Hey there! I am Inge...
Recovering perfectionist, obsessively curious, fueled by authentic connection, once a burned out scientist, now a coach and yoga teacher.
I love solving puzzles (metaphorically speaking) and helping people. I combine different disciplines (psychology, yoga, IFS, breathwork, meditation, behavioral design) into the holistic treatment of stress. Part of me is still a bit allergic to the word holistic, even though treating the body as a whole is the only sensible way to cure anything.
I know from experience, that finding balance between meaningful work and feeling sufficiently chill, is no easy quest, which is why it feels very rewarding to me to help others achieve great things without feeling anxious, tired, and pressured all the time.
My Story
From Burned Out Scientist...
I think my obsessive curiosity has been with me since I can remember. I used it to learn about how humans think, feel, and behave. This turned into a PhD in psychology, and a career in science, and it ended in a burnout.
I still remember sitting in front of my laptop, bursting out in tears because I wasn't able to write an email. Two years prior to that, my body had started to send me clear signals that I was on an accelerating journey towards hitting a brick wall.
The first clear signal came when I returned from a trek in the Himalayas. I cried the whole flight back, thinking: “I don’t want to go back. I don't want to live like this.” I didn’t tell anybody. I just powered through. Alone.
After that, there were many more moments where I could have listened to that voice within, but chose to dismiss it, with huge consequences to my health.
To Full Body Recovery...
My burnout confronted me with the truth. I had a choice to make: continue like this and perhaps get the success I wanted while being miserable, unhealthy, anxious, and sleepless, or take an honest and uncomfortable look in the mirror and redesign my life.
During recovery, I reacquainted with my old friend Yoga. Yoga gave me what no visit to the psychologist or science article ever could: an intimate physical and emotional connection with myself. I started to feel again. Listen to my body. Let it guide me. Trust my intuition.
In the west, we are very rationally or mind-oriented. We often forget there is a body and feelings to be worked with too and that these have a story to tell that is often closer to the truth than the thoughts in our head.
That is what yoga did for me. It reacquainted me with the open, intuitive, and emotional part of me, and allowed that to coexist with, and collaborate with the part of me that is analytical, rational, and scientific.
To helping others...
From the moment my body started to send me signals of distress, I had a very clear sense that I wanted to use yoga to help others.
My critical mind always intervened: "WHAT a cliché, burned out scientist becomes yoga teacher, the lást thing the world needs is another yoga teacher". Afraid to fail, afraid to let go of my achievement orientation, afraid of what people would think.And here I am, 7 years later. Coaching and teaching yoga, using IFS to help others to listen to their body, focus on the enjoyment of learning new things, letting go of criticism, expectations, and judgment, AND do their jobs well (perhaps even better).
Becoming A Mum, Falling on my Face, and Finding IFS
I could paint the perfect picture and say that I now live this stress-free life where all I do is meditate and practice yoga every day. But that is not how it is.
It was like that for a while, honestly. But then I became a mum, and that turned my world upside down. All of a sudden, I did not have time for my one-hour yoga practice, daily morning walks, and teaching yoga classes in the evenings. And by the way, neither do you.
The life I had built was a life of professional relaxation. But that is not the life most people live. Most people have jobs, kids, responsibilities, messy schedules, or all of the above. So when my life became more like the life of the people I coach, the whole system I had built came tumbling down. And this made me realize two things.
One: we really need to adapt our expectations and plans for growth to the life phase and environment we are in. What works for you today may not work for you tomorrow. And what works for me may not work for you. So please, ignore the Instagram version of yoga and wellness, because you do not need to live like a professional yoga teacher to take care of yourself. And neither do I, by the way.
Two: I needed something else. Something that bridged all the things that yoga, psychology, breathwork, and meditation had taught me into one simple practice. A practice I could do in ten minutes a day, and that still touched the most important places when I did not have time for all the other things.
And that was IFS. I listened to a podcast interview on IFS, where the founder of IFS, Richard Schwartz, explains that we are not just one personality, but that we are all made up of different parts. And that this is not pathological, but a healthy way to function.
These parts often start out as valuable. But early life trauma, attachment injuries, or difficult life experiences can force them into roles that no longer serve us. All of a sudden, I started to realize how certain parts were still running my life, albeit with a health and self-help sauce.
I still saw the Perfectionist Part trying to be the perfect mum, the perfect yoga teacher, the fittest person, and the perfect coach. And I noticed that my inner Rebel would still try to take me away from all that pressure by wanting to do unhealthy things.
The beauty of IFS is that we do not try to get rid of these parts. Which is, honestly, what I had been trying to do in the four years prior: just yoga your way out of perfectionism and unhealthy behaviors, and voilà. Instead, we get curious. We listen to their hopes and fears. We show them compassion and radical acceptance.
Full disclosure: yoga and Buddhism aim to teach you just that. The thing is, those teachings are often more abstract and less practical than IFS. IFS is the first form of therapy that has allowed me to fully accept myself just the way I am. And that is what made me come full circle. So two years ago, I started a 360-hour IFS therapist track. Since then, I have been teaching IFS-informed yoga and breathwork, and offering IFS-informed coaching.
Don't Do This Alone
The point is this: Your intuition matters. If you have a strong sense that something is off, and you want something different in your life, listen. And reach out: You do not have to do this alone.
Tell me your story
And I will get in touch with you as soon as possible...
