Academie voor Leven - Anurag

Our Story Academie voor Leven (Academy for Life) is a Dutch training institute based in Amsterdam, founded and led by Anurag. After the loss of her partner, Anurag transformed her personal mission into a professional one: helping people stop wasting time and start doing what truly matters. The academy is built on the principle of working from the inside out—guiding students to live and work with more love, courage, and leadership. It holds the NRTO quality mark, is registered with CRKBO, and has trained more than 1,000 people across over 100 groups, earning an average evaluation score of 8.7. The organization is dedicated to making the world friendlier by enabling professionals to help others experience more happiness and less pain. Programs & Trainings 🎓 Mindfulness & Self-Compassion Coach & Trainer Program — Accredited by the Dutch Association for Mindfulness (Vereniging voor Mindfulness). Teaches participants to integrate mindfulness and self-compassion into their own life and work, and to train others in these practices. Open evening held on 1 September online at 20:00; program start 28 September. 🎓 2nd Year Mindfulness Trainer Skills & ACT — Advanced track in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) combined with mindfulness trainer competencies. Prepares graduates to serve as fully qualified mindfulness trainers and ACT coaches. Start 14 September. 🎓 Post-HBO Holistic Systemic Coach (2-Year) — A 26-day SNRO-, Registerplein-, and NRTO-recognized program delivered over 8–10 months. Includes 16 live days (10:00–17:30), 50 hours of online deepening lessons, and 100 hours of personal mindfulness/self-compassion practice. Covers systemic constellations, existential coaching, voice dialogue, transactional analysis, ACT, body-oriented haptonomy, polyvagal theory, breath coaching, creative coaching, and Eastern/Western wisdom. Next starts: 19 October and 29 May 2026. 🎓 6-Day Systemic Coaching with Family Constellations — Intensive practical training in systemic observation and guiding individual family constellations, table/chair setups, inner-parts constellations, and systemic coaching in nature. Next start 18 May. 🎓 Mindfulness & Yin Yoga Weekend Retreat — A restorative retreat held in a beautiful space in Amsterdam’s city park or in the Winterswijk forests, combining mindfulness with Yin Yoga to deepen embodied awareness. Dates follow in autumn 2026. 🎓 Mindfulness Vipassana Retreat — Immersive retreat offering Vipassana meditation practice to work with discomfort, pain, and suffering while cultivating equanimity, compassion, and loving-kindness. 🎓 Online Trainings — Supporting online modules for self-paced study and preparation across the academy’s coaching and mindfulness tracks. 🎓 Free Podcast Course: 15 Lessons in Holistic Systemic Coaching — A complimentary introductory podcast series offering foundational insights into the academy’s holistic systemic approach. 🎓 Professional Supervision & Intervision — Reflective practice groups and individual supervision for coaches and trainers to deepen their work and maintain ethical, high-quality standards. Specialties 🎯 Mindfulness & Self-Compassion Education 🎯 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) 🎯 Systemic Coaching & Family Constellations 🎯 Holistic & Existential Coaching 🎯 Trauma-Sensitive Bodywork & Breath Coaching 🎯 Vipassana Meditation & Yin Yoga Retreats 🎯 Personal Leadership & Meaningful Living 🎯 Coach Training & Professional Supervision Methods & Approach The academy employs an integrative, inside-out methodology that blends Eastern contemplative traditions—such as Taoism, Buddhism, and Vipassana meditation—with Western psychological frameworks including Transactional Analysis, Voice Dialogue, Polyvagal Theory, and ACT. Learning is highly experiential: students begin practicing coaching from the very first day, participate in intervision groups, and engage in creative assignments involving art, theater, movement, and writing. A strong emphasis is placed on embodied presence, deep listening, and developing psychological flexibility so that coaches can hold safe, accepting space for clients on every layer of their being. Who It's For The programs are designed for professional guides and changemakers—beginning and experienced coaches, counselors, therapists, psychologists, teachers, educators, healthcare and welfare workers, managers, HR and L&D advisors—as well as individuals pursuing profound personal growth. Applicants typically hold an HBO or university diploma, or an MBO with at least five years of people-oriented work experience at HBO level. The training is also suited to those who wish to start or restart an independent coaching practice for adults, young people, or children, and to anyone who wants to live with more authenticity, resilience, and purpose. Facilities & Practical Info Training takes place in Amsterdam (IJburg and Noord), with retreats offered in a city-park venue on the edge of Amsterdam or in the Winterswijk woodlands. Live training days run from 10:00 to 17:30, scheduled every two to three weeks outside of school holidays and public holidays. Programs combine in-person presence with online preparatory and deepening lessons. The academy carries the NRTO Keurmerk and is registered with CRKBO. Location Address: Jan Olphert Vaillantlaan 34, 1086 ZA Amsterdam, Netherlands Hours: Live days 10:00 – 17:30; see website for current schedule and open-evening dates The "+" ✅ Triple-accredited recognized institute: NRTO Keurmerk, CRKBO registered, and program-specific accreditations including Vereniging voor Mindfulness, SNRO, and Registerplein. ✅ Proven track record: more than 1,000 graduates across 100 groups with an average rating of 8.7. ✅ Lead trainer Anurag is praised for her charismatic calm, humor, vast expertise, and ability to embody compassion; she is supported by an experienced team. ✅ Curriculum uniquely unites systemic constellations, ACT, trauma-sensitive bodywork, breath coaching, and Eastern philosophy in one coherent training. ✅ Strong focus on personal transformation as the foundation for professional coaching: “Change the world, begin with yourself.”