Karoline Pfeiffer, Pantarei Approach Practitioner

NO LIMITATIONS

Karoline greets me with an inviting smile and curiosity as we decide to go for a walk in the cold Autumn weather. As the sun sets, she assures me she is warm, loves walking, and is happy to be outside. Dialoging in nature, I come to find out, is very natural for Karoline.

Before Pantarei, Karoline was studying Art History, History, and Theatre Science. She worked for galleries, art institutions, and artists. Her last job was working for a platform for contemporary art collectors worldwide, displaying private collections online. As the managing director, she used her position to bring out the potential of this organization. “When I started there, it was mostly a dead platform. The website was packed and outdated. However, I felt lots of potential in the original idea of the platform. Over five years, together with a great team and a heart-driven vision, we brought life back into it. We transformed it into an internationally renowned collector’s platform.”

However, transforming businesses was not the only work that interested her. Karoline remembered that the healing power of touch had fascinated her since childhood. Coming from an office job where she led teams and projects and wrote 60 emails a day, it first felt unreachable to work with people literally hands-on. Eventually, Karoline felt that the conversations in art galleries about the market while drinking champagne were not how she wanted to spend her time. She slowly transitioned to becoming a passionate practitioner, helping people access their core and bringing out each person’s creative potential.

Creativity and Communication

 “Pantarei Approach for me is the foundation of what I do. What I really love about this work is that it gives me flexibility and freedom to work with my own style. It’s not a method or anything I have to do. It gives me space to find a creative way to work with people— to get into a deep dialogue – on a verbal as well as on a non-verbal level. My Pantarei studies also reconnected to my passion for dancing and developed a deeper interest in energetic work. Being always interested in group dynamics and the challenges of its complexity, I also dove into collective leadership topics. I feel many parallels and connections of how embodiment can be integrated into the various layers of our personal and professional paths. All these different ingredients – whether it’s a bodily level, emotional, or energetic level – support me to work with people and their potential to heal, feel nourished, grow and expand.”

 Karoline tells me she has the feeling recently to bring her curiosity for various artistic styles back into her life. “There was always a lot of creativity around me growing up, and I always had a joyful relationship to be on stage with others, sing, dance, and perform—to express myself. Creativity is one of the biggest resources to make a shift in your life and to transform yourself into the direction that is closer to your core knowledge.”

Throughout our talk, the theme of no limitations appeared in different ways. She explained creating a website felt very limiting. However, she adds: “I luckily found a loving person with which I could translate my wish for not feeling limited.” Karoline’s website takes you on a journey, showcasing different offers and approaches. The design demonstrates her diverse way of communicating with people, either verbally, through dynamics, or hands-on touch.

How has Pantarei helped you in your daily life?

“First of all, realizing the way of how I actually learn is one of the biggest shifts that came to me through Pantarei. Before, I learned in a way that was based on society or school education. But now, I am learning through experience and have the freedom to grow in so many different ways. Also, how I encounter people has changed. I listen differently. I involve my whole curiosity into a conversation. It’s more playful, caring, and with diverse approaches to people. I love to connect with people and find out the characteristics of this person. It was always like that, but with Pantarei it gave me more context.”

 What would a session with you feel like?

“I think when I meet a client, I take my time to really find how we can access a dialogue together. I try to tune into the specific language of the client – on a verbal and non-verbal level through touch and movement. Some clients like to talk about energies, while others would not want anything sounding like spirituality. I can swing on their frequency quite fast.  It’s important to me to create a space where people can express themselves without feeling wrong – a space for their way of thinking, emotions, and stories from the past. I love finding a creative way to communicate with them to integrate a new perspective or quality into their lives. I can go on a journey with them, either slow or with a flow of movement. Every session with every client is different. I don’t follow a schema.”

Is there a certain type of person that comes to you or that you like to work with?

“I often hear this question about focusing on a specific client group, but I really like to have this open space where everyone is invited. Some people come to me where we approach their personal stories with touch in a very sensitive manner. Other clients of mine are creatives, coaches, and professionals in high positions with a lot of responsibility for people. On a cognitive level, they are very quick and reflective. All of my clients are looking for new ways to connect with themselves.”

 Can you talk about a format that you offer called ‘Dialogue In Motion’?

“It’s like a walk and talk. I realized that many people love to have a walk with me and have a co-creative conversation. Some of my clients need a trusted and secure space like in a practice room, but for some of them, it can feel very liberating to have an open space with no limitations. While walking together, we observe, we feel, we perceive. We play and involve nature in the experience. There is a lot of creative potential in nature. The nature around us can give us lots of answers to our questions when we are deeply listening to it.”

 What is your favorite aspect about Pantarei?

“The community! The whole approach is made with so much heart and passion. I feel this in every student and practitioner of the Pantarei Approach I’ve met so far. I feel so secure and free in the space with them and notice so many things can happen because of that. For me, even if I am like a bird always flying away to discover and explore new things, I can always come back to my body and this is the space Vered and Claudia have created.”

 A last thought?

“Touch has a capacity to communicate where you don’t need anything else. Touch has the power to nourish and heal. Even more in the last year, we were able to understand how important touch is and that we need it as human beings.”