ANNA Massagetherpeut & lichaamsgericht coach

02/09/2024

23/08/2024

Scroll down for english ⬇️

Vanaf November ga ik een aantal maanden met verlof en zoek voor deze periode iemand die mijn praktijkruimte wil overnemen.

Mijn praktijk zit in het gebouw van De Stadstuin tegenover het grote winkelcentrum op de Bernadottelaan in Utrecht. De ruimte is ongeveer 18 vierkante meter. De ruimte kan gebruikt worden voor massage-/lichaamsgerichte therapie en ook praattherapie. Er is gratis parkeerruimte voor bezoekers voor de deur en een parkeerplek achter het gebouw voor de huurders. Bij interesse kan ik je nog meer fotos/videos sturen.
Prijs is alles incl. is 700 euro per maand.

Heb jij interesse of ken jij toevallig iemand dan kan je mij berijken onder:
☎️ 0681440062
📧 [email protected]

English

From November on I'll go with pregnancy leave for some month. I'm looking for someone who'd like to rent my practice space for those month.

My practice is located in the building of De Stadstuin opposite the big shopping center at Bernadottelaan in Utrecht. De space is approximately 18 square metres. The place can be used for massage-/somatic therapy or someone who does talk therapy. There is free parking up front of for clients and in thr back of the building parking space for the renters. I can send more pictures/videos of the room if you're interested.
The price is 700 euro per month all inclusive.

Are you interested or know someone who might be?
Then you can reach me under:

☎️ 0681440062
📧 [email protected]

19/08/2024

If that is you, I am sorry that you had to experience this.

If you had to experience this it your little nervous system felt a lot of pressure. When that got too intense, meaning you've experienced an immense flood of anxiety aka fight/flight energy it did the next best thing to protect you.

That is called freeze or shutdown.

Remember that your nervous system is designed to keep you alive, no matter what.

It isn't broken by doing that. It protected you from feeling the intensity of the physical sensations.

So when you start to feel more and that might be anxiety it is because you might move out of the freeze or shutdown.

09/08/2024

This picture was taken on our last evening in France looking at the sunset and my daughter and partner going into the water.

You can see it in my eyes how much I enjoyed that moment. I soaked up that moment into my whole system and when I look at that picture I can re-create the same feeling of pure happiness.
My body is reacting in the same way with the same sensations of warmth around my heart and a feeling of grounding and belonging that the world is a safe place.

Did you know that your body has the ability to re-create the same sensations from the past in the here and now by just thinking about it. Also certain smells can activate a strong physical reaction.

You can use this as an exercise to create a feeling of joy, peace, calm or happiness.
Choose a memory that you connect to those feelings and explore what is happening in your body. See if you can map out every detail of that memory.

Maybe you feel yourself smiling at the end...🙂

Tell me about your experience with this. I'd like to hear from you.

15/07/2024

For all of you who are stuck in the trauma cycle. It is hard, it is scary and it is lonely.

Because it is so scary you rather pull away from people.

What is really needed though is reaching out.

What is needed is connection with self and with others.

Humans, you are hardwired for connection! Never forget that, even though it might be scary.

Lots of love on your healing journey!

26/06/2024

My god has it been a journey up until now. Even 4 years ago I couldn't have imagined where my body would be today.
I've started my journey 20 years ago. 😮 20 years ago. I was struggling with asthma and eczema almost all over my body. I'd wake up stuck to my pillow because my skin was so open and raw. I felt miserable, anxious, ugly and disgusted with myself. In the years to come I came to realise that this weren't the only things I was dealing with. I had was constantly busy with what I was eating, how much and I always overate. I was hypervigilant, people pleasing, highly independent (because I didn't trust anyone) and highly anxious. That in turn made me a perfectionist always pushing through (I was never able to just rest) to be and create a 'perfect outcome'. I mean what is the perfect outcome if the ceiling never ends? 🫠
I had serious abandonment fear which went really well with my hypervigilance and perfectionism 😉
That I can even write and talk about it now is proof to me that I am not ashamed anymore about all these things that are long in the past.
They no longer exist and that is thanks to different somatic therapies and the most important nervous system regulation.
I've created enough capacity to actually feel so I no longer have to overeat. I know what my body needs and I am able to listen to it's sometimes quiet other times louder signals. I no longer have to people please because there is no shame and anxiety in setting a boundary. I have healthy skin!
The abandonment fear is gone because I held myself deeply in the darkest hours on this healing journey.
The little girl knows now that she is enough.
And the biggest gift that this NS healing has given me is being a regulated and attuned mother so my daughter doesn't have to carry the burden of the generations before me.

