I’m Anja — a theoretical physicist, embodiment coach and facilitator, Shaolin disciple, Chan (Zen) practitioner, and mother of three.
Science taught me to question, analyse, and understand. During my years as a researcher, I learned to appreciate rigorous thinking, precision, and the beauty of understanding how things work.
Alongside my scientific career, I followed another path.
Since 2008, I’ve been practising Shaolin Kung Fu, Qigong, and Zen under the guidance of my teacher, Shifu Shi Heng Dao — disciplines that taught me something fundamentally different: understanding is valuable, but it is through practice that we develop the capacity to respond differently.
Over time, these paths began to converge. Embodiment coaching, which I am studying in depth under the mentorship of Mark Walsh, played a pivotal role in bringing them together. It helped me recognise the value of what I had developed across different disciplines, see how they complemented one another, and integrate them into a coherent approach.
From this integration, Embodied Self-Mastery began to take shape — an approach to developing our capacity to respond in line with what matters most, even when pressure activates habitual patterns.
Much of how we respond to life is habitual. Our reactions have been shaped by years of experience, and many serve us well. But some patterns no longer support what matters to us.
Even when we recognise these patterns, understanding alone may not be enough to change them. Under pressure, we often fall back on familiar ways of responding.
Stimulus → Habitual response
Embodied Self-Mastery expands the space between what happens and how we respond — making consciously chosen responses more available under pressure.
Stimulus → Notice → Stay → Choose → Practise → Become
Recognise what is happening in your body, thoughts, emotions, and behaviour — tensing up, shrinking, breath change, posture shifts, … — as it unfolds.
Remain present with discomfort, uncertainty, or pressure without immediately reacting.
emdobdied presence
Consciously choose your response, guided by what matters and what the situation calls for.
Experiment with and rehearse new responses in a supportive environment, until they become increasingly available in everyday life.
emdobdied agency
What we repeatedly practise shapes who we become — and how we live, relate, and lead.
Each cycle changes the next:
what you practise shapes what you notice, what you can stay with, and which responses become available.
In individuals, repeated practice shapes character. In teams, it shapes culture.
The aim is not control or perfect calm, but greater freedom of response despite discomfort — and self-leadership that remains available under pressure.
My work is experiential, grounded in real-life situations, and adapted to the individual or group.
Rather than only discussing challenges, we explore how they show up in the body — through posture, breath, movement, attention, and interaction.
Three principles guide how I work:
Embodied — We experience and practise new ways of responding, rather than only discussing change.
Practice-based — Through repetition, we strengthen the capacity to respond differently when it matters.
Contextual — We work with real-life situations, helping insights translate into meaningful changes in how we live, relate, and lead.
And underpinning it all is something fundamental, yet often underestimated: trust, attunement, and human connection.
