Three-day workshop, February 2026
Zonnelicht and Lotus, the Netherlands
Report By: Ellen van Tuijl
In February, Zonnelicht held its annual three-day training session for all its educational staff. The theme of this three-day training was “Setting Yourself Free”: to make a difference in the world and to clarify and unleash the idealism within yourself. When you, as an educator or teacher, feel free in your expression, creativity, individuality, and intuition, this immediately creates a space where children can come forward with their own individuality, qualities, and good ideas for their environment and the world.
DAY ONE
Each day began with a pleasant, relaxing yoga session. On the first day, Didi Ananda Devapriya led an introductory workshop on your own inner calling and the need to take action for the children, your community, and yourself in a world that calls for awareness, strength, and connection. Next, all participants played a game facilitated by Rutger Tamminga and Yolande Koning in which everyone was challenged to quickly come up with intuitive solutions to the problems and crises currently unfolding in the world. This game sparked a lot of discussion and brought many topics to light for further conversation.
During the afternoon program, the early childhood educators participated in creative workshops. By personally experiencing freedom of expression through a specific medium (drama, dance, and visual arts), the educators gained ideas and insights into how they can use these media with children; The after-school care staff immersed themselves in various roles and scenes during a drama workshop, the preschool teachers experienced how dance can be used, and the baby teachers explored various ways in which songs and music appeal to the babies’ sensory world and how they can help the babies express themselves through these activities. In the second part of the afternoon, the staff explored Aikido, Chi Gong, and ball sports to help them grow as individuals and as a team to encourage collaboration and interconnectedness.
The staff found it very rewarding to actively participate in the workshops and to gain new insights in various ways regarding the guidance and developmental activities for the children, with the goal of helping children express themselves more freely and tap into their own wisdom.
DAY TWO
The second and third days also began with yoga. The second day focused on deepening each participant’s personal journey toward greater freedom in their own unique expression as individuals and as educational staff members. Didi Ananda Devapriya gave a lecture on meditation and inspiration. Following that, workshops on the Inner Child, Intuitive Painting, and Storytelling were held in smaller groups for everyone.
In the inspiring and cheerful workshops led by Rutger Tamminga, staff members explored, discovered, and deepened their understanding of how they can apply storytelling for social awareness tailored to the age of the children they work with (babies, toddlers, and after-school care children). The staff members are incorporating the importance of storytelling with intuitive wisdom into their guidance of the children and have gained insights into how they can shape this through their creativity.
The staff found the day to be valuable and inspiring, and also more intense because it touched on personal processes at a deeper level.
DAY THREE
On the third day, the content of the previous two days came together in the preparation and delivery of an individual presentation. All participants gave a presentation on their own personal journey to express their inner drive to make a difference in the world and for children. They were moved by the sincerity and strength they saw in each other’s individual presentations and in the step of standing up for their own mission toward children and the world.
It was a beautiful and full program in which many topics were touched upon and explored in depth.