March 18, 2026 • 31 mins
Breathwork changed Dirk Hamelijnck's life after 24 years of teaching teenagers how to move — it was learning how to breathe that changed everything.
In this episode, Dirk Hamelijnck shares why he left the familiar structure of the Dutch school system and what brought him to Bali. He talks about the turning point that pushed him onto a new path, the intense practices that first opened the door, and why he now cares more about nuance than hype in breathwork.
You will hear how he approaches breathwork with three clear values, why “safe space” is not just a nice phrase, and what most people misunderstand about breathwork before they ever try it. If you are curious about breath as a tool for grounding, learning, and real change, this conversation will make you want to listen all the way through.
Episode Chapters:
00:00:00 Opening request
00:00:29 Welcome and guest intro
00:01:29 Roots and family
00:01:59 Leaving the Dutch school system
00:03:15 Joy of learning again
00:03:42 Outdoor instructor beginnings
00:04:48 First steps into yoga and breath
00:05:30 Discovering Wim Hof
00:06:22 Training experience and cold exposure
00:09:11 Why breathwork needs nuance
00:09:50 From personal practice to teaching
00:11:14 Breathwork with high school students
00:12:20 Influential teacher figures
00:13:31 Three words for his teaching style
00:19:25 What he brings to classes
00:21:03 What breathwork really is
00:23:23 Connecting breath and yoga
00:27:00 What he hopes people leave with
00:28:22 What he is refining now
00:29:46 Gratitude and closing
Mentions & Resources:
Michael Henri’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelyoga.pt/
Dirk Hamelijnck’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dirkhamelijnck/
The IN Movement Instagram: https://www.instagram/com/the_in_movement/
Wim Hof
Caspar van der Meulen
The IN Movement Podcast was formerly the Going Pro Yoga Podcast — and before that, the Yoga Teacher Evolution Podcast and the Rat Race Rebellion Podcast. Same mission, evolved name.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hey there, before we get startedon this week's episode, I would
love to ask for your support by reviewing this podcast.
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(00:23):
and then give us some love. Thank you so much, and let's get
started with this week's episode.
Welcome back to the IN Movement podcast.
I'm your host, Michael Henry, And we have a new guest in the
house. Fresh new guest, fresh meat.
Dirk. Yeah.
I have no idea how to pronounce your last name.
Oh. Hamelink.
(00:45):
Hamelink OK, Dirk. Dirk I could get away with,
yeah. Hamelink Yeah, that's very good.
Oh. OK, great.
So Dirk and I actually just met about a month ago on a teacher
training and Dirk is going to beone of the facilitators at the
In Movement studio space in New Kooning that's opening in
spring. So like we've had with a few
(01:06):
other people, we're having Dirk to come on to share a little bit
about himself, get to know a bitmore and just kind of who he is,
which is pretty cool. So I already know a little bit
about him from the last month, but I'm also excited to get to
know him a little bit more. So, Dirk, welcome to the
podcast. Thank you so much, happy to be
here. So tell me a little bit or tell
(01:27):
us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from?
Born and raised in the Netherlands, coming from a
family of teachers. Outdoor guy, always playing
outdoors. Youngest of the family of four,
four kids. I'm here in Bali for three years
right now, coming from the Netherlands and having a
(01:49):
daughter of 15 years old right now, 1515.
She was 12 at that time. Oh, shit, I didn't know that.
Yeah, OK. Yeah.
Not not being able to cope with the Dutch school system.
And therefore when she had to goto secondary school, we thought,
are we going to do this to her or are we going to look for
(02:12):
other opportunities? Knowing as my background as a
high school teacher, so many kids are struggling like crazy
and education and they all, theydon't all fit in the same box.
And yeah, actually coming back to my youth, I was one of those
(02:32):
kind of struggling with all the structure and all the rules, and
eventually, at my own speed, I did well becoming a high school
teacher. What did you teach in high
school? Physical Education.
Oh, that's right. Yeah, for 24 years in the same
school. I love doing it.
I loved and loved doing it. But seeing all these kids
(02:54):
struggle and losing the intrinsic joy to learn because I
think every kid has that. And we kind of take it away from
them. They they have to meet all these
rules and all these. Yeah.
Boundaries and things. Like that, boundaries, things
(03:15):
like that. So it's so nice to take people
into a joyful place where they can reconnect to the joy of, of,
of learning again. Because doesn't matter how old
you are. I turned 50 last year, almost a
month of of yoga teacher training and I felt great to be
(03:36):
a student. So it never stops.
Teacher for so long, right? 24 years.
Wow. Yeah, my journey started I think
I, when I was 16, host as an outdoor instructor, coming to
climbing weekends, white water canoeing, walking in the
mountains via ferrata. I'm not sure if you know that
(03:59):
climb, climbing horizontally at a super high altitude, those
kind of things probably. Wouldn't be my jam.
I'm not a big heights person, not at all, but.
Yeah. So it started at a young age and
that kind of deviated here and there, but always coming back to
being physical, beating yourselfat a certain level and see where
(04:20):
the, yeah, where the boundaries are, respect those and see where
the growth is. So yeah, still in the same same
area. Same space, same space,
different. Yeah.
So then when you came to, cuz, Imean, we didn't really say this,
but you are a breath work facilitator and so much more of
course, but what was your exposure or your your starting
(04:44):
point with whether it be yoga orbreath work?
Like how did that kind of come into your world?
Was it early on in your teachingcareer or was it after coming to
Bali? Like what?
Yes, about a decade ago, I foundmyself on a on a crossroad.
Like many people of that age, I was doing the same thing for
such a long time and I wasn't sure if I really enjoyed it.
(05:06):
And there was a very specific moment for me, like I thought,
well, I'm going to continue in this way or I'm going to grow up
in a way. So it was the latter.
And I was always already experimenting with yoga
meditation, but I was looking for someone or something to had
(05:27):
to show me what other path therewas.
Then I found Wim Hof and I subscribed for the teacher
training with him, and that was actually very clear for me.
OK, this is what where I want tolearn more from.
