Somatic Coaching for People Tired of Productivity Hacks

You know the pattern

You replied in four seconds and spent the next hour rewriting it in your head.
You said yes before you'd checked whether it was true.
You checked Slack before you kissed your partner.
You woke up tired and called it a productive week.

None of this is a time management problem.

"One of the toughest challenges I've faced as a founder is knowing when to hit the brakes while the ship is still moving at full speed."
Marc, founder, Candide

Your body answers before you do

The message with another ask arrives. The client decides to leave. Your kid gets sick and you need to cancel the call.

You're already reacting. Jaw set, shoulders up, reply written, yes out of your mouth.

By the time your mind arrives, it can't even decide anymore. It's explaining a decision your body already made on autopilot.

You've already tried the real things

The meditation app The retreat The books The week off The morning routine

Some of it helped. None of it held.

All of it works in the room where you practice it. Then it's Tuesday, 6pm, the message arrives, and none of it is anywhere near your hands.

A skill you only practise in calm is a skill you don't have when it matters. It has to be learned where it breaks - in the moment, in the body. While it's happening.

Somatic is not woo

Not crystals. Not chanting. Not a vibe.

From the Greek soma: the living body as experienced from within, where mind and body stop being separate things. That's where I work.

Talk alone

You can recognise a pattern for years and still run it. The mind is fluent in explanations. That's how it survived this long.

Body alone

You can breathe, shake, release, and Monday puts it straight back. Regulation without understanding is relief, not change.

The work is the conversation between the two.

"The tool is just my body. The connection between my body and my mind. That's the main tool."
Irene, technical writer

How it works: Inner Motion

Calm the reaction

Tools first. What to do with your breath, your feet, your hands, mid-meeting or mid-message. Not to feel serene, but to get back the half second between what happens and what you do about it.

Recognise the pattern

With the reaction turned down, you can see what's in charge behind the scenes, where it came from, and what it costs you now. Including the question nobody has asked you in years: who are you when you're not managing everyone else's reaction? That's a tricky one, I know.

Own it and shape it

You decide who you are, then build the habits that hold it. This is the stage that shows up in your calendar, your work, and the conversations you've been avoiding.

I don't hand you a destination. I have a method. You choose the direction.

Free online workshop

Try the work before you talk to me.

The Redo. Tuesday 8 September, 7pm CET, on Google Meet. One hour, free.

Bring one moment that went sideways. We ground, find where it sits in your body, and rehearse the response you wish you'd had. Cameras on, no recording, and you never have to speak. Everything happens in the chat.

Save a place

I didn't learn this in a certification

Zuza in the Algarve, seated in coastal light

At 24 I was running the biggest lifestyle category in Western Europe across seven countries, and calling it love. In the break during six hours of presentations I was on a showroom floor with a stomach bug. A friend brought me a bread roll. It was the best thing I'd ever tasted, because for the first time in years I was actually there for it.

I changed industry twice after that. The pattern came with me every time. Learn fast, overdeliver, become indispensable, disappear. It turns out you can't outrun something that's running in your own body.

Then, inside a company in crisis, I ran breathwork for my team working through many nights. Months afterwards they told me it was what got them through. That was the end of coaching being a side interest.

I worked my own pattern at the root and built a method out of what actually moved it. I coach from the Algarve, online, in English and Polish. ICF certified. Still practising it, with better tools than the woman on that floor.

What clients say

"Zuza was my executive coach last year and the experience exceeded my expectations. She helped me see self-care not as time away from performance, but as the foundation of it. A year later, her coaching still shapes how I lead and how I live."

Joao Ferreira, co-founder and CEO, Picnic

"She asks the right questions and pulls on the right threads to get to the root of my thinking. This has been instrumental at clearing my mind and outlining solid next steps."

Kurt, co-founder, Rhinestone

"A great listener who cuts straight to what matters. Her direct style and sharp questions helped me move through challenges I'd been circling for a while."

Nenad, CPO and co-founder, DeFi Saver

"Zuza's coaching helped me transition from a people-pleasing mindset to a firm, boundary-led approach. I was able to reclaim my time and well-being while actually increasing client satisfaction and respect for my work."
Faith Roberts, founder, FiTech Community

Working together

Your Move.

We start with a four-month arc. After that, most people continue monthly for as long as it's useful.

A 60-minute session every week
Messenger support Monday to Friday, so Tuesday doesn't wait for next session
A weekly 30-minute group somatic session, if you want the practice in company
Tools built around your patterns, not a template
A 30-minute check-in three months after we finish

How it runs, what it costs, and what happens if it isn't a fit: we go through all of it on the call. I'd rather tell you than sell you.

Book a free discovery call

This isn't for you if

You want a step-by-step plan and someone to tell you what to do. You're shopping for a result by a deadline. You're in acute crisis, which is therapy's job, and I'll say so on the call. You're not willing to invest in yourself. This work needs ground under it.

Questions

Is this therapy?

No. Therapy looks back to heal. Coaching works with a functioning adult on how they live and decide now. If what you're carrying needs therapy, I'll tell you on the first call and mean it.

What does somatic actually mean here?

Your body registers a pattern before your mind narrates it. The tight throat before the reflex yes. The held breath in the meeting. We use those signals as information and practise with them. No incense, no lying on mats (maybe sometimes on the floor), no chanting.

I've done coaching before and not much changed. Why would this be different?

Most coaching happens in the conversation and stays there. You leave with a good insight and the same reaction on Tuesday. Here the practice happens in the body, in the moment, which is the only place a reaction can actually be interrupted.

How much time does this take?

A 60-minute session every week. Everything else happens inside the life you already have.

Do you work online?

Yes, almost entirely. Clients are in different countries and time zones. In-person happens occasionally when someone is in the Algarve or I travel around.

What results can I expect?

I won't promise a specific outcome and you should be suspicious of anyone who does. What clients report: the reaction stops running the show, decisions get faster and cleaner, and the exhaustion stops being a mystery. Where you point that is yours.

What if it turns out not to be a fit?

We check that deliberately, early, and again at the midpoint. If either of us thinks it's wrong, we say so. How I handle it practically is something I'll walk you through on the call.

Do I need to know what I want first?

No. Plenty of people arrive knowing only that something is off. Not knowing what you want is not a disqualification, it's often the thing we start with.

How do I know if this is for me?

You probably already do. The call exists so we can both check. Thirty minutes, free, and if I'm not the right person I'll say so and point you somewhere better.

You know your patterns.
I'll help you change them.

Your body answers before you do

You've already tried the real things