20 May

In May, I ran a company-wide session on breathwork and nervous system regulation at Sofina, an investment holding company based in Brussels. The brief was simple. They wanted something experiential, with tools they could use the same day — for the boardroom, the negotiation, the 2pm slump, the Sunday night when sleep won't come. What we did in nervous system regulation workshop Here's the frame I built the nervous system regulation session around: Nervous system regulation is your ability to match your internal state to what the present moment actually calls for. A board meeting calls for sharp and alert. A team lunch — relaxed, engaged. The drive home calls for proper winding-down. Most of us stay in the same gear regardless, usually hovering somewhere between wired and tired, never quite landing anywhere. So we started with the arousal continuum. From panic on one end, through stressed, alert, calm, drowsy, all the way to freeze on the other. The question for the room: where do you spend most of your day? And — separately — where do you wish you spent it? Then the breath. Because it's the most direct lever we have on this continuum, and one of the only things in our physiology that runs...

15 Jan

I spent three days in total darkness on the island of Koh Phangan, Thailand. In this piece, I share what that experience was like—the moments of ease and discomfort, what came up when there was nothing to distract me, and what I’m taking forward from it. Night 1: Entering total darkness K., the retreat lady, quickly showed me around the sealed earth dome, —“Here’s how you turn on the air ventilation system, do that after every breakfast and dinner, when the air outside is cool. Here’s the shower. Here’s how you can communicate with us. Any questions?”—and then, she was gone. I stood in the middle of the dome, with a small torch in my hands. K. had told me to use the light to get my bearings and organize my stuff, and to turn off whenever I felt ready. Those first moments felt incredibly strange. I had just come off a 3-day boat trip with friends, a final wild night in our favorite restaurant in Phuket, and suddenly I was here, alone in this bare cell-like room. My friend, Ben, was in the hut next to me, but everything went so quickly and we did not have a chance to give each other...

24 Dec

Just learned about the *ta-daaaaa* list, from my friend Yasmin Vantuykom. Ever heard of these? It’s basically a list of things you’re proud of having accomplished (instead of only ever fixating on the hundreds of things you need to/could do/should do.) 2025 was my first entire calendar year of self-employment, running my breath- and body-oriented coaching & retreats business. (I still can’t really believe I’m actually doing this!) There’s lots of great stuff about it: The flexibility, the intellectual challenge, doing something I believe is meaningful… BUT… As you might expect, the level of self-motivation and self-belief required, day after day, is pretty relentless. So, if you’ll indulge me: I’m going to pat myself on the back just a little bit for some of the things I’ve done this year. No big end of year review. No major goal-setting. Just a quick run-down of what I’m most excited about from this year, plus the 3 principles I’ll take with me in 2026. 🔹 15 private coaching clients Out of everything, probably most proud of the reflections of these incredible people I got to work with. From Commercial Directors, to a Neurotech startup founder, to an Investment Fund General Partner, to Software Developer, to IT specialist. All highly ambitious, curious, driven people who...