Diego

Half Colombian, half Belgian, I grew up in the quiet fields of Belgium, where my first teachers were wind, wood, and water. At ten, my family moved to Spain and cracked my world open to different ways of living. Years later, on a backpacking trip in Australia, I met a spiritual guide who introduced me to meditation and ancestral medicines. That encounter changed my compass. It pointed me toward a life rooted in nature, simplicity, and spirit—and eventually toward Colombia. In Colombia I apprenticed myself to the land and to elders who carry living traditions. Their teachings were not concepts but practices—how to listen, how to sit with the fire, how to enter the river with respect. About a decade ago, when I felt most disconnected from myself and the speed of society, these practices—along with clean food, silence, and prayer—brought me back. Becoming a father deepened the lesson: to be steady inside, so the people you love can rest against you. By trade I’m a woodworker. With my hands I shape spaces meant for slowness and truth. Together with Lara, I built our retreat center with bamboo, earth, and intention. It’s a place where you can hear your own life again. What I offer on retreat is simple and elemental: Nature as medicine. River immersions, cold-water practice, and time with the forest to settle your nervous system and clear the noise. Ritual with respect. Teachings I’ve received from Colombian elders shared with humility—never as spectacle, always as bridge. Presence. A calm, grounded container so you can soften, feel, and choose what’s real for you. Crafted space. Environments built by hand to hold you—open-air, fire-lit, and honest. If you feel overextended, unsure, or far from yourself, I won’t ask you to perform or force a breakthrough. We’ll go to the elements. We’ll breathe. We’ll let the river do what rivers do—strip away what you don’t need and return you to what you do. If you’re ready, I’ll meet you by the water.