Testimonials

Media

Research

Testimonials

Anja Pintaric, Yoga Teacher - about AliveAligned:

 

I loved my coaching session with Laurien. She shared with me the key questions I should ask myself when starting off as a beginner yoga teacher and we actually made a breakthrough. I now know more about which direction to sail in my future journey. I also have to say Laurien has a super nice energy and she is full of knowledge on various topics. I highly recommend her as a coach.

Sarah, co-founder of Chinkilla - Empowering women to fight back about ThriveDrive:

'As someone who works regularly with women in self-defense and martial arts, ThriveDrive offered exactly what I was looking for: how to be a better coach for traumatized people. It helped me better understand trauma in myself and others, and how to respond when flashbacks occur. Laurien and Alex have a very inspiring backstory, and they bring their passion into this course. It was very insightful to hear their experiences in their own gym, and to ask specific questions about my own classes. The one-on-one with Laurien was a great addition and really gave me a chance to open up about my own struggles. I highly recommend this course; first aid for mental health needs to be brought to the forefront. It’s a great chance for martial arts gyms in particular to step up and take on the responsibility of being trauma-informed.'

Christine, BJJ Coach, specialised in teaching Ladies Only classes - about ThriveDrive:

'I’ve been training different martial arts for most of my life. My martial arts journey began when I was seven years old and I ended up doing Jiu Jitsu when I was sixteen. Usually, I was the only female student at the gym where I trained back then and I’ve always asked myself why there weren’t any other females.

One day I changed gyms but there were still very few women. The day I was promoted to blue belt, I’ve set a personal goal for myself: I wanted to get more females into the sport.

I started teaching womens only classes a few years ago and realized that most of my students decided to start martial arts training for two reasons. Either they were afraid of violance or they had already experienced violance. I was shocked.

That’s when I realized that Mental Health will always be part of the game.

Thrive Drive was a perfect opportunity to get myself educated about mental health issues I might face when teaching classes – especially womens only classes. I did not only learn about different scenarios that could happen, I was also given many tools on how to be a better understanding person and overall a good coach to people struggeling with a mental illness.

Apart from learning how to create a safe environment for my students, I got the chance to review a lot of the challenges I face when training myself. I am a trauma survivor and am dealing with several mental health issues such as c-PTSD, psychogenic non-epileptic seizures and depression. The course gave me a reality check and I will be more alert to my own symptoms for the future.

Laurien and Alex are great human beings overall and it’s always a personal gain getting in touch with them.

Mental health struggels are not a shame. We have to end the stigma. We have to talk about it.

Thank you Laurien and Alex for putting up this course.

Mae-lin, BJJ Purple Belt and Yoga Teacher about AliveAligned:

'I first contacted Laurien last year when I was struggling with some really unpleasant feelings about jiu-jitsu training and competition.

At the time I had been training for ten years, and had been actively competing in combat sports for nearly twenty years. Despite having had a history of trauma, I had never struggled with such overwhelmingly bad feelings towards combat sports as I was experiencing last year.

At first I thought it was an indicator of something “wrong” with me, however through coaching with Laurien I was able to face up to some hard truths about what I (and everyone) had been through with the pandemic and all of the bizarre situations it created for us in terms of jiu-jitsu, about some realities about the country I was living in, and the available options for training in the context of that culture. Laurien was one of the only people who could understand what I was experiencing, believed me, and was able to help me to think of realistic solutions that didn’t just involve “getting over it”.

Rather than this process leading to me being “fixed” so that I could fit into unhealthy environments, it actually opened my mind to the need to create a new way of living, one that allows me to spend more time in situations which are healthy, safe and progressive.

The reality is that physical and mental health don’t exist in isolation – they’re very connected to the interplay of person and environment, and although it might be “heroic” to just try and “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps”, it’s not necessarily effective. I’m really grateful to have been able to talk to Laurien. She’s knowledgeable, non-judgemental, empathetic, LGBTQI+ friendly, and gives a good combination of support and space to work through real life in between coaching sessions.

Media

Off the Zone's own Rise to Thrive Podcast!

We are delighted to announce our very own podcast! 

You are about to experience the new way to thrive in martial arts, as a trauma informed individual, athlete and coach, by exploring who you are, what you love and standing up for what you believe in.

It’s time to rise because this is where we challenge and say NO to toxic outdated industry norms and say YES to change, so that we create a healthier, happier, and thriving martial arts community.

Welcome to the Rise to Thrive Podcast.

 

Podcast with us and Women Who Fight

Why does Trauma Informed Coaching matter in Martial Arts? Explore Here.

 

Podcast with us and Karen Fabian of Bare Bones Yoga

Trauma, Trauma Informed Teaching for Yoga and Martial Arts. Listen Here.

 

Podcast with us and Nattie Boss, BJJ brown belt

During this podcast, Nattie and Laurien talk about why we need a paradigm shift in BJJ and little things we as athletes, coaches and training partners can do to make BJJ a safer space. Discover Here.

