About the Founder
Riim Lagerwerf, Holistic Health Educator and Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist
“For a long time, I thought I was searching for Ayurveda. Looking back, I think Ayurveda and its sister sciences were slowly finding me. My life has taken me through different countries, cultures and identities. I grew up in the Netherlands, moved to Tanzania at 11, came back to Netherlands and after studies lived in Spain, Switzerland, Suriname and Panama. I come from Nicaraguan, Chinese, Indonesian and Dutch roots. For many years, one question followed me: Who am I, and where do I belong?
I built a corporate career, but somewhere inside me I knew it wasn’t the whole story. So I started searching. Through yoga, meditation, healing practices and eventually Ayurveda. At the same time, I went through my own health challenges: digestive issues, PCOS, endometriosis, infertility and Graves’ disease. Ayurveda and the Vedic worldview taught me to stop seeing these only as problems to overcome.
My imbalances are part of my story, but they do not define me.Yoga helped me reconnect with myself. Ayurveda gave me a language for what I was experiencing. Jyotiṣa helped me trust life’s timing. What began as my own search slowly became a desire to support others. And that vision eventually became Sankalpa — a place for clinic, college and community, where we learn, experience and embody Ayurveda and its sister sciences. I don’t teach Ayurveda because I have lived a perfectly balanced life. I teach it because I have lived through imbalance. And maybe that is part of the journey: What you once had to learn for yourself can eventually become something you offer to others. Maybe Ayurveda is finding you too.” – Riïm Lagerwerf, Founder
Riïm studied Ayurvedic Medicine at the California College of Ayurveda and was trained as Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist (certified Ayurvedic Practitioner). In Panama she studied with Institute Ayurveda Nixia Lino affiliated with International Academy of Ayurved to become a certified Panchakarma Specialist. The work of Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra and Dr. Marianne Teitelbaum has also been a great source of inspiration for her.
Today she works as a clinical Ayurvedic specialist, Panchakarma specialist and Holistic Health Educator. From her private practice in The Hague, she focus mostly on chronic and autoimmune-related conditions. Teaching has always been one of her greatest passions.