This is how we each can change the world bit by bit, from the inside out.

Lots of love to you. You got this! I believe in you! And if it gets too hard and you want to share I am here to listen.

21/06/2024

The mind and the (rest of the) body are one.

However due to trauma we can disconnect from the body and become more focused on the mind. From there we try to solve problems and push down bodily urges and sensations because they are either inconvenient (to the mind) or downright scary.
This is the place where the mind and body are not in coherence anymore. Where the one is telling a different story than the other.

If we want to tap into the true healing power we have to become good at recognising what stress AND ease feel like. We have to bring mind and body together again so they can work in harmony.
When they are in harmony we have access to new information and THAT in turn creates lasting change on all areas in life.

12/06/2024

We live in a culture where productivity and pushing through gets rewarded.

That has led quite often to disconnect from our needs such as rest.

Many of my clients tell me that they stay and work over hours because everyone is doing so.

They feel guilty for clocking off at the 'normal' time because that means that they aren't as productive as their colleagues.

This can lead to more disconnection and dysregulation in their body.

In order to be healthy we have to have times where we can enjoy just resting. This isn't a reward that only happens after you've done x hours of work.

But rather see it as a right. See it as honouring your bodies cues. In doing so you strengthen the connection to yourself and your nervous system will thank you.

29/05/2024

Whatever the emotion:

It is a fact that what we resist will persist!

Have you ever tried to calm down when anxious? Have you ever tried to lay still even though everything in your body is showing you that it wants to move?

That is the thing with emotions, if we do not process them they don't just go away. They will stay and add more stress to an already overwhelmed system.

The one way in which to befriend any emotion is to become so embodied and learn ways to self-regulate so that when ANXIETY, anger sadness hits you, you ride that wave and don't get knocked down by it.

You've learned to keep your balance even when it gets rough and in that you become more grounded so to trust the process - to trust yourself!

Do you need help with the process? Or...




Have you learned to ride the waves yet?

20/05/2024

I'd say that before someone decides to go to therapy they have already an idea that there is something that they aren't aware of yet. That's why they start.

Once they start there is usually a time when all those shadows are coming into the light which can be pretty scary.

After therapy those things that were hidden are fully out. It isn't that they never existed but they got integrated and are now something that we don't need to be scared of anymore.

That's the work I'm doing with my clients. Noticing what is hidden deep within their system that wants to come to the surface to be integrated.

With somatic therapy we can feel when there is a stressor coming to the surface. We can learn ways in which we can regulate ourselves. Something that many haven't fully learned in their early years.

It is one of the ways in which we can learn nervous system regulation.

08/03/2024

A little reminder before we go into the weekend:

When we are so focused on the 'endgoal' whatever that is, we might miss ALL the little wins along the way.

So I wish for you that you are able to notice the small wins along the way. There are many and if you are able to notice them it creates a sense of success.

And if you are able to notice THAT then it will be easier to keep going and to learn new things about yourself along the way.

And then you might, oh you just might fall in love with yourself.

I wish everyone a happy weekend. 💚

04/03/2024

I hear this a lot from clients who try to think their way into a feeling. They tell me that they don't really know how they need to access feeling and that it's probably more something that they think in their head than actually feeling.

Unfortunately we can never think our way into a feeling. We can only ever feel a feeling.