 

Podcast with Sam of Southpawpod

Trauma, Trauma Informed Teaching for  Martial Arts and more. Listen Here.

 

Podcast with Ruf der Hyäne (German)

Discover Here.

 

Podcast with Rear Naked Chicks

Chicks have trauma. Listen Here.

 

Podcast with the Fightback Project

Georgia Verry, herself an authority when it comes to trauma informed kickboxing honored us by inviting us to her podcast! Discover Here.

 

Research

Off The Zone ongoing Research:

At the moment we carry out surveys to track and map out  experiences and emotions our students feel before and after martial arts classes over a longer period of time. In this way we might be able to detect patterns and other insights. 

Alex, Electro-engineer on Safety

Approaches for Software Verification of an Emergency Recovery System for Micro Air Vehicles, M. Becker, M. Neumair, A. Söhn (Zurhake), S. Chakraborty, In 34th International Conference on Computer Safety, Reliability and Security (SAFECOMP) Companion, Delft (September, 2015).

Laurien, (ancient) historian - during her time as PhD candidate on Pain Behaviour and more


Laurien Zurhake, 'Trauma Geïnformeerde BJJ', in: Erik Hein (ed.,) Vechtkunst als Kompas Praktijkboek (2023).

Laurien Zurhake, 'Chronic Pain and illness in Antiquity', in: Christian Laes (ed.), A Cultural History of Disability in Antiquity (Bloomsbury Academic 2020).

Laurien Zurhake, A Beautiful Defect: The Rising Popularity of Physically Deformed Slaves (2017).

Henry Albery, Polly Lohmann, Laurien Zurhake (eds.), Continuities and Changes of Meaning. DWJ Vol.1. (Heidelberg 2016).

Laurien Zurhake, Review: Contested Succesions: The Transmission of Imperial Power in Tacitus Histories and Annales, geschreven door Ylva Klaassen, in: Ex Tempore (Nijmegen 2015).

Laurien Zurhake, 'Schuivende Beelden: het antieke verleden in het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden', in: Hans Kienhorst & Margreet Pel (eds.), Brilliant Assistants 2013, (Nijmegen 2013) 25-34.

Christine, BJJ Coach, specialised in teaching Ladies Only classes - about ThriveDrive:

'I’ve been training different martial arts for most of my life. My martial arts journey began when I was seven years old and I ended up doing Jiu Jitsu when I was sixteen. Usually, I was the only female student at the gym where I trained back then and I’ve always asked myself why there weren’t any other females.

One day I changed gyms but there were still very few women. The day I was promoted to blue belt, I’ve set a personal goal for myself: I wanted to get more females into the sport.

I started teaching womens only classes a few years ago and realized that most of my students decided to start martial arts training for two reasons. Either they were afraid of violance or they had already experienced violance. I was shocked.

That’s when I realized that Mental Health will always be part of the game.

Thrive Drive was a perfect opportunity to get myself educated about mental health issues I might face when teaching classes – especially womens only classes. I did not only learn about different scenarios that could happen, I was also given many tools on how to be a better understanding person and overall a good coach to people struggeling with a mental illness.

Apart from learning how to create a safe environment for my students, I got the chance to review a lot of the challenges I face when training myself. I am a trauma survivor and am dealing with several mental health issues such as c-PTSD, psychogenic non-epileptic seizures and depression. The course gave me a reality check and I will be more alert to my own symptoms for the future.

Laurien and Alex are great human beings overall and it’s always a personal gain getting in touch with them.

Mental health struggels are not a shame. We have to end the stigma. We have to talk about it.

Thank you Laurien and Alex for putting up this course.

Mae-lin, BJJ Purple Belt and Yoga Teacher about AliveAligned:

'I first contacted Laurien last year when I was struggling with some really unpleasant feelings about jiu-jitsu training and competition.

At the time I had been training for ten years, and had been actively competing in combat sports for nearly twenty years. Despite having had a history of trauma, I had never struggled with such overwhelmingly bad feelings towards combat sports as I was experiencing last year.

At first I thought it was an indicator of something “wrong” with me, however through coaching with Laurien I was able to face up to some hard truths about what I (and everyone) had been through with the pandemic and all of the bizarre situations it created for us in terms of jiu-jitsu, about some realities about the country I was living in, and the available options for training in the context of that culture. Laurien was one of the only people who could understand what I was experiencing, believed me, and was able to help me to think of realistic solutions that didn’t just involve “getting over it”.

Rather than this process leading to me being “fixed” so that I could fit into unhealthy environments, it actually opened my mind to the need to create a new way of living, one that allows me to spend more time in situations which are healthy, safe and progressive.

The reality is that physical and mental health don’t exist in isolation – they’re very connected to the interplay of person and environment, and although it might be “heroic” to just try and “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps”, it’s not necessarily effective. I’m really grateful to have been able to talk to Laurien. She’s knowledgeable, non-judgemental, empathetic, LGBTQI+ friendly, and gives a good combination of support and space to work through real life in between coaching sessions.