Kerstin Bibi Nanaki Wiechmann: How I survived the 2004 tsunami
Imagine a quiet morning atmosphere, the sea lying smooth as glass before you and suddenly you hear the bang.
This is how Kerstin's shock began on December 26, 2004, on Ko Phra Thong, Thailand: a seemingly peaceful morning, then the first tsunami wave and a few minutes later she is facing walls of water that sweep everything away.
What remains in such a moment? Kerstin was in pure survival mode and fear gave way to functioning. She ran and was climbing lightning fast to an inexplicable height in a sturdy tree. There was no time for a conscious decision, but for automatic reactions.
“I will have to breathe again.”
This sentence became her anchor when she eventually found herself beneath the water and later above it, clinging to a tree, surrounded by chaos, floating debris, and washing machines. For a brief moment, her awareness was held inside a peaceful bubble, and she could no longer feel her body. The sound of a mantra sustained her throughout, keeping her physically and mentally strong.
The night turned into a fight for survival, and the community on the hill became a place of refuge. Hundreds of fates bound together by fear, destruction, and the hope of staying alive. The following morning revealed what they had lost. The hut was gone, the holiday resort destroyed, and her passport was the only thing she had left. Yet what stayed most present for Kerstin was the compassion of those who helped, her own crossing of personal limits, and the unexpected relief that her life continued, even if, at first, in a much slower rhythm. Later, she realized:
This experience was not a punishment, but a blessing in disguise.
She consciously healed her trauma through Kundalini Yoga, gong sessions, and intensive confrontation with her own fears. Four months later, she ventured back into the water, tentatively at first, then with full trust. In 2010, on a trek in northern India, she crossed raging rivers and realized that the memory had truly been transformed.
With over 25 years of experience in Kundalini Yoga and as a mentor, Kerstin Bibi Nanaki accompanies people on their own inner journey. She shows how body, mind, and community work together, and how healing is indeed possible. If you want to dive deeper into yourself, are considering consciously integrating traumatic experiences, or are simply looking for more presence in your life, she is the right person for you.
Kerstin sees her work as an invitation to you to trust, to grow, and to heal.
Visit her website:
What you can expect in this video (switch on English subtitles):
The morning of the tsunami: A peaceful atmosphere until the bang
What helped her not to break down mentally and physically
Why she judged herself and how she learned to be gentler with herself
The road back: gong therapy, yoga, the sea, and reconciliation
This video is an invitation to pause and ask yourself:
What is really important to me? What remains when everything else falls away?