You see what we actually feel as feelings are bodily sensations.

And a bodily sensation is something that we can feel.

Don't know how to start feeling?

🍀Keep it simple and start by noticing different temperatures

🍀Pay attention to the different textures of your clothes or blankets

🍀What does the texture of the food feel like in your mouth

When playing with those things you can add another layer to it to get more into what you prefer.

🍀Which temperature is causing what sensations?
For example: Cold causes goosebumps and a shiver
Warm feels like my body is sweating

🍀What comes up when touching a soft sweater or blanket? How does your body react when you wear something thats made of sheep wool? What's happening when drying yourself with an old scratchy towel?

🍀With food: what's the sensation when eating a banana versus an apple? And if you don't like these things you can experiment with something that's soft versus something that's harder.

Like that you can start to practice with sensations and how your body reacts to it.

Enjoy your new practice! Lots of love 💚

28/02/2024

Let me tell you:

You NEVER choose your thoughts. Your thoughts are an indicator of the state of your nervous system.
That is why you can't just change or stop your thoughts.

With every nervous system state your thoughts will change too. If that is ventral vagal, sympathetic fight/flight or dorsal vagal.

When you find yourself in a specifically triggering situation and you could observe yourself well, you'd see that the thought pattern can shift rapidly.

What usually happens is that the part arises that wants to protect us from feeling an uncomfortable feeling/sensation. So we start to analyse, seeing worst case scenarios, have repetitive thought patterns or thoughts that seem punishing.

Because feeling it, we think, would be worse than getting punished by ourselves and our thoughts.

These patterns develop very early in life and get engrained into our nervous system and brain. It is a survival mechanism that wants to PROTECT not punish us.

A good way to start with this is the polyvagal theory. Here you can slowly get to know how your body reacts in certain situations and what thoughts come up for you.

As always lots of love 💚

23/02/2024

I know some people might think they make decisions based on rational thinking.

Our thinking however gets greatly influenced by the way in which our nervous system is wired.
In the end our decisions making is also greatly influenced by the way in which we experience our surroundings.

We do that through our bodily senses. That's why it is crucial to work with your body and its senses when working with chronic anxiety, burnout, stress or dissociation. These things are usually the result of a dysregulated nervous system.

19/02/2024

What I hear almost all my clients say is this:

When I feel ANXIETY coming up I try to calm down. I do some breathing exercises or try to medidate to calm myself down.

I suggest this instead:

🍀What if instead trying to calm yourself down you work WITH your bodies cues? Meaning when you feel fidgety go and embrace it. When you feel your hands want to make a fist go and follow this impulse. When you feel like jumping or moving do that.

At the same time NOTICE how your body reacts while being fidgety, clenching your fists or moving.

🍀How does it feel when you lean towards your bodies sensations and movements?

Does it make your anxiety stronger, does it feel the same, does it lessen it?

Share your experience in the comments👇

14/02/2024

So important:

When we are healing the NERVOUS SYSTEM we need to go SLOW!

I understand that if you have been experiencing ANXIETY, burnout and uncertainty for some time you want it to be over fast. I've been there too.

However we can't rush the process. Our nervous system doesn't want to be rushed. If we go and look for our trauma or try to force our way into a release it can backfire especially if we don't have the capacity to just be with our physical sensations.

The way we heal is to go slow and steady. Work with whatever capacity we have at this moment and build more of it along the way.

How do we BUILD CAPACITY? Listening to our impulses, connecting to the present more often, grounding our body and being curious along the process.

Have you had experience with wanting to go fast? Type yes.

09/02/2024

These steps are needed if you find yourself repeating the same patterns in your relationship with yourself and others over and over again:

🍀Awareness

🍀Understanding

🍀Change

From awareness can come understanding about ourselves and the people around us. First and foremost we need to create some more awareness about ourselves and our body and how it reacts to the world around.