So there was actually one breathing protocol, but it's so
(05:48):
much more to understand about the breath.
So I kept learning more and moreon the breath.
And yeah, that was a very important start for me, learning
from him and. That was about 10 years ago.
Yeah, 2016 I subscribed. Early 2017 it started.
So was that like, because like when I imagine Wim Hof trainings
or experiences, it's like going into the middle of like the
(06:10):
Arctic somewhere and just like jumping in the Goldwater with
the polar bears. I know that's not fully true,
but like, what was, what was your experience exactly?
Like how did you do the trainingor what was the training like
rather? Yeah, it's for about a year
stretched out over a few weekends and and the full
weekend in Poland. And yeah, after my first
(06:30):
experience with connecting to the breath and therefore
connecting with those parts of me that I was pushing away for
such a long time, I thought, this is super interesting
actually. I came there just for my own
growth and experience and I thought, well, I do want to
share this with the world. So over the stretch of that
year, I dove into different kindof things immediately because
(06:54):
you meet like minded people. So you're working with fasting
and those kind of things different other exposures to to
challenging environments. And even though that was not new
for me, but the place where my journey came from was different.
So there was way more around as to what I was doing.
So therefore the growth opportunities were more visible.
(07:17):
Yeah, but it's pretty masculine.And yeah, walking up snowy
mountains in only your shorts, that is something that as you
see around the Arctic. Yeah, right.
Testing the physical resilience to some degree.
Yeah. Cool.
So I mean, I've, I've had an experience actually at a Bali
(07:37):
Spirit festival here years ago where his name was Alex.
Oh yeah. Cold with Alex or something like
this. It was a long time ago
something. Like that?
Yeah, French guy. Anyhow, he had a big, big
basically like kiddie pool of water and ice and I had never
(07:59):
really done anything like that. Like I've done like polar bear
dips, as we call it in Canada, like in the middle of the winter
you to jump in and. Actually, that's the most
beautiful thing to do in nature.And that's, and that was fun,
but it was like, you could jump in and you're a kid or whatever
and you're an adult and you're just like, how you laughing, you
get out and you're kind of whatever.
Whereas this was like, no, go inthe cold and be still and like
(08:20):
experience it. So that was just like a, for me,
it was like a, it was a shock. Actually, a shock is best the
way to describe it because I had, I was in there and it was
just like, stay. And, you know, he put his hand
on me and, and he's just like, breathe, just breathe.
Get down, boy. Right.
And I was just like, I felt likeI was just gasping, gasping.
And it was a very powerful moment for me.
(08:42):
And then I kind of came out of it and like it was moving my
body, which is kind of like the Wim Hof thing.
I see kind of moving, standing, just like allowing the energy or
the circulation to kind of flow.And I just felt like, I don't
know, like it was just such a cool experience.
So that's my only real like Wim Hof experience.
Obviously there's other elementsthat I've seen and kind of like
experience with breath work practices, but your story kind
(09:06):
of reminds me of that little glimpse that I had of that with
WAS. Yeah, it was a powerful moment.
Yeah, those powerful ways of breathing are quite often a
doorway for people to remind them how powerful the breath is.
And but quite often it's shown as the only one.
And so for me, it's very, very important to bring the nuance to
(09:26):
do the field of breath work. So different variety.
So many different varieties, yeah.
So one of the questions was whendid it shift from a personal
practice to something that you wanted to teach?
And you kind of said it briefly,but initially you did it for
yourself. Having a, you know, background
of being a teacher. It almost seems like it just
(09:47):
naturally flew into that, but maybe you got something more to
say about it. Yeah, that was already after the
first training weekend. Yeah, I thought I have to show
this to the world. And as many people who kind of
feel overwhelmed through a beautiful sensation or whatever
an experience, I had to learn toshare it from a very grounded
(10:14):
place. So you're so enthusiastic.
Oh, wow, this sensation, everybody should, should, should
be able to tap into that. But over the years, I learned
that it is not for everyone. And it's not important that what
I felt it's important that you host a safe space for people to
step in when it when it's the right time for them.
(10:36):
And that is missing quite often.But after my first weekend, I, I
knew I want to do this. So I start doing it actually
right after my training when I was certified in the weekends.
So during the weeks I was a Mr. High school teacher and in the
weekends I changed into my Iceman mask.
(10:59):
So it sounds like there was a bit of a crossover with this and
still teaching at the yeah, highschool level.
So did you ever kind of play with seeing how the kids might
respond to it for. Sure, yeah.
And how did that go? Pretty good, actually.
Yeah, depending on on how you approach it.
If you say, oh, we're going to do a breathing exercise, I say,
(11:21):
say what? But I brought my I made this
shamanic drum and I brought it in and I started with a running
exercise and then speed it up and go run, run, run.
And I want the pace slow down, slow down and then squats and
connect to the rhythm. So first I get used to the
rhythm. OK, now breathe in for four and
go up and exhale for four, go down and then, yeah, playfully
(11:46):
dive into a breathing exercise and they're tired and they're
kind of over breathing in a way.And then, OK, relax, lie down
and then still connect to the breath and then slow it down and
it'll collapse and like, oh, this is nice.
Oh, that's cool. Yeah.
So. I love the bang of the drum to
disguide it a little. Bit yeah, I love doing those
kind of things. That's cool, probably felt
tribal and sure, some of the boys loved.
(12:06):
Loved that. Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, that's. Cool, I think you've already
answered this question, but I'llask it anyway.
Was there a specific teacher experience or life moment that
shaped the way that you are facilitating or teaching now?
Yeah, for sure. When I did my training at the
Wimhof Academy, Wim was there it.
Was yeah. Oh cool.
But there was this other guy called Kaspov on the Mohler,
(12:29):
Dutch guy, and he has a background as a science teacher
also in high school. And his approach is very super
grounded, scientific. And obviously there's more to
breathing and cold exposure thanscience and what it does it for
our body physiologically. And he's a beautiful, bland and
(12:54):
also energetic emotionally and spiritually.
So yeah, for me, that was a veryimportant figure.
