I am Dieke and I would love to share my story of how I went from studying innovation management and aspiring a corporate career to teaching women all things menstruation cycles, womb wisdom and owning your sexuality.
I used to envy men, thought being a man was way easier and more convenient. However, when I got taught what it actually means to be a woman, how to tap into the magic and wisdom of my cycle, and owning my sensuality and sexuality,
I realized how f*cking amazing it is to be a woman!
Now, I am on a mission to inspire and empower women to connect back to their bodies and unlock their innate wisdom, so they can live a life aligned with their soul; a life that makes their soul go absolutely wild!
This is me.
Feeling grateful, honored, and inspired.
So inspired. So alive. This is me.
In every shape and form.
In every crazy, weird, and beautiful way.
True self-acceptance is a rocky road.
A scary road. A courageous road.
It is the road to freedom.
- Dieke ter Weel
MY STORY
Read or listen to podcast episode 1
#01 My story - from corporate career to naked yoga and moving to Bali
Click on the image or listen to it on spotify
Born and raised in Eindhoven, The Netherlands I grew up a happy girl. Passing through high school effortlessly, studying a year in the States, receiving my Bachelor of Science with honors and starting my Master studies straight after. Yes, there were road blocks along the way with my mom falling into a heavy depression and psychosis, my parents divorcing and a close loved-one passing, but I was right on track to living a successful life, with a beautiful corporate career set out for me and a long-term partner by my side (there is by the way nothing wrong with this, if you consciously choose for it and it really makes your soul happy). However, there was this underlying linger that there was more, that my soul wanted something else, although at the time my mind was pushing that far away as I did not know what it meant. Studying innovation management and constantly exploring this concept of change, transformation, and flexibility in organizations made me wonder how these concepts apply to humans with our natural urge for habits and routines. Things slowly started to change as I became more and more aware that I was living a life led by habits and routines given to me by the structure, culture and society that I grew up in. Not long after three big shifts happened in a time span of a few years which greatly changed the way I live my life today.
“Me, someone who gladly accepts a challenge, went for it, never imagining it would be the start of the biggest and craziest adventures of my life so far.”
The first big shift…
…came when the owner of the yoga studio where I was practicing back then (and with practice I mean I was probably taking a class once every two weeks) proposed to me to do a 30-day hot yoga challenge, which meant practicing a 90-miunte hot yoga class every single day for 30 days in a row. Me, someone who gladly accepts a challenge, went for it, never imagining it would be the start of the biggest and craziest adventures of my life so far. After thirty days I felt so strong; physically, mentally, emotionally. Practicing yoga every day really made me come back to myself and I started to ask myself, what do I want?
At that moment I was living with my partner and following the road society set out more me, and this started to feel less and less like the road I wanted to be on. After the challenge I continued a regular yoga practice and not long after I found the strength to be radically honest with myself and to choose me. So I broke up with my partner and moved to Amsterdam. I continued my master studies but now started to explore more, interning at a big corporate, working for a start-up and being an entrepreneur myself by setting up my own consultancy business with a few fellow students. I wanted to experience life, life outside of the theoretical frameworks of university. I discovered that I love being an entrepreneur and that something was not clicking with the corporate and start-up that I worked for. So after graduating and obtaining my masters I decided to do a 200h yoga teacher training, after which I left to travel. With no exact plan but an open mind to explore this amazing world I found myself traveling through Asia, Australia and Europe, teaching yoga everywhere I went. I got to know all these new parts and sides of myself, some amazing sides, some more uncomfortable sides.
“It was unleashing this deep intuition, this inner knowing, and this powerful wild woman that housed within.”
Another big turning point…
… took place after about nine months on the road. I followed another teacher training, which was centered around yin yoga, meditation, mindfulness; exploring what it is to feel, to get out of your head and into your body. I remember a lot of resistance from my mind and whole system in the beginning and getting so irritated by the question that the lead facilitator kept asking: how much can you feel? It drove me nuts at the time. What I know now is that it drove my mind, my ego, nuts. However, it was unleashing this deep intuition, this inner knowing, and this powerful wild woman that housed within. I started diving into the world of feminine embodiment and empowerment, discovering what it actually means to be a woman, and I started exploring the world of Tantra, including owning and exploring my sexuality. I kept stepping out of my comfort zone, challenging myself to break down all the conditionings and programs taught by the structure I grew up in. Reflecting back on this time I was (and still am) managing the biggest innovation project of my life, which is me. I kept exploring, learning and implementing the things that I learned.
“I was taught to fight, shame, blame and hide everything that is at the core of being a woman; my natural cycle, my sexuality, my body’s wisdom, my intuition. ”
The third big shift…
…took place a few months after I came back to the Netherlands after being on the road for over a year. I decided to not pursue a career directly related to innovation management and at the same time, I could not shake this feeling that I had to go back to Bali. So after a few months of fighting my mind and trying to make sense out of that feeling (because what was I supposed to be doing in Bali right?!), I packed up my stuff and got on a plane.
Fast forward and I am living in Bali, my new home base, and FreedomSeekster was born. It was there that I really started to reflect on the past years and realized that I grew up completely disconnected from my body. I was taught to fight, shame, blame and hide everything that is at the core of being a woman; my natural cycle, my sexuality, my body’s wisdom, my intuition. The yoga, the travelling, I went looking and searching for something, without exactly knowing what that something was back then, I realize now that I was looking for an initiation into womanhood.
And I am not the only one, I see so many women looking for the same, and so I decided to make this my mission, to help women remember. To connect you back to your body and to help you unlock your feminine essence, intuition & innate wisdom. Guiding you into owning your sensual and sexual nature and helping you to unleash your soul and align with its purpose.
All so you can live a life that makes your soul go wild, full of pleasure, passion and love. All so this world turns into a more loving and free place.
Thank you for reading my story, would love to know if there is anything I can do for you?
Feel free to send me a message by filling out the form below.