feeling, sensing, besides the thinking. That thinking is still very much present, and I am happy with that, it’s part of who I am, and I can embrace it. But gradually, I am finding a better balance between my head and the wisdom of the body – that gets to speak and be heard more – and the heart, or senses (‘the eye of the mind, the heart, the senses’). That is intuition, from my gut, my pelvis, my sexuality. I feel the allurement and grounding there, as a basis for creation in the head, with respect for the past and what was, and also dare to slow down, to stand still and then move forward again.

In my business too, I have moved to a place of being, from a more operational attitude of doing and pursuing targets before. I used to think that being successful meant ‘doing a lot in a many different fields’. Only when I was doing a lot, I felt loved, able to receive love, felt worthy of being loved. Now, I feel that I am able to experience love as being myself, and can see, embrace and be me with all my beauty and shadow sides. That different attitude reflects on my business and personal environment. In the business, I have evolved to the role of being a partner; from a project focus, to a process and relationship focus; from the facts and technical aspects of building and plan development, to culture, relationships and emotion, a heartful approach.”

The real connection from the heart creates happiness and success

“In the building andreal estate development business, it is quite easy get lost in the shape and technical aspects of a product or project. People tend to jump directly to the product and the content, rather than starting with feeling who you are and what you value in a relationship and then looking at the process that may lead to the creation of a product and its form. So many people are working with a fear of not being seen, not being recognized, ego, are making false interpretations because they don’t dare to truly engage and show up as themselves in the discussion. There often is also much at stake, business-wise, causing fear. I recognize that from my past and have now learned that by showing my own vulnerability, sharing my own emotions and desires, and inviting people to do the same, we are able to make a beautiful connection on the frequency of the heart before we enter into the rationality of a business meeting. In the context of the world of building projects and real estate development, this is very innovative, maybe even strange to many people. Many discussions are started from tough standpoints and conflict instead of cooperation and connection. There is so much fear of losing that people cannot see the opportunity to win through cooperation. Only if conflict arises, will they make time to listen and find out what is causing that conflict. Yet, with this different, heartful approach of first listening and giving careful attention to the relationship and processes, conflict is less likely to occur. I find that the process of creating something together is much more pleasant and satisfying if people are empowered and are able to work from a vision of abundance rather than from fear, shortage and constriction. The real connection that is born between other people and myself, if I interact with them from my heart, is making me happier, allows me to see more, listen better and lets us achieve results in a faster and more enjoyable way.”

Your main responsibility in life is to be yourself

“For the bigger part of my life, I have been living my life the way I thought people were expecting me to. Understanding that it is my responsibility to be myself and to be loyal to that, to live from my own being, has made life so much easier. Experiencing the power of rest and silence, of true attention for what is, being present, feeling… Like Taoism teaches us: do nothing and it will happen, or like Michael Barnett says;” Don’t put a head on top of a head”. The simplicity, the effortlessness of sinking in the wisdom of your body and intuition…we should not try to eclipse that with our mind. I am not pretending that I know how it works or that this is right for you too, but I am humbly offering you my simple manner, my path, and want to share the beauty and strength that I have discovered by walking it.”

The Festival brought me insights into the allurement of the body and the energy of Love

“Quinx and the Summer Festival of Love have brought me the enlightening shift to Joy. I already was aware of the power of the heart, compared to that of the mind, but the notion of the allurement of the body and the energy that Love is bringing into that, that is completing it on a whole different level. The combination of the cognitive, the feeling in the heart, the gut, the body, the sharing of knowledge on culture, history, without being dogmatic, the idea to take into account the evolution of each day, the different way of communicating… All that I find so powerful, and I can recognize myself in it, feel the energy to grow and find my own place in it. In that sense, the Festival is bringing a unique combination of the joined forces of Marc’s teachings in the morning and the afternoon workshops of James, Micky and other facilitators.”

Come and dare to dive in, it will bring you so much!

“So, if you are interested to come and join me this year: it is intense on a cognitive level, but at the same time also very relaxing. It is a rare chance to immerse yourself in the merged offering of both Quinx and Marc Gafni, people from whom I have learned a lot in the past years. The Festival offers an environment with open, like-minded people, a week full of quality and opportunities, combined with body work. It is a unique experience of learning, experiencing, living. If you can, are willing to and dare to dive in, surrender and immerse yourself, it will bring you so much! It is really a very special experience that I can recommend you with whole my heart. It’s not a walk in the park, but it is offering a lot of relaxation, lightness and joy and it is very nice to be able to go from one sensation to the other in a community that offers a safe space for that.”