About my background

And how did I get here?

I have taken an unconventional path. Searching, tasting, intuitively; what suits me, what do I feel attracted to? How do I dissolve the problems I experience in my body? Who helps me? These inspiring experiences are leading for the way I work.

Moving

I was an agile and nervous child. A maverick who wanted to do everything on her own. I desperately wanted to be a dancer and danced the stars from the sky just for myself. My mother practised yoga and meditation. That was serious business. The body had to be purified of waste products so that the spirit could move to a higher realm. As a toddler, I watched with fascination the poses she did and tried them... Supple and pliant as I was then, it went easily. In order to tame my restlessness, my mother taught me to meditate. Daily practice in sitting still and breathing and repeating a mantra - good for self-control - was torture. I counted the seconds until I could get off the meditation cushion.

Frozen

After years of nagging and pushing I was allowed to go to classical ballet classes. I did my best, practised daily and loved the lessons. However, I noticed that I wasn't as flexible as some of my classmates, no matter how much I stretched. One day, free improvisation was introduced in the class. Spontaneously do something using what you had learned... My whole body stiffened and I panicked. I had no idea what to do. I had no idea what was wrong...

I'm out

Things were not going well at the school. Primary school was too easy, I was bored and bullied by classmates. In secondary school, I couldn't concentrate, didn't feel safe and wasn't motivated. Home was a place I didn't want to be. At the age of 15, I left home and school. I felt sad and depleted. From then on, I went to sort things out for myself. I knew what I didn't want, but not yet what I did want.  I immersed myself in various psychological fields to better comprehend my condition and situation.

Understanding why

I went into therapy. I learned to communicate and to recognise my emotions. Still, I didn't feel much better in my own skin. I lacked a sense of liveliness. My body hurt in some places and seemed to be numb in others at the same time.
I tried all kinds of dance forms; oriental dance, various styles of modern dance. I took a one-year course in dance improvisation. I felt more and more pain and tension in my body. The pain was so severe that I stopped taking movement classes. I had to find out what was causing it.

Bodywork

Looking for meaning and connection with my body, I discovered the body-oriented psychotherapy Postural Integration. The essential idea is that your characteristic posture is a frozen, held pattern of tension that is typical of the kinds of feelings and events you have encountered early in life and that have shaped your character as well. By means of mostly slow, sometimes deep strokes, the connective tissue -fascia- is loosened so that you can move more freely again and retained feelings can come to the surface. Posture and movement patterns are structured and integrated with thoughts, feelings and emotions. The world of Bodywork opened up for me.

Structural Integration

After a number of training programmes that brought me into deeper contact with the emotional side of my body, I started to train as a Postural Integration therapist. I learned to use concepts, treatments and movement methods that I continue to explore, further develop and apply today. To name a few: Bioenergetic Character Analysis, Cranio Sacral Therapy, Feldenkreis Method, Experiential Anatomy, Body Reading, Rolfing ... One aspect in particular has fascinated me: Structural alignment and balance and the role of fascia in posture as explored and described by Ida Rolf, one of my heroes. She had a keen eye for the connection between fascial tension patterns and the emotional context. Without her pioneering work and that of her students at the Rolf Academy, we would not know the importance of the role of fascia in our bodies and well-being. The question: 'What causes what?' shifted to: 'How does it relate to each other, how does it relate to one another?'

Interim

After the training programme, I was not yet 30, while my clients were often older and in a different stage of life. I lacked the confidence that I had enough experience to be able to give such a comprehensive therapy. I did what I felt good about: gave massage classes, Fascial Release treatments, bioenergetics courses and Argentine Tango lessons. For my living I worked in a printing office. Then in 2002, the internet bubble burst, the economy crashed and I lost my job. Time for my body again!

The map of the area

In 2001, Thomas Myers, a former student of Ida Rolf, published the groundbreaking book Anatomy Trains. The navigation map of myofascial anatomical connections throughout the body. I was overjoyed. Until then, I had felt and examined fascia - literally - by touch, now there was a real map! Anatomy Trains was for me a reacquaintance with the function and structure of fascia. It was also the beginning of an exuberant development in scientific research and publications in this field all over the world. But what about fascial connections in movement?

