Primal -
Childhood Deconditioning

Heal your childhood wounds, release the past,
reconnect to your vitality, joy and true power.

With Svarup de Koning

This event took place 26 January - 1 February 2026
Below - moments captured during the retreat ♡

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What participants say
⬄

  • Chantal

    I have done a great deal of personal development work, peeling back the layers of my “onion” one by one. Still, I often felt as though I wasn’t truly living. There was a deep sense of fear, unsafety, and a lack of trust in life. Although I understood many of my stories, the little girl inside me kept knocking, longing to be seen and heard. I just couldn’t understand what she was trying to tell me. It felt like there was a huge wall in the way.

    That changed when Primal Healing came onto my path. Like an erupting volcano, I released stored emotions — rawness, anger, grief, loneliness, and fear — supported by the team and the exercises we practiced. After all those years, I was finally able to see, feel, and understand what had caused the little girl inside me to feel so trapped, dimming her light and joy.

    It felt deeply liberating. Throughout this intense and raw process, I felt safely supported by the team’s ability to hold space. I am profoundly grateful for this journey. I now experience a deep sense of peace and trust. My once-closed heart is opening, and step by step, distrust and hardness are transforming into love and tenderness.

  • Stefan

    Why did you decide to join?
    - A lot of childhood stuff, traumatic events, disregulated nervous system.

    What shifted for you?
    - A lot of release, a deeper connection with myself, more joy, love, confidence. A lot of understanding. Even my handwriting changed. That suddenly changed during a catharsis.

    What would you say to someone considering joining in the future?
    - Go! Go! Go!

  • Anonymous

    I felt a strong need to take a step closer to gain awareness and emotionally and systematically deal with my childhood trauma to revive the connection with my inner child.

    I feel I gained a lot of understanding and empathy for myself. I have worked a lot from the perspective of forgiving my parents but I haven't taken the time to really sit besides the younger self. I have felt more tender towards myself and aware of my boundaries. After the group I felt energetically clean and creatively inspired.

  • Mark

    Primal has been the most transformational experience of my life.

    Being familiar with personal work, I knew there were some aspects from my childhood that influenced my current life, but diving into Primal I learned that everything actually originates back then - I relived the origin of my challenges as an adult and through this process I owned and accepted sides of my self that until then felt unfamiliar and disturbing.

    This process of ownership allowed me to become more aware of my triggers consequently disempowering them. Through Primal I was able to work on my relationship with love and this directly impacted my life with people close to me - I learned to love with totality acknowledging and respecting the fear behind my trust in love.

  • Mike

    During Primal I made a profound connection with Little Mike, who had hidden himself for years. I spent time with him, got to know him better, his needs, his pains.

    We went on a beautiful journey. We found our voices back. Together we faced the voices that we have been listening to, that were not really ours: of father, mother, or created in unsafe situations, relationships. We dealt with the tension created by them and said “It’s enough, we are going to listen to our own voices”. This own voice was reborn and its name is: Svatantra.

    And now there is more awareness, of all voices, new and old. And there are dialogues between these voices, between Mike and Svatantra, instead of the conditioning of an unconscious listening.

    I see and feel that I am growing towards a life that is more authentic, a life that is mine.

  • Anonymous

    I decided to join primal to invite honesty, care and self compassion into my life. For a long time I’d been struggling with finding my own voice, setting my boundaries, feeling joyful and playful, which resulted in feeling stuck in live, running away from conflict and being lived rather than living live.

    Primal helped me big time to find agency and autonomy in life. Not just by knowing, but really by living through childhood conditioning, experiencing my fears, joys and trauma’s, and by letting go of everything that doesn’t serve me anymore.

    I feel more connected to my emotions and energy, and learned that I can choose how I wish to be in compassionate relationship with myself and close ones. It wasn’t an easy process, but it is the biggest gift that I have ever granted myself.

    Take the leap. It will bring you everything you didn’t expect, but the gains are even more surprising. You are in good hands!

  • Işılay

    It was a magical journey! Everything transforms in you! It touches Every little cell.

    It was mostly because of my partner who did it 7-8 years ago and ‘strongly’ encouraged me to do it too. The outcome was that I have new pair of lens to see my own childhood story in an embodied way, which I had never seen before.

    They created a process which builds up so magically that your mind turns off and your body and senses take control.

    It is perfect as it is- the assistants and organisers were amazing too! I felt very cared for and safe💙

A deep return to your roots:
A reconnection with your authentic self. 

