About Us
It was in 2020 that Sander and Nancy den Hertog moved with their son Sam from The Netherlands to Ireland to settle in Buncrana, Co. Donegal.
About Sander
"My journey in the field of massage and therapy is quite extensive.
I've always had a keen interest in Massage Therapy myself, and would regularly receive a massage for relaxation of body and mind. At the time I was working as a key account manager for an ICT company in The Netherlands. The stresses of the job and having a very busy life required to take care of myself a bit more and massage therapy was just the answer. I always wondered if this would be something that I could learn myself, purely because I am interested in so many things. So, I started to look for more information and came across a renowned academy in The Netherlands, MYOS Opleidingen, enrolled for my first course, Swedish Massage Therapy (or: Classical/Holistic Massage Therapy), and from that moment on I got infected with the "massage virus".
Because I enjoyed this so much, whilst still working as a key account manager, I decided to enrol immediately for the course Wellness & Relaxation Massage with the same academy to deepen my knowledge by learning Western Lomi-Lomi Massage, Bamboo Massage, Hot Stone Massage and Indian Head Massage. What a great addition to the skills set!
Following this course, I started my (Remedial) Massage Therapy course, which is a year long and has the equivalent of Level 6/7 in Ireland. This course focused on many pathologies and how to treat these with specific massage techniques. The emphasis was on clinical reasoning and training your skills as a therapeutic practitioner. After successfully completing the exam and obtaining my diploma, I followed courses related to sports and athletes: Specialised Sports Massage for Top Athletes (Soccer, Cycling, Running, Tennis/Golf) and Kinesiology Taping.
My personal interest to learn new things and to keep at bay with developments in the field, techniques, and ways to treat clients, I decided to follow the course Mobilisations and Manipulations of the Skeletal System, which resulted in obtaining the diploma as well.
I cannot thank all the tutors at MYOS Opleidingen enough for their great lessons and inspiration! But what to do now, as I've moved to Ireland ... Would I find another academy with the same ethos and will I have the same "click"? The answer is YES.
After some online research I got in touch with Sports Fitness Academy, a renowned Irish academy that offers courses related to the Health & Fitness Industry as well as Sports Massage Therapy. It felt great right from the beginning and I started to follow all the courses for Sports Massage Therapy: Level 3, Level 4, and Level 5 and obtained all diploma's successfully. Within this academy I also followed the courses Dry Needling for Pain Management, Nutrition for Physical Activity Level 3, and Infection Prevention. For all these courses I hold now certification.
Again, a great thank you to all tutors for their support, inspiration and lessons!
It is also a great privilege to be working as a tutor at the Sports Fitness Academy and to be part of the team! It is such a joy to convey knowledge to new students who either want to deepen their knowledge or want to make a career move, just like I did! Currently I am following a course to be certified in Assessing Vocational Achievement.
One of the most fulfilling things I have done in the last years, was being trained as an Oncology Massage Therapist. This course, which I followed at the renowned Susan Findlay Academy, taught me how to work with people who are dealing with, or have dealt with, cancer and the side effects of their treatments. Oncology Massage Therapy is a beautiful way to help people.
I do believe that we have developed our own signature way of Massage Therapy at Senzis Sports and Massage Therapy. We combine the knowledge and techniques that we have gathered in all these years into our treatments in order to benefit our clients. We like to think that this distinguishes us in the field of Massage Therapy where our focus will always be on the client!
So, therefore we like to encourage you: INVEST IN YOUR HEALTH!"
About Nancy
"My journey is not as extensive as that of Sander. Not only are we married since April 2000, but now we are also partners in business. I supported Sander's decision to start his own clinic when we moved to Ireland and saw firsthand how the clinic was growing.
At some point I felt that an extra hand might be needed and so I started to do the course Sports Massage Therapy with the Sports Fitness Academy as well. This was rewarded with a diploma as a Sports Massage Therapist and so I joined the clinic in 2022. Ever since I have been working towards building up my own clientele and helping out with clients of Sander when needed.
Meanwhile, I sensed that there was a need for Pregnancy Massage in the Buncrana/Inishowen area. It is such a great way to help all the mammy's-to-be during their pregnancy in the 2nd and 3rd trimester. So, I followed training with Soul Therapies and I am certified as a Pregnancy Massage Therapist.
Currently I am offering our clients relaxation and wellness through Swedish Massage Therapy. However, I keep on developing myself and I am following courses to offer more wellness treatments. This will then be available in my treatment room as well. One of the treatments that I hold certification for is Hot Stone Massage, another great course that I did with Soul Therapies in Belfast.
You can contact me for Sports Massage Therapy, Swedish Massage Therapy, Hot Stone Massage and Pregnancy Massage. I am looking forward to meet you!"