Liberating the Waters of Emotions in The Netherlands

The Bowspring method is growing in The Netherlands, in large part to Laura Pijnenborgh and Petra Kool, who live in Den Bosch – about an hour south of Amsterdam. Laura and Petra were first introduced to Bowspring in the 2016 Berlin weekend workshop that Desi and I presented there. Both Laura and Petra, who have been best friends for 26 years and studio co-owners for 12 years, recognized immediate therapeutic benefits from practicing the Bowspring alignment in Berlin. They told us that they felt the curvy alignment of the Bowspring was more natural for their bodies than the standard model yoga alignment so they kept practicing it after the workshop. Within 2 months of regularly practicing Bowspring alignment, both women, now in their mid-40’s, experienced significant improvement of their prolapsed pelvic floors related to the birth of their children. They told us to spread the word that this condition (in which the connective tissue from the genitals to the anus becomes hyper-lax and protruding from the downward pressure of the bladder, uterus, and/or intestines) that many mothers suffer from, can be greatly improved through rebalancing and re-toning the alignment of the myofascia in the lower half of the body.

Bowspring brings back healthy tone to the pelvic floor, so its good for women whose pelvic floor is too lax but also for those whose pelvic floor is too tight or hyper-tonic. According to Laura, “Bowspring also seems to reposition the pelvic organs and brings better tone and proper function of the ligaments and tissue which hold up the internal organs. I believe that the organs move into proper position and rebalance because there is no hyper-contractive abdominal pressure in Bowspring that inhibits the natural anterior tilt of pelvis which can then position the pubis to efficiently support the bladder and uterus.” The ladies tell us that their issues are not 100% reversed (there is react to hormonal changes), but with Bowspring alignment there are hardly any problems or complaints.

Now after practicing Bowspring for two full years, the ladies are changing their studio name to “de Studio Bowspring & Yoga!”

Laura, who is a professional Doula, birth educator, and prenatal teacher, works with over 30 pre-natal and post-natal mothers per week. She is compiling powerful and paradigm-shifting information for a ‘Bowspring for Mothers’ book to be published next year!

While Petra focuses on bringing Bowspring mindset and alignment into everyday activities in The Netherlands and in our modern lifestyle.See all of Petra\’s videos here:

Living Bowspring – Dutch Lifestyle
loading the dishwasher
vacuum cleaning
folding the laundry
picking up toys
making coffee
And playing Santa Klaus putting gifts in front of the fireplace.

The Dutch are world-renown for their water management expertise. About a third of the Netherlands is below sea level including Amsterdam Schiphol Airport [-4 m (-13 ft)] and Zuidplaspolder [-7 m (-23 ft)]. Through a lot of hard work and engineering ingenuity with dikes, canals, and sand dunes, the Dutch have created a very livable, beautiful country for their 17+ million citizens.

Just as the Dutch are good with containing the surrounding waters of The Netherlands, there may be an interesting parallel to the somatic blocking of their emotional waters. We speculated and the students agreed that behind the outspoken directness of the Dutch there are energetic dikes that hold back the deep waters of their emotions. The Dutch are certainly physically and mentally strong, yet last week at our 2-day Bowspring event at Laura and Petra’s studio in Den Bosch, several students experienced trembling, shaking, crying, vivid dreams and general emotional catharsis from doing the basic katas of the Bowspring method. Everyone left the weekend energetically clear – like after a storm – with a renewed dedication to this movement medicine practice for their long-term health and happiness.With yoga teacher, Anita van Veen also teaching Bowspring classes in Assen, the northern part of the Netherlands, and Jeff Hogendorp in Papendrecht, a town in the southwest, who is inspired by Bowspring, the method has taken root in Holland!
Although Bowspring is still very unknown to many in the Netherlands, we feel that that the practical application in everyday life will catch the interest of the very practical Dutch. Who doesn\’t want to get stronger and more vital while doing unavoidable daily chores & activities?! This way the Bowspring can change many people’s lives and health for the better.