My name is Sjoukje Gummels. I was born in the Netherlands with Dutch–Surinamese heritage and have spent much of my life moving between cultures, countries, identities, and ways of being. My name is rooted in an old Frisian tradition, carrying the meaning of guardianship and victory—a thread that reflects my own journey of holding space, honouring transformation, and walking between worlds.

From an early age, I felt deeply sensitive to both people and the unseen world, yet underneath that sensitivity lived a profound struggle with belonging, rejection, trust, and feeling truly safe due to family circumstances. At 18, I began travelling internationally through the fashion industry. What appeared outwardly glamorous was, inwardly, a journey of searching. Beneath the movement and adventure, I was navigating addiction, bulimia, low self-worth, rejection and a deep disconnection from myself.

I wore so many masks.

My healing journey began in South Africa where I was initiated in Reiki. It changed my life. Followed by years of training in past life regression therapy, shamanic healing, ancestral healing, and personal inner-shadow work. 

I have been fortunate to study with and be guided by beautiful teachers including Sandra Ingerman, Imelda Almqvist, Christina Pratt, Joan Parisi Wilcox, Iztak Beery and Prune Harris, alongside the many seen and unseen teachers, Ancestors, and spiritual guides who continue to shape my path.

But more than any training, it has been life itself that has taught me; loss, motherhood, grief, rebuilding, learning to trust again, and slowly coming home to myself, one step at a time and I am learning every day. From being a young girl, to a teenager, a mother, and now a grandmother, each season of life has asked me to soften, deepen, and remember who I truly am more joyously.

In 2017, I founded Threads of Healing, creating spaces for people to reconnect with themselves through healing sessions, workshops, retreats, ritual, and creative practices. Alongside this, my jewellery and ritual creations are an extension of that same intention, objects created with meaning, prayer, nature, and transformation woven into them.

Today, my deepest calling is to walk alongside women who are navigating transition, healing, awakening, grief, self-doubt, or the longing to finally come home to themselves and celebrate their beauty and the truth of who they are. It is also why I really wanted to reclaim my name fully. Our names carry a frequency. They hold the essence of our story and, perhaps, the invitation of our life’s work.

My name, Sjoukje, is rooted in an old Frisian name whose Germanic origins speak of guardianship and victory. Over time, I have come to understand this not as protecting others from their path, but as holding a safe and compassionate space where they feel seen, where they can begin to truly see themselves, and where they can reclaim the parts of themselves that have been forgotten.

I know what it is to feel disconnected, unseen, and uncertain of your place in the world. I also know the courage it takes to heal and to allow yourself to be truly seen. Having walked that path myself, I am here to walk beside you, to bear witness to your journey, to gently hold the lantern, and to honour and celebrate the victory of your return to yourself.

At the heart of my work is a spirit-led approach rooted in deep listening, honesty, compassion, and a reverence for the wisdom of nature. I believe our deepest transformation begins not by becoming someone new, but by remembering who we have always been beneath the stories, conditioning, and protective layers.