My name is Moniek Hopman. Since I was young I have been interested in human movement and I love helping others to feel better.
I have been practising various forms of movement throughout my life. My grandmother introduced me to yoga when I was young. Through continued practice, I learned to listen and be gentle to my body. As a teenager I started dancing. I took various modern dance classes for 14 years and performed in a couple of small theatres in Amsterdam. In 1999 I began doing Qigong. These profound, meditative and beautiful health exercises have been an important part of my life ever since. I first encountered Feldenkrais in 2012. After a couple of Feldenkrais lessons the pain in my pelvis, which I had had since my pregnancies in 2000 and 2002, completely resolved. It was fascinating to experience how effective the system of body-awareness and exercises, developed by Moshe Feldenkrais, can be.

In my first years at University I studied Human Movement Sciences in Amsterdam, where I learned about a wide range of things, from Anatomy and Physiology to History and Philosophy of Human Movement. Although I realised the significance of what I learned, I was not ready to start a career using this. After studying Mathematics (master’s degree, University of Amsterdam) and teaching maths for more than 15 years, I felt it was time to start using all the knowledge about human movement I have gathered in the course of my life. I was ready to do what I feel truly matters in life: helping people to feel better through Gentle Movements.

Some of my other interests are playing the cello, singing, maths tutoring, swimming and going for walks and cycle rides.