Hi there, my name is Leander Ruivenkamp and I am a writer, embodiment teacher and massage therapist.
In 2007 I started training as an outdoor sports instructor at CIOS in the south of Holland. I specialized in wall climbing, mountain biking, kayaking and canyoning and giving snowboard lessons. During this four year course, I simultaneously followed a sports massage course.
After this time, a number of years of traveling followed and I ended up discovering the beautiful things this world has to offer. For example, I gave snowboard lessons in Austria, France and Germany, I worked as an outdoor sports instructor at a surf school in Zeeland, I worked at a summer camp in New York and I traveled through Central America for six months in search of adventure.
During this beautiful passage in my life, massage always had a place in my heart. After a long day of work, my fellow ski and snowboard instructors in the Alps were only too happy with my massage skills and at the summer camp it was just the same. That way, massage always stayed by my side during everything else I did in my life.
In 2014 I started studying Creative Business. A valuable four years in which I learned a lot. During this study I also learned that bodywork suits me better than the world of media. After graduation I started as a massage therapist at a beautiful studio in Amsterdam. Here I could benefit from a lot of extra training and so I developed further in the field of massage.
Before I give a massage, I always do a small intake focused on how the body feels and where attention is needed. Based on this information, I draw up a plan with the client. Then I connect the predefined plan with my intuition and try to sense where the most tension is in the body. I often use a mix of techniques such as deep tissue, trigger point and classic relaxation. During the massage I will occasionally direct attention slightly towards the breath. Holding the breath often stands in the way of deep relaxation and is therefore a very practical way to release more and therefore relax more.
Besides being a massage therapist I am a trained coach and I give workshops in the field of embodiment and intimacy & attraction.