That and one of the other trainings I did after the Wim
off is his only his own trainingand just talking about what
what, what is the breath and howdo we breathe and how does
(13:14):
breath influences actually everysingle thing we do in life.
So yeah, it's not learning one skill or one trick or one
modalities, understanding what is it and how can it serve us.
So yeah, this is an important figure for me.
Yeah. And how would you now describe
your, let's say, teaching style?Let's let's give it 3 words.
(13:37):
If you were to give the way in which you facilitate now,
whether it be breath work, maybeeven yoga, 3 words in which.
Come to mind educational as in people understand what is it and
feeling. So let's elaborate a little bit.
(13:59):
Safety. Why?
You can overwhelm yourself with the breath and your next breath
can be opportunity to start yourhealing journey.
And if you do it correctly, you stay somewhere in the parameters
of what is helpful for the person in front of you.
So if you teach to a group of 20-5 people that you don't know,
(14:23):
it's very important what choicesyou make.
Where do you invite people into?So yeah, the luckily there are
many people who understand this,but in the field also the other
thing is true. So for me, it's very important
to make choices that you cannot serve anyone in your classes,
(14:47):
but you don't want to hurt one single person.
So safety for me is very important.
And many people are so overwhelmed by all the things
that happened to them and they think they have to do and have
to meet up to and even their ownbodies isn't, isn't safe
anymore. So reconnecting to your breath
(15:08):
and landing your own body and feel grounded, that brings
safety. And if people understand that
happens through very gentle work, they reclaim their their
own power actually. So therefore safety is the first
thing that I mentioned. Yeah, that's great.
I mean, you definitely have a very permissive field already,
(15:29):
which is creates a lot of room for empowerment or people
feeling more empowered. So awesome.
I kind of figured that was the answer, but I wanted to hear it
from you. Second one was education, you
know. It's educational, yeah.
So tell me more about why that why that word?
If people have some background information about what's
happening when when breathing through the nose or mouth or a
(15:50):
lengthening the exhale or have certain breath holds or pauses.
And they kind of understand if they have a sensation where it's
coming from. And especially in the Western
world, many people also want to understand why they do things.
So if you connect the feeling tothe understanding with some
(16:11):
background information, some yeah, actually high school
biology classes, basic stuff, yeah, that brings more framework
to to the to the field so peoplecan take things home and
understand. OK, I feel kind of this way.
What do I have in my toolbox to.Yeah, kind of manage the state
(16:33):
that I find myself in I. Think understanding or knowing
why we're doing things, I mean, whether people know that how
powerful that is or not. But anytime you understand why
you're doing something, you're usually more likely to subscribe
to it or commit to it or be more, you know, yeah, putting
energy into it. So.
(16:54):
And you don't want to make it the biology class, so you have
to be wise in how much information you want to send.
Sometimes I catch myself sorry, sorry, one more thing and then
we get started again. But I get a lot of feedback from
people think, oh wow, this is also breath work.
So thank you for showing this part to me because I thought I
hated it so yeah. And I continue doing it this way
(17:17):
if there's so many people likingit so.
Third one was feeling. Feeling so?
You touched on a little bit more, but let's expand on it a
bit. Yeah, feeling is the part of the
understanding. And like I told you before, many
people got disconnected from their feelings from a very early
(17:38):
age on. When you fall on your on your
face, I stand up and you don't have to cry.
Nothing wrong, no scratches, wipe it off and and go.
So OK, if I fall down on my face, I'm not allowed to feel
sad. Those kind of things.
And obviously in many different families is different, but also
(18:01):
in cultures. So meeting people from all over
the world over here, really lookhow they respond to certain
things and sometimes don't have a clue if they're I didn't, I
think they understand that they breathe in and out, but what is
moving accordingly? They don't have a clue and what
sensations come after for example, a box breathing or
(18:24):
something that longer breath pauses.
They don't have a clue looking around like, yeah.
So the feeling part for me is very, very important because if
you truly connect to the internal world, you kind of are
able to tap in what do you need?That comes from all the
(18:45):
information that's constantly sent to you.
And luckily we don't feel all those things.
But to be totally disconnected from it, it's it's problematic
for your health. Yeah, you say feeling, I hear
connection basically, but reconnecting, yeah, which is
great. I love that.
And I think the previous one, like you said, the educational
(19:05):
or the reason why helps to kind of like almost tease out that
reconnection, that feeling a bitmore.
So that's awesome. So you might have answered this
one already as well, but like what do you feel you uniquely
bring to the studio or your classes?
Hopefully authenticity, so there's only one me and you have
(19:30):
your own audience. So if people dig it, they'll
come back. So the, the approach, like I
just said, is obviously important, but also the fact
that people feel seen. And so allow no more than 30
people in my classes right now. And we do it.
I do that with a, with an assistant and I see everybody
(19:52):
before we get started. So I introduce myself, ask how
do you feel today? And 99 people.
Yeah, awesome, very good. And that's the easy answer.
But beneath the surface, there'sso much going on.
But sometimes people say I feel sad or very tired.
(20:12):
And for those people, it's important that they felt seen
before we get started instead ofcome in and also ask if there's
any things I need to know beforeI get started.
But. Some things that are
contraindications and even though my sessions are not very
intense, certain people should avoid doing breath holds, for
(20:34):
example, when they have problemswith the eyes.
For example, people who are pregnant should avoid longer
exhales for for for a long time.So you kind of want to know
beforehand. And so I don't see that a lot
with different teachers. So I think that people feel seen
before they get started. You create a a container that
(20:56):
kind of starts in a Safeway. I think that's one of my unique
selling points, yeah. If someone's ever tried
breathwork before, what would you?
What would you say to them? Congratulations, you're already
breathwork professional because you breathe the whole day.
And yeah, most of those breaths are unconscious.
(21:19):
So I, I bring people on a, on anadventure to connect to their
own breath. And every next breath is a new
one. You've never taken that before.
And although they look similar and they're different because
you feel different in, in every moment and being able to tap
into that, there's where breath breath work start.
