This is a story about me, Alexander. Born and raised in Colombia for the first eleven years of my life. I grew up in a dysfunctional family that lacked a father’s love and with the tremendous survival instinct of a single mom. I knew who my father was, but when I was three years old, he no longer played a role in my life. As a child, I unconsciously took over many fears from both my parents, which resulted in being very ill until I was two and a half years old.

When I was two and a half, I had a tonsil surgery and my health got much better. As a child I felt very different from other children; I didn’t want to learn like other children, my development didn’t go smoothly, and at home I was beaten and razed to the ground a lot. Because of this I learned to turn off my feelings and I learned to adapt to situations. Also, I went to sleep every night with the greatest fear, afraid that I would wet the bed again. This was on my mind every night until I was ten years old.

When I was ten years old, my mother married a Dutch man for a better future. We left the familiarity of Cali-Colombia and my family to move to the Netherlands eight months later. At this point of my life, I felt very lonely, because neither my mother nor my stepfather was present in the upbringing. My mother was struggling with many health problems at the time, while my stepfather was busy with all kind of things, except raising children.

I was lucky that, already by that age, I found my passion for living life and that I had the great ambition to achieve my ultimate freedom. I wanted to achieve the freedom of a captive mind, that was preprogrammed to suffer, and was full of beliefs and conditioning. And I found that freedom in nature.

Nature has always been my great friend. I remember looking out the window at the birds, thinking, “I want to be free and agile as a bird.” Often in difficult moments, my intuition was my compass that guided me through the feeling of being constantly lost. My passion and my talents have always accompanied me and helped me get through these difficult moments. One of my talents is the ability to connect (with) people. This has often helped me to make unknown and ‘strange’ worlds my home. I learned then that I was at home where my heart is. However, when I was fifteen, I suffered from a meltdown and I was already walking around with existential questions. There had to be more to life than what my physical eyes could see. This cathartic moment was a huge opportunity for me to listen to my inner compass (my heart) and to be guided by the divine love and wisdom of all that is.

From then on, I used this catharsis as an opportunity to feed the immense spiritual hunger of my mind and body. I started studying ancient techniques, such as Reiki, Raya Yoga, and Mindfulness, where my inner journey and path of self-knowledge and healing began. And this journey has never stopped.

Life has always rewarded me for the strong spirit I have. I have had the opportunity to meet wonderful mentors who were crucial to my life path and choices in this regard. I have been able to meet many beautiful people from all kinds of origins and from different parts of the world. Where, despite the language difference, we have always managed to speak each other’s language: “The language of the heart!” And despite the many tears I have shed, I have never lost hope.