Heja, my name is Querien...
…a prenatal/postnatal yoga teacher + matrescence coach based in Amsterdam but available worldwide. I’m here to help you discover and create new ways to journey through pregnancy, birth and postpartum that make you feel empowered and deeply supported. In other words, I’m here to help you (re)imagine motherhood.
The journey into motherhood is a rite of passage.
It’s an immensely significant and transformative transition in a woman’s life.
I’ve found that it’s a journey of self-discovery, or perhaps better said: a rediscovering of the self. It requires you to navigate through a new external reality, as well as a rearranged internal landscape. And all whilst nurturing a little life.
Becoming a mother myself, I’ve experienced the reverberations of this transformation in all areas of my life. I know all too well how amidst all the love and joy, it can also be deeply challenging.
In current day society we are often inadequately prepared for and supported on our journey from woman to mother. We get the message to endure the entire experience of pregnancy and birth, and then immediately return to where we left off. It’s unrealistic, harmful and it does not in any way honour the sacred journey of becoming a mother.
What's true for me..
I believe that mamas should feel deeply supported in navigating their journey through pregnancy, birth and postpartum in a way that feels true to them. Devoted to who you are, guided by your heart, not by expectations.
Hearing the experiences of others, and reflecting on my own, I felt there is a strong longing for rituals, community, and spaces to explore the ways we can and want to move through this significant and often challenging journey. Leaning into this transformative aspect of motherhood, I’m all about empowering mamas to dive within, to question, make mistakes, fall apart, be courageous, try new things, reconnect and unfold.
So that’s what I feel called to do – to create the space, offer the rituals and thereby forming community together to reimagine what motherhood is and can be.
Motherhood is a journey of rediscovering the self..
Some quirky facts about me...
Amsterdam is where I’m based, together with my incredibly handsome French pilgrim in crime Benoît and our baby girl Effie.
As a Master’s graduate in Religious Studies, my main research was focused on rites of passage and pilgrimage in particular. Once I finished Uni, I decided to go on a pilgrimage myself. For three months I walked 1800km to Santiago de Compostela. A life changing experience!
In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve got a bit of an accent. It stuck to me when I lived in Adelaide (Australia) for a few years and hasn’t left me since.
The mountains and the forest is where I feel most at home. One day – when I’ve grown up – I hope to move out of the city, into a big farm with a garden, goats and poofy chickens.
Motherhood is changing you in more than one way.
How I ended up here...
Motherhood Studies Practitioner Certification with Dr. Sophie Brock (ongoing)
Breathwork Foundations (20hr) with Ronald van Pijkeren
Certified Prenatal Postnatal Yoga Teacher (85hr), Spanda Institute with Gea Krajcar
Certified Prenatal Yoga Teacher (85hr), Arhanta Yoga with Lucia Seglie
Ashtanga Immersion with David Robson & Jelena Vesic
Certified Vinyasa Yoga Teacher (200hr), Tula Yoga with Beatrice Savaris & Moena de Jong
Certified Reiki Level 1 Practicioner
Certified (Outdoor) Life Coach, CIVAS
Master of Arts, Religious Studies, University of Amsterdam