Awareness & Empowerment Facilitator | Performing Artist | Best-selling Author
Merlijn always had a capacity for facilitating change from an early age. From his first performance on his family’s balcony to facilitating energy transformation workshops around the world, his desire is to create a life unhindered by judgment.
Merlijn had the desire to perform from early on, being overwhelmed with the different energetic busyness around him, performing gave him handholds to be and create something in the world. He describes it “Being onstage or facilitating a group of people, you can create something, you change the energy and people leave with a completely different experience than when they walked in.”
Merlijn’s early training was a whirlwind of scholarships and tertiary achievements in theatrics including the prestigious Fullbright award which gave him the possibility of going to New York to study with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre. During this time in his performance training, he enriched himself in all the best American musical theatre and performance art, which he then took home to Europe in his various tours and supervisor roles in theatre including broadway shows Cats, Chicago, Wicked and La Cage Aux Folles.
However life was not a straight and narrow path for Merlijn, during an exploration of many different methods and modalities looking for change and a way to deal with a pervading feeling of being upset with the world, he found efficient tools Access Consciousness and Human Design. After trying a couple of the tools with more than a little reluctance, Merlijn felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders for the first time in years. He found the ability to choose rather than be at the effect of everything in his life. He started learning to manage the energy he was aware of in his life instead of having it control him.
As he started to develop his coaching business with these tools, Merlijn found the struggles with his body weren’t over and he ended up in hospital with two collapsed lungs. However Merlijn was able to have a miraculous recovery completely avoiding the ER department, even at a time where in his own internal thought process he had to choose to live or die.
Since then Merlijn’s forte has been facilitating awareness empowerment, energy management, movement and confidence classes, naturally melting tension out of bodies, allowing rigid and deep judgments to change and empowering every individual to navigate the energies surrounding their daily life with ease. He believes that when you practice energetic management whether that’s within business meetings, monetary transactions, talking with friends or working out; having a way to manage the energies you are aware of consciously or unconsciously will allow you – and others – to have an easier life.
Merlijn while naturally androgenous spent most of his early life exploring his masculine side, however as he explored more he realized he didn’t feel the need to separate between masculine and feminine. Dressing up and exploring a more feminine side was something he enjoyed, he hadn’t pursued it further until encouraged by his friends in his late teens. After doing some casual drag gigs, he successfully auditioned for the drag musical theatre show Le Cage aux Folles which instilled his love for the art. Recently, he has added Magic Merlot as his Drag Persona into his coaching practice to sprinkle a less serious and more experimental creative outlet to his practice. Using her bubbly and playful attitude has allowed Merlijn to not hold back and encourage his clients to let out their wild side without judgment. “It’s not directly about male and female, it’s about including all of you as a being with a body.”
Success for Merlijn is a change that is sustainable or an awareness that allows you to make a different choice. From the 1000s of clients Merlijn has had, change is inevitable. His clients have changed depression, long lasting body pain, healed old and acute injuries and many have also learned to love and receive their body and their life.
You can explore what Merlijn has to offer in a variety of ways including free content available on his website, live and online classes facilitated in english and dutch and private sessions.