A group of diverse smiling people outdoors on a sunny day, standing on grass next to a stone building, some raising their hands, with trees and a blue sky in the background.

Join us for a transformative 7-day journey that takes you back to the earliest layers of your life – conception, birth, infancy, and early childhood. Throughout this process, you will uncover how core wounds and early conditioning have influenced your behavior, beliefs, and relationships.

You will be gently guided through the stages of your development, revisiting foundational experiences that shaped your personality. You will be able to uncover and confront the unconscious roles and coping strategies that you developed in your childhood and then brought into your adult life – unveiling the masks that with time have hidden your authentic self.

You will be supported to express and release old emotions that block the flow of vitality in your body. You will explore your family setup with depth and compassion, addressing what remains unfinished.

By healing yourself at the roots, you will again have access to your potential, allowing you to celebrate the lightness and freedom that comes when the burdens of the past dissolve.

What is Primal?

In this short video Svarup - the facilitator of this process, shares the heart of Primal - what it is, why it matters, and how it can support you on your path.

Take a few minutes to watch it and get a feel of the journey we’ll embark on together.

Meet Svarup de Koning

Close-up of smiling elderly woman with long gray hair, wearing a purple top and a beaded necklace, outdoors with green blurred background.

PRIMAL THERAPIST, LEAD FACILITATOR

Svarup de Koning is Primal Facilitator, and has been leading therapy groups and trainings all over the world for over 40 years.

After graduating in Philosophy at the University of Rome, Svarup worked and trained for several years with R.D. Laing, running one of his therapeutic communities in London, UK. Svarup met OSHO, her master, in 1984. Since then, she has very much enjoyed being part of the commune. From that time on, Svarup has facilitated groups about childhood, teenage and sexuality, as well as meditative therapies. 

Svarup met her beloved life partner Premartha in 1985. For over 30 years, they shared their passion for life, growth, love, and meditation. They passed this on to many beloveds that attended their groups all over the world. 

Premartha left the body in 2023. 

Now Svarup continues their adventure on her own, cherishing in her heart an immense gratitude for the love, inspiration, and creativity they shared for so many years. The work keeps evolving, adjusting to the needs of a different time and world - the need for presence, maturity and innocence. 

Daily Program

People participating in a yoga or meditation class in a bright room with large windows showing an outdoor view, sitting on mats in a cross-legged position.

  • Morning Meditation

  • Breakfast

  • Morning Session

  • Small Break

  • Morning Session Continued

  • Lunch

  • Afternoon Session

  • Afternoon Meditation

  • Dinner

  • Evening Session

(Program subject to change)

Retreat Venue -
“The Place to Be”

A spacious yoga or meditation studio with wooden beams, large windows, and yoga mats with bolsters arranged in a semi-circle.

Retreat center The Place to – Be is a magical place located in the middle of the forest, just outside Zelhem in the Achterhoek, The Netherlands . A real place of silence, in the middle of nature. The historic Brunsveld farm has been converted into a place for retreats, workshops, training courses and other meetings.

The estate is full of centuries-old trees, vast meadows, ponds, lanes and forest. From the property you walk straight into the forest and you can walk and forest bathe for hours.

Interior of a bright, modern room with large windows, wooden walls and ceiling, and various seating arrangements including a sofa, armchairs, and a table with chairs.
Living room with sloped ceiling, wooden beams, a beige sectional sofa, a gray ottoman, two windows on a simple white wall, a potted green plant, and a textured beige area rug on dark wood flooring.
A rural landscape featuring a large wooden hay storage silo, a tree, a wooden bench, and open grassy fields with a partly cloudy sky.
A woman practicing yoga in a spacious, industrial-style studio with wooden beams and a mezzanine level.
A bedroom with wooden wall paneling and ceiling, two single beds with white bedding on either side, large window with beige curtains showing a view of a grassy outdoor area with trees and a picnic table.

What’s Included

✤ A free discovery call (optional)

✤ 7 day Primal therapy & meditation program

✤ 6 nights accommodation

✤ 3 daily group sessions

✤ 3 daily vegetarian meals and snacks by our private chefs

✤ Daily active meditations

✤ Rest from the outside world

✤ A group of fellow travelers - an intimate space of friendship and community

✤ A team of primal therapists and coaches

✤ Follow-up sharing group call

Meet the Team
⬄

  • Smiling elderly woman with long white hair, wearing a pink top and a black-and-white braided necklace, outdoors with blurred green foliage in the background.