(21:39):
Breath work starts for me. So it's not, not a modality.
It's not a fixed rule or a fixedset of things.
Yeah, if you do this, this is going to happen for people to
find out what works for them. So if you bring them to kind of
a journey with quite often basicstuff, basic stuff is the most
powerful actually, because thereis where you can connect it with
(22:02):
in every single moment. So you don't need a guru or a
teacher or yeah, you become yourown Yeah, healing guru, whatever
you want to call. It guide.
Baby Guide. Yeah, so Breathwork encapsulates
all that potential for me. That's cool.
So it's almost feels like an exploration.
(22:24):
To some degree it is, and you'rejust kind of holding space for
that. With so many people in the
world, we all have our own need of approach.
So for you, you know, I mean, the unique thing about you is
that you haven't really talked to many people that have come in
for the podcasts on things outside of just like the yoga
(22:44):
itself. Now, obviously yoga breath,
breath work, you know, you can kind of like put it into the,
it's a, in a similar category tosome degree, but it's also a
uniquely different experience. You know, people hear yoga, they
might not even think about breath.
They might just think physical exercise.
People hear breath work. They think, oh, I'm breathing.
It's a breath work. It's a breath exercise of some
(23:06):
sort, maybe a meditation. They might even think it's a
meditation using the breath. So I also know that because you
just did a yoga teacher training.
Is there other elements or is breath work really the thing
that you feel most passionate about?
Or are you potentially going to explore other things?
The second, yeah. Yeah.
As a, as a P/E teacher, I'm veryused to cue people into whatever
(23:31):
they hold, a baseball bat or doing a cartwheel, those kind of
things. So it makes so much sense for me
to, to do this with people. And yeah, the strong relation
with the breath. The breath is such a powerful
anchor in every pose and every stance that you're making.
Yeah. I shared this during the, the
(23:54):
end of the training, actually, when I'm looking back into my
whole history of, of teaching starting 1618, my approach was
actually always a yogic way to, to be in nature and to connect
to the beauty of the nature and feel.
Yeah, overwhelmed. Like, wow, there's so much
beauty and power in everything that's surround us.
(24:16):
So there's, it was always this underlying need for me to
connect people not to, to learn the cartwheel or a double flip,
whatever. And that, that wasn't not
important for me. So also we, we stopped marking
people for their learnt tricks in a very early time.
(24:36):
So we're, we're one of those first schools in the Netherlands
to stop marking people for thosekind of things.
We just try to draw people into having fun and learning,
connecting to their own bodies and the limitations and see how
they can grow. And actually that is kind of a
(24:56):
yogic approach to to life, to togrowth, to non judge mental
yeah, in a dialogue. So yeah, I'm looking forward to
to continue this working with usand us as well and and
connecting those two worlds. But obviously the breath work
that we do right now has a background in paranayama.
(25:20):
But yeah, if you take it into modern life and, and being able
to connect it to every single thing that we do in life, not
only as preparation for your meditation or to support
yourself of coming into a certain pose.
And then it's kind of set into anew light.
(25:42):
And for many people, that's that's why they step into it,
because it doesn't have this oldkind of dusty sensation to it.
But yeah, we need to pay respectto these old yogis from 5000
years ago who came up with this beautiful connection with with
the breath. And I truly think that way
before that time, there were shamanic traditions who were
(26:04):
working with the healing powers of the breath.
So I think as long as human beings, whatever that might be,
are on the surface of this earthand people connect to the breath
consciously understanding the power of it, It's it's it's
something that we lost over the last few 100 times, thinking
that other things are more important than our well-being
(26:25):
and our connection to source andother people.
Yeah. Yeah, the breath is super
powerful. I can't.
It is. It's such a simple, simple
thing, but it's so profound whenyou give it a chance to actually
be explored more and also appreciate it.
Yeah, for a reason. It has so many in so many
(26:47):
cultures. It has a name as a life force,
source, spirit. So it's one of the most
important things that we can connect to.
Yeah, I agree. Agreed.
Agreed. So when someone walks into your
class, whether it be breath workor a combination of breath work
and movement, what do you want them to experience or feel after
(27:12):
they walk out? Or what would you hope that
they? What?
Yeah. What I want is not important.
Yeah. I hope that they have a safe
journey. And that's before I get started.
I always had this small mantra. I hope.
I want to get my agenda outside the dorm, as much ego outside
the door as possible, to open space for people to have their
(27:35):
journey. They have their experience in
the most pure way that they can receive it.
So the less wanting of needing from the facilitator is there,
the better it is for them to to to receive it in the in this
pure way. What I wish for everybody to
(27:57):
experience is that they carry a powerful weapon or Ally has a
better word with them all the time.
And if they understand how it can help help them.
Yeah, there's some kind of a superpower, and I want to give
people their superpower back. Cool.
(28:19):
I love it. OK.
I got one more question for you.Rein in.
What are you currently exploringor refining in your own practice
right now? Yeah, I was talking about non
judge mental behavior before andwhen I started with yoga, I
wanted to impress the teacher. See, I'm, I'm bendy, I'm strong.
(28:45):
And it was very nice to see that.
And when I did the training withyou guys, there was hardly
anything left or dead. I thought I need to take care of
this, this body. It's my temple.
So in my own practice, I'm very aware of of that movement inside
of me and there's always rugged pieces inside of of us, but I'm
(29:12):
so willing to, to look at them and shine a light on those
things that were in the darks for such a long time.
And it's an ongoing process, butI'm very grateful for the
position I find myself in these days.
Growing all the rest is nice. Yeah, if you do it in a, in a,
in a conscious way. Right, Right.
(29:33):
That's great. I love it.
Well, those are basically all the questions that I had for
you. Is there anything else that's
coming through that you'd like to share or something maybe
you'd like people to know about you?
No, I'm super grateful for this opportunity.
I'm super grateful for people, even though there, there's some
new ones need to be made in, forexample, the Wim Hof method with
(29:58):
those kind of people who broughtbreath to to a bigger audience.
So many people benefit from it. So I'm so grateful for all these
people who are making themselvesvisible.
