As you grow older, you discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others
Audrey Hepburn
ManoVita = Sean de Koekkoek
Website design en foto's door mij gemaakt. Geen stock fotos! Dit zijn mijn handen en mijn dochter. Auteursrechtelijk beschermd.
Motivation and Method
Massage is not actually 'work' for me, but an experience that I share with someone. My wish and goal is that we both grow through it. My father was a chiropractor and my example of how wonderful it is to help others and be in the world in this way.
From small to larger
I do not offer a spa experience. Understandably, I am often asked to treat a minor complaint - such as a sore shoulder, stiff neck or lower back. I like to do this. But I find myself automatically looking for more. Every complaint is connected to a larger cause. Our body is not a machine where the parts can be considered separately. It is a complex and beautiful organism and I want us to get to know your body better together.
Sometimes I am confronted with new issues or complaints that I do not understand enough. Then I look further and investigate what the best approach is. I don't just focus on specific problems or discomforts that arise, but if you give me the time I will do my best to figure out how to tailor my treatment to your 'bigger story'.
Does your job require you to sit most of the day? Do you often lift heavy objects? What do you do to relax during your free time? What accidents or medical and mental problems do you have, etc.? But above all: what is your attitude (in life)? Let's find out together what plays a role in how we can best treat your body.
A mindful approach takes time
Don't expect a spa experience from me. It's as if the client and the spa therapist have agreed to do their best to ignore or forget the world and their place in it. Many independent massage therapists try to recreate or approximate this experience in their home treatment rooms. Of course, there's a time and a place for this, and if that's what you're looking for right now, then this makes perfect sense.
But it's just not what I do. I want it to be real, here and now. I want to feel the truth of the moment. This is why mindfulness isn't just a trendy thing that I linked to my massage. It underlies my entire approach.
Mindful bodywork takes energy and, above all, quite a bit of time. Of course, your massage and/or mindful mentorship sessions should fit in with other important things in your day. Still, I hope you will try to see our time together as important as well. Ideally, I hope that my work is experienced as the basis of your day(s) - not simply as a way to solve a problem but as a process of awareness that can support all kinds of aspects of your life.
Training / Experience
Bodywork (selection)
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- Transformative bodywork (Alchemy of Touch, Nederlands and Spain)
- Classical (Swedish) massage (various trainings)
- Massage Therapy (Libosan, the Nederlands)
- Yoga-Massage (S. Theben en elsewhere)
- Myofascial Release & Structural Integration (online, Tom Myers)
- Anatomy Trains in motion (online)
- Massage & fibromyalgia (Mood Massage)
- Foot massage (Portugal)
- Medisch Basiskennis (MBK, Conamor)
Yoga & Mindfulness (selection)
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- 5-month Mindfulness Mentor Training, with Tara Brach, Jack Kornfield, Sharon Shelton, et al.
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Level 1 Breathwork Biohacker (online and in-person)
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200-hour Yin Yoga Teacher Training - De Nieuwe Yoga School (Amsterdam)
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction - MBSR (StressWise, Hilversum)
- 10-day Silent Retreat - Vipassana (Ekutheleni, France)
- 2-month residence at Thich Nhat Hanh Plum Village Zen monastery (France)
- 3-month residence at the Himalayan Institute (Pennsylvania, USA)
Background and Vision
I was born in Zambia and lived in the United States and the Netherlands for many years. I come from a family of chiropractors and therapists who focused on stimulating the self-healing abilities of the body. ‘Alternative’ and holistic approaches to discomfort, illness and health, and especially the importance of hands and touch in healing, have always been a part of my life.
For many years, I studied as a literary theorist and philosopher and worked as a scholar and English teacher at various universities and organisations (in the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United States). Several years ago, I made a return to the body and the world of healing and I decided to make massage and mindful integration the path of my life and work.
My work as an adacemic scholar and teacher taught me to be open to the many ways of approaching a single problem, and to be both critical and innovative, using the insights of the mind and modern science in combination with age-old ways to stimulate the regenerative potential of the human body. Unfortunately, this potential is largely neglected by standard medicine and thwarted by our modern way of life.
Vision
My commitment and adventure are to always learn more and to try to incorporate a variety of insights and effective techniques within the "Down-to-Earth" approach that I am continually developing.