I did not come to sound through a course. Music has been with me since I was four, when I gave my first performances. It is the way I understand people and the thing that steadied me when nothing else did.

How I got here

I worked in a large corporation in Amsterdam until I burned out. Around the same time I had health problems that no doctor could explain. I went looking for something that worked on body and mind together, and found Ayurveda first, then sound.

I have been playing sound baths since 2019. I became an accredited sound therapist in 2022, after training with Stacey Griffin of Shift Meditation. Before that I trained for two and a half years as an Ayurvedic therapist, and more recently for eighteen months as a Touch and Awareness facilitator. I mention this because it shapes how I teach: sound is never separate from the body in my sessions.

My shamanic training mattered as much as any of these, and not only for the treatments and knowledge it gave me. That knowledge is so rooted in everyday life that people found it worth guarding and passing on for generations. The hard part of the training was not the techniques. It was learning the self-awareness to stay present.

Staying present

Anyone who works with trauma experienced this. You cannot truly be present for someone else, or hold space for them, while your own psychological makeup is covering up what is actually happening in the moment. So your own traumas have to be met first. That work never really ends, and it is the part that no instrument can replace.

I have my bad days too. The same goes for everyone who comes to the sessions: you bring who you are, at that moment, into that room, and you put down your strategies and defences and you feel and you open up.

Don’t hide and don’t avoid. Allow yourself to feel and allow yourself to be. Don’t judge it, no matter what comes to the surface. You don’t have to like it nor apologise for it. Observe & Acknowledge until at some point you take ownership of it.

These things are hard and these steps will take time, but once you took ownership and accept that you are responsible for how you want to participate in this life.

This is where healing starts.

What I bring to the training

  • Years of real sessions. I play several sound baths a week, in studios, in parks, in offices and at retreats. I teach what works in a room full of people, not only what works in theory.
  • Listening. I am highly sensitive, and I have learned to use that. Much of what I teach is how to notice a group and respond to it.
  • A wider toolkit. Ayurveda and shamanic work are part of my practice. I do not teach them in Level 1, but they inform how I think about rest, nervous systems and holding a room.

How I teach

I keep the group to ten people at most, so everyone plays every instrument and gets feedback from me. We spend most of the three days practising, not listening to theory. Mistakes are expected. That is how you find your own way of playing rather than copying mine.

By the end you will know how crystal bowls, Tibetan bowls and Koshi bells work, how to build a session from arrival to closing, and how to keep a room safe and calm. You will also have led a session yourself, with the group as your audience.

Who it is for

People who already work with others, such as yoga teachers, therapists and bodyworkers, and people who simply want to play. You do not need musical training or meditation experience. You need curiosity and a willingness to practise.

Next

If you are not sure whether the training is right for you, write to me. I would rather tell you honestly than have you sign up for the wrong thing.