ABOUT OUR TEAM
The Earth Awareness foundation is co-creating with some wonderful entrepreneurs. Everybody who is involves is dedicated to provide the guests the opportunity to benefit from the mushroom's potential to catalyse a life changing experience.
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Mark Huser - 1977
Temple Keeper
The initiator and director of Earth Awareness and architect of the Nature Temple, he is the master mind behind it all. Mark is a multi-talented person with great vision and a proactive attitude. As an extraordinary artist he is engaged with creating beauty in all its diversity, which is unmistakably found everywhere around the centre.
For 13 years he and Maya are organizing countless events and retreats. His teachers came from many different shamanic cultures, but above all the Huichol, the Shuar and the Shipibo traditions. After a full-time cycle of initiation into medicine plants and by collaborating intensively with many wisdom keepers, Mark has an incredible understanding about the use of sacred plants as a tool for transformation.
He is an inspirational speaker, a marvellous musician, a powerful chanter and a resourceful lead-facilitator during the retreats. He proved himself being an authentic bridge between the ancient knowledge and the modern Western culture.
Maya van Oosterhout - 1976
Temple Keeper
She is the director of the foundation, leading the organization with a clear vision and with positive energy, being really in her element on all levels. Together with Mark she is the main builder of the Nature Temple. She has manifested a universal dream into this reality. She started working with Magic Mushrooms about 25 years ago, doing one on one sessions in nature.
As lead-facilitator she knows how to travel the inner realms, she guided over a thousand people through a psilocybin experience. Maya senses very well where someone is during the inner journey and she knows how to anticipate on this. People experience her as warm, down to earth and with a mature sense of reality.
Maya is a mother of two adult children and she is leading female circles with magic mushroons, creating sisterhood, encouraging women to live a life of power and purpose.
Laura van der Heijden - 1978
Facilitator & yoga teacher
Laura has been connected to this centre for over 14 years and we really love her cheerful presence a lot. As a young girl she was very passionate about movement and dancing, she did the previous education of the ‘National Ballet’ and Tai Chi.
After 8 years of training, she works as a certified ‘Critical Alignment Yoga’ (CAY) teacher and runs her own yoga-studio ‘YogaDus’ in Amsterdam. She teaches to all ages and all levels. CAY focusses on the alignment of the skeleton. This form of yoga helps to move freely and without stress, in collaboration with gravity and breathing exercises. She helps people to build up confidence towards the physical body, which stimulates the self-healing qualities of the body.
Laura is also a meditation/visualisation guide. She has over 25 years of experience with psychedelics and visited her shamanic teacher in Ecuador several times. As a ceremonial facilitator she is utmost caring for the participants and has an eye for their basic needs. She is a team player, very strong in practical’s and always in a good mood.
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Arend Jan te Biesebeek - 1954
Facilitator & Naturopatic doctor
Arend Jan is the respected elder of our team and is most appreciated for his sincerity and preciseness within everything he does. He is a multi-qualified team member for almost 8 years, he is a seasoned all-rounder. In 1976, at the age of 22 years old, he got involved in the work with medicinal plants and natural psychedelics and had the privilege of working closely together with some traditional wisdom-keepers from Northern America who learned him the intricacies of shamanism, like sweat-lodges and vision quests.
His knowledge about shamanic practices, the medical use of plants, the functioning of the human body and healthy food are always of great value for all participants. He is studying natural health care and is making his own herbal medicines, he is very passioned about gardening. People often consult him for alternative medical treatment. As a ceremonial facilitator participants experience him as helpful, correct and most friendly.
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Judith Sudholter - 1987
Facilitator & meditation guide
As a freelance researcher, anthropologist and journalist, Judith specialises in religion, spirituality and psychedelics. In 2012 she completed her research master Religious Studies (cum laude!) with a fieldwork study into the religious experiences of members of the ayahuasca church ‘Santo Daime’. Plants of Wisdom is Judiths blog where you can also find her articles published elsewhere. Judith interviewed many spiritual teachers who all contributed to her broad-minded way of looking at the world.
