Questions

Many people suffer from stress on a regular basis. If you suffer from this, then you are certainly not the only one.

You may have a stomachache before an interview, an important presentation or after a difficult meeting. A rushed feeling, palpitations and a short fuse are signs of stress.

These examples of temporary stress are actually very normal body reactions to a challenging or stressful situation, which usually disappear after a few hours. This natural survival mechanism keeps you on your toes and makes sure you spring into action. 

If stress occurs more often, the consequences can be serious and you may suffer from physical and mental complaints. Mentally you can think of worrying, insomnia, less self-confidence or feelings of panic. And physical complaints such as headaches, palpitations, trembling and stomach pain and even a lowered resistance with inflammation are common consequences. And eventually hope, faith and trust disappear from your life. 

It is therefore good if you learn to recognize these physical signals, because your body does not sound the bell for nothing. So it's time to take a break or build in some rest.

How do I recognize stress in myself?

By taking a moment to feel inside, into your body. Check with yourself whether you suffer from:

• increased heart rate
• tense jaws or face
• fast or high breathing
• ​chest pressure

Can mindfulness help with stress?

Mindfulness exercises can help bring you more into your body and take control of your thoughts. For example, if you worry a lot about things that could go wrong or have negative thoughts about yourself. These mindfulness tips can help you:

• Let go of any judgment about yourself and others.
• Observe what is happening in your environment.
• Use your senses: consciously looking, smelling, listening and feeling.
• Focus on this moment, this place.
• Listen to your body's signals.
• Observe the thoughts and feelings that arise as an outsider.
• Accept that new thoughts keep coming, but don't hold on to them.
• Keep your attention focused on your body and your breathing.

Ik find it difficult to meditate but would you rather go outside. Is that also effective against stress?

Exercising, especially outside in nature, is a very good remedy for stress. Being outside in a natural environment immediately reduces your stress level. Movement also helps very effectively, because it brings your attention out of your head and into your body. Therefore, make use of the increasing range of care, sports, yoga and exercise outside in the green. 

What signals indicate that I am under too much stress?

Don't you sleep a wink at night because it's so busy at work? Or do you already start your working day with a stomachache, trembling hands or eyes? Then it's time to do something about it. Perhaps more is being asked of you right now than you think you can handle. It is especially important if you are not feeling well, suffer from anxiety, insomnia or sadness, or if you are facing overstrain or a burnout. I am happy to help you deal with stress differently and to let go of your tense string and find a better balance.

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Tonight is the longest night… This turning point in nature is always a special moment for me to reflect on. We are now furthest from the sun. We are closest to the dark side in ourselves.  I would like to wish you a nice Christmas and New Year's time in this way. Hopefully surrounded by love and warmth. And hopefully we will keep in touch, also in the new year.

YOU CAN READ THIS NEWSLETTER IN ENGLISH OR OTHER LANGUAGES

This morning I noticed again how much peace it gives to be in the dark. The dark offers us the opportunity to look at the dark sides within ourselves. I look at myself, at my dark side, the habits, thoughts and patterns that I would rather not see. My dreams this morning gave me a glimpse into those unconscious and peculiar bits of myself, my rude needs and desires. For me, for example, this is the need to be surrounded by people all the time, the tendency to “be useful” and therefore to plan my agenda. Watching this dark part of myself is educational. It makes me accept myself with everything that goes with it. And it awakens the longing for light and liberation in me. For example my desire for timelessness, useless enjoyment, surrender in the moment, and also feeling connected to others when I am alone. The more I become aware of my dark side, the more space I can give to this light.

Solstice spiral On December 23rd from 15:30 pm, I lay a Yule solstice spiral. When you walk into the spiral, you walk within yourself, into the earth, to your darkest point. There is a candle, the bright spot you can find in the dark. This light can be felt in yourself, you carry it out with you and you can share this light with others. Feel free to come by to design your own ritual. Time: between 15:30 pm and 18:30 pm. Location: in the garden of the Huisje Land van Dromen. Address: Westbroekse Binnenweg, 20, Tienhoven (Ut).

