Report by Claudia (Marvin’s mother)

Dear Hans,

I have had to thoroughly convince myself to start writing this report. One of the reasons for this being because I have the feeling I could write a whole book about the seven days, the other owing to the fact that there are so many experiences and occurrences which may be hard to describe accurately or seem too intimate. To keep things short has always been a problem. So, I am currently sitting on a train and have four hours time to do this. Let’s get started!

Our 11 year old son Marvin was visiting Hans’ basic training in Witten for the first time. All I wanted to do was accompany him, in order to support his intentions to overcome his stutter. As the week progressed, I began to observe slight, however not insignificant aspects about myself which I had never contemplated or perceived consciously before.

I believed it only conditionally possible, that such strong emotions can be procured through meditation. 1. "Amazing relaxation" + 2. "Amazing body consciousness"), I initially participated in these exercises due to my responsibility as a mother, to act as a role model for my children. Along with mourning and sorrow came the feeling that I did not want to know what was happening in my own body or soul. Instead all I wanted to do was to enjoy everything. Until then I had displaced myself into a relaxed state of mind through sport, discussions, listening to music, playing the violin and of course through sex. However, in my opinion this profound relaxation, lasting longer than the actual period of action itself, only works through the various meditation exercises the way in which they were practiced in this course. Other exercises (e.g. "Tell me who you are!") raised my awareness on how important it is to release one’s own emotions. I noticed the same in my son’s behaviour: since the training he feels balanced and at ease. When he finds himself in this state, Marvin has fewer difficulties expressing his feelings, and I believe this to be a crucial aspect of his quality of life, successful coexistence with others and his experience of the environment. Through the gentle, insightful manner in which Hans treats each participant, speaking to them in a way that makes them feel understood and building trust, our son began working on himself, learning and applying the speech techniques. With the help of the speech techniques and meditation, he now masters every situation. He also knows how to behave when he is for example feeling excited or nervous; taking a step backwards and laying his hands on his flanks, he concentrates on the diaphragmatic movement.

As a conclusion I would like to say that the course with Hans was a blessing, and has changed our lives considerably since then. I highly recommend meeting him. Allow yourself to be "charmed" by him, regardless of whether you stutter or not.