Samir Rawas Sarayji
I first discovered my passion to massage in my youth, when I would intuitively and informally massage family and kin whenever they had pain or discomfort. Then, due to studies at university and moving away, I had “forgotten” about it until one day in 2019 I spontaneously signed up for a workshop at the OMB Academie. A spark reignited and I immediately enrolled for the full study. I was one of the fastest students to graduate completing the course within 6 months. Of course, I was practicing non-stop with other students, friends, and family. Afterwards, I was accepted in the train-the-trainer’s trajectory. Since 2020, I teach at the OMB Academie and I work as a professional masseur.
Shamanic Practitioner
I attended my first journey at Seedz for Life in 2020. The moment the introduction day began, I felt something stir within, a coming of home to my authentic self and a connection to something much greater, a natural force beyond the confines of the ego, with a beating heart of its own. My real journey had finally started… and it continues. I still attend advanced courses and Tribal Gatherings. It is a second home where I experience remarkable transformations whenever I am there. It is also hard work, confronting myself and delving further to a deeper layer each time. To feel, understand and integrate whatever is encountered. To make the whole even more resilient. To heal myself from within and to be able to help others heal. The path of the Shamanic Practitioner is the path I walk.
Certified Dao Lu Instructor
I am training Dao Lu (Chi Kung, Tai Chi, and Lu Kung Fu) since 2005 at Fire Dragon. I fell in love with this martial art for its usefulness to my physical and mental resilience, and its Taoist perspective on how soft conquers hard. I trained fanatically in the first 5 years, twenty hours or more in a week, before winding down to a more “conventional” pace. I can still remember waking up in cold sweats from the aches and burns in my connective tissue and joints. I am a devoted student for life. In 2009, I started teaching and giving workshops. In 2015, I became a certified Dao Lu Instructor.
Background
I grew up in Lagos, Nigeria till I was 20 years old. It was a turbulent time in the country’s history, the 80s and 90s, but it was certainly an experience never to forget. I lived briefly in Spain before settling in the Netherlands. I do speak Dutch and I do hate the mistakes I keep making with the Dutch language. I have degrees in Mathematical Sciences and in English and Literature. Yes, I am a nerd. If I am not massaging, teaching or training, you will most likely find my head buried in a book.
In my youth, I was obese and had body image issues. I cared too much about what others thought of me or how I came across to them, not only physically but also intellectually and emotionally. One day I stood on the scale and I was 99 kgs. (I think I was 14 years old at the time) and something snapped in my head. A voice screamed inside saying there was no way I was going to reach three digits on the scale. From that moment on till about two years further, through sheer willpower and self-discipline, I lost 21 kgs. I developed a new respect towards healthy eating and towards martial arts. It is how I came to learn the basics of boxing and Tae-Kwon-Do, and later on, some yoga.
When I first settled here around 2005, I started becoming lazy and unhealthy. The voice quickly returned and reminded me to once again seek the healthy lifestyle that I learned to value and respect. This was when I discovered Dao Lu, Taoism and the value of psychological process. I trained fanatically, studied hard and began to work on myself.
Fast-forward a decade and a half later to 2020 and I have: two failed serious relationships (from which I learned so much about myself); three successfully completed traditional psychotherapy trajectories (one for family-related anger issues in 2016, one for anxiety disorder in 2018, and one for ADHD in 2020); become vegan, conscious of the physical health benefits and a small way to which I could contribute to the health of mother earth; a new profession, massaging, which I am completely passionate and obsessed about (totally different from being an editor); found real magic through shamanism, the ability to heal from within and to connect on the transpersonal level with the unconscious collective.
2020 was a turbulent yet magical year in my life where great changes took place. I was busy working on myself, further confronting my fears and blockages. I knew that spirituality and touch would be vital elements in helping me to face those challenges, so I sought for and tried out workshops/courses in different areas like tantric meditation and breathwork, chakra healing, ecstatic dance etc. before finding the path of spiritual sexual shamanism. It felt so natural, so normal, and so powerful.
As a shamanic practitioner I entered a new dimension of mind, body and spirit. I have never looked back, and from the moment my transformation took place, where I uncovered my inner strengths, unmasked my weaknesses and became whole, discovering my authenticity, my life has taken a new meaning that has only strengthened and grown exponentially. Just after this transformation, I met the love of my life, and unbeknown to both of us at the time, she too is a shamanic practitioner. It is two souls meant for one another.
With Shamanism, my background in Dao Lu and Taoist philosophy, my experiences with psychology and therapy, and my passion to massage and heal through touch, everything comes together, unified and whole. The yearning to use this intrinsic aspect of who I am in my work is too strong to ignore. The chi (or energy) to heal should be shared with all those who are open to it.
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