Anne de Boer.
From the festival floor to the breath circle. And everything I had to learn in between.
Hi, I’m Anne.
I had no idea what I was looking for. But I’m stubborn, so I kept looking.
Even as a kid I had big questions. Who created this world? And why is it like this? Spirituality wasn’t part of life at home, so nobody answered them. The questions never left.
In my teens things got darker. Depression. Low self esteem. Shame about my body, and enough negative self talk to last a lifetime. I drank a lot, because I thought it made me more fun and brave. Spoiler: it didn’t.
At nineteen I finally went to the doctor. I wanted help. What I got was a waiting list to see a psychologist: nine months. When my turn finally came, I was handed a multiple choice questionnaire and the offer of antidepressants. All I could think was: could I just talk to someone, please? I never went back.
Night after night I sat glued to my computer, searching for something without a name. That’s how I found Biodynamic Therapy. For the first time I felt how deeply body, mind and emotions are intertwined. That insight still sits underneath everything I do.
It was a beginning. Not an ending. Because what had been lying under the surface for three decades, I wouldn’t face until much later. More on that in a moment.
What is Divinnerty?
Divinnerty is a word I made up. I’m a self proclaimed neologist. It blends dive in and inner divinity: dive in to your inner divinity.
My practice is built gem by gem from the teachers and lineages I learned from: pranayama, conscious connected breathwork, the IAKP Kambo lineage, cacao, sound, the Andean tradition, women’s circle work. None of it is my invention. What’s mine is the combination: how I bring them together and how I hold the space.
My grandmother used to say: life is tasting and trying. Think of this site as the table. Everything on it I’ve tasted myself.
I’ve been on a treasure hunt and collected many gems. Now it’s time to pass them on.
So what am I, exactly? Breathwork teacher, Kambo practitioner, retreat facilitator, jewelry maker? Honest answer: a creative octopus. Too many arms for one box.
The path here
HKU & the festival years
After studying Arts and Economics at HKU in Utrecht, I rolled straight into the festival world. At Vitamine Blij, from 2012 to 2016, I developed concepts, performances and festival programmes. Solar Eclipse, Burning Man: I was there. I was good at it, and it wore me out. Long nights, too much alcohol, not much sleep. It looked like a life from the outside. From the inside it sometimes felt like a costume.
Travel & first medicine
In the off seasons I travelled: seventeen months solo through Australia and Asia. Three total solar eclipses: Australia, Indonesia, Oregon. Later a tantra retreat in Guatemala and a five week plant dieta in the Peruvian jungle. My body started telling me things my mind had refused to hear. And the more I felt, the less I needed to numb.
Breath
Then breath: the most ordinary teacher there is, with me my whole life. Pranayama in Guatemala first, then ten weeks of Conscious Connected Breathwork and coaching with Annette Weers. Breath helped me cut unhealthy habits, feel my body again and get my energy back. I started holding small classes. They filled. People kept coming back, and told their friends.
Divinnerty
In January 2020 I gave the work a name. Six years on: weekly classes, hundreds of private sessions, ten editions of Rise Up Women’s Retreat, and Goddesses & Dolphins in Egypt. A circle that keeps widening, slowly.
2021
In 2021 I finally faced a trauma I’d been avoiding for three decades. Yep, that long. It took every ounce of courage I had. But it changed everything. A veil lifted, and suddenly I could see the patterns that had been running me for years. Everything that drowned me taught me how to swim.
Frog
Kambo found me through people who’d been working with the medicine for years. In 2022 I did the two week IAKP training: rigorous, traditional, and not something you collect for a website. Kambo helped me through bouts of depression and brought back my inner fire. The medicine asks for respect. It gets it.
Everything that drowned me taught me how to swim.
Where I work
Amsterdam is home base. I run Compassionate Breathwork (a series of six breathwork sessions) and one on one sessions, in person and online. Kambo ceremonies take place in private locations. Retreats in Amsterdam and Egypt.
What’s next
2027 is shaping up to be a sea year. In July and in October/November I’m taking groups out for a week on a boat at Sataya Reef in the Red Sea, with wild dolphins and breathwork every day. After the July week you can extend for the total solar eclipse in Luxor on 2 August 2027. For me it would be number four. Meanwhile Temple of the Womb carries on in Amsterdam.
Credentials, since you asked
Kambo
IAKP certified Kambo practitioner (2022): International Association of Kambo Practitioners, the lineage that came directly from Brazilian and Peruvian indigenous teachers.
Breathwork
Certified breathwork coach: Conscious Connected Breathwork (2019), Breathwork Advanced (2023), Pranayama Kriya Ekadashi.
Art school
HKU University of the Arts Utrecht: Arts and Economics, Bachelor of Science (2011).
Own practice
Six years of independent practice. Thousands of breaths held in circle.
Continuing education
Holistic Therapy at Ananta, Vipassana, Womb of the Heart Immersion, trauma informed somatic practice, women’s circle facilitation, Andean cosmovision.
How I work
I take time off myself, because a depleted facilitator holds a depleted space.
I keep groups small and screen for safety, every time. When something needs clinical support, I refer you on; this work is not a substitute for therapy or medication. I price honestly, with a sliding scale where I can. I take time off myself, because a depleted facilitator holds a depleted space. And I tell the truth, even when it’s inconvenient. For me or for you.
Languages & logistics
English or Dutch: I’ll speak whichever you feel most at home in. Sessions in Amsterdam or online. WhatsApp (+31 6 8166 7948) is the fastest way to reach me. For longer conversations, email [email protected].
Recognise yourself somewhere in this story?
Twenty minutes, no payment, no pressure. I’ll tell you honestly if I’m the right person for you, and if not, who might be.