With the awareness we can create understanding about how the past and the way we grew up has tremendously shaped the way we see ourselves and the world. We see how we might repeat a certain pattern in every aspect of our life. It creates the connection between the past and the present and the inner child part to our adult self.

From there we can create space for the wounded parts in ourselves. We can hold compassion for those parts, compassion towards our body and compassion for everyone around us as we see that everyone has those wounded parts within themselves.

With that we can all create something new. We can create change!

Have you worked with your wounded parts before? Do you know what your inner child is longing for?

05/02/2024

Can you be with uncomfortable sensations that come with your anxiety or are you using techniques to calm yourself down when you feel like your body is being activated?

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with having techniques to help your system to calm down in the beginning when you don't have the capacity to be with the uncomfortable yet.

However if you always need a technique it might be that your nervous system is dysregulated and your window of tolerance small.

In that case the approach of regulating your nervous system looks different. Then we want to build capacity, grow your window of tolerance so that your nervous system bounces back naturally from stressors.

You do that slowly and with titration of moving in and out of the uncomfortable. Slowly over time your body learns that the sensations that come with an emotion are ok to be felt.

Lots of love 💚

31/01/2024

Triggers!

This came up in a session today and for me personally a while back.

They can be a beautiful opportunity to heal if we tune in to what has been triggered.

What belief sits underneath it all and what is needed in that moment to hold space for those parts.

Have you been triggered lately?

Type trigger in the comments so that other people know they're not alone.

26/01/2024

The body is such a beautiful and intelligent instrument. What happens in the organs, happens in the tissue and happens in the mind.

What do I mean by that?

Some people say everything is connected. I say everything is one. Our body is one system and we cannot separate what's happening in the mind from what is happening in the rest of the body.

When we develope protective layers in childhood we also develop beliefs around those layers and those will also cause stress on our system.

We start to behave and move in ways that mirrors those beliefs which in turn is showing up in the tissue as tension in the mind as racing thoughts and in the organs as a racing heart or digestive issues.

Our body is one system. A lot of discomfort we encounter can be traced back to our childhood and the things we had to push away.

If we want less mental and physical tension we need to go back and integrate those hidden parts.

Let's do this together!

Lots of love 💚

22/01/2024

Emotions that a great majority of my clients have the most difficulty expressing and witnessing are anger and sadness.

When our caregivers aren't able to just be with these emotions themselves we learn that it isn't safe or normal to express them.

Usually this starts when we are little. When that happens, we have no idea why our caregivers are getting mad, disappointed or disconnect from us.

So the most protective way in that moment is to disconnect from our emotions as it is way to overwhelming for little you to just BE with them all alone without anyone helping you to regulate.

When we disconnect from our emotions there is usually an equal part that disconnects from our body and the environment.

So when we disconnect and shut down sadness or anger we also shut down parts of feeling joy, creativity and connection with others.

Part of the healing process is connection to your emotions (all of them), connection to your body and connection to your surroundings through holistic bodywork.

17/01/2024

During a session I might ask you:

What are your needs? What does your body want to do or need?

This alone can cause anxiety!

All of the sudden you are in your head thinking about what that question means. Your anxiety ramping up. What answer is the right answer? I don't know what I should say.

If that happens it is clear to me that you might have never learned or were able to voice your own needs.

So obviously these questions will cause stress and anxiety within your system.

🍀I will bring you back to feel your body on the surface.
🍀I will give you the option of an extra blanket and let you feel this.
🍀I will let you feel if your body prefers a footrest.
🍀I will turn on the music and turn it off again so you can feel within your body how it responds.

And there are many more examples of how you can slowly learn and feel what your bodies needs are. Through these seemingly simple exercises in the beginning.

💚 You know what your needs are if you feel it in your body.

14/01/2024

Constant stress can lead ro burnout which can lead to anxiety.
Unfortunately it also robs us from the present moment.
It simply put us in survival mode where we miss out on so much beauty.

However when we are present within our body whilst being present in the here and now that's where the magic happens.

