The Team — moveNBfree

Our team of qualified practitioners and facilitators.

Nele Blaton

Founder, Manifestor and Host

Born and raised in Belgium Nele moved to Canada upon graduating in 1988 with a Masters in Physical Education, Sports and Movement Science. She has a significant record of achievement in operational management, strategic planning, team building and leadership. Movement - being it physical, mental or spiritual - has been the backbone of her life. Since childhood she has been passionately involved in sports (athletics, triathlon), dance, hiking, and a healthy lifestyle. Besides bodily stimulation she also needs to challenge her brain and loves doing this by learning languages (she speaks 7) number crunching and problem solving. In 2007 Nele went through a live changing experience that awakened her spirituality and since then she has been nurturing her soul and following more her intuition and heart in her decision making. Travelling world wide has enriched her entire being and opened up many horizons. Since a teenager she has been fascinated by Brazilian music, especially Bossa Nova through which she learned the language. Nele took her first Samba class in Vancouver and participated in the 2008 Rio Carnaval, experiencing the vibe from 'o pais tropical', Nele always wanted to combine her passions for sports, dance, languages, travel, wellness, healthy lifestyle and natural medicine, ...... and during one of her inspirational trail runs in 2008 moveNBfree was born. Nele moved permanently to Itacaré, Bahia in 2009 to start her new lifepath and mission and 6 months later became the proud owner of Pousada Tãnara.

Amau Cid

Clinical Psychologist, Medicine Man,
Facilitator Sacred Plant Medicine

Amau is from Chile, where he graduated in clinical psychology, developing clinical work in contexts of social vulnerability for 5 years. Amau has been conducting medical work for 7 years, in different countries and contexts, ceremonies as well as retreats, courses and workshops. He has co-organized the retreats ¨Vuelvo a Mi¨ and ¨Encuentro con la Naturaleza de Ser¨ together with Medicina Madre, Peru. Amau also participated in 4 retreats in Chile, 2 in Pucón and 2 in Patagonia, the latter completely in English. He began his journey with Wachuma medicine in 2003 and since then he has known different plant masters, obtaining knowledge from ancestral and mestizo sources. In 2012 he joined the Santo Daime church, having been in uniform for 8 years, he already conducted some works on the doctrine. Eagle flight multiplier, shamanism course by Leo Artese. The medicines he guides are Wachuma and Ayahuasca, as master plants, in sacred and profound ceremonies, with authorial music. Since 2018 he started serving Cocoa medicine, along with chanting mantras, body release dynamics and dancing, sometimes accompanied by low-dose Psilocybe mushroom medicine. He has conducted temazcal in Chile, Peru and Brazil, work based on the elements and the medicine wheel of the southern hemisphere, and has already built more than 10 temazcal tents. In recent times he has developed a course on ¨Sacred Shamanism¨ where he teaches a deep understanding of shamanism through practices and information on different aspects of shamanism, mainly Andean, due to the need to revalue the experience of consecration of medicines in a sacred way, this course has been carried out in several houses in southern Brazil.

Daniel Rabelo

Musician, Sound Healer,
Yoga & Pilates Instructor

Daniel graduated in Physical Education, specialized in Exercise Physiology and then obtained a Masters in Collective Health.

He is also an internationally qualified Yoga and Pilates instructor.

Daniel is a self-taught Musician in several instruments, with which he creates harmonious sound healing sessions.

Nature is the great source of inspiration for this work. Wood, clay, water, iron, air, everything is sound, everything is percussion... And through these elements, Daniel tells stories, mobilizes feelings, rescues memories and leads participants on an inner journey to self discovery. The sounds of the instruments that emerge in a playful way are used for us to reconnect with the forces of life that act in the innermost core of all things, to balance energies and create harmony with life in the universe. Hari Om!

Caru Curangui

Cocoa Mentor

Claudia (Caru Gourangui) was born in Chile, lived in several countries like Italy, India, Nepal, Mexico, until 2016 she decided to stay permanently in Brazil. She has been following the path of Bhakti Yoga for 20 years, and at least 8 years in the studies of shamanism, Ayurveda, Reiki, Masoterapy and floral. Her connection to Cocoa started at the age of 13, learning the art of Chocolate making with her aunt Margarita. Today, it is part of her work to perform these alchemies with Cocoa that, in addition to chocolates, are a sensory experience. It was in 2015 that she had her first connection with Cacau Ceremony in Mexico and soon in Brazil she received her initiation with her Mexican Master Monica Patacoyotl. In 2017, she began holding open ceremonies in São Paulo. Her work ranges from consecrating medicine with chants, prayers, drums; therapeutic journeys of self-knowledge with meditations, sound, dynamics, experiences with dance and art therapy; to individual consultations with Cacau. Her main purpose is to be able to deliver self-care tools through her therapeutic studies and her life experiences. Helping to increase the connection with our heart, our emotions, our body and spirit for self-knowledge, lead life with more awareness, spiritual connection and connection with nature.

Ananga Manjari

Holistic Centre Coordinator

Born in São Paulo, Ananga started her first business at the age of 14 selling surf clothing. At 18 she dropped everything and became a Nomade, travelling to over 40 countries. She lived in Portugal for 4 years where she worked in corporate event management, was supervisor of a Brazilian restaurant in London for 5 y and lived for 2 y in the US where she worked as Coordinator of a Spa. Entrepreneur in the field of accommodation, owner of the first hostel in São Paulo (Oca Hostel) Ananga received groups of students from several countries and organized several events such as Wellness retreats, Vedic ceremonies and Kirtans.

Initiated in Hinduism, Ananga lived in India for 8 y where she participated in retreats of Indian classical dance, yoga, sadhana, ayurveda and worked with the reuse of Indian fabrics at the Oca Etnic store.

Cauana Leal

Culinary Chef with focus on healthy food

Cauana, a true bahian, is a mother of 3 children and 4 pets. Avid lover of nature and animals. As an entrepreneur, Cauana developed a bistro called @cafe_terral where she created the concept from "Earth to Plate", using local ingredients and elements of the earth, such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, roots and herbs, and cooking with crockery. She has extensive knowledge of herbs and plants and their benefits.

The kitchen has always been in her life...as a granddaughter and daughter of caboclas from the island of Tinharé, there was always a gathering of women at a fire. Cauana prepares a menu full of scents, flavors and lots of love. Healthy food for everyone.

Amanda Palma

Documentary Filmmaker & Director of Photography

Born and raised in Rio, Amanda obtained a Post Doctorate in Communication and Image at PUC-RJ, with research in the field of representation of women in cinema.

With a mission to document healing in the midst of chaos Amanda crosses the boundaries between documentary, contemporary art and performance.

She has extensive experience in cultural, environmental, indigenous peoples and gender issues.

Amanda has been hired by international institutions such as UN Women and the Royal Family of Belgium as a Documentary Filmmaker. Director of photography for award-winning art films such as Elekô, Taitiria and Yaku Chaski. Photographer and audiovisual teacher.

Amanda is also an instructor trained in Agatha Yoga and creator of "Empório Toda Natural", a cosmetics and natural food startup.

Mirgon Mago

Fishing Engineer,
Registered Tourism Guide

Born and raised in Fortaleza, Mirgon moved to Itacaré in 2012 and has been active in Community-based Tourism. His passion is surf, a sport he has been practicing over 22 years. He has extensive experience with Surf therapy, which involves the body, mind and spirit. Integrating physical activities and environmental education in nature, trails, beaches, rivers and traditional cultures. Mirgon loves to interact with people with whom he feels a real connection and who are interested in sharing the local wisdom. His main focus is on experiences in nature, with environmental education and community-based tourism.