And yeah, for example, what you guys do over here with this
platform, Yeah, it makes it makes the world a better place.
(30:20):
So I'm very grateful to be part of of, of that journey that that
movement, so that in movement. That inward movement.
Full circle. Yeah, that's that's pretty much
it. Awesome.
Well, thank you so much for coming in.
I really appreciate you spendingthe time, especially coming away
(30:41):
from the family after being in the training for three weeks.
I'm sure that they missed you a bit.
And thank you everyone for tuning in this week.
If you have any questions, of course, you can reach out to us.
If you wanted to connect directly with Dirk, what's the
best way to? Do that e-mail, Instagram Derek
Harm link. Cool.
We'll make sure to have that in the show notes and then people
(31:02):
can kind of if they want to connect with you, maybe they
have a question or who knows. Yeah.
Cool. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much and enjoy the rest of your day.
Hey there, before we get startedon this week's episode, I would
love to ask for your support by reviewing this podcast.
We want to share yoga with as many people as possible and this
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help support us is by giving us a review.
So if you go to Apple podcast orSpotify or whatever podcast
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(00:23):
and then give us some love. Thank you so much, and let's get
started with this week's episode.
Welcome back to the IN Movement podcast.
I'm your host, Michael Henry, And we have a new guest in the
house. Fresh new guest, fresh meat.
Dirk. Yeah.
I have no idea how to pronounce your last name.
Oh. Hamelink.
(00:45):
Hamelink OK, Dirk. Dirk I could get away with,
yeah. Hamelink Yeah, that's very good.
Oh. OK, great.
So Dirk and I actually just met about a month ago on a teacher
training and Dirk is going to beone of the facilitators at the
In Movement studio space in New Kooning that's opening in
spring. So like we've had with a few
(01:06):
other people, we're having Dirk to come on to share a little bit
about himself, get to know a bitmore and just kind of who he is,
which is pretty cool. So I already know a little bit
about him from the last month, but I'm also excited to get to
know him a little bit more. So, Dirk, welcome to the
podcast. Thank you so much, happy to be
here. So tell me a little bit or tell
(01:27):
us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from?
Born and raised in the Netherlands, coming from a
family of teachers. Outdoor guy, always playing
outdoors. Youngest of the family of four,
four kids. I'm here in Bali for three years
right now, coming from the Netherlands and having a
(01:49):
daughter of 15 years old right now, 1515.
She was 12 at that time. Oh, shit, I didn't know that.
Yeah, OK. Yeah.
Not not being able to cope with the Dutch school system.
And therefore when she had to goto secondary school, we thought,
are we going to do this to her or are we going to look for
(02:12):
other opportunities? Knowing as my background as a
high school teacher, so many kids are struggling like crazy
and education and they all, theydon't all fit in the same box.
And yeah, actually coming back to my youth, I was one of those
(02:32):
kind of struggling with all the structure and all the rules, and
eventually, at my own speed, I did well becoming a high school
teacher. What did you teach in high
school? Physical Education.
Oh, that's right. Yeah, for 24 years in the same
school. I love doing it.
I loved and loved doing it. But seeing all these kids
(02:54):
struggle and losing the intrinsic joy to learn because I
think every kid has that. And we kind of take it away from
them. They they have to meet all these
rules and all these. Yeah.
Boundaries and things. Like that, boundaries, things
(03:15):
like that. So it's so nice to take people
into a joyful place where they can reconnect to the joy of, of,
of learning again. Because doesn't matter how old
you are. I turned 50 last year, almost a
month of of yoga teacher training and I felt great to be
(03:36):
a student. So it never stops.
Teacher for so long, right? 24 years.
Wow. Yeah, my journey started I think
I, when I was 16, host as an outdoor instructor, coming to
climbing weekends, white water canoeing, walking in the
mountains via ferrata. I'm not sure if you know that
(03:59):
climb, climbing horizontally at a super high altitude, those
kind of things probably. Wouldn't be my jam.
I'm not a big heights person, not at all, but.
Yeah. So it started at a young age and
that kind of deviated here and there, but always coming back to
being physical, beating yourselfat a certain level and see where
(04:20):
the, yeah, where the boundaries are, respect those and see where
the growth is. So yeah, still in the same same
area. Same space, same space,
different. Yeah.
So then when you came to, cuz, Imean, we didn't really say this,
but you are a breath work facilitator and so much more of
course, but what was your exposure or your your starting
(04:44):
point with whether it be yoga orbreath work?
Like how did that kind of come into your world?
Was it early on in your teachingcareer or was it after coming to
Bali? Like what?
Yes, about a decade ago, I foundmyself on a on a crossroad.
Like many people of that age, I was doing the same thing for
such a long time and I wasn't sure if I really enjoyed it.
(05:06):
And there was a very specific moment for me, like I thought,
well, I'm going to continue in this way or I'm going to grow up
in a way. So it was the latter.
And I was always already experimenting with yoga
meditation, but I was looking for someone or something to had
(05:27):
to show me what other path therewas.
Then I found Wim Hof and I subscribed for the teacher
training with him, and that was actually very clear for me.
OK, this is what where I want tolearn more from.
So there was actually one breathing protocol, but it's so
(05:48):
much more to understand about the breath.
So I kept learning more and moreon the breath.
And yeah, that was a very important start for me, learning
from him and. That was about 10 years ago.
Yeah, 2016 I subscribed. Early 2017 it started.
So was that like, because like when I imagine Wim Hof trainings
or experiences, it's like going into the middle of like the
(06:10):
Arctic somewhere and just like jumping in the Goldwater with
the polar bears. I know that's not fully true,
but like, what was, what was your experience exactly?
Like how did you do the trainingor what was the training like
rather? Yeah, it's for about a year
stretched out over a few weekends and and the full
weekend in Poland. And yeah, after my first
(06:30):
experience with connecting to the breath and therefore
connecting with those parts of me that I was pushing away for
such a long time, I thought, this is super interesting
actually. I came there just for my own
growth and experience and I thought, well, I do want to
share this with the world. So over the stretch of that
year, I dove into different kindof things immediately because
(06:54):
you meet like minded people. So you're working with fasting
and those kind of things different other exposures to to
challenging environments. And even though that was not new
for me, but the place where my journey came from was different.
