Jan Orlowski

For many years of my life, I was on the road as a spiritual seeker. On long journeys through Asia, I have dealt intensively with my inner life and the big questions of life. In the process, I encountered various spiritual schools, gurus and teachers. In numerous meditation retreats, some lasting several months – mainly in Buddhist traditions in South East Asia, India and the USA – I learned about a variety of mindfulness practices, had deep inner experiences and increasingly found some inner peace. In 2012, my life changed noticeably – with the birth of my son and my new job at the crisis center of the Urban Hospital in Kreuzberg. I came out of my spiritual bubble and was confronted with other realities. Instead of continuing to immerse myself in meditative contemplation, I found joy in the lively interaction with people and a wide range of life issues – both professional and personal. In the process, I began to engage more intensively with Western psychology and various therapeutic models. Today I see myself as a reasonably integrated person: With one leg I am still in touch with the truths that had revealed themselves in deep meditation, but with the other I stand firmly on the ground of everyday life in the big city. My life has become richer and more diverse as a result. I particularly enjoy therapeutic work with people, and the creative interplay between meditation and psychology also inspires me. This is expressed in the “Psychoactive Meditation”, an open group that I offer several times a month. I originally trained as a nurse and have been working therapeutically on a crisis intervention ward since 2012. Before that, I worked in an epilepsy intensive care unit for many years and in a hospice for two years. As a Heilpraktiker for psychotherapy, I have completed trainings in Focusing and IFS therapy (Internal Family Systems), as well as trainings in systemic couples therapy, solution-oriented systemic counseling and hypnosis. I