Antje Drössel

How did you come up with the idea of ​​integrating the Sansula into your work?

I discovered the Sansula during a yoga training course, where it was used in the relaxation phase at the end. I immediately fell in love with this beautiful instrument and ordered one straight away. I actually wanted to use it for my relaxation courses in adult education, but now I take it with me to all of my courses. Newborns, older children and adults are enchanted by its sound.

What inspires you to escape everyday life or to develop new ideas for work?

I am a bookworm and love to travel. My hobby and passion are music, sport, my garden and hiking. The sounds of nature and exercise or working in the fresh air give me the strength and energy to center myself and find balance. I am a creative, lateral thinker by nature with lots and lots of ideas. I also like working with people. For example, I like to watch children: how they play, I listen to their stories, think them up or read them to them. This interplay of listening, talking, observing and the peace of nature inspires me.

How do small children react to the sounds?

They are enchanted, become calm and listen. I use the Sansula in three different ways when working with children: As support when reading a short story. My WellKin courses are always structured around different themes and tell of distant countries and adventures. At the end of the course there is either a "Sansula reading story" or a sound journey that summarizes and bundles the topic again. As a sound story, in interaction with other instruments. For this I read a sound story that I have usually written myself on a topic. In the middle of our circle there are various instruments, beautifully decorated. We get to know all the instruments and try them out together. Each child can choose an instrument. Then I read a story and the children play their instruments at the appropriate place, in the way that suits them. The Sansula is often chosen by the children when it is about "sun" or "magic power", "brightness" or "love and happiness". As a relaxation element. After we have romped, danced, laughed and sung, we often sit under the swing cloth and imagine that we are sitting under a rainbow. The children close their eyes, imagine the situation and I play the Sansula for them. With newborns and babies, I like to go from child to child after the class and play the Sansula over their heads. They then listen quietly and fascinated to the unique sounds.

Can you describe a “normal” working day?

I get up early, meditate and do yoga. Then I wake my children, we have breakfast and I walk them to school and kindergarten, which is a nice walk in the fresh air for all of us. Then I go to the gym and then to work. In the afternoon I go out with my children playing soccer, in the garden, hiking, swimming or we meet up. We are out and about a lot and like to meet up with other people. But in between there are also quiet moments when we play, talk or read together. In the evenings when the children are in bed, I often work on my books, research and preparing for my courses. Or I play the guitar while my husband reads on the couch.

Do you have anything else to do with music?

Music has accompanied me throughout my life and is a very important factor for me, for relaxing and also for partying, rocking out, dancing wildly or even when playing sports. For me personally, it is like with children - music and movement are one and directly linked. I learned my first instrument at the age of five (the flute). Then came the piano. Even in primary school, I sang in the choir and took part in concerts and performances. Even now, I sing in a choir and often play the guitar or the sansula. When my first son was baptized, my big goal at the ceremony was to be able to play a song with the guitar. I found the "world's best guitar teacher" here in Marburg, Rainer Husel. He is blind and has a fantastic way of teaching guitar playing. The baptism project worked, of course. I take the guitar with me to almost all of the children's courses, as well as the sansula.

Which instrument is your HOKEMA favorite?

I love the Sansula Renaissance and especially the "treasure chest". When I unpack the chest in front of the children, I always stage the moment a little and the children immediately see the valuable character of this instrument.

Biographical information on the career

After studying business administration and gaining over 10 years of professional experience in marketing for leading cosmetics companies, Antje Drössel decided to make a turning point in her career. She began a new training course to become a relaxation and Ayurvedic massage therapist and a yoga teacher for babies. Since then, she has been leading courses for parents and children aged 0-6, with a focus on exercise, music and relaxation. The birth of her first son and "motherhood" also inspired Antje Drössel to develop her own course concept: "WellKinR - Wellness for diaper-wearing children". In 2011, she also published her first book entitled "The Cuddly Wrap Book", which has been on the bestseller lists ever since. A great success for her, because, as Antje Drössel herself says, she was fulfilling her big dream: to combine family and career, to work with children and support parents, while being a mother herself. She has been offering her Wellkin courses at various organizations and daycare centers for more than 10 years now and also trains course leaders. Her goal is to give children and parents ideas and exercises that are suitable for everyday use in order to create valuable moments in family life: relaxation and happiness in everyday life.