About
Compass to Connection & the Founder, Minne Marlo
How it all started
My mission with Compass to Connection is to create more
awareness, tolerance, and empowerment in relationships and sexual growth, and within people as a whole. I want to enable love; to make the world a better place.
Compass to Connection started in early 2017 as a project researching
the experiences of others and inspire by sharing their stories.
I was doing lots of interviews with people all over the world, with
different genders, ages, and backgrounds focusing on love and sexuality.
It brought me so much value --- I was eager to continue sharing parts of these interviews with the C2C community.
But then this happened next: because of a technical issue, I lost 16 audio recordings of interviews I still had to process. It was at least 100 hours of work and all the content and value vanished into nothing. I was devastated for weeks I was sure the Universe tried to send a message to me, however, unsure if it meant that I should stop Compass to Connection…
Now
I slowly realised that my personal goal with Compass to Connection was always about my own (sexual) growth and healing and how my process and therapy skills could turn into something that was beneficial for more people. This technical accident was a gift to start bringing my own stories and insights. Until that moment, I had not dared to open up and be vulnerable about myself because of shame and fear. Even though I had many intense experiences in my life for people to relate to. Taking on this challenge for myself to share my own stories and insights now was the most powerful thing I could do for my own process and for the people following Compass to Connection.
Vulnerability is the bridge to build a connection. A connection that I now use to inspire and guide people through their own journey going back to innocence in intimacy. Immediately the requests to facilitate workshops and coach people started to arrive from all over Europe. I've hosted my workshops already in Germany, France, Marocco, Poland, Bulgaria, Sweden, Austria and most of it in Belgium.
Sessions can go about intimacy, but not necessarily. Any personal development topic you want to bring in, to get advice, a listening ear, someone holding space or being a mirror for you is possible.
Why I then focus on my writing on intimacy as a niche? Well, sexuality is still the most suppressed topic in personal development. Everyone is here because of sex, we are all born of it. Many of us are also having sex, or at least sometimes. Maybe the lack of intimate interaction brings you here. However, because of the shame, sexuality happens in the shadows. Shame is actually the number one barrier holding us back from sexual (or any) growth. An experience shared by so many should be empowering, rather than restricting. By talking about intimacy, by learning about it, we bring it into the light. We give it permission and space to be free, and to grow.
We bring innocence back into intimacy again as a powerful tool for transformation in other areas in your life!
Minne Marlo
When I started to specialize as a therapist in intimacy, I felt the expectation to be perfect in relationships, expressing sexuality, and to be an expert and leader in those topics. But I wasn't! Compass to Connection was really my own experimental platform and by trial/error (and receiving coaching myself) I realized that perfection is not what made me inspiring or able to help people. It is within being with my own authenticity and vulnerability of my process that people found value and the ability to relate. That, in combination with my education and experience working with people in all sorts of situations, makes that I will be a great guide for some of you.
This is my current mission statement:
"Driven by LOVE and PASSION, I want to inspire people to live in the most authentic connection with Ourselves, Others, and Nature."
My name is Minne Marlo and I was born in Belgium. Since 2013 I’ve been mostly nomadic, living a minimalist life, traveling, living, and working in different places around the world. In the summer of 2019, I have settled in Ghent and soon I had a booming practice. I’ve finished my studies as a Socio-Educational Therapist at the University of Brussels and since been specializing in coaching, creative therapy, sexual education, psychology, spirituality, personal development, and Tantra in various countries. I've already dived many years in this education of personal development, while gaining experience in working with refugees, people with disabilities, special needs education, social care, youth, sex-education, trauma therapy, etc.
When I'm not busy with Compass to Connection, I love to digital detox in nature, read personal development books, dance, plan my next trip, challenge myself to cook plant-based, or go to different workshops and retreats.
You can get a more personal look at who I am in my blog.
I would also like to take this space to extend my gratitude to all the other people behind Compass to Connection. Without my friends, mentors, coaches and (ex-)lovers C2C wouldn't be what it is now.
Also, much love goes to all the photographers who've been making the beautiful images you see on my blog and website:
Jay Ngai, Bert Potvliege, Frédéric Cotman, Alex James, Lieven Michiels, Filippo Magenes, Hannelore Haemers & Mary Osk.
Relevant Education or learning experience
2021 - Somatic Erotic Therapy training - Maanee Chrystal, Blaire Lindsay
2020 - Dream journey interpretation course - Hugo Mega
2020 - The inner masculine - Clara Gomez
2019 - Intensive: living from the heart (Brasil) Yabō Boyè
2019 - Somatic Thai bodywork (Belgium) -Mikis Taguchi
2019 - Awakening through Pleasure -Trauma release (Sweden) - Sanna Sanita
2019 - Blissfull Lovemaking Training (Belgium) - Alexa Mira
2019 - De-armouring Training for practitioners (Estonia) - Sussane Roursgaard, De'an Matuka and Sanna Sanita
2019 - Tantra & kink (Belgium) - Alexa Mira
2019 - Sexual de-armouring Training (The Netherlands) -Sussane Rousgaard
2019 - Tantra massage (Belgium) - Alexa Mira
2018 - Sexuality & disability (Belgium) - Aditi vzw
2018 - Sensory Labyrinth Theatre (Poland)
2018 - Contact improvisation (Poland)
2018 - Sexuality and Gender through Arts (Austria) -Wolfgang Rohm
2018 - Emotional Trauma work for entrepreneurs (France) - Barbele Kindt
2018 - Yoga & conscious business (Germany)
2018 - Tantra & kink (Belgium) - Alexa Mira
2018 - Meditation & family constellations (Marocco) - Jan De Vlieger
2018 - Tantric Touch (International) - Psalm Isadora
2018 - Personal Development training (Georgia)
2017 - Tantra & Kink (Belgium)
2017 - Conflict resolution (Austria) - Wolfgang Rohm
2017 - Sexual identity & Gender II (Finland)
2017 - Tantric rituals and sexual shadows (Crete)
2017 - Sexual De-armouring Training (Crete)
2017 - Tantra massage (Belgium & Crete)
2017 - Pilgrims route to Santiago (Spain)
2017 - Healing the feminine (Spain) - Rocio Oceano
2017 - Conscious Intimacy (Belgium) - Alexa Mira
2016 - Yoga, meditation & personal transformation (Croatia) - Eveline Dhondt
2016 - Sexual identity & Gender (Finland)
2016 - Master training in transformational Coaching (Belgium) - Steve Verbist
2016 - Personal Development training (Lapland) - Steve Verbist
2015 - Bachelor in Socio-Educational Therapy (Belgium) - University Brussels
2015 - Pilgrims route to Santiago (Portugal)
2015 - Training personal Development (Bulgaria) Steve Verbist
2015 - Fundamentals of Coaching (Belgium)
2015 - Personal Development training (Belgium)
2014 - Therapy internship (India)
2014 - First Aid (Belgium) - Red Cross
2013 - Social Care Practice (Ireland) - IT Sligo
2013 - Degree of Performing Arts (Belgium)
2010 - Teaching course (Belgium)
2010 - Science of Health and Well-being (Belgium)
2009 - Disabilities & inclusion (Belgium)
2008 - Group dynamics & growth facilitation (Belgium)