    Svarup

    - LEAD FACILITATOR -
    PRIMAL THERAPIST, TEACHER

    Svarup de Koning is an expert Primal Therapist with over 40 years of experience in her field, and an OSHO Facilitator. After graduating in Philosophy at the University of Rome, Svarup worked and trained for several years with R.D. Laing, running one of his therapeutic communities in London, UK. Svarup met OSHO, her master, in 1984. Since then, she has very much enjoyed being part of the commune. From that time on, Svarup has facilitated groups about childhood, teenage and sexuality, and meditative therapies. 

    Svarup met her beloved life partner Premartha in 1985. For over 30 years, they shared their passion for life, growth, love, and meditation. They passed this on to many beloveds that attended their groups all over the world. 

    Premartha left the body in 2023. 

    Now Svarup continues their adventure on her own, cherishing in her heart an immense gratitude for the love, inspiration, and creativity they shared for so many years. The work keeps evolving, adjusting to the needs of a different time and world - the need for presence, maturity and innocence. 

  • A smiling woman with curly hair wearing a white shirt and a gold necklace with a lotus pendant, standing in front of a dark, textured rock background.

    Jheel

    - GROUP ORGANIZER -
    PRIMAL THERAPIST, MEDITATION FACILITATOR, CHILDCARE SPECIALIST

    Jheel is a trained Primal therapist, OSHO Active Meditation facilitator, and childcare specialist. Driven by deep curiosity for the nature of being human she has travelled many paths – tantra, breathwork, yoga, meditation, Primal therapy, intuitive dance.

    Her experience and growth have been supported by a degree in Psychology, and international trainings such as Primal Childhood Deconditioning, Healing Inner Teenager, Enneagram, Osho Therapist training, and Transessence Technique, among others.

    Her mission is to bring more vulnerability, playfulness and connection to this world.

    Jheel offers Primal Childhood Deconditioning sessions, Healing Inner Teenager sessions and leads meditation groups – both online and live in The Netherlands.

  • A young woman with long brown hair, wearing hoop earrings and a pink top, standing against a pink background.

    Zahira

    - GROUP ORGANIZER -
    ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, PERFORMER, WRITER, THERAPIST, ACTIVIST

    Zahira Mous’s life’s work bridges embodied healing, the arts, and social justice. Zahira holds an MFA in Dance, a Graduate Certificate in Women’s & Gender Studies, and a BA in Theatre in Education. She is certified in NLP, EFT, and trauma-informed inner work drawing from Jungian and Gestalt traditions, such as Healing the Inner Teenager and Sexual Deconditioning.

    She developed the method Art in Motion – a healing practice of movement and creativity. She has facilitated healing workshops in Palestine, India, Brazil, the U.S., Greece, and the Netherlands.

    Zahira is the founder/director of the Healing Arts Foundation, artistic director Project Zahira | Dance Theater, co-director of Rest / Resist, and founder/head facilitator of Sappho Tantra - initiatives rooted in decolonized therapeutic and artistic practices.

  • A smiling man outdoors with mountains and a blue sky in the background.

    Mark

    - GROUP ASSISTANT -

    Mark’s work weaves together embodied movement, QiGong, and a grounded presence that supports people in reconnecting with their natural vitality. Through somatic exploration and intuitive dance, he creates spaces where participants can soften, express, and meet themselves.

    Coming from a background in wellness hospitality, Mark has spent years designing and facilitating transformative experiences and retreats across Europe. He also stewards a retreat center in the Swiss mountains, a home for deep inner work.

    In primal retreats, Mark brings steadiness, attunement, and a playful sensitivity to the group, holding a safe space for participants to explore their deeper layers. His mission is to support others in returning to a natural rhythm — rooted in presence, embodiment, and the freedom to feel.

  • Close-up of a smiling man with curly hair, wearing a black jacket, outdoors with a wooden and leafy background.

    Svatantra

    - GROUP ASSISTANT -

    Call me (Antar) Svatantra, meaning Inner Revolution. It resonates deeply with me, reflecting qualities as independence, freedom, authenticity, and discovery of one’s true nature.

    Once I lived an unconscious life until I started questioning myself Why? After a lot of Why-questions and experiences (spiritual, energetic, body, and my last job as a communication trainer), Awareness, Total Acceptance, and Responsibility for everything that happens in my life became my path.

