Micro-conferences
Small circles, big topics. Interdisciplinary, without a stage and without distance — so that something actually comes of it.
Zanzibar · Bwejuu · since 2024
One common world.
One common future.
A think tank on the Indian Ocean — for people who don't wait for the future, but shape it.
01 — Ocean
Ocean
Bahari is the Swahili word for ocean. For us, the ocean stands for openness, connection, movement — and a look at what lies beyond the horizon. Everything here begins at the water.
Just as a single drop becomes an ocean, change too begins with an idea. We give it room, bring it to life — and then something happens that is bigger than the original idea:
- People come together.
- Perspectives meet.
- Cultures connect.
- Energy starts to flow.
- And out of one thought, something shared emerges.
This is exactly where Bahari #4.0 comes in: as a space for new thinking, encounter, personal development and holistic transformation.
The idea
A place to dream, connect and act.
Founded in 2024 by Michael and Sabine Gierse, our think tank centre sits right on the Indian Ocean. It invites you to dream big, share generously and work together. Close to nature. Open to the world. On eye level.
At Bahari #4.0, people from a wide variety of countries, cultures and professional and social backgrounds come together. Small teams and working groups form organically and together build a far-reaching network for exchanging knowledge, food for thought and putting ideas into practice.
The radiance of each individual is close to Michael and Sabine's hearts: potentials that come together and shine even more brightly side by side. Global and existential challenges can be examined and explored here.
Dream with us. Grow with us.
Realise your visions together with us.
“The meaning of life is to find your gift and give it away.” Pablo Picasso
02 — Think
Think
Micro-conferences, workshops, retreats. Different formats with one thing in common: they pool energy and turn thoughts into something that holds.
Formats
How you can join us.
Workshops & seminars
Pass on knowledge and pick some up yourself. From breathing techniques to company formation to art — led by people from practice.
Retreats
Several days away from everyday life. Ocean, rhythm, silence — and enough time for something to genuinely shift.
Back to mindfulness
Digital detox weeks
A week without screens, with a local programme instead: village tour, ocean, cooking together, movement and plenty of doing nothing. Your head becomes empty enough for your own thoughts again.
One-on-one sessions
Nervous system reset
It is not about becoming someone else.
It is about arriving back with yourself.
Sometimes it takes more than rest. It takes a space in which body, mind and soul are allowed to reconnect with one another.
At Bahari #4.0, an energy healer accompanies you on a holistic journey towards more inner balance, calm and connection with yourself. The focus is on:
- Nervous system regulation Moving out of stress and inner tension back into safety, calm and presence.
- Energetic healing work Sensing energy, releasing blockages and feeling your own life force more consciously again.
- Emotional relief Creating space for feelings and looking at old emotional patterns with care.
- Inner child work Reconnecting with earlier experiences, needs and inner parts of yourself.
- Deep relaxation Letting go, arriving and coming back into contact with yourself.
- Reconnect with yourself Strengthening your own perception and reconnecting with what truly carries you.
Every session is individual and follows what is needed in that particular moment.
Two to three hours, completely undisturbed — just you and our spiritual healer. Move from survival mode back into a state of safety, regeneration and relaxation.
- Vagus nerve activation
- Somatic yin yoga
- Breathing techniques and meditation
- Energetic frequencies
Body. Mind. Soul. Energy.
A space for awareness, regeneration and personal transformation — in the special atmosphere of Bahari #4.0.
Dates & seminars
What's coming up.
Retreats, workshops and an online course. The days take place at the Uhuru Kijiji complex in Bwejuu, the breathing course live on Zoom. We are happy to quote prices on request.
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Seven days without a screen, without notifications, without the constant hum in the background. What remains is the ocean, the rhythm of the village and a silence that can feel unfamiliar at first. That is exactly the invitation: when your gaze stops drifting outward, it slowly finds its way back inside. You stay at Uhuru Kijiji, eat together with the others, walk through the village, move, swim, simply sit. Little by little your thoughts become clearer, the nights deeper, the days longer. Your head becomes empty enough again for what truly matters to you. You go home with a calm that cannot be switched off, because it comes from within.
Price on request
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Our nervous system decides whether we experience the world as safe or as threatening. Anyone who lives under tension for long enough eventually forgets what real calm feels like. This day is a return to it. From morning into the afternoon we work in a small group with vagus nerve activation, somatic yin yoga, breathing techniques, meditation and energetic frequencies. None of it is something you have to achieve. You may let yourself be guided, sense what is present right now, and let go layer by layer. Breaks, meals and drinks are included so that you have nothing to take care of. By the end of the day the body is calmer, the breath deeper and the mind clear again. Anyone who wants to go deeper will find the natural continuation in our one-on-one sessions.
Price on request
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What we eat reaches far beyond the body. This day is all about detoxifying, clean food: about ingredients that relieve the body, and about the knowledge of why they do. You get to know many new aspects of detoxification and eat exactly that way with us for the whole day. In between, we keep bringing you back into stillness: gentle yoga, breathing techniques, guided meditation and sound healing. Because cleansing does not only happen on the plate, but also in the nervous system and in the mind. We shape the day together on the grounds, with good conversations among like-minded people and plenty of time to feel the effects. You take home more than recipes: a new sense of how light your body can feel.
Price on request
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Everything that lives vibrates. Our body, our thoughts and our feelings each have their own frequency, and we sense very precisely when it has fallen out of balance. This day revolves around frequencies that heal us and do us good. You receive genuine expertise on the subject: what vibration does in the body, why certain sounds calm us, and how we tune ourselves back to what strengthens us. Between the sessions there are several relaxation phases in which you can not only understand what you have heard, but experience it. A lunch snack and drinks are included. You go home with a finer sense of what sets you in motion and what brings you to rest.
Price on request
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The breath is the first thing we do in life, and the last. In between, we mostly forget it. Ocean Breath is an invitation to rediscover it consciously: as a tool, as an anchor and as a gateway to spaces within us that stay closed in everyday life. You step into the wisdom of good breathing, get to know breathing techniques and experience guided breath journeys that can move you deeply. Relaxation exercises, meditation and gentle yoga frame the day. The ocean at the door sets the rhythm: wave by wave, breath by breath. A lunch snack and drinks are included. In the evening you breathe differently than in the morning, and you know how to find your way back there.
Price on request
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Not everyone can travel to Zanzibar, and yet the breath can be deepened anywhere. In four live hours on Zoom you learn what proper breathing means, what breath can do in body and mind, and how it connects with the teaching of the chakras. Each session lasts one hour and takes place in the evening; we arrange the dates together. You practise in the calm of your own home, in a small group and with personal guidance. Week by week the breath becomes calmer, deeper and more conscious. What you learn here accompanies you into every single day.
Price on request
03 — Connect
Connect
People from different countries, cultures and disciplines — and the neighbourhood right outside the door. Connection here doesn't happen over conference badges, but over food.
Focus areas
As varied as the people who come here.
Our events are devoted to the topics that move our future — open, interdisciplinary and with people at the centre.
01
Health & nutrition
Physical, mental and spiritual health belong together for us — holistic approaches to a healthy lifestyle.
02
Finance & law
Investing your finances securely for the long term. Plus company formation and buying land in Zanzibar, and business and IT law in Germany.
03
Other cultures
The culture and the individual ethnic groups of Zanzibar, Tanzania and the African continent — experiencing diversity and building bridges.
04
Sport & wellness
Individual sports programmes tailored to each person, with a matching recovery programme.
05
Meditation, yoga & breathwork
Special meditation techniques, various yoga and breathing courses. What you learn is practised and applied together.
06
Technology & the future
Technologies that will grow more important in the coming years — and visions of a future worth living, made tangible.
07
Business & economy
Experts and entrepreneurs who are already a step ahead with their visions and business ideas have their say here.
08
Our earth in transition
Climate change, mountains of waste, species extinction, global migration — recognising global change and developing solutions.
09
Art & culture
Artists from painting, graphics, music, design and architecture can offer workshops here.
10
Development & peace
Which developments towards a peaceful world can we create together — and actively work on?
11
Mindfulness
Methods for living in the here and now, and experiencing the connections behind particular states of perception and consciousness.
12
Personal development
Discovering your own potential, unfolding it and bringing it into the world with purpose — for a fulfilled life.
04 — Create
Create
Between palms, sand and ocean: the place where ideas turn into projects.
Your venue
Bwejuu, Zanzibar — at the Uhuru Kijiji complex.
On the south-east coast of Zanzibar, right on the Indian Ocean. An open seminar house with a long communal table, a rooftop terrace and a view across the palms — and the beach a few steps further on.
2024
Founded
Bwejuu
South-east coast, Zanzibar
12
Focus areas
DE / EN
Event languages
05 — Lead
Lead
Whoever is a guest here is also a neighbour. We support the village school and local projects — and we'll take you along if you'd like to get to know them.
On site
Connected to the local community.
Bahari #4.0 is not only a place of exchange, but also part of life here. We want to bring our guests closer to the culture, the everyday life and the warmth of the surrounding village.
Through various projects we support the local community and in particular the village school. On a village tour you get authentic insights into the life, the people and the traditions of the region.
- Passing exams — children in Bwejuu
- Keep Girls in School — supporting teenagers
- TakaTaka — collecting waste in Zanzibar
The Village Tour
Gallery
Moments from the last Healing Day.
Yoga under the makuti roof, eating together, the village tour, sunset on the dhow. Nothing staged — simply how it was.
06 — Return
Return Home
Back to lightness. And to what you already brought with you all along.
About us
Michael & Sabine Gierse
Michael and Sabine have been travelling to Zanzibar with family and friends for several years and will be living here for longer and longer periods — to further their vision and to be in these surroundings.
A close connection to sustainable projects with local people and to the schools on the south-east coast is especially important to them.
Let's follow our dreams. Are you with us?
Join in
Get in touch — so we can start soon.
Write us a few lines about what interests you. We'll get back to you personally and go through everything else directly with you.
As a participant
Would you like to join a retreat, a workshop or a micro-conference? Tell us which topic draws you in.
Apply to take partAs a seminar leader
You have a topic to bring and would like to run a format with us? We'd love to hear your idea.
Apply as seminar leader