Our wayfaring friend.

S/R: Tell us a bit about yourself (where you live, your profession and what your passions are.

Dani: Hi, My name is Dani and at this moment in my life I’m very excited about a lot of things, but I would say yoga, psychotherapy, traveling, dancing, music, reading, and photography are my biggest passions. I live near Rotterdam and work there as a psychotherapist. I’ve always been interested in what other people’s inner worlds look like and how I can connect my inner world with theirs, facilitating true, healing, connections. It’s a very fulfilling career and I’m very grateful I get to do this in my life.

S/R: Yoga and movement are a big part of your life. What does yoga mean to you and how has it changed your relationship with your own body and femininity?

Dani: I found yoga when I lost the connection with my physical body. When I was traveling in Indonesia I got a bowel infection and it made me gain a lot of weight. I never had to pay attention to my weight, because it was always stable, so all of a sudden I had to focus on exercising again (I stopped exercising after I had an ankle injury which made me force to stop practicing ballet) and eating healthier. It made me focus too much on my physical body and I pushed myself too hard. Until I found yoga. At the beginning of my yoga practice, I was mostly focused on the asana part, which made me enjoy moving my body again. When my practice became more regular I fell in love with the spiritual and inner journey of yoga and the way it connects me to myself and keeps me grounded, yet ‘uplifted’ at the same time. It helps me to be a better psychotherapist, a better friend, a better lover, and a better human being.

I’ve always been mindful of staying in touch with both my masculine energy and my feminine energy. Movement helps me a lot with this. I’ve always been someone who enjoyed ‘opposites’, I used to go to ballet classes during the week and karate on the weekend. I could get lost in the toughness that metalcore music provided to me, but also in the softness of classical music. In yoga, I embrace my feminine energy in the slower, Yin, part of my practice and my more masculine energy in the fiery, vinyasa, Yang part of my practice. It’s a delicate balance between pushing myself and being kind to myself. Embracing both kinds of energies allows me to feel more integrated and more whole.

S/R: You travel a lot. How do you create a feeling of "home" or belonging when you arrive in a new city or country?

Dani: Whenever I arrive at a new place where I haven’t been before I love to walk around and go with the flow. Exploring and getting to know a place, smiling at strangers on the street, surrounding myself in the nature, culture, and atmosphere of a place creates a certain groundedness for me. It sometimes also happens that a certain place doesn’t match my energy and I don’t connect with the place (at that moment in time). In that case, I always carry a book with me as well as a notebook, reading, and writing make me feel calm, inspired and it creates a feeling of being at home, wherever I go. My breath and meditation practice create the same feeling for me, if I connect with my breath I am at home, wherever I go.

S/R: What made you connect with Semi/romantic? What do you love about the brand and the lingerie itself?

Dani: I randomly stumbled upon the Semi/Romantic Instagram account. It caught my attention because your page doesn’t feel like just a brand Instagram promoting your products, but it feels like a page where you also get to connect with the women wearing the products. It feels personal, it feels like a community where like-minded women can connect and get inspired by each other. When I received your lingerie sets and put them on it felt like a warm hug from a close friend. The sets feel comfortable, yet sensual, but in a subtle, gentle way.

s/R: Could you share with our community something you do for self-care? A ritual, food, pampering... Something that you do just for you, to relax or recharge.

When I wake up I like to do a little ritual to start the day off ‘right’. I make some tea and open the doors in my bedroom to let the fresh air in. While the tea gets cold enough to drink it I do a couple of breathing exercises to connect to myself and with the waking world around me. When my breath matches the wind outside, I know I’m ready to start the day. While I drink my tea I like to read, after which I like to continue my morning with some movement to wake up my body even more and to connect it to my mind. Whenever I have a ‘shitty’ day I can think back about my morning routine and feel good about the way I took care of myself and started the day off right.

Thank you for creating beautiful, comfortable lingerie and giving me the opportunity to collaborate with you guys! Namaste! xx