Somatiq Association – Association for Somatic Development and Conscious Living

SomatIQ Associaton

The Association for Quality and Creative Living was founded with the aim of encouraging, promoting and developing quality and creative living, a healthy way of life and a culture of healthy living with the aim of preserving and improving overall health; physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual.

Some of the activities with which the Association achieves its goals are:

holding workshops, seminars, courses and lectures related to the objectives of the Association
providing professional advisory assistance
holding training sessions related to the objectives of the Association
designing and implementing projects and programs related to the objectives of the Association
design and implementation of actions for preventive action, improvement and protection of health
cooperation with domestic and foreign associations.

Our Story

Marina

SEP, Preschool Educator

Marina’s Energy and Vision

Marina embodies the female energy of the place.
Her wish is for growth to happen in a bigger circle, creating a community where every living being contributes to positive change.
As a tender harbor, Marina welcomes everyone to rest and fulfill their needs.

Marina as a Preschool Educator

Marina has been working with children and parents for over 20 years.
She is a teacher by profession and studied social work for 3 years before becoming a preschool educator.
Marina strongly believes in play and enjoyment as the best ways for children to grow, while respecting their own space and the space of others.

Education and Professional Development

Marina has participated in numerous educational programs to enhance her expertise:

Somatic Experiencing Practitioner
Ale Duarte’s “Kids in Tune” education:
- Constructive Attunement (2022).
- Introductory Hold, Flow, Slow method (2023).
- Tracking Sensations With Children (2023).
- Screen Masters (2024).
“Smijesak” Association for Everyone – Storytelling education (2022).
Center for Psychodrama – EBTS program for stabilizing traumatized children and families (2023).
NTC education Ranko Rajovic – Encouraging natural learning for preschool children (2016).
Other programs include:
- Becavte workshop – Teaching democracy and human rights (2013).
- Creative movement (2013).

Work Experience

Marina began working with children through play.
While studying at the Teacher’s Academy, she worked in kindergartens.
Her experience includes:
- Running summer and winter camps for children.
- Organizing workshops for children and parents.
- Volunteering after the earthquake in Petrinja and as a storyteller in hospitals and libraries.

Personal Life and Values

Marina is a mother of a child with type 1 diabetes and has conducted extensive research on living with chronic diseases.
Her personal experiences shape her desire to provide support through play, conversation, and creative expression.

Vision for the Future

Marina aims to focus her knowledge and experience on individual work.
She uses play, movement, voice, and artistic expression to help children and parents.
Her goal is to empower others by helping them recognize and accept their sensations, emotions, and thoughts, providing tools to overcome challenges in everyday life.

Damjan Athah

SEP, Holistic Counselor

About Damjan Athah

Damjan Athah, a beautiful soul whose playfulness and energy, as well as faith in life and goodness, can take you on a journey to meet your own paths and your own strength.

A Vision of Diversity and Growth

His vision in where to put each plant that grows in Casa Maya reflects his desire to create richness in diversity in one place. With the same passion, Damjan Athah creates environments for every person whose wish is to grow and spread at their own pace.

Lifelong Learning and Contribution

Damjan Athah has completed a variety of education programs driven by his interests and will, which brought him to where he is today—able to do several different jobs yet with a deep desire to contribute to making Casa Maya a community space. A place from which it is easy to contribute to the world with people who are both present and aware.

Professional Background

As per formal education, I have a degree in law (dipl.iur), finished in 2003. I practiced as an attorney at law for two years and then three years as a diplomat in the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A degree in preschool teaching I attained in 2007, and I worked in the Jewish kindergarten of Zagreb for three years, 2011–2013. From the Faculty of Philosophy Zagreb, I hold a degree as a Professor of Portuguese Language and Culture, finished in 2009. From my studying days, I have worked in tourism as an animator.

Tourism and Guiding Expertise

I hold the certificate of a local guide in Croatia and have, from 2005 onwards, guided groups and tours in English, Portuguese, French, and Croatian in the region and all over the world. In 2014, I founded my own tourist agency named Kufer Travel Ltd., in which I am the sole employee but take other guides and drivers for services I provide, mainly for American, Canadian, Brazilian, Portuguese, and French customers, both FIT and groups.

