Hendrik van der Merwe
I was brought up on a diet of Jungian thought, fine arts aesthetics, Bach, Beatles and Zen Buddhism by my mother, and humanitarian principles of justice and peace by my father, When I left high school I was intending to be a human rights lawyer. However after a gap of two years doing national service in the navy and another year of travel, I eventually studied psychology and then fine art, while pursuing my passion for sculpture, music, massage, yoga, Buddhism and meditation. Not content with mainstream scholasticism I left it and went to live on a farm practicing my instruments and art and doing foot massages at a market in the city once a week. I then met and trained with my principle teachers, Patrick Desplace and Rosalyn Bruyère in 1987 and 1988, and continued to study in various somatic healing arts and bodywork modalities with various teachers in the following years. I started my formal training in Buddhist philosophy and meditation and Hatha Yoga at the age of 21. I later studied with two Zen masters and received transmissions from Namkai Norbu, a Tibetan Dzochen teacher. My life is also strongly influenced by Advaita Vedanta, the teachings of Shri Nisargadatta, A Course in Miracles and Tantric and Taoist practices. I trained as a Sivananda Yoga Teacher, and started teaching yoga in 2001. My work also includes my passion for sacred sound, dance, poetry and sculpture.Much of the training I offer is about the techniques, but the essence of my teaching is about learning how to read, feel, see, sense, play and work with the subtle and dense forms of energy that we are made of and exist in. As a therapist this knowledge and skill is invaluable, not only allowing you to do the healing work so desperately needed at this time, but also for you to manage your own energy field before, during and after healing sessions. For all people alive today this essential awareness of the way energy, especially mental and emotional energy moves and affects us, is fundamental to our evolution as individuals and as a society and as a species. As therapists, this really is the "wellness industry" we are in. Wound and scar healing is important, but also to go beyond healing to wellness. To see and know wellness, not just to be free of the symptoms of dis-ease, but enjoying the naturally ecstatic human condition, the bliss body. We find and express that space of wellness via many pathways. Yoga and meditation and creativity have always been an integral part of my personal journey. And for me massage, music, dance, sound, play, creativity, ceremonies, prayers, and community living are all in themselves ultimately ways to, and expressions of wellness. My yoga classes are focused on the harmony of the inner and outer asana and the free-flow of prana/chi, and are influenced by my zen and qi gong practice.