So there was way more around as to what I was doing.
So therefore the growth opportunities were more visible.
(07:17):
Yeah, but it's pretty masculine.And yeah, walking up snowy
mountains in only your shorts, that is something that as you
see around the Arctic. Yeah, right.
Testing the physical resilience to some degree.
Yeah. Cool.
So I mean, I've, I've had an experience actually at a Bali
(07:37):
Spirit festival here years ago where his name was Alex.
Oh yeah. Cold with Alex or something like
this. It was a long time ago
something. Like that?
Yeah, French guy. Anyhow, he had a big, big
basically like kiddie pool of water and ice and I had never
(07:59):
really done anything like that. Like I've done like polar bear
dips, as we call it in Canada, like in the middle of the winter
you to jump in and. Actually, that's the most
beautiful thing to do in nature.And that's, and that was fun,
but it was like, you could jump in and you're a kid or whatever
and you're an adult and you're just like, how you laughing, you
get out and you're kind of whatever.
Whereas this was like, no, go inthe cold and be still and like
(08:20):
experience it. So that was just like a, for me,
it was like a, it was a shock. Actually, a shock is best the
way to describe it because I had, I was in there and it was
just like, stay. And, you know, he put his hand
on me and, and he's just like, breathe, just breathe.
Get down, boy. Right.
And I was just like, I felt likeI was just gasping, gasping.
And it was a very powerful moment for me.
(08:42):
And then I kind of came out of it and like it was moving my
body, which is kind of like the Wim Hof thing.
I see kind of moving, standing, just like allowing the energy or
the circulation to kind of flow.And I just felt like, I don't
know, like it was just such a cool experience.
So that's my only real like Wim Hof experience.
Obviously there's other elementsthat I've seen and kind of like
experience with breath work practices, but your story kind
(09:06):
of reminds me of that little glimpse that I had of that with
WAS. Yeah, it was a powerful moment.
Yeah, those powerful ways of breathing are quite often a
doorway for people to remind them how powerful the breath is.
And but quite often it's shown as the only one.
And so for me, it's very, very important to bring the nuance to
(09:26):
do the field of breath work. So different variety.
So many different varieties, yeah.
So one of the questions was whendid it shift from a personal
practice to something that you wanted to teach?
And you kind of said it briefly,but initially you did it for
yourself. Having a, you know, background
of being a teacher. It almost seems like it just
(09:47):
naturally flew into that, but maybe you got something more to
say about it. Yeah, that was already after the
first training weekend. Yeah, I thought I have to show
this to the world. And as many people who kind of
feel overwhelmed through a beautiful sensation or whatever
an experience, I had to learn toshare it from a very grounded
(10:14):
place. So you're so enthusiastic.
Oh, wow, this sensation, everybody should, should, should
be able to tap into that. But over the years, I learned
that it is not for everyone. And it's not important that what
I felt it's important that you host a safe space for people to
step in when it when it's the right time for them.
(10:36):
And that is missing quite often.But after my first weekend, I, I
knew I want to do this. So I start doing it actually
right after my training when I was certified in the weekends.
So during the weeks I was a Mr. High school teacher and in the
weekends I changed into my Iceman mask.
(10:59):
So it sounds like there was a bit of a crossover with this and
still teaching at the yeah, highschool level.
So did you ever kind of play with seeing how the kids might
respond to it for. Sure, yeah.
And how did that go? Pretty good, actually.
Yeah, depending on on how you approach it.
If you say, oh, we're going to do a breathing exercise, I say,
(11:21):
say what? But I brought my I made this
shamanic drum and I brought it in and I started with a running
exercise and then speed it up and go run, run, run.
And I want the pace slow down, slow down and then squats and
connect to the rhythm. So first I get used to the
rhythm. OK, now breathe in for four and
go up and exhale for four, go down and then, yeah, playfully
(11:46):
dive into a breathing exercise and they're tired and they're
kind of over breathing in a way.And then, OK, relax, lie down
and then still connect to the breath and then slow it down and
it'll collapse and like, oh, this is nice.
Oh, that's cool. Yeah.
So. I love the bang of the drum to
disguide it a little. Bit yeah, I love doing those
kind of things. That's cool, probably felt
tribal and sure, some of the boys loved.
(12:06):
Loved that. Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, that's. Cool, I think you've already
answered this question, but I'llask it anyway.
Was there a specific teacher experience or life moment that
shaped the way that you are facilitating or teaching now?
Yeah, for sure. When I did my training at the
Wimhof Academy, Wim was there it.
Was yeah. Oh cool.
But there was this other guy called Kaspov on the Mohler,
(12:29):
Dutch guy, and he has a background as a science teacher
also in high school. And his approach is very super
grounded, scientific. And obviously there's more to
breathing and cold exposure thanscience and what it does it for
our body physiologically. And he's a beautiful, bland and
(12:54):
also energetic emotionally and spiritually.
So yeah, for me, that was a veryimportant figure.
That and one of the other trainings I did after the Wim
off is his only his own trainingand just talking about what
what, what is the breath and howdo we breathe and how does
(13:14):
breath influences actually everysingle thing we do in life.
So yeah, it's not learning one skill or one trick or one
modalities, understanding what is it and how can it serve us.
So yeah, this is an important figure for me.
Yeah. And how would you now describe
your, let's say, teaching style?Let's let's give it 3 words.
(13:37):
If you were to give the way in which you facilitate now,
whether it be breath work, maybeeven yoga, 3 words in which.
Come to mind educational as in people understand what is it and
feeling. So let's elaborate a little bit.
(13:59):
Safety. Why?
You can overwhelm yourself with the breath and your next breath
can be opportunity to start yourhealing journey.
And if you do it correctly, you stay somewhere in the parameters
of what is helpful for the person in front of you.
