Daphne, owner of Soulwriting and mother of three children, has a keen interest for personal growth and self awareness. She works as a coach, guiding people on their personal journey. Her speciality is that of intuitive writing. Daphne also teaches her weekly classes of Qigong.

In 2008 you embarked on the path of Zhineng Qigong participating in the teacher training with Anne Hering. What motivated you in doing so?

Qigong has been an important part of my life ever since being introduced to it in 2003. At that time I suffered from severe neck pains due to high levels of – work related – stress. Practicing Qigong on a frequent basis helped me in successfully dealing with the stress levels in my body and eliminating the physical complaints all together. In 2008 I decided it was time for a change of direction: I wanted to start living more from the heart instead of the mind. Qigong had proven its worth to me over and over again throughout the years. It therefore felt like the time was there to give it a more significant place in my life. I looked for a professional educational program on Qigong and found the one-year Zhineng Qigong course offered by the academy Qing Bai. Several years earlier I had already experienced Zhineng Qigong, but at that time the spark wasn’t there yet. However the course of Qing Bai appealed to me and the induction day confirmed this feeling. I was also interested in an education on Chinese Medicine, but this would require me to focus more on my mind rather than on the course of my heart I’d set out on. Personally, I am glad that I submitted myself for the course Zhineng Qigong of Anne Hering since it truly felt like a homecoming experience for me.

How did you experience the daily practice of Zhineng Qigong?

Practicing Zhineng Qigong on a daily basis and the wish for true personal growth meant the beginning of a major transformation for me. The energy started to flow in many different ways. Undigested emotions came to the surface. It felt like one big cleanup. I had severe physical reactions, the so called ‘Qi-reactions’. What needed to get out, was unstoppable. It was a beautiful process of renewal but also very intense. On top of that, I started to sense a whole lot more. I had
always believed that we as human beings are able to see beyond our physical reality, but experiencing it myself was quite a special and intriguing thing. In the beginning of my Zhineng Qigong practice, my attention was mainly drawn towards the spiritual world. There was a lot to discover. Becoming well-grounded was something I learned along the way.

At that time you worked as Human Resource manager at a big company. The year after completing the annual course of Zhineng Qigong you quit your job and started your own business ‘Qi at Work’.

That’s right. During the one-year course I started asking myself: ‘What’s the path of my true self? Do I see myself working as a manager or director in a more or less dictated career path?’ The answer was ‘no’. But at that time it felt too soon to make such a radical move and I decided I needed more time to further shape my ideas. I continued my daily practice of Zhineng Qigong and started telling others about it. People around me were curious to find out more about these unknown Chinese movements and my colleagues finally asked me to organize a workshop to enable them to experience it themselves. So that’s what I did and it was then that I felt the ‘spark’ of teaching Zhineng Qigong to others. The feedback I received was very positive and made me seriously consider a career shift. In 2010 I made the leap and left my job to start my own business.
It was my goal to bring Zhineng Qigong to the workplace, because I strongly belief that taking good care of your body and mind should be our number one priority. And not just at home but also at work. Later on, I developed and enrolled health programs for companies in which Qigong was integrated as a way to help people to relax.

You have also practiced Zhineng Qigong with children. How about your own children? What do they think of Zhineng Qigong?

I have three children in the age of 10, 8 and 3. The eldest two understand the concept and what and why I’m doing it for, but they don’t feel feel like joining me. However, recently, when I reacted a bit too stressful in the eyes of my 8-year-old daughter, she said: “Mom, maybe you should do some Qigong this evening.” Point taken! I think Zhineng Qigong has benefits for
children as well, but I also belief that it has to be brought in a playful manner. When my son was in kindergarten I did a series of lessons for children in the age from 4 to 6. I really enjoyed doing so. Especially the stories the kids told me in between the exercises were quite funny. I talked about Qi as a if it was the sun which led them to spontaneously start telling me about their summer holidays instead. Teaching young children can prove to be a bit more challenging when trying to stick to your classes haha.

You teach Qigong but you’re also a writer. What exactly is it that you’re doing?

Last year I started a new company called Soulwriting. It’s a combination of two activities: coaching and writing. My specialty is intuitive writing. Due to my Zhineng Qigong practice I discovered my ability to communicate with –the so called – unseen world. I was looking for a way to channel the information and energy that I received. I got acquainted with intuitive writing and started to experiment with it. For me it worked perfectly. I decide when and how I work together with the spiritual world in a way that it does not exhaust me. First I only wrote for my own purposes but once I’d been able to familiarize myself with it, I decided to write for others too. In my coaching I use my writing but also other ways in which I can help people to connect with the unconscious level and to feel what is living inside their heart that deserves to be seen or heard. I sincerely feel
privileged to do this type of work. Qigong is at the start of a beautiful journey I set out on and this is one of the beautiful things that originated from it.

Zhineng Qigong is about working with the Qi field. You have an identical twin sister. How do the two of you experience this Qi field principle?

My sister and I are connected on such a deep level that it almost feels as if we’re one. That’s an unique thing to experience but it also comes with a challenge. What happens to her feels as if it happens to me. Zhineng Qigong helped me to better understand my own energy and to unwire our Qi field a bit, in order to be able to truly live our own life. I feel more centered and so does my sister. She does not practice Qigong as much as I do, but benefits from exercises such as yoga. Quite remarkable is the fact that when she practices Zhineng Qigong she has exactly the same Qi reactions as I have, so we are true twins!

Zhineng Qigong brought a lot of good things into your life. What do you wish furthermore?

Zhineng Qigong has become a way of living. It enables me to let go of everything that does not serve me like feelings of stress, negative emotions or energy of others that comes into my Qi field. The movements make sure that my body releases the tension. In that way I can keep my Qi field pure and clean and make sure the energy flows in a proper way. My Qigong practice helps me to observe the world with a clear mind and from a positive frame of reference. In that way I can
create a life in which there’s room for some magic and for a natural flow that enables me to learn the lessons my soul needs to learn. Because Zhineng Qigong brought me a lot of good, I feel it’s worth for others to also experience the benefits of it. I teach on weekly basis and use my lessons to make people aware of the Qi. It’s my personal wish that I will learn all there is to learn about the Qi field, to see the Qi around people (the aura) more clearly and understand what it has to tell us. I think it’s a gift every human being has, but we only have to (re)discover the possibility to consciously work with it. That’s what I wish to be able to do in this life!