She meditates already for years in the tradition of zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. This tradition has a main focus on mindfulness, compassion and interconnectedness, and therefore combines well with the plant medicine work. She also facilitates a meditation group in this tradition. Judith is guiding psychedelic integration circles and has given lectures at Ozora and Psy-Fi, both prominent psychedelic festivals. We are very happy to have her gentle and imaginative spirit in our team for 7 years now. Her objective and peaceful attitude is of great contribution to the retreats.
Sarah Schützle - 1988
Facilitator & voice expert
Sarah contributes to the retreats since the beginning of 2021 with her music, integration workshops and presence.
From angelic to primal, she weaves a powerful web of sound with her voice and instruments to
support you on your healing journey within.
As ‘Sarah Sounds’, she shares her songs and improvisations during ceremonial concerts and other events. She also offers Singing Circles and Voice Expression workshops.
She uses her music in various marking points of live, like opening- and closing ceremonies to honour and celebrate transitions in life, such as childbirth, becoming a parent, but also loss and grieve. For Sarah, life is ceremony. She’s a lover of silence and subtlety. She creates save spaces with her presence.
She is also one of our integration teachers, during the 5 day retreats she helps people prepare for what comes after the retreat.
Pascal Rees - 1974
Facilitator & cook
Pascal is a steady and grounded presence, his first visit to the centre was in 2008. With his experience as Nature Life Coach, Shinrin-yoku walks, breath- and wellness coach and shamanic training, he is a versatile addition to the team.
He is an active, compassionate and optimistic facilitator during the ceremonies and retreats. Sacred plant and animal medicine helped him to find his way in life and a more conscious spiritual and earth connected path.
He loves to challenge people to find their inner wisdom and become the best version of themselves. He loves to work in the garden as he is a permaculture teacher as well.
His practise is called NatuurKrachtCoach and that's why always loves a good walk in nature!
Ivo van Dijk
Facilitator & sound healer
Music, and especially drums, had been known to me for years. I have been involved with music since my childhood. I was on stage with Het Metropole Orkest, among others, and in the past I performed regularly throughout our own country and beyond. The idea of working with old instruments had been bubbling for a number of years. Partly since being actively involved with meditation and shamanism, I have gotten to know a new part of myself. This resulted in a great development of myself, but also my music experience and practice (more from intuition, closer to my emotions). I began to understand my own story better.
Voicehealing.nl I set up as a meeting of my love for music and meditation. I love nothing more than to share, to explore with you what happens when we experience a musical journey in a space that is set out of love for and by all those present. I hope to welcome you to one of the Holistic Frequency Treatment & Voice Healing Concerts!"
Kristjan Schwarz - 1980
Facilitator
Like all team members Kristjan is very experienced. For 20 years he is using psychedelics for self-development and answering life questions. It is a way of life for him, which he managed to integrate in his spiritual, hand-pocked tattoo-shop in Deventer K581, where he adds ceremonial aspects to his working methods. He is an artist and a graphical designer who among other things graduated from the art academy.
His spiritual training and inspiration came from the Shuar culture (Ecuador) and the Saami culture (Finland). Since 2019 he is part of the Earth Awareness-team as a facilitator. We got to know Kristjan as calm and awake observer, who works with focus and care for the people. Participants feel save with him, with his open attitude he brings confidence in the group.
Ramona Capilitan - 1973
All round facilitator & massage therapist
Ramona is a warm and gentle spirit who is alround at the centre. You can find her in the kitchen as a ground facilitator or meet her taking care for the guests during the ceremonies as a ceremonial facilitator. At our retreats she is offen taking care for relaxing chair massages, which is a blessing for all participants and really compliments the retreats. If you are in need of some relaxation in the body’s muscles or a soothing touch to realine your body’s energy field, her hands will find the way. Her companie is called The Art of Relaxation and Creation. At her practice in Amstelveen she offers massages, coching & workshops. She also works over 10 years as a massage therapist in companies. As passionate as she is for giving massages, she also loves to cook delicious food. Specialty: homemade banana-bread! You will find Ramona also in our kitchen making great soups and salads.