I was born in 1973 in Leuven, Belgium.
In my childhood I was a restless boy. Since music and singing was my main way of expression, I wanted to become a singer songwriter and perform. At that time there was no pop/rock/song-write education available, so I studied classical guitar at the Luca-School of arts in Leuven and got a master in 1993. I became a performing artist and recorded 8 albums.
My mother, being a psychotherapist, thought me autogenic training when I was 12 years old to help me deal with the restlessness. This was my first encounter with being in contact with the bodily sensations and has been a very important part of my life ever since.
At age 30, when my wife was pregnant of our first child, I did my first Vipassana retreat ( In the tradition of SN Goenka ) and was blown away by the power of meditation and the positive impact it had on my life. Since then I meditate daily and have done many 10 day retreats.
At that time I was already practicing Yoga on my own, on the side. At age 40 I started studying Yoga with Sharat Arora ( www.hiyogacentre.com ). I was struck by Sharat's precise and rational approach to body & mind and their inseparable connectedness. And at the same time his teachings show the simple essence of what spirituality is about, being present. And how that simple essence leads to healing and well being. Both mentally and physically.
I became a certified yoga teacher and, spread over those first few years, I spent over a year in India to study and assist in yoga classes.
In 2018 I started "Centre for Yoga", my own yoga and meditation center where I teach yoga and give individual yoga therapy sessions
Between 2019 and 2021 I worked as a body therapist in Verbinding in Verlies ( www.verbindinginverlies.be ), a psychotherapeutic center, specialised in loss and grief.
In 2019, I participated my first seminar in breath work (www.transformationalbreath.com ), for me a perfect match with the Yoga I was teaching. I followed the professional training and became a certified Transformational Breath facilitator and groupleader in 2022. I love working with the breath and of course, the obvious connection with the voice, my very first passion.
In May 2022, I finished the Yearlong Professional Training in Compassionate Inquiry with Gabor Maté and after this I also followed the 6 months mentorship program to further deepen myself in this psychotherapeutic modality.
I love working with sound ( voice, drums, sound scale ) in the sessions, as a vibrational energy, to connect with the body and each other.
As an artist, I’ve always struggled with the balance between music as a personal expression and the music industry.
So in 2019 I decided to put my activities as a performing artist on hold for some time to be able to explore where I want to go with it. Since I’m more and more interested in the healing capacities of music rather than performing on stage. The voice as a healer, sound as a shared energy field ...
But I still love teaching singing and songwriting classes and teach at the PXL University College in Hasselt ( www.pxl.be/muzikant ) since 2010. I like triggering the students and challenging them to get out of their comfort zone. I use a lot of introspective techniques for students to get to know themselves and their bodies and sing/write from their own, inner voice instead of an outer concept …
I live in Bunsbeek, Belgium, with my wife, Sabien, and two children, Luka-Maria and Eppo.
Books that influenced my path:
