Be in water.
Our body remembers water.
Water is where life began and where we began. We carry it inside us - in our blood, our cells, in the 70% of us that is still ocean. Many of us have forgotten this, and live entirely on the surface.
At Born From Water we do not talk about water from a distance; we enter it.
We listen to it on the deepest level. When the face enters the water, an ancient reflex activates: our heart rate drops, our mind empties, our controlling grip softens. You have to let go completely. And in that letting go, a new way of being opens.
Why people come
People arrive outwardly successful. Capable. Intelligent.
Yet inside something feels off.
Always doing, rarely resting
Living in the mind most of the time
Effort and pushing, without flow
Control instead of trust
Fearful thoughts, scarcity mindset
Repeating old patterns
Disconnection from the body
Intuition pushed aside
Purpose unclear
What's next?
Your place is ready. To confirm your seat, complete your payment below.
We will then welcome you into the Water Portal , and send you details to begin.
Only 12 leaders will walk this elemental journey together.
We’re honored to walk with you.
We come from
the ocean
We return to the ocean.
- Born from water
The Born From Water Approach
At Born From Water we work with all the different dimensions of water.
Our retreats and experiences hold various, or all of the following elements that we personally honour and love very much.
Freediving
One breath and the mammalian dive reflex activates - our heart rate drops, blood flows to the heart and brain, our mind empties. You cannot fake it. It is a mental game, and when you surrender to it, you access the deepest relaxation.
Janzu Water Therapy
Being held and moved through warm water, our nervous system releases years of stress and contraction. Our body remembers, and we enter a state of flow.
Water Ceremony
We encounter water as a living being, drawing from indigenous traditions that have honoured water for thousands of years. A practice of remembering.
Water Movement and Dance
The ultimate creativity and freedom - our body finds its own language in water and movement becomes pure meditation. We dance at the water’s surface, or at depth.
Water Exploration
Kayaking through lagoons, snorkelling coral gardens, entering sacred rivers - exploring water with curiosity and reverence.
Marine Life Encounters
Swimming alongside orcas, whale sharks, sea lions, rays and turtles - meeting the ocean as our relative.
Marine Biology
Understanding the science of living water systems - what is happening beneath the surface we swim in and why it matters.
Indigenous Water Wisdom
Listening to water the way it has been listened to for generations, guided by those who still carry that knowledge.
Art, Song and Photography
Water as our creative source - creating water songs, poetry, art, and photography as a medium to express ourselves.
Purpose Work
Circle, reflection and dialogue in nature - space to listen to the path we are meant to follow.
Silence
Time alone near water with no agenda - journalling, resting, simply being.
Community
We transform more deeply when we are witnessed, when we feel the presence of others who also hear water calling.
No experience needed. We have guided people 70 years old, people with one lung and people who had never been in the ocean.
An open mind is the only requirement.
Water relaxes the body at a cellular level.
- Born from water
Water Initiation
Two hours to a full day · Warm water · One on one, couples or groups · Worldwide
A ceremony in warm water combined with Janzu water therapy and bodywork - in a thermal pool, natural warm spring or warm ocean. Meeting water in every dimension: through our body, our heart, our senses and spirit.
Available for individuals, groups, organisations and teams.
By being in water, we transform.
- Born from water
Upcoming Retreats
Waters of Origin
Bacalar · Mexico · Spring 2027
The lagoon of Bacalar holds living stromatolites - the first life forms on Earth, our ancestors. The cenotes reach 90 metres deep. You swim with the origin of life, tapping into the wisdom since beginning of times. Three to seven days of freediving in cenotes, Janzu water therapy, water movement, water ceremony, indigenous wisdom, jungle and river exploration, marine biology, art creation, purpose work and indigenous water wisdom.
Waters of the Volcano
Hidalgo · Mexico · Winter 2026
Deep in the volcanic mountains of central Mexico, thermal waters rise from the earth through ancient caves and waterfalls into rivers and pools of bright turquoise. The Otomí people considered these sacred healing waters for thousands of years. The site is shared on enquiry. Three to four days of water therapy, water dance, ceremony, art, bodywork, purpose work, and time in the warm waters through the night.
Wild Waters
Baja California · Mexico · Summer 2027
Between April and June, orcas, whale sharks, mobula rays, humpback whales and sea lions share the same waters here. We freedive alongside everything that lives in one of the most biodiverse ocean environments on Earth. Four to seven days of marine encounters, open ocean freediving, water ceremony, water therapy, exploration, purpose work, and indigenous water wisdom.
Water Initiations
Ibiza · Portugal · Greece · Netherlands · Summer 2026
Summer 2026 · Dates and locations confirmed on enquiry.
Designed on request
Retreats and Water Initiations are available on request for groups of friends, entrepreneurial circles and organisations.
Any location, any duration, shaped entirely around the people and the moment.
What participants say
"The container held by Mo is very deep. The retreats burst you open and the integration is grounded and extremely effective. I have been more present than I have ever been. This was the most important experience of my life."
"I came as a CEO. I left as a human being. The water did something no coach or retreat had ever done. It gave me back to myself."
"Freediving in the cenote was the most liberating thing I have ever done. I cried underwater. I laughed on the surface. I went home a different person."
Giving Back
Every retreat and Water Initiation contributes to Born From Water's wider mission - strengthening humanity's relationship with water through education, storytelling and direct support for water initiatives around the world.
When we enter sacred waters, we do so with reverence.
A portion of every retreat goes back to protect and advance the communities and ecosystems that we visit.
What we receive, we return.
Upcoming Initiations and Retreats
Sunmer 2026
Water Initiations · Europe
August 2026
The Deepest Retreat · Mallorca, Spain
Winter 2026
Waters of the Volcano · Hidalgo, Mexico
Spring 2027
Waters of Origin · Bacalar, Mexico
Summer 2027
Wild Waters · Baja California, Mexico
To enquire about any experience or retreat: [email protected]
Introducing the Elemental Wheel
The Elemental Wheel cycles through four elements: Water → Fire → Earth → Air. You start with one element, fully engage, then move on once you embody its wisdom.
All four elements are needed to lead fully. Now is the time to gather.
Water is not a resource.
She is a relative. A consciousness. A home.
— Mo, founder Born From Water
Meet Your Guides
Moniek van Erven (Founder of Born From Water)
Ocean Lover · Ceremonialist · Freediver · Water therapist · Spiritual Mentor
Mo guides you and walks beside you. From a place of deep listening, lived experience, and her devotion to Water as teacher and healer. She’s hosting retreats and ceremonies across the globe. Her guidance is intuitive, grounded, and rooted in love.
Mo’s path began over two decades ago in meditation and six years ago with sacred medicine work, and it was Water that truly transformed her. Through oceans, cenotes, and tears, water softened her armor, healed her nervous system, and returned her to feeling.
She founded Oyasin, a global sanctuary for healing, guiding retreats and ceremonies across the world for leaders to help them to return to the body, the earth, the heart.
Her guidance is intuitive and loving, rooted in lived experience and years of walking with Indigenous elders, sacred medicines, and the water itself. She doesn’t teach from a method, she listens, feels, and lets the water lead.
Water is her teacher.
And so, she guides like water.
Indigenous Wisdom Keepers
You’ll sit in ceremony with elders and medicine carriers from Nahuatl, Quechua, K’iche’ and other lineages. They don’t just teach, they transmit. Their presence awakens our memory through ancestral ritual and prayer.
Guest Teachers & Elemental Guides
Our extended circle includes freedivers, breathworkers, ocean protectors, water therapists, ritualists, plant medicine guides, emotional release practitioners, vocalists, artists, dreamworkers, and embodiment practitioners.