No massages during lockdown The Netherlands is in lockdown again, at least until Tuesday 19 January 2021. Contact professions such as giving a relaxation massage, bodywork or tantra session are not allowed. My practice is therefore largely closed. I do give coaching and mindfulness sessions, online sessions (including meditation, tantra and self-touch) and online workshops. Read more… Free home visit During the lockdown we are asked to stay at home as much as possible. For regular customers I temporarily offer (until February 8, 2021) the possibility for a treatment at your home (e.g. a coaching session or, when this is allowed again, body work or massage). This offer applies to home visits within a maximum travel distance of 30 minutes. Do you live further away? Please contact us to discuss what is reasonable. Read more… Online meditations The most popular guided meditation and meditation music app is InsightTimer. You will also find Dutch meditations of mine. Follow me through this link or search for Tijs Breuer in the app. In this way you can listen to my voice to create a moment of rest for yourself.

Every second Sunday of the month at 20:00 PM I provide a guided sitting meditation in my living room and via Zoom under the heading “City lighting”. Research shows that when groups of people are regularly quiet together, this creates harmony and flow in the group and beyond. Urban lighting is an initiative to stimulate a culture of lighting. Everywhere in the country people open their living room for meditation or meeting in silence. After the meditation, at 20:45 PM, you can join an online yoga class provided by Nicholas Wake and then we share our experiences. I give one every fourth Sunday of the month motion meditation via Zoom, also followed by online yoga. Meditation by sitting still is quite difficult for most people, because we are used to being exposed to stimuli all day long, while your body needs movement. Movement meditation ensures that you quickly regain your peace and that you go in more with your attention. You make an inner journey through an alternation of intensive and subtle movement. You can register your participation for both meditations via the Meetup group “Embodied”. You will also find yoga and breathing lessons provided by my daughter Eva.

Meetups for men Fortunately, after the rain, sunshine will come again and hopefully we can touch each other again in some time. Men in particular are sometimes a bit insecure about touching each other. The meetups of MeninTouchNL offer men the opportunity to become familiar with all kinds of contact and touch in a relaxed, safe and playful environment. I am proud that this small-scale initiative with a few men has now reached almost 1000 participants. I am looking forward to organizing workshops and meetups again, such as the massage lessons and practice evenings, the monthly Tantra Journey and YoungMeninTouchNL massage class. New are the meetups “Playful movement & Touch” in Amsterdam and “Movement and touch for Krasse Knarren” in Tienhoven. On my website you can get a “strip card”For 7 meetups.

Gift certificate with extra discount Do you want to make a friend, colleague or loved one happy with a special gift? And at the same time help me through the lockdown? You can now temporarily with a discount of up to € 27,00 via my booking site purchase a gift certificate. Then you can also send an email (reply to this email) or a donation to do. A gift voucher of € 67,00 costs € 50,00 A gift voucher of € 85,00 costs € 60,00 A gift voucher of € 117,00 costs € 90,00.

UPDATE COVID-19 - March 3, 2021

GOOD NEWS! Since March 3, 2021, the practice has been fully opened again, also for massage, bodywork and tantra. The lockdownmeasures have been relaxed and contact professions are allowed again. The precautionary measures continue to apply.

UPDATE COVID-19 - February 2, 2021

All current measures will remain in effect for the time being, at least until March 2, 2021. After that, massages, bodywork and tantra sessions may be given again. So wait and see again. Read below: “Coaching allowed”.

UPDATE COVID-19 - January 12, 2021

The strict lockdown in the Netherlands has been extended by three weeks until February 9, 2020. Because contact professions are closed, no treatments with massage, bodywork or tantra can be given. The practice remains open for intake interviews, coaching, online sessions and mindfulness.

UPDATE COVID-December 19 - December 15, 2020

The coronavirus is spreading rapidly again. In recent weeks, we have seen a rapid increase in the number of infections, to around 9.000 per day. That is why the Netherlands will be in the strictest lockdown to date during the Christmas period - from Tuesday December 15, 2020 to Tuesday January 19, 2021. Contact professions such as giving a relaxation massage, bodywork or tantra session are again not allowed. The practice is therefore largely closed, with the exception of coaching sessions.

Coaching is allowed

Coaching does not fall under the contact professions. Even if contact professions are closed during the lockdown, coaching sessions can still be given. In all forms of coaching (such as life coaching, leadership coaching, stress or burn-out coaching, business-oriented coaching) the general Corona measures.

Also one home visit possible and temporarily free during the lockdown (max 30 min travel time). It is then mandatory to use a face mask to carry. Also continues Online Coaching of hiking coaching (outdoors) possible. A physical distance does not necessarily mean a mental distance.

The Dutch Association of Professional Coaches (NOBCO) has one infographic “safe to the coach” composed for coaching in corona time. 

What is the added value of online coaching today?

