TOGETHER WITH ÅSBACKA

JUNE 2026 -

Twenty years ago this June, Jonathan signed the contract for Åsbacka, and it became both home and a retreat center. Soon after, Zara joined and we have been here ever since. It is amazing to think we have been together so long with this wonderful place, which keeps teaching us and showing us more.

For Jonathan, when he signed the papers, he stepped into the right and the responsibility of being Caretaker here. Accepting responsibility of living together with Åsbacka, listening to Åsbacka, and dancing the Dance of Life together with Åsbacka.

During our time here, there have been many changes, big and small. We have come to know the place in so many different ways. We have grown together through practical care and with people joining us here on courses and retreats. We have made it a practice to regularly listen and walk the land. We are often reminded that we live here together and to always ask Åsbacka for its input before any big changes are made. To always make space for another perspective beyond our own when making decisions.

In the first few years we had the remarkable experience of feeling the Spirit of the Place wake up and become present with us. A while later, Åsbacka told Jonathan it wanted to be known as a Healing Center and so we discovered more about what this means and what Åsbacka wants and needs from us.

We have have learned to make agreements for good partnership to care for all of us who live here – humans, trees, plants, animals, insects, birds, waters, ecosystems, Spirits. This makes us feel it is possible to make changes in respectful and loving ways. 

We are very grateful to deepen this relationship over time with our Home. A home which supports us and teaches us. A home which holds us and sometimes asks us to step up. So much of what we do here, we do with Åsbacka. The Spirits of this place are constant companions and help to nourish this healing space, so its Power can be shared.

Through it all, we have learned how to live together. Shamanic work demands that we see ourselves as a part of the whole. We are here, we are connected, we are together. We continue to listen and to find ways to make decisions that include the whole place. This is an ongoing joyful process of deepening and opening, giving and receiving.

Thank you, Åsbacka, for the power and inspiration you share with us, and for all that you make possible. The gratitude we feel living here is immense and fills our souls.

Jonathan & Zara