So if you teach to a group of 20-5 people that you don't know,
(14:23):
it's very important what choicesyou make.
Where do you invite people into?So yeah, the luckily there are
many people who understand this,but in the field also the other
thing is true. So for me, it's very important
to make choices that you cannot serve anyone in your classes,
(14:47):
but you don't want to hurt one single person.
So safety for me is very important.
And many people are so overwhelmed by all the things
that happened to them and they think they have to do and have
to meet up to and even their ownbodies isn't, isn't safe
anymore. So reconnecting to your breath
(15:08):
and landing your own body and feel grounded, that brings
safety. And if people understand that
happens through very gentle work, they reclaim their their
own power actually. So therefore safety is the first
thing that I mentioned. Yeah, that's great.
I mean, you definitely have a very permissive field already,
(15:29):
which is creates a lot of room for empowerment or people
feeling more empowered. So awesome.
I kind of figured that was the answer, but I wanted to hear it
from you. Second one was education, you
know. It's educational, yeah.
So tell me more about why that why that word?
If people have some background information about what's
happening when when breathing through the nose or mouth or a
(15:50):
lengthening the exhale or have certain breath holds or pauses.
And they kind of understand if they have a sensation where it's
coming from. And especially in the Western
world, many people also want to understand why they do things.
So if you connect the feeling tothe understanding with some
(16:11):
background information, some yeah, actually high school
biology classes, basic stuff, yeah, that brings more framework
to to the to the field so peoplecan take things home and
understand. OK, I feel kind of this way.
What do I have in my toolbox to.Yeah, kind of manage the state
(16:33):
that I find myself in I. Think understanding or knowing
why we're doing things, I mean, whether people know that how
powerful that is or not. But anytime you understand why
you're doing something, you're usually more likely to subscribe
to it or commit to it or be more, you know, yeah, putting
energy into it. So.
(16:54):
And you don't want to make it the biology class, so you have
to be wise in how much information you want to send.
Sometimes I catch myself sorry, sorry, one more thing and then
we get started again. But I get a lot of feedback from
people think, oh wow, this is also breath work.
So thank you for showing this part to me because I thought I
hated it so yeah. And I continue doing it this way
(17:17):
if there's so many people likingit so.
Third one was feeling. Feeling so?
You touched on a little bit more, but let's expand on it a
bit. Yeah, feeling is the part of the
understanding. And like I told you before, many
people got disconnected from their feelings from a very early
(17:38):
age on. When you fall on your on your
face, I stand up and you don't have to cry.
Nothing wrong, no scratches, wipe it off and and go.
So OK, if I fall down on my face, I'm not allowed to feel
sad. Those kind of things.
And obviously in many different families is different, but also
(18:01):
in cultures. So meeting people from all over
the world over here, really lookhow they respond to certain
things and sometimes don't have a clue if they're I didn't, I
think they understand that they breathe in and out, but what is
moving accordingly? They don't have a clue and what
sensations come after for example, a box breathing or
(18:24):
something that longer breath pauses.
They don't have a clue looking around like, yeah.
So the feeling part for me is very, very important because if
you truly connect to the internal world, you kind of are
able to tap in what do you need?That comes from all the
(18:45):
information that's constantly sent to you.
And luckily we don't feel all those things.
But to be totally disconnected from it, it's it's problematic
for your health. Yeah, you say feeling, I hear
connection basically, but reconnecting, yeah, which is
great. I love that.
And I think the previous one, like you said, the educational
(19:05):
or the reason why helps to kind of like almost tease out that
reconnection, that feeling a bitmore.
So that's awesome. So you might have answered this
one already as well, but like what do you feel you uniquely
bring to the studio or your classes?
Hopefully authenticity, so there's only one me and you have
(19:30):
your own audience. So if people dig it, they'll
come back. So the, the approach, like I
just said, is obviously important, but also the fact
that people feel seen. And so allow no more than 30
people in my classes right now. And we do it.
I do that with a, with an assistant and I see everybody
(19:52):
before we get started. So I introduce myself, ask how
do you feel today? And 99 people.
Yeah, awesome, very good. And that's the easy answer.
But beneath the surface, there'sso much going on.
But sometimes people say I feel sad or very tired.
(20:12):
And for those people, it's important that they felt seen
before we get started instead ofcome in and also ask if there's
any things I need to know beforeI get started.
But. Some things that are
contraindications and even though my sessions are not very
intense, certain people should avoid doing breath holds, for
(20:34):
example, when they have problemswith the eyes.
For example, people who are pregnant should avoid longer
exhales for for for a long time.So you kind of want to know
beforehand. And so I don't see that a lot
with different teachers. So I think that people feel seen
before they get started. You create a a container that
(20:56):
kind of starts in a Safeway. I think that's one of my unique
selling points, yeah. If someone's ever tried
breathwork before, what would you?
What would you say to them? Congratulations, you're already
breathwork professional because you breathe the whole day.
And yeah, most of those breaths are unconscious.
(21:19):
So I, I bring people on a, on anadventure to connect to their
own breath. And every next breath is a new
one. You've never taken that before.
And although they look similar and they're different because
you feel different in, in every moment and being able to tap
into that, there's where breath breath work start.
(21:39):
Breath work starts for me. So it's not, not a modality.
It's not a fixed rule or a fixedset of things.
Yeah, if you do this, this is going to happen for people to
find out what works for them. So if you bring them to kind of
a journey with quite often basicstuff, basic stuff is the most
powerful actually, because thereis where you can connect it with
(22:02):
in every single moment. So you don't need a guru or a
teacher or yeah, you become yourown Yeah, healing guru, whatever
you want to call. It guide.
Baby Guide. Yeah, so Breathwork encapsulates
all that potential for me. That's cool.
So it's almost feels like an exploration.
(22:24):
To some degree it is, and you'rejust kind of holding space for
that. With so many people in the
world, we all have our own need of approach.
So for you, you know, I mean, the unique thing about you is
that you haven't really talked to many people that have come in
for the podcasts on things outside of just like the yoga
(22:44):
itself. Now, obviously yoga breath,
breath work, you know, you can kind of like put it into the,
it's a, in a similar category tosome degree, but it's also a
uniquely different experience. You know, people hear yoga, they
might not even think about breath.