Tijs Breuer “In practice I see many people struggling with loneliness, this has been reinforced as a result of the Corona crisis. There is also an increase in career questions, many people are looking for a different job. Managers are looking for a different leadership style, because how do you lead and motivate employees when everyone works from home? Many clients also run into relationship issues, especially now that you are less able to avoid working from home. ”

Medicine wheel ritual and heart circle.
Date: October 18, 2020. Start: 14:00 h. End: 17:00 h. Location: Het Huisje “Land van Dromen”. Address: Westbroekse Binnenweg 20; 3612 AH Tienhoven (Utrecht).
Route: Navigate to SpaSereen. Free parking in front of the door. Public transport: U-flex bus, SpaSereen stop.

An afternoon of reflection and connection, together creating a ritual that gives us new energy and inner peace. The medicine wheel is a circle of knowledge that encompasses the whole and the completeness of life. We make a circle of stones, where each stone represents a different aspect of life and can be associated with a person we love or a sub-personality of ourselves.

When you enter the space, you can reflect on these aspects, talk to your inner self, or make spiritual contact with a person who is not there. The medicine wheel is a space for healing and a spiritual compass. The person entering the circle has an internal dialogue, like a circular pool of water in which we see ourselves reflected. The other participants are witnesses to your inner process.

After creating this ritual we will drink tea / coffee and snacks inside (bring your homemade soup, salad, biscuits or some fruit to share).

At the wood fire we have a heart circle. A partial circle offers the possibility that every voice is heard, respected and appreciated. When you share what's going on inside you, what your dilemmas and struggles are, something magical happens. If you share what really lives in your heart, it turns out that we can recognize so much in each other.

This meeting is organized by Gerard Meijerink and Tijs Breuer in honor of and in memory of Wim Pas (farm name: Wings), who passed away in February 2020. We share his passion for true and deep masculine brotherhood. This meetup is a co-creation, you can leave a voluntary contribution for renting the space.

Registration via Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/MenintouchNL/events/273609030/

Am I in a risk group for COVID-19?
People who belong to a risk group for the Coronavirus have an increased risk of a serious course of the disease if they are infected with COVID-19.

Persons over 70 years old
People over 70 have an increased risk of serious COVID-19 course. Vulnerable elderly people who struggle to maintain their independence are more at risk than vital elderly people. So do you exercise a lot in your old age? Then the risk of ending up on Intesive Care is a lot smaller. Vulnerability increases with age and can manifest itself in various areas. For example, one vulnerable elderly person needs help with physical care, the other with organizing daily activities.

Overweight
Obesity increases the risk of a more serious course of COVID-19. An important explanation for this is the large amount of belly fat, which unbalances the immune system. Many corona patients admitted to intensive care (IC) are overweight. Of the IC patients in the Netherlands with COVID-19, 77 percent is overweight (BMI from 25) and 30 percent is obese (BMI from 30).

Underlying suffering
Adults with certain underlying diseases and conditions are at greater risk of a serious course of COVID-19.
It concerns adults with:

• chronic abnormalities and functional disorders of the airways and lungs that are under the treatment of a pulmonologist due to their severity;
• a chronic disorder of the heart function, which makes them eligible for the flu shot;
• diabetes mellitus: poorly controlled diabetes or diabetes with secondary complications;
• severe kidney disease leading to dialysis or kidney transplant;
• reduced resistance to infections due to medication for autoimmune diseases, after organ or stem cell transplantation, in haematological disorders, in (functional) asplenia
• in congenital or later in life serious immune disorders that require treatment, or during and within 3 months after chemotherapy and / or radiation in cancer patients;
• an untreated HIV infection or an HIV infection with a CD4 number <200 / mm3;
• severe liver disease in Child-Pugh classification B or C;
• morbid obesity (BMI> 40).

What to do if you belong to a risk group?

If you belong to a risk group, you are probably already more careful and you follow the guidelines of the RIVM carefully. People from risk groups are advised to be extra careful and to follow the measures carefully. It is also extra important for visitors of people who belong to a risk group to follow the basic rules carefully. 

If you belong to a risk group, you can simply have a massage. You can also come by for another session where we come closer than 1,5 meters together, such as coaching, bodywork or a hug treatment. You can also participate in workshops / meetups. However, extra precautions are desirable, in addition to the health check, temperature measurement and wearing a mouth mask by both of us. There is extra good ventilation. You drink tea from your own cup or disposable cup. We can use a splash screen on the massage table. Therefore, please consult in advance if you want to make an appointment for a treatment.