Writer, researcher, linguist, traveler, mother, initiator, friend, creator, admirer, lover, daughter, citizen of Belgium, facilitator, player, listener, sister, woman, speaker, practitioner, inhabitant of Italy …

Many labels I could use to describe myself, but I feel that these are not what I truly am. I believe our truest nature is underlying to all that, an essence that cannot be named. That essence, that unchangeable reality, is ultimately what my work is always about. Whether that is in creating a place like Amiglia, writing a book like De dans van niemand, or doing linguistic research that I call Moving Language. In many ways, I like to make room for questions - questions that open and free our contracted mind.

When we question, we are present.
When we are desperate for answers, we aren’t.

I always come back to that ultimate reality - for me it is the source of all there is. It’s where infinite creative life force starts expressing itself through everything visible and tangible, and also through us. I believe that all we have to do is allow that to happen. Because of trauma and coping mechanisms, we often reduce ourselves to what we think we should be. I like to invite people to question limiting and painful beliefs, and understand and allow their unique expression. I do this through books, articles and retreats.

… that which just wants to be expressed and finds me available for that.

These days my research revolves mostly around how language shapes the way we see the world. Our Western languages make us see a world of separate objects, while indigenous languages focus much more on change, movement and processes. In Moving Language weeks, I invite participants to explore new ways of using language and find how that changes our perception of reality, and possibly brings us closer to experiencing ultimate reality. With Moving Language, I bring together my insights as a researcher of the nature of reality and my knowledge of languages and linguistics. It’s definitely part of my unique expression - that which just wants to be expressed and finds me available for that. I experience this as a privilege.

  • °1973 in Belgium

  • Living in Italy

  • Mother of three children

  • Editorial member of the magazine InZicht and writer of articles for the magazine Vruchtbare Aarde, both based in Amsterdam.

  • Master’s degree in Linguistics and Literature (magna cum laude) from the University of Ghent.

  • Speaks five languages.

  • Travelled in about 45 countries.