A DAY IN THE LIFE OF DIRK PLAS – BODY THERAPIST, COACH & CONSCIOUS CHEF

It’s August – which means that Team Actually is on holiday. But we thought this might be a great opportunity for you to get to know some awesome members of the Actually community a little better! So welcome to our new August feature ‘A Day in the Life of…’ an Actually person! 

This week we are delving into the life of the awesome Dirk Plas – a body therapist, coach and conscious chef who wants everyone to get the most out of life.

It’s 7:30. I’m wide awake before my alarm rings, stretching my body and going over my agenda for the day. It’s a full day today, so I decide to start easy with a half an hour meditation, followed by a partly cold shower and a light breakfast. The cold water on my body makes me feel clearer and more present in the day. I would rather swim in nature as I often do, but living in the middle of the city, that’s a harder thing to do. I love my body and my body is so important in my work.

This morning I have two online clients for body-oriented therapy sessions, including one with my weekly client from Perth, Australia. I’m trained in Core Energetics, which is a type of body-oriented therapy that I combine with other modalities I offer. During the pandemic, I started working online so that my clients could still be supported. It takes a lot of creativity to work online but the experience has really changed my perspective towards it.

Before the sessions start, I take the time to connect to my body first, before connecting to my clients. My clients frequently say they like their space being held by me. I feel privileged to be allowed in the intimacy of their lives and love doing this work.

After the sessions I take a little break before creating a menu for a retreat that I’ll be cooking at next weekend. Occasionally I cook for retreats. Cooking and therapy seem different, but for me both require me to work from my heart and to be present. When I’m preparing a menu, I compose it in accordance with what the group will go through. On site, I feel their energy and fine-tune the meals to what they need in the moment. This skill and my main ingredient – Eros – is what sets my catering apart from other chefs. By the western world, Eros is often associates with sex. The best definition of Eros that came to me was: ‘Eros is the sacred experience of radical aliveness’. I like to have Eros in everything I do! I love to put it into the food that I cook for the small (20 people) and large (100+) retreats to add maximum inner nourishment to the process that participants are going through.

I drive to Wimbledon Park to receive three more clients in person, one-to-one. I love the physical space there, because it is soundproof, spacious and fully equipped. When clients enter the space, they are instantaneously put at ease by a waterfall… It is easier for me to attune to them in person. I can also feel more precisely what is currently alive for them which guides our exploration.  I love this way of working intuitively and creatively to help my clients go deeper.

After the sessions, I am full of energy with a fully open heart. When I am this open, I notice all the details of the life around me and in my inner world. The people and their energies, the trees in all their glory, the beauty of the city and her parks… It has taken me so long to fully enjoy my life and connect to what my body needs. I really yearn for other people to make the same discovery. This is what attracted me to become a therapist and facilitate authentic relating (AR) and Circling.

While driving home, I think about the program for tonight’s AR and Circling session, which I run every Thursday night in a cabin in Queens Wood, Highgate in North London in addition to a full day of AR, Core Energetics and breathwork once a month.

AR and Circling are practices to consciously and lovingly connect with oneself and others in the moment. I usually start the night with AR, which is more structured involving games, and end it with some circling, which is free-flowing and organic. Both are fun, and deep. Often people connect in an easy and beautiful way. 

I also use the cabin to see some body psychotherapy clients who love the space. From September, I’ll also be running a 10-week course for men here. Working with men and from my own experience, it is complicated to be a man, to feel and express ourselves and to really take our place in the world. A lot of men are struggling with what they can and cannot do or say. They want to love and be present but struggle with the how. I believe presence and connection to our values and qualities helps us to claim our place in the world. To decide who we want to be in relationship to ourselves and to others.

After tonight’s wonderful AR workshop, I go home. Listening to Sara’s podcasts and thinking back on the Notorious Networking night in May, I realise I need to get clearer on what to focus on in terms of my business and feel more comfortable with being visible. This will help me to reach more people, which sometimes feels a bit too big and vulnerable. I sometimes tend to hide from my responsibility, but there is no time to waste.

Arriving home, I welcome the silence. I pour a little of my favourite whisky and enjoy the stars looking down on me from a black clear sky. I love my work and how every day is different and full of new opportunities. Isn’t that amazing?

Satisfied and fulfilled, I go to sleep towards a new day in the life of Dirk.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF DIRK PLAS

A massive thank you to Dirk for allowing us to have an insight into your day!

If you’d like to know more about Dirk you can view his coaching and therapy website here or his conscious chef website here.