Meet Leander!
A warm welcome to Leander, the newest addition to our festival’s skilled team of massage therapists. He will provide versatile bodywork sessions tailored to each individual’s needs, spanning relaxation, targeted relief, or deeper exploration. Prioritizing personalization, Leander ensures a meaningful experience, adapting to preferences and unknown needs, guiding a pleasant journey of discovery.
Who are you and what is your background?
Hello! My name is Leander and I’m a body based therapist with a fascination for how human beings can be powerful and impact their well-being, life and world around them. I combine my experience of body based therapy with my training in martial arts and meditation in order to teach my clients how to fully unleash their potential. I’m deeply committed to exploring the experience that comes from combining energy and attention and the effect this has on the body and one’s personal freedom.
My original background lies in outdoor education including rock climbing, mountain biking, kayaking, and advanced snowboarding instruction, and over the years I have worked using these disciplines in places such as the Alps and the U.S.
And besides being a body based therapist I’m also a poet. Writing poetry is something that I’ve been doing my whole life and so it became one of my natural forms of expression. Putting my emotional experience into words feels wonderful and allows me to personally explore what it means to be human.
Is this your first time?
This will be my first TGOB weekend festival! Though I have been to day festivals before. I’m super excited because the taste I got from the festival over the years is very nice so joining the team of therapists is something I really look forward to. So many talented people coming together to enhance and support the tribe in this experience!
What lead you to TGOB in the first place?
Many different things. Community, adventure, the flow of Amsterdam, party, my love for music, friends. But I think one of the main reasons why TGOB attracted me is because of how it’s different from other festivals. I love it when people dress up and make an effort to show their beauty. Wanting to be seen is such a basic need and the festival really created a bedding in which you can do exactly that. Be yourself, show yourself and enjoy it. And this is magic. And to be a witness of all that beauty is a gift.
What are you providing?
During the festival you’ll find me in the Spiritual Village where I’ll be offering bodywork sessions to anyone who wants or needs it. My sessions can go in many different directions – from classic relaxation massage or a quick fix of neck and shoulders, to deep grounding and restorative rest. Before I start a session I always check in with who is on the table (or chair). Who are you and how can I help? For me it’s important to not mechanically do a routine, but really offer a service that is specific to the individual. This could be a session of 20 minutes in which we release the tension in neck and shoulder and lower back, a one hour deep dive in what is holding you back in life or anything that is in between, before and beyond. How can we make your experience more pleasant? The answer to that question is what we’ll focus on during the session. If you don’t know what you need, but you feel like you need something, then we’ll figure it out together!
Who would you recommend joining?
Anyone who feels like they want to release something, let go, ground, relax, rest or simply enjoy the experience of being touched. Also if you find it difficult to get into the ‘right’ mood for the festival or if it’s difficult to get out of your mind and into your body I recommend coming for a session. Working with the body is a great remedy for an over active mind! If you are in an intense periode in your life and the festival is your time to let some pressure out, a bodywork session is really good in complementing this.
Overall, if you have a body – a bodywork sessions is recommended. The intention that is behind it can be completely different for everyone and this makes it such a cool adventure for me!
What are you looking forward the most?
To all of you, the people! I love meeting all flavours of humans and a festival like this is a great collection of people from all walks of life. And of course I look forward to the music! To dance, to move, to feel my body and all the emotions that come with such an experience. There will be a lot of things happening, classes to join and sessions to take so whenever I get the chance I will definitely be doing that.
So, hope to see you in the Spiritual Garden!
Book a session with Leander now on: www.leanderruivenkamp.com