The person behind Viva Mentis
Daniël Beerdsen
Performance and vitality coach for athletes with a serious goal and a full life. I live and work in Barneveld, the Netherlands. Goalkeeper at SDV Barneveld. For as long as I can remember, I've been occupied with how to get the best out of yourself.
Not by training harder. By recharging smarter.
How I got here
I've watched it around me for years. Athletes doing everything they're supposed to do. Following schedules, training hard, eating consciously. And still not moving forward. Or dropping out halfway through the season. Or simply being tired all the time, even after a night's sleep.
People know that about me too. As a goalkeeper I train several times a week, on top of everything else that's running. And I noticed that sessions don't always pay off the same. There are weeks where everything works, and weeks where you run through quicksand — while your effort is identical. The difference is in the layer underneath.
Through the kPNI view — clinical psycho-neuro-immunology — I learned how body and life are connected. How sleep determines your recovery. How work stress lowers your trainability. How nutrition, rhythm, mind and load work as one system. That insight changed how I look at sport.
Viva Mentis is the result of that combination: knowledge of the system, and the reality of someone who trains, works and has a full life himself.
My approach
Four things I know for sure
1.Working harder is rarely the answer
Most athletes who come to me already train hard enough. The problem isn't the volume. It's what happens between the sessions. Sleep, recovery, stress, nutrition: that determines whether your training pays off or just wears you down further.
2.Your body works as one system
Sleep hits your recovery. Recovery hits your training. Stress hits your sleep. You can't fix that by tackling one thing and ignoring the rest. I always look at the whole: where's the bottleneck, and in what order do you address it.
3.A plan should fit your life, not the other way around
Generic schedules work for generic people. You have a job that demands something, commitments, a calendar that never quite matches the training plan. I build plans for what your week actually looks like.
4.Insight is the beginning, not the end
Knowing what to do is one thing. Actually doing it, consistently, in the weeks when it doesn't suit you, is something else. I help you understand what's going on, and then anchor what works.
What I do
Who I coach
I work with dedicated athletes who also have a busy life. People who run, do Hyrox, play football, prepare for a triathlon. Next to a job that genuinely demands something of them.
Some work with me once, through a Sprint: one concrete problem, solved properly in one session. Others do a Blueprint and continue independently with a personal plan. Those who want to get the most out of coaching choose the Program of 12 to 16 weeks.
I'm based in Barneveld, the Netherlands, but everything runs online — in Dutch or English. Contact via daniel@vivamentis.nl or +31 6‑23933875.
Experience
3 years of performance coaching
Approach
kPNI-inspired
Location
Barneveld (NL) · Online
Sport
Goalkeeper, SDV Barneveld
Next step
Does this sound like the approach you're looking for?
Book a free 20-minute intro call. We'll talk about where you are, where you want to go, and whether I'm the right person to help.