Sylvia

Suddenly there I was - confined in between the sterile walls of the ICU. 

Drastically lowering the average age in this unit.  Arrhythmia combined with a dangerously high blood pressure struck me “out of the blue”. It sneaked in without a warning,

A week later, I was discharged with a stern recommendation to take life and work at a slower pace. And boxes full of medicine. That marked the beginning of my transformation journey. 

I felt a sense of shame. I wasn’t as strong and resilient as I thought I was. 

Slowing down hadn’t been part of my vocabulary. 

I was always busy, believing that ‘doing nothing’ was for the lazy. 

Relentless hard work, pushing through and being always on was my norm. 

My body had betrayed me out of nowhere!

Or had I ignored the red flags and warning signs? 

I needed to restart slowly. 

Easier said than done. 

I wanted to find ways to be relaxed in a healthy way while making a succes of my international corporate  career.  

I tried many different things. 

I changed my sport routine bringing in more yoga and stretching, time management programs, silence retreats, learning how to prioritize activities, meditation, spending more time in nature, cold exposure, communication programs to flag boundaries. 

The number 1 thing that really made the change was functional breathing. I learned how to let my breath work for me in all kind of situations with a strong focus on nasal breathing. The immediate change in how I feel when working with my breath is powerful. And effective. 

That’s why today my core focus is around breathwork: 

• I guide international companies increasing mental health and reducing workplace stress, 
• I train CEO's worldwide to  navigate challenges by instilling functional breathing practices to increase (team) performance
• I support professional trail run athletes improving their performance with conscious breathing. 

Countless other wonderful things happend along the way, and what means the most to me, the ability to face the mirror with a genuine sense of relaxation, a smile and self acceptance.