Postcard from Ibiza

The latest from Sascha Kaus

No. 4 — Ibiza, 21.05.2024

Let it flow

Water edition

I’m a little late this time. I know. Does it really matter? Probably not.
It’s my objective to send out a new newsletter each month and while I intended to have it ready at the start of the month, I have no obligation other than to please my own judgmental thoughts. So what’s the issue?
My judgmental thoughts can sometimes scream very loud, and they have been screaming for a while now. But what if it doesn’t flow. Well, then don’t force it. This is why I’m a little late this time. 😉

Luckily, I found my flow again and here are the topics for this newsletter:

• Open Water Swimming

• Das ist kein schönes Wetter

• Men’s Retreat coming up

Open Water Swimming

Finding my flow

Swimming wasn’t my favorite sport for a long time.

As a schoolboy, I remember times when I was hiding in the toilet during the weekly swimming classes every time we had a challenging practice. The deep water made me feel unsafe, and I was the last in class to get a basic swimmer badge called the Seepferdchen — Seahorse.

I grew up next to a river and enjoyed playing in the water in the summer. Later in life, on trips to Thailand, I took diving classes and was blown away by the beauty of the marine life. So water was nothing I was particular afraid of, but swimming still wasn’t my thing.

Since I have been living in Ibiza now for some time, I felt it was about time to look into my relationship with water and swimming. So about two years ago, I bought some nice swimming googles, went to the beach and started swimming. First, just a few minutes and short distances. But over as short period of time the distances became longer and at some point I got the drill. I finally found my flow, gliding through the water. Swimming started to feel effortless, like walking. From that moment on, I was hooked. My time in the water and the distances I swim grew, weather, waves, and depth seemed less hostile, and I felt alive in the water. At some point, I even bought a neoprene swimsuit to be able to swim throughout the winter.

I swam in cold and crystal clear waters in the winter. I felt safe and alive in the dark wavy sea during a rainstorm underneath a rainbow, and I am always surprised by the plentiful variety of fish friends and their babies and in the warm summer sea.

What a blessing it is to have that experience. Something that always seemed so hostile and alien has become a source of connection and aliveness.

Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee

Where is the water?

Das ist kein schönes Wetter
(This is not nice weather)

Looking out of my window, I see change. The earth is dry, trees are dying, and the rain is missing. Usually, April is a month full of flowers and colors here in Ibiza. When winter has brought enough rain, the island is full of patches of green sprinkled with flowers marking a colorful start into the season. This year it is unusually dry and the abundance of colors we know from past springs is missing.

2023/2024 was the year with the second-driest winter since records began in 1953. The driest was in 2022/2023

We also hit record temperatures last year, with the longest timespan of high temperatures with 203 days above 20 °C from Apr. 19 – Nov 7, 2023 and 134 days above 25 °C between Jun. 8 – Oct 19, 2023

Below, you see a picture that captures the situation visually.

On the left of the image, Ibiza on February 1, 2023, on the right of February 1, 2024 taken by the Sentinel 2 satellite of the European Space Agency.

I want to share a video that caught my attention because it brings the facts of climate change in clear a poignant language. It’s in German, but all my international friends could use the automatic subtitles offered by YouTube.

See for yourselves:

The end of April and beginning of May brought a little relive, and we had some long-awaited rain. It didn’t maker up for all the dry months we had before, so we are still in hope for more rainy days, although the summer is coming with big steps. As someone who left Germany, which had plenty of water in the last winter, it still feels strange to be hoping for more rain, but this seems to be the reality that we might be facing more and more often.

Calling all brothers

Men’s retreat coming up

I am too excited to keep silent for any longer. This autumn I will host my first men’s retreat together with my brother, Marcus Röver.

As some of you might have noticed, I have become more active within men’s work. Over the past six years, I have taken more and more time to look into certain aspects of masculinity and how to integrate a healthy relationship with masculinity for myself and others. I have been hosting weekly men’s circles here in Ibiza since the end of 2022, sitting with men and exploring what’s moving them and the questions that arise for them.

Now it’s about time to take it a step further and invite a group of men, into a space to explore a true and authentic form of masculinity.

I am super happy and grateful to create this retreat together with Marcus Röver at my side. Since we met in Portugal three years ago, we have explored our vision of what men’s work could look like and how we envision a space for men to explore and define their masculinity.

Marcus brings his experience of more than 20 years working as a leadership coach, guiding vision quests, ceremonies, and retreats and working with men from all walks of live.

Together, we will be companions, mentors, mirrors, and brothers on the journey together. Deep methodological knowledge from the fields of coaching, breathwork and bodywork and elements of vision quest will open the spaces that provide each individual with profound insights into their life. To be heard and seen in a group of like-minded men.

I’ll be sharing more about the retreat here soon. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions and are interested in joining us.

As always, thank you for your time and attention.

I’ll be back soon

Sunny wishes from Ibiza… 💛

Sascha