That is the place where happiness and joy can unfold in the most simple way.

This is the place where a simple smile of someone, a flower, the rain outside, a bird or a small interaction can bring you the most fulfillment.

This is the place where you live life.

It's mostly in those small things that we see how beautiful life is.

Do you wanna find your way back to the beauty of life? Do you wanna learn again how to connect and be present?

Type 💚 in the comments

10/01/2024

I want to invite you to:

Pause...
.. before you react.
.. before you quickly go and do.
.. before you jump to conclusions.

Give yourself that time.

See what is unfolding in that moment of pause.

This is probably the simplest yet most underrated way to break your habitual default that is occuring when you are stressed out or anxious.

You can see this little exercise as a way to observe yourself in the moment. What are you noticing outside of you? Did you even notice your surroundings? What did you notice within yourself? Observe your thoughts, feelings and sensations. Did it change the way you reacted towards your surroundings?

Lots of love 💚

29/12/2023

Dear client, dear friend, dear follower I've never met personally,
I want to thank you for supporting me on this platform and for your trust in me as a therapist in our sessions. I am grateful that I was able to support you and to look at your transformation from the sidelines.

This year has been a big one for many including myself and we are still standing.

Whatever your year looked like, do not compare yourself with someone else. Your journey is unique to yourself.

Celebrate the little accomplishments such as taking a rest when you needed it, listening to that voice when before you wouldn't have. Saying no for the first time ever even if it was the most difficult thing to do in that moment.

The magic is in the seemingly small things. Too often we forget that these moments not only count too but have a tremendous impact when we are on a healing path. Keep looking for those small accomplishments and take a pause to really savour those moments.

Goodbye 2023 and welcome 2024. To another year of nervous system regulation and health!

Lots of love und guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr 💚

11/12/2023

Today I had another new client who is sitting at home with a burnout.

This seems to be almost the norm these days. Maybe it is also because of the work I'm doing but then again, I do see this in my private life too. Friends who have a burnout, have had one or are going towards one.

I see this as a structural problem in our society. It is not only the individuals problem but quite often a much deeper one in the way we live life.

How often have I heard from my clients that the workload is just too much, they don't get listened to or only for the time that they 'fit' in the statistics which is apparently 12 weeks.

After that they get pressured to perform again which in turn gives more stress for the body.

I said it already and I say it again: It is not enough to just take a couple of weeks off of work but the pattern why someone gets burned out lays way deeper. We need to look at why someone either wasn't able to listen to their bodies signal or didn't feel safe enough to do so.

Then we need to work on the nervous system level to heal it. The nervous system heals best when it's done slow, not fast or pushed.

And for everyone who is healing those deeper levels, I see you and I see how much work it is to go against what is considered 'normal' (not necessarily healthy).

You are allowed to choose yourself! You are the most important person in your own life and you are enough!

Lots of love 💚

06/12/2023

This exercise holds some of those steps that I always integrate in my sessions.
No matter if you are coming to me for tight and painful muscles, stress, burnout or anxiety disorder.

These steps are best taken when you feel more relaxed so you build capacity for the times when you experience uncomfortable emotions.

1. Connect to your breath. Do not change anything but just observe. Is it shallow, deep, high? Where in your body do you feel it?

2. Connect to your feet while still observing your breath. Can you feel that your feet are supported by the ground under you? Do they feel far away, is it easy to feel them? Can you still feel your breath whilst simultaneously feeling your feet?

3. Feel your face with your hands whilst noticing your breath and your feet. What do you notice here? Is this still possible for you to feel all of this simultaneously?

4. Orient to your surroundings whilst noticing your breath, feeling your feet on the ground and touching your face. What happens at this stage?

I do wanna say that for a lot of people it is difficult to even feel two things simultaneously at the beginning so don't get discouraged. It is possible however to learn this and slowly start to connect more.

All these things are important to eventually just be with an emotion so that it doesn't overwhelm you.

Happy practicing 💚