Different from a workshop
There are no assignments, no group exercises and no homework. Nobody has to come up with something or perform in front of colleagues.
That saves exactly the resistance you run into with a lot of workshops.
Live on site
An hour where nobody has to do anything.
Your team lies on the floor for three quarters of an hour and listens to gongs and singing bowls. That's called a sound bath, and it comes closest to a guided meditation, except nobody needs to be able to do anything. No exercises, no circle, no group sharing afterwards.
You'll have a proposal with a fixed price within one working day.
45-60minutes, fits a lunch break
8-75participants
Everythinginstruments and materials included
1 dayproposal with a fixed price
Why teams choose this
An activity nobody dreads.
After an hour your colleagues aren't suddenly zen. But usually calmer, more present and more connected than when they walked in. That's what a wellbeing programme hopes for, and exactly what a presentation rarely achieves.
It's also one of the easiest things you can put in the diary. There's no programme to prepare, nobody has to change clothes and nothing is needed from participants in advance. I bring all the instruments, you sort out a quiet room.
Different from a speaker
A good speaker gives people information about stress. That doesn't make the tension itself any less.
Here we don't talk about calm, here the body gets a chance to actually feel it.
Different from yoga or sport
No fitness or flexibility needed, and no visible difference in ability between colleagues. You lie down and let it happen.
One of the few activities where the keen runner and the colleague who never joins in lie side by side.
You don't have to believe in anything. You just have to lie down.
In the room
What happens in those forty-five minutes.
Nothing is asked of anyone. That's not reassurance beforehand, it's literally how the session is built.
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The first few minutes
People come in and pick a spot on a mat or a chair. There's a blanket and, for those who like it, an eye mask. I briefly explain what's going to happen. There isn't much more preparation than that.
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The bulk of it
Everyone lies there relaxed. I play a gong, singing bowls and a number of smaller instruments. The sound comes from different directions, gets louder and softer again, and you don't have to do anything with it. Some people fall asleep. That's completely fine.
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The last ten minutes
The sound slowly gets quieter until there's nothing left. What remains is a silence that feels different from the one half an hour earlier. Then everyone comes back in their own time. There's no group sharing at the end.
The lowest tones are usually something you feel before you hear them.
Why sound
The effect of meditation, without anyone having to meditate.
Meditation is on almost every wellbeing programme, and it's also exactly where most people drop out. Sitting still and holding your attention feels more like a task than a rest for a lot of colleagues.
In a sound bath the sound does that work. Low tones and vibration give the body a reason to slow down. Breathing settles, shoulders drop, and the head gets quieter without anyone making an effort. The colleagues who were least into it beforehand are usually the most surprised afterwards. Because there's nothing to understand and nothing to practise.
Three formats
Depending on how much time you have.
The sound bath is the core format. The other two build on it if you have more room in the programme.
Most requested
Sound bath
45 to 60 minutes
The full experience, and for most teams exactly enough. Fits into a lunch break or the end of the afternoon, and works for eight people as well as a room of seventy-five.
Extended
Sound bath with breathwork
90 minutes
Half an hour of guided breathing first, then the sound bath. The breathwork stirs up what's stuck, the sound brings the calm afterwards. Suited to teams that have done something like this before.
In depth
Half day
around 3 hours
Breathwork, a sound bath and time to talk about what it means for the way you work. Meant for a wellbeing day or a team day where you really take the time.
Practical
What I bring, and what I need from you.
I bring
All the instruments, plus a yoga mat, a blanket and an eye mask per participant. You don't have to buy or hire anything. No experience needed, no sportswear, and everyone can join in, lying down or sitting.
From you
A quiet room where the group can lie on the floor, with around 5 m² extra for the instruments. A door that closes, phones off and no coming and going during the session. Setting up takes 45 minutes beforehand, packing up 30 minutes after. Loading and parking close to the entrance please, because the gong is heavy.
A proposal with a fixed price within one working day. It depends on the format, the group size and the travel distance. Let me know what you have in mind and there'll be a concrete proposal tomorrow.
From earlier teams
What teams told me afterwards.
We thoroughly enjoyed the sound bath evening. A special and beautiful experience.
8.3
average rating from participants after a breathing session with a mini sound bath at Frisse Blikken
Third year
ANWB books sound baths and breathwork sessions for teams, now for the third year running
Who stands in front of the group
I'm Jens.
I spent twelve years in consulting, in serious gaming and learning design. I know the inside of an organisation, the diaries that fill up and the kind of day where you only notice in the car home how tense you actually were.
After that I specialised in what happens in a body under that pressure. I trained as a breathwork facilitator and studied sound healing in Rishikesh, India. I've run sessions for teams at ANWB, Frisse Blikken and Secrid, among others.
You can't explain calm. You can only feel it.
To be clear: I don't turn up in a suit.
Questions that always come up
Any questions?
What does it cost?
That depends on the format, the group size and the travel distance. Let me know what you have in mind and you get a proposal with a fixed price within one working day. That way you know exactly where you stand and you can put it forward internally without guesswork.
Is this also for colleagues who normally want nothing to do with this?
Those are often the ones it works best for. Nothing is asked of you and you don’t have to believe in anything. The biggest sceptic in the room is regularly the one who is most surprised afterwards at how far they went under.
What kind of room do we need?
A reasonably quiet room where people can lie down. A cleared meeting room, a canteen outside lunch hours or a gym all work. I think along with you beforehand about the layout and the acoustics.
Do we have to arrange mats and blankets?
No. I bring mats, blankets and eye masks, along with the instruments. For larger groups it is sometimes easier if you arrange the mats yourselves, which saves a trip. We settle that in the proposal.
How far in advance do we need to book?
I can usually fit something in two to three weeks ahead. Around busy periods such as a wellbeing week it pays to book earlier, because that is when the requests pile up.
Do participants have to change or be able to do anything?
No. You just have to lie down, or stay seated if lying down doesn't work. No experience is needed and you don't have to be flexible. I do ask everyone to take their shoes off, it relaxes better and it keeps the mats clean.
What if someone falls asleep?
That's completely fine. It happens more often than you'd think.
Is there anyone this isn't suitable for?
If you're pregnant or have epilepsy, a pacemaker, heart or vascular problems or high blood pressure, just let me know beforehand. Then we'll sort out where you're most comfortable and I'll adjust the session.
Can you come to another location?
Yes, I work throughout the Netherlands. Outside The Hague I charge travel costs, and that's just in the proposal.
Can we do two sessions in one day?
Yes, and it's better value than two separate days. Handy if you want more people to join than fit in one group.
Can we combine this with the weekly programme?
That's the nicest route. The live session lets people feel once what sound does to them, and the weekly programme keeps that going in small steps afterwards. A lot of teams use the session as a kickoff.
Check availability.
Let me know what timing you have in mind, how many people you're expecting and where you're based. You'll have a proposal with a fixed price within one working day.