Returning to essence, a natural shift in how I live, work, and understand life. A personal journey from burnout to intuition, and learning to listen inward when the mind is loud.

Life experiences invite us to become more conscious of who we truly are

This is a story of moving from the mind toward intuition. Of learning to recognise and trust what I sense within.And of how awareness continues to help me stay connected, while living, working, exploring, and gaining deeper insight along the way.

From that awareness, a broader understanding began to form.

I believe that we come to earth to learn and to grow. That growth unfolds through the reincarnation of the soul, the part of us that carries intuition, deeper feelings and subconscious knowing.

The mind lives alongside the soul, often louder and more dominant, guiding us through life with logic, expectations and learned patterns. In contrast to many Far Eastern cultures, where presence, rest and awareness are woven into daily life through practices like meditation and yoga, Western society is largely built on knowledge, planning and performance.

This makes it easy to slip into living on autopilot: mentally rushing ahead, losing spontaneity, and becoming disconnected from the inner world. That state became familiar to me, both as a self‑employed professional and as a reorganisation manager and MT member within a governmental organisation, while raising young children and juggling responsibilities, deadlines and care.

From the perspective of reincarnation, we are born with a history of previous lives, even though we are not consciously aware of them. This means we can react to certain situations in unexpected or unexplainable ways, responses shaped by experiences we no longer remember. Seen this way, reincarnation simply gives the soul more than one lifetime to develop and mature.

Every life offers us possibilities to grow, often without noticing it. But we can also choose to engage more consciously with personal development, especially when repeating patterns, recurring outcomes or a deeper sense of inner calling begin to surface. That was my path.

Through intimate relationships, I slowly shifted from a curious, independent, lively person into someone fearful, dependent and diminished. Ending those relationships took courage, and finding my way back to myself took time.Along the way, I realised how essential qualities like spontaneity, curiosity, creativity and a natural openness are for living from a place of inner sense, qualities I had slowly lost and needed to reclaim.

After the second breakup, when burnout left me feeling lost again, I began to ask how this was possible, especially given my upbringing in a loving yet turbulent environment. That question marked the beginning of an inner search.

It started with neurolinguistic courses, which helped me understand my patterns and offered new ways of looking at life. Later, when a period of unrest moved through my small family, someone suggested an energetic clearing.The effect was profound. The household calmed. My cravings for nicotine and the occasional drink simply fell away.

That experience became a turning point. It revealed the importance of grounding, sensing energy and vibration, and gently protecting ourselves from influences that do not belong to us. It offered a new understanding of myself, and of the world beyond the visible.

Around that turning point, following my heart meant leaving the stress of Holland behind and moving into the quiet rhythm of the French countryside, a place where breathing freely became possible again.

In the years that followed, various support and seasonal jobs helped me support myself and my now adult kids, clear, practical work that allowed life to settle. As the rhythm returned, the chosen path of inner awareness deepened through ongoing study and practice , learning to connect, to listen, and to trust my inner sense.

Through all of this, it became clear that personal growth is not a destination but an ongoing practice. At the heart of it all lies one simple truth: we find our deepest clarity when soul, mind and body move in balance, when the mind softens, the body grounds, and the soul has space to speak.

My work grows from this personal journey, shaped by the awareness, grounding and quiet energetic attunement developed along the way. It is the natural expression of everything lived, learned and reclaimed , a way of guiding others while continuing to work on myself, so growth remains a shared, evolving practice.

If these reflections resonate with you, you’re welcome to walk along for a while ,exploring, learning and listening to your own inner sense in your own time.

Cornelia P. van der Ploeg

France, 2026 February