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 (methaphorically speaking) and helping people. I combine different disciplines (psychology, yoga, meditation) into the holistic treatment of stress. I am 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 where 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 a 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 'mind' and 'ratio' 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". Affraid to fail, affraid to let go of my achievement orientation, affraid of what people would think.
And here I am, 6 years later. Coaching and teaching yoga, helping 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).
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 don't have to do this alone.
Don't Do This Alone
Tell me your story
And I will get in touch with you as soon as possible...