They might just think physical exercise.
People hear breath work. They think, oh, I'm breathing.
It's a breath work. It's a breath exercise of some
(23:06):
sort, maybe a meditation. They might even think it's a
meditation using the breath. So I also know that because you
just did a yoga teacher training.
Is there other elements or is breath work really the thing
that you feel most passionate about?
Or are you potentially going to explore other things?
The second, yeah. Yeah.
As a, as a P/E teacher, I'm veryused to cue people into whatever
(23:31):
they hold, a baseball bat or doing a cartwheel, those kind of
things. So it makes so much sense for me
to, to do this with people. And yeah, the strong relation
with the breath. The breath is such a powerful
anchor in every pose and every stance that you're making.
Yeah. I shared this during the, the
(23:54):
end of the training, actually, when I'm looking back into my
whole history of, of teaching starting 1618, my approach was
actually always a yogic way to, to be in nature and to connect
to the beauty of the nature and feel.
Yeah, overwhelmed. Like, wow, there's so much
beauty and power in everything that's surround us.
(24:16):
So there's, it was always this underlying need for me to
connect people not to, to learn the cartwheel or a double flip,
whatever. And that, that wasn't not
important for me. So also we, we stopped marking
people for their learnt tricks in a very early time.
(24:36):
So we're, we're one of those first schools in the Netherlands
to stop marking people for thosekind of things.
We just try to draw people into having fun and learning,
connecting to their own bodies and the limitations and see how
they can grow. And actually that is kind of a
(24:56):
yogic approach to to life, to togrowth, to non judge mental
yeah, in a dialogue. So yeah, I'm looking forward to
to continue this working with usand us as well and and
connecting those two worlds. But obviously the breath work
that we do right now has a background in paranayama.
(25:20):
But yeah, if you take it into modern life and, and being able
to connect it to every single thing that we do in life, not
only as preparation for your meditation or to support
yourself of coming into a certain pose.
And then it's kind of set into anew light.
(25:42):
And for many people, that's that's why they step into it,
because it doesn't have this oldkind of dusty sensation to it.
But yeah, we need to pay respectto these old yogis from 5000
years ago who came up with this beautiful connection with with
the breath. And I truly think that way
before that time, there were shamanic traditions who were
(26:04):
working with the healing powers of the breath.
So I think as long as human beings, whatever that might be,
are on the surface of this earthand people connect to the breath
consciously understanding the power of it, It's it's it's
something that we lost over the last few 100 times, thinking
that other things are more important than our well-being
(26:25):
and our connection to source andother people.
Yeah. Yeah, the breath is super
powerful. I can't.
It is. It's such a simple, simple
thing, but it's so profound whenyou give it a chance to actually
be explored more and also appreciate it.
Yeah, for a reason. It has so many in so many
(26:47):
cultures. It has a name as a life force,
source, spirit. So it's one of the most
important things that we can connect to.
Yeah, I agree. Agreed.
Agreed. So when someone walks into your
class, whether it be breath workor a combination of breath work
and movement, what do you want them to experience or feel after
(27:12):
they walk out? Or what would you hope that
they? What?
Yeah. What I want is not important.
Yeah. I hope that they have a safe
journey. And that's before I get started.
I always had this small mantra. I hope.
I want to get my agenda outside the dorm, as much ego outside
the door as possible, to open space for people to have their
(27:35):
journey. They have their experience in
the most pure way that they can receive it.
So the less wanting of needing from the facilitator is there,
the better it is for them to to to receive it in the in this
pure way. What I wish for everybody to
(27:57):
experience is that they carry a powerful weapon or Ally has a
better word with them all the time.
And if they understand how it can help help them.
Yeah, there's some kind of a superpower, and I want to give
people their superpower back. Cool.
(28:19):
I love it. OK.
I got one more question for you.Rein in.
What are you currently exploringor refining in your own practice
right now? Yeah, I was talking about non
judge mental behavior before andwhen I started with yoga, I
wanted to impress the teacher. See, I'm, I'm bendy, I'm strong.
(28:45):
And it was very nice to see that.
And when I did the training withyou guys, there was hardly
anything left or dead. I thought I need to take care of
this, this body. It's my temple.
So in my own practice, I'm very aware of of that movement inside
of me and there's always rugged pieces inside of of us, but I'm
(29:12):
so willing to, to look at them and shine a light on those
things that were in the darks for such a long time.
And it's an ongoing process, butI'm very grateful for the
position I find myself in these days.
Growing all the rest is nice. Yeah, if you do it in a, in a,
in a conscious way. Right, Right.
(29:33):
That's great. I love it.
Well, those are basically all the questions that I had for
you. Is there anything else that's
coming through that you'd like to share or something maybe
you'd like people to know about you?
No, I'm super grateful for this opportunity.
I'm super grateful for people, even though there, there's some
new ones need to be made in, forexample, the Wim Hof method with
(29:58):
those kind of people who broughtbreath to to a bigger audience.
So many people benefit from it. So I'm so grateful for all these
people who are making themselvesvisible.
And yeah, for example, what you guys do over here with this
platform, Yeah, it makes it makes the world a better place.
(30:20):
So I'm very grateful to be part of of, of that journey that that
movement, so that in movement. That inward movement.
Full circle. Yeah, that's that's pretty much
it. Awesome.
Well, thank you so much for coming in.
I really appreciate you spendingthe time, especially coming away
(30:41):
from the family after being in the training for three weeks.
I'm sure that they missed you a bit.
And thank you everyone for tuning in this week.
If you have any questions, of course, you can reach out to us.
If you wanted to connect directly with Dirk, what's the
best way to? Do that e-mail, Instagram Derek
Harm link. Cool.
We'll make sure to have that in the show notes and then people
(31:02):
can kind of if they want to connect with you, maybe they
have a question or who knows. Yeah.
Cool. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much and enjoy the rest of your day.
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