Somatic Experiencing Practitioner

I am a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner from July 2021, having learned with Mr. Berns Galloway and Linda Stelte. I have been assisting and coordinating in Croatia, and assisting in Greece, Serbia, Canada, and the US ever since, under Berns Galloway, Kavi Gamin, Linda Stelte, and Dea Parsanishi and Mahshid Hager. I assisted and coordinated the Peter Levine Retreat Croatia in September 2022, as well as Peter Levine online workshops, and I am trying to have him back to the region. I am actively involved in building a local SE Community in Croatia and the region, and a retreat center, Casa Maya, in Istria, Groznjan, bringing experts in the field.

Holistic Counseling and Awareness Intensive

I am trained as a holistic counselor (Working with People training – holistic counseling with Rafia Morgan and Turiya Hanover, founders of Path of Love), and an Awareness Intensive Facilitator, trained in 2019 with Ganga Cording and Jivan Sunder, and ever since co-leading, assisting, and helping organize and starting to lead the process of inner exploration “Who is in Awareness Intensive.”

Private Sessions

I work mostly with adults on various themes, like the inner child, inner judge, emotions, and developmental trauma. I offer private sessions in English and Croatian, online and live, in Croatia/Zagreb and Istria.

Personal Passions

Privately, I am passionate about traveling, nature, different cultures, and languages. Any spare time is spent with my beloveds.

Upcoming Programs

Education About Biodynamic Agriculture

About Us

Damjan Athah and Marina are both passionate to include Somatic Experience in a daily life so it is no surprise it is a strong base of Association SomatIQ.

My Journey To Respect

In this book, the letters are small 📖

in the words lies an important idea 💡;

how to get to know yourself as much as possible 🤗,

pay attention to how and when you breathe easier 😮‍💨,

see what is important to each of us 🔍,

what strongly influences us ⚡,

can we slow down the reactions that come 🐢,

recognize emotions, sensations that quickly pass 🌊,

give yourself time to get to know yourself 🕰️

find out important things about yourself 🧠,

and with that knowledge go around the world 🌍

satisfactorily reach your goal or a new one 🎯😊.</p

Creators

✨ About the author MARINA ŠPRAJC — professionally: educator and somatic experiencing practitioner💆🌿; privately: mom, partner, friend 👩‍👧‍👦💞. Marina’s intention is to support both young and old in getting to know and accept themselves, and in finding the best tools for a more satisfying life 🛤️✨. She loves animals 🐾, nature 🌱, music 🎶, singing 🎤, laughter 😄 and letters ✍️. More about the author: 🔗 https://casamaya.com.hr/about-us/

🎨 About the illustrator MARTA VUČKOVIĆ is a cheerful being full of love for people, nature and art 🌼. She became an illustrator and graphic designer because it is easier for her to express herself through colors and shapes 🖌️. She finds pleasure in creative work and enjoys exploring plants, insects and animals through drawing 🎨🐞🦊. More about the illustrator: 🔗 www.mintline.art

Workshop

The interactive book “My Journey To Respect” is a book for all ages. The idea is that children use it in the presence of adults who, with their presence, provide support and mirror what is emerging in the child, with the aim of better acceptance, understanding and integration. The book is also intended for teenagers, adolescents and adults, who by reading and solving it can, in a playful, yet profound way, remain interested in their own growth and development. The book “Vidim se Vidim te” opens up the possibility of organizing workshops, and you can use the following link to reserve just a copy of the book and/or your place at the workshop, which will start in the city of Zagreb with the intention of expanding and being held throughout the Republic of Croatia.

https://casamaya.com.hr/contact/

Offer:

Interactive book €12.90 + postage in Croatia €1.04
workshop in our space (1 hour) – price 30 €, included 1 interactive book
workshop in our space (3 hours) – price 50 €, included 1 interactive book
workshop in your space (association, institution) for interested persons who are in daily or occasional contact with children, duration and price by agreement depending on the number of registered participants.

Workshops can be organized only for a group of adults as well as for a group of children and adults, teenagers and adolescents.
After registration, you will receive a notification about time and place of the same.

I thank all of you who have expressed interest in stepping into a game intertwined with creativity and exploration of what is within us, what we can and should nurture, for a higher and better tomorrow for ourselves and everyone around us.

Marina