Cecile Sandhya Mertens

As an experienced and certified mindfulness trainer and yoga teacher I work with people of all ages. I am a member of the Association of Mindfulness based trainers in the Netherlands and in Belgium (VMBN) in the first category.

The body, as a mirror of the personality and the soul, with its many possibilities for healing and personal growth, has always been a strong fascination and guide in my work.
After college I went to University, but after two years my body had a stronger need for expression then my mind. I ended up in the Theatre School of Amsterdam, learning modern dance. A career as a dancer and choreographer followed, on national and international stages. I also taught dance improvisation classes and educative dance projects to children.
During my dance career, 25 years ago, I started a private practice in which I combine massage, bodywork and coaching.

Since my youth I have followed many courses, intensive training and education in the field of personal growth and spirituality; yoga, meditation, psychotherapy, intuitive development, tantra, breathwork and many other forms of bodywork. I have visited many spiritual teachers and since 20 years I regularly follow longer silent retreats with Baba Purnanand Bharti from India, who gave me the spiritual name Dhyan Sandhya.

In these spiritual and often therapeutic processes I have encountered the whole range of human emotions, and many ways of dealing with them, in myself as well as in others. And also the many different ways in which we often, unnecessarily, think ourselves deeper into agony. The biggest teaching for me in the end, is our daily reality, that, with all that it gives and takes, each moment again invites us to be present here and now, awake and open for the reality of this moment.

The beauty of the MBSR training for me is the clear, simple and playful way in which different forms come together and how you can immediately apply it in your daily life. The training gives space to depth where it is needed, but also to humour and putting things into perspective.