Your tour guides
Kari - Per - Satu - Grete - Runa
Coming to Villa Rosita is a journey in itself, a journey into a beautiful landscape, but also a journey into yourself. The place carries an energy that affects everyone who comes here, and most people don't want to leave the magic of the garden.
If you come here for a day visit, Per and Kari will be your "tour guides". They'll tell you about the exciting treasure hunt it was to dig up the overgrown park. They'll also tell you about the human encounters and the joy of waking up in Paradise every single morning. About all the good helpers who turned up along the way. About their encounter with Italian culture, a new language, new food and new friends. About what it's like to turn everything in life upside down and start with a clean slate, but at the same time with a solid foundation.
If you're coming to a course, we've found fantastic partners that you can read more about below. And then we found Satu, our personal physiotherapist, yoga teacher, massage therapist and conversation partner. She's quite simply a find!
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The most important teacher for all of us is life itself!
Kari
Kari Hestnes is a multi-artist who has worked as a knitwear designer for a lifetime. She founded Du Store Alpakka together with her boyfriend Per. They were the first in Norway to import alpaca yarn from Peru, and the rest is a success story.
This gave them the opportunity to build a boarding school, Mirasol, for the children of the alpaca shepherds, and the school is still in full operation today.
In 2012, Per and Kari sold the company, and since then she has been able to use many other aspects of her creativity. Among other things, she has published a number of knitting books, she paints, photographs and has had exhibitions both in Norway and abroad.
In parallel with this, Kari worked as a holistic therapist, and trained as an Iliana counselor and studied Continuum movement, healing, meditation and breathing. Kari has an eye on every finger and loves to see people grow.
A few years ago, she had a solo exhibition at Hadeland Glassverk where she exhibited her crocheted Wheels of Life, which refer to the chakras in the body. Many of these are now mounted in the garden at Villa Rosita, and now live a life of their own in nature. New wheels will be added as Kari's world expands.
- "I've never tried that before," says Kari - and throws herself into it with great enthusiasm, curiosity and joy!
Per
Per Svendsen is Villa Rosita's gardener and handyman who fixes everything.
He is Kari's ever-present partner. With a twinkle in his eye and a good line, he is ready for all occasions.
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He sees a lot more than you realize, even if he doesn't always put it into words. Per started his journey in India and Nepal, living with different lamas and masters for 7 years. He then traveled to Peru where he trained as a chiropractor. In 1998 he met Kari and together they started the journey that led to Du store Alpakka, the yoga center Balanzen on Gran and now Villa Rosita in Tuscany which Per calls his Paradise.
He is a globetrotter of inner and outer landscapes, who never stops wondering about life, and who really appreciates the good conversations about everything and nothing.
Satu
Satu Heinicke is half Finnish, half German and loves life in Tuscany with its climate and warm people. Together with her sweetheart, she runs an olive farm, which ensures fantastic olive oil for many in the neighborhood and also in her home country, Germany.
She is a trained physiotherapist and has worked with all kinds of people for a number of years. She has worked with people from different backgrounds and lives - from professional football players to children of all ages.
And almost all of them had one thing in common, the longing to be touched and the longing to feel better. She is proud of all the praise she has received for her excellent "Fingerspitzengefühl".
Satu has an amazing ability to be present. None of her massages are the same, as she adapts the massage to each individual. She says her hands hunt for knots and stiff areas and she loves to get your body to let go and relax.
When you leave Villa Rosita after a treatment with Satu, nothing pleases her more than for you to go home, a little more balanced and a little more in touch with yourself.
Satu speaks Finnish, German, English and Italian and a little bit of Norwegian.
Grete
Grete Irene Sumstad lives in Fredrikstad. She has a long career as an educator and tutor/teacher in arts and crafts. Today she works actively as an artist. Her expression is wide-ranging and playful, from textile work, collage in paper/print, via painting with acrylic to various media on canvas.
Grete has been represented with works at several exhibitions. She has held courses in personal and professional development, as well as various painting courses. Grete also has experience from Qi Gong, meditation and mindfulness. She greatly appreciates her daily yoga practice.
Grete's driving force is to show the way and inspire others to succeed in their creative processes and she looks forward to seeing you on her intuitive painting courses that she holds together with Kari.
Runa
Runa Søtvedt is a trained optician and has had her own business for 30 years. Color and energy are her passion, and you'll recognize her laugh a mile away!
Runa has a broad education, including as a classic and modern Feng Shui consultant. She holds courses and lectures in this field.
For many years she traveled as a group leader on healing journeys to Brazil and Egypt, and she has extensive experience in dealing with people in process.
She also has specialized training in business, garden, hotel & spa and has worked with environmental design in both indoor and outdoor environments for public and private.
Warm-hearted Runa worked as a teacher at an orphanage in Bangkok for a few months, and no one can fail to see that she just loves people.
If you come to the Find inner joy and peace course, you'll also get to hear Runa's laughter ringing through the Magic Garden here at Villa Rosita.