Since I returned from a month in Australia in September it’s been a bit of a whirlwind on the passport front. The Canary Islands in December for a break and to catch up with Agustin Hernandez, a prolific Rebirther in Teneriffe, followed by Austria over Christmas to launch Rebirthing groups in the Tyrol, then my first presentation in Morocco in January this year. At the end of  last month I went back to Innsbruck  for 2 more Rebirthing groups, which is building nicely with an opportunity to start Rebirthing in Vienna later in the year.

But the big one is Morocco, I am so excited by the opportunities there, that I have started a blog and information site just for that country and it’s cultural differences, in english and some pages in french. It appears that limited rehab and detox facilities ( if any ) exist in Morocco and no government figures are available for alcohol & drug use, as if no abuse problems exist. I had some reservations when I was invited  to present there, as alcoholism is paramount to the history of codependency and speaking about alcohol in a muslim country I thought would prove difficult. Well it wasn’t. People were eager to talk about it, either privately or in group. Casablanca appears to have noticeable alcohol issues alongside, club drugs and sexual activity via female prostitution. All this creates shame, the word I kept hearing in relation to family secrets.

This makes sense on reflection because Casa is not a tourist destination but the financial and business hub of Morocco breeding all the problems we experience in the West when money, power and addiction come together.

For my first presentation, the free two hour thursday evening introduction was ready with 20 chairs – and 45 people turned up! It was not the amount of interest that held my breath, but the diversity of audience, all ages, from twenties to grannies, from short skirts to covered heads and legs and equal men and women. Locals and expatriates from France, Spain, Belgium and America sat cross legged on the floor hungry for information about a subject that rarely gets spoken in public there : codependency & addictions. So it was wonderful to work with well over 20 people on the One Day Saturday Seminar, including 6 doctors, and twelve people who had never experienced Rebirthing Breathwork before. Well the feedback speaks for itself :

Excellent but too short – come back! . . .  David Parkers relaxed and unpretentious attitude, humour and calm way of speaking . . . Can you come back once a month? . . . My first Rebirthing breathe was sensational! . . . well led, adaptable, complex material . . . Very secure and relaxed atmosphere.

Before I left Casablanca train station at lunchtime the next day, for the Marrakech Express, the wonderful committee of NAFS ( The Moroccan Rebirthers Association ) invited me to a power breakfast beforehand to complete. We discussed the feedback sheets and I agreed that I would return in May for a weekend seminar and a week in Casa for private sessions and to build up support, if only to repeat the laughter we all had. Since then I have been invited to Tangiers to start something there later in the year and other requests have come in from Yoga centres to develop ideas. I have committed in my schedule to return to Morocco 3 times a year, this year and next, to build for the good of all concerned. I so look forward to returning the first 2 weeks of May.

En shallah!

So a BIG THANK YOU to the committee pictured here as I left and to Philippe Raffrey from Rabat who attended my one day and listed my blog and information on his pioneering alternative therapy blogsite, the largest such site in Morocco :  http://marocterredeveil.canalblog.com/

. . . & do check out my NEW Moroccan blog and info pages here : http://urbanlifeclass.wordpress.com/