    Primal has been my last step and now I am in a dramatic, wide-reaching change of my inner conditions towards absolute authenticity.

    Dutch by heritage, living in Italy, I am present, reflective, and eager to connect with you in the Primal group of Svarup in the Netherlands.

  • Young woman with dark hair, hoop earrings, and a black sleeveless top making a peace sign with her right hand in front of a dark background.

    Tania

    - SOUS CHEF -

    Tania is a poet, writer, community organizer, somatic practitioner, and intuitive cook. She uses food as a conduit for healing, connection, and social justice.

    Drawing from the vibrant flavors and cooking traditions of her Lebanese and Azeri ancestors, she infuses each dish with her own nafs: an untranslatable Arabic word that gestures toward a soulful, intuitive touch.

    Her approach to cooking mirrors her approach to writing: a deep, embodied knowing that flows into a creative vessel and lands with presence — fresh, sharp, and enticing.

  • Eleonora

    - CHEF -

    Eleonora, Ayurvedic Practitioner and Chef, weaves her Italian roots with Ayurvedic wisdom to create meals that honour the pleasure of the senses, while deeply supporting the body’s natural intelligence and the digestive system.

    She spices up her dishes with utmost care and presence, with the awareness that the quality of our food becomes the quality of our body.

    With this intention, her cooking provides nourishment to body, mind, and soul.  

Frequently asked questions

  • Primal Childhood Deconditioning is a deep group process of reconnecting with early life experiences, emotions, and unconscious patterns formed in childhood. Through guided inner child work, emotional release, and body-based practices, it helps uncover and let go of limiting beliefs and behaviors rooted in the past - creating space for more freedom, authenticity, and self-love in the present.

  • This retreat is for those ready to explore their inner world, heal childhood wounds, and break free from patterns that no longer serve them. Whether you’re new to self-discovery or already on a person growth path, the process offers a safe, supportive space to go deeper into yourself and reconnect with your true essence.

  • The retreat is facilitated in English. A good understanding of English is recommended to fully participate in group sessions and guided practices.

  • I am unable to pay the full sum in one go. Can I pay in installments?
    We offer payment plans, reach out to retreats@primalhealing.eu

    I wish to participate but I currently cannot afford the full amount. Do you have options?

    We have a few scholarship spots available to those who are ready to dive in but are currently unable due to their financial situation - reach out to retreats@primalhealing.eu and let’s have a conversation.

  • Absolutely. Any previous experience is welcome, but not needed. Only a dedication and commitment to yourself and your life.

  • We will serve three nourishing organic vegetarian meals per day, along with healthy snacks. If you have specific dietary needs or allergies, please let us know in advance. You can indicate this in the registration form, or contact us directly by email: retreats@primalhealing.eu

    • Comfortable clothing (layers) that allows you to move freely in the group sessions, sit on the ground, dance etc, including enough pairs of clothes to change for daily active meditations (we get nice and sweaty in those meditations and having fun together! :) )

    • Warm socks / slippers / indoor shoes (no shoes are allowed in the group room)

    • Water bottle (no cups or glasses are allowed in the group room) / Thermos

    • Journal and pen

    • Eye mask

    • Swimwear and towel for sauna (optional)

    • Comfortable footwear for nature walks

    • Alarm clock that is not your phone nor a smartwatch connected to your phone

    • Any personal medications that you require

    • An open heart and curious mind ♡

    In addition to the list above, after your registration you will receive an email with a specified essential list of things to bring.

  • Registration will take place on Monday 26th of January between 9am and 10am at the “Place to Be”.

    We will start with the first group session after the registration is complete and you have settled in - at 11am. It’s important that you are present at the opening of the group.

    The group will end on Sunday 1st of February at 16:00 and we will all have to leave the retreat center by 17:00 the latest.

  • By car:
    Navigate to Brunsveldweg 9, 7021 JH Zelhem. Use Google Maps; other navigation systems may have difficulty finding the correct address.

    By public transport:
    If you’re coming from Amsterdam, get in a train to Arnhem, then transfer there to the train to Doetinchem. You can take a taxi from Doetinchem station to “The Place To Be”, for the last 7,5km. Let us know which way you’ll be wanting to arrive and we can see if we can coordinate participants traveling together and support you to get from Doetinchem to the retreat center.

    If you’re flying from another country: You can fly to Amsterdam or Eindhoven, and take a train from there to Doetinchem.