Alum Corner with Carmencita Briel
Carmencita Briel, originally from South Africa, moved to Vancouver as a teenager and graduated from the VWS. She pursued studies in Business Marketing at Capilano University and later became a mother of two daughters. Her career led her into the Organic Health Industry, and during her travels in India and Thailand, she obtained certifications as a yoga instructor and a Traditional Thai Massage and Reflexology Therapist. In South Africa, she discovered BodyTalk, which profoundly impacted her life and inspired her to become a Certified BodyTalk Practitioner. Carmencita believes in a balanced approach to lifestyle and wellness through holistic practices that empower the body, mind, and soul.
I was born in South Africa and moved to Vancouver with my family as a teenager. After graduating from the Vancouver Waldorf School, I completed my studies in Business Marketing at Capilano University, became the mother of two beautiful daughters and began a career in the Organic Health Industry. While travelling in India in 2005, I obtained certification as a Yoga Instructor, then in Thailand, I received certification as a Traditional Thai Massage and Reflexology Therapist. On return to Vancouver, I furthered my Yoga studies and became a Yoga Teacher.
I’ve since moved back to South Africa where I discovered the techniques of BodyTalk, which fundamentally shifted my life. So profound was my personal experience that I was inspired to study this conscious-based health care system, and I am now a Certified BodyTalk Practitioner. I believe that BodyTalk is the solution to re-establishing balance in one’s life through connecting body and mind. I also specialize in Access Bars — a gentle hands-on modality working on 32 points of energy running through and around your head; these points of energy store the electromagnetic component of all the thoughts, ideas, attitudes, decisions, and beliefs you have ever had about anything. I also stock a clothing line, OSEI DURO*, in two stores in Cape Town.
The Waldorf high school was great. The strong community set the foundation for my success. My advice to current students is to follow your dreams and work hard to achieve all you need to create a balanced life and the finances and freedom to travel the world! I continually strive to create a balanced approach to lifestyle and wellness through holistic practices that empower the body, mind and soul.
carmencitabriel.wixsite.com/bodymindflow
Compiled January 2019 by Ronaye Ireland for Development
*OSEI DURO is a company started by VWS alumni students Maryanne Matthias and Molly Keogh. It is a fashion design company that manufactures in Ghana using women’s sewing cooperatives for its production.
The Vancouver Waldorf School provides an experiential, age-appropriate approach to education based on the insights of Rudolf Steiner that inspires students to love learning, to be creative, open-minded, and compassionate. With a curriculum that integrates all academics with the arts and social learning, Waldorf Education develops not only the left and right hemispheres of the brain but the whole human being. A child’s social, emotional, physical and intellectual development is considered equally, supporting a conscious unfolding of the individuality within each student. Waldorf graduates possess capacities for empathy and clear, creative and independent thinking that enables them to carry out a chosen course of action with moral courage and social responsibility.
