MEET ALEKS – A NEWCOMER TO STANFORD

Aleksandra Djordjevic-Domagala (Aleks) is a holistic trauma counsellor, bodywork practitioner and yoga teacher who moved to Stanford in January this year. Born in Serbia a little over 35 years ago, Aleks grew up in Germany and moved to South Africa in 2013, she fell in love with the country, met and married a South African man of Polish descent and is a mother to a 7-year-old son.

Prior to moving to Stanford, Aleks has been living in Table View for the past ten years. Their decision to relocate to Stanford was a rather spontaneous one after a surprise trip to Caledon one weekend found them taking another route home via Stanford.

“My husband and I parked along Queen Victoria Street, got out of the car, looked at each other and agreed that we liked the vibe of this place. I already saw myself and my son riding our bikes to the library, and I think of this every time now when we ride our bikes to the library,” says Aleks.

The couple agreed, in jest at first, that they should move to Stanford and try it out. This was on a Sunday. Come the next day Aleks was already researching schools for her son and went so far as setting up an appointment with one school for three days later. By Tuesday they’d found a property online and on Thursday they met with the school, viewed the property and before they knew it, they were moving to Stanford!

Stanford is their home now and village life has been a smooth transition for Aleks and her family.

“My happiest childhood memories are about living in a small village in Germany.

I think I was missing village life and the community that comes with it for a very long time.” Aleks went on to say: “Now we live here in Stanford, I couldn’t think of a better environment for my son. The people have made it very easy for us and have been nothing but welcoming and kind.”

Asked what challenges Aleks and her family have faced since moving to Stanford, Aleks replied:

“To be honest, none. In fact, it is I who feel somewhat challenged whenever I have to leave Stanford for a few days to go work in Cape Town.”

Aleks and her family are settling in well and have made many friends and connections. They have been enjoying all that Stanford has to offer – walks along the river via the Wandelpad, visiting the coffee shops and restaurants, browsing the various markets and connecting with likeminded people.

“On a Monday night you can usually find me at Maxine’s meditation circle, on a Tuesday afternoon I am singing away with Paula Bouwer and The Bad Habits (aka Stanford social choir), and on a Thursday afternoon I try (mostly very hard but still joyfully!) to follow Lana and my fellow line dancing queens.”

The family have found music again, too. Aleks’ son has started drumming lessons, her husband is taking guitar lessons and Aleks is taking vocal classes. Stanford is blessed with musical talent and many incredible teachers.

Aleks now looks forward to starting her mobile private practice in Stanford so she can offer her full spectrum of holistic services to the community, including psycho-social counselling, trauma counselling and somatic integration.

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