Fitness and Pilates

In the gym, I worked on my condition. I hated some of the abdominal exercises. They were too fast, I felt clumsy and uncoordinated. My lower back was complaining. I did the movements, but I didn't feel engaged. My trainer advised me to try Pilates, an American body-mind movement method that was just becoming known in Europe. Pilates turned out to be surprisingly similar in a number of aspects to the experiential movement methods I was already familiar with. A new perspective opened up: While working as a help desk lady at a call centre during the day, I read everything there was to know about fascia and anatomy and embarked on my training as a Pilates trainer.

Moving from the inside out

I was very interested in the essence of the Pilates method, but I didn't like the hype that was surrounding it. My body was definitely not ready for the kind of Power Pilates that was in vogue at the time. My first Pilates trainer and employer was not well versed in the subject matter. We had a conflict about my exam results after which I opened Spring Pilates studio in 2004. Here I could determine the content of my lessons myself. I could make a living out of the lessons I gave and quit my job at the call centre. Completed my training as a 'comprehensive' Pilates trainer and later gyrokinesis® trainer and gyrotonic® trainer with an excellent master trainer. Attended courses with developers of somatic movement methods, including Liz Koch and Eric Franklin. Deepened my understanding of anatomy from the inside. The integration of Anatomy Trains into my treatments and movement classes took form. Gradually I became the experienced movement practitioner I wanted to be.

Education

I am fortunate to have been personally taught by these trainers and therapists. They are mostly original developers and authors. Their vision and methods have had a profound influence on my approach and that of other contemporary holistic professionals.
 You can find an 'about' or a video of some of them on the internet. You can click on the links to get an impression of them. Others prefer to stay in the background at this time.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

• Classical ballet and modern dance with a variety of teachers
• One-year training programme modern dance expression with Sjannie Vos

• Body and Mind Academy
*Body Ecstatic course with Rashma Schaefer-Buss
*Primal therapie courses with Sarojini de Krom
*One-year training programme Tantra and Intimacy with Sarojini de Krom
*Four-year training programme Postural Integration with Jack Painter and Rashma Schaefer-Buss
*One-year training programme Sexual grounding and Bio-Energetic Character analysis with Willem Poppeliers

• Ten year Argentinian Tango wih Margreet Sweerts and Leon van Kleef

• Certified Pilates trainer level 2, 3 and Comprehensive level with Kelly McKinnon
*Mat
*All Apparatus

• Certified trainer Gyrokinesis level 1 with Kelly McKinnon
 Specialized courses:
*Gyrokinesis Breathing legacy course with Juliu Horvath
*Gyrokinesis LOTUS BLOSSOM®

• Certified trainer Gyrotonic level 1 with Deborah Lynn
 Specialized courses:
*Gyrotonic Therapeutic application for the Pelvic girdle
*Gyrotonic Principles in the context of Osteopathy
*Gyrotonic Psoas Principles
*Gyrotonic Fascial Body

• Anatomy Trains courses
• Masterclass BodyReading/visual assessment with Thomas Myers -author en founder 'Anatomy Trains'
• Fascial Release Technique-online with Thomas Myers
• Body Reading the lines-online with Thomas Myers
• Anatomy Trains in Motion with Karin Gurtner -author several books about Fascia in movement
• Fascial Release and Structural Balance series with James Earls -co-authorr 'Fascial Release for Structural balance' with Thomas Myers, author 'Born to Walk'
*Arches and Legs
*Fans of the Hip
*Walking the Lines

• Anatomy in Motion -AIM-
*Finding Centre Immersion cursus with Chris Shritharan and Gary ward -auteur 'What the Foot?'
*Flow Motion Model cursus with Gary Ward en Christopher Sritharan

• Franklin workshops knees, back and neck with Eric Franklin -author dseveral books Franklin method
• Psoas Core Awareness cursus with Liz Koch -author several books about the psoas
• Bartenieff cursus with Marieke Delannoy
• Fascial Fitness cursus with Stefan Dennenmoser
• Triggerpoint workshop- Foamrolling with Triggerpoint