PlenaVita Shift · Wicker Park, Chicago

Pressure is part of the job. Struggle doesn't have to be.

NeuroStability Training, small-group retreats, and a daily practice app that help you stay clear and steady when it counts.

Find your starting point Take the free Presence Profile →A few questions that show you how often you're bracing against your experience instead of being in it.

"I'm handling it."

That's what you'd tell anyone who asked, and most days you believe it. But is bracing for the next conversation while you're still replaying the last one really handling it? Is lying awake turning the same problem over, or snapping at someone you care about, handling it? Or is "handling it" just the best you can do under the conditions you're in?

Nobody chooses this on purpose. It just starts to feel normal, but normal isn't the same as necessary.

Here's what handling it can look like.

You walk into the hard conversation steady instead of braced. You make the call once and leave it at the office. When the same situation comes around again, you notice what's happening while it's happening, and you find you have more than one way to respond. At dinner, you're actually at dinner.

The pressure hasn't gone anywhere. You're just meeting it as yourself. That's what presence is.

Mary Meduna-Gross, Ph.D.Leadership Presence Coach · NeurOptimal® Trainer

I know "handling it" from the inside. As a hospital corpsman in the Gulf War, I cared for Marines who had to perform when everything was on the line. Later, as a member of an executive team, I met with my colleagues every week, with real discipline and commitment, to talk through our goals, our strategies, and every obstacle in our way, trying to figure it out. We were working hard, and not much ever changed.

Until a very difficult conversation with my superintendent. Yes, I was doing the right things, but I wasn't getting the right results. He challenged me: "Figure this out, or you'll have to go." I was crushed. After all that effort, even getting it right, it still wasn't enough. That afternoon, I vowed to figure it out and to become the coach I wished I'd had.

What I found surprised me. Most coaches offer what you're probably looking for right now: better strategies, better systems, better ways to manage everything around you. I'd tried all of it. Every one of those solutions pointed outside of me, and every one meant more effort, chasing the next fix and then getting other people to go along with it. Control and effort were costing me a lot and changing very little.

The answer I was looking for wasn't out there at all. Maybe yours isn't either. Read my story →

"…a level of mental clarity that translates directly into sharper decision making and greater presence in the boardroom, conference stage or wherever you find yourself. This is not just wellness. It is a strategic investment in performance at the highest level."

Bryan Garrity · Google review

"I've learned so many practical tools I can actually use in my daily life, whether it's slowing down in stressful moments… or just being more present. The difference it's made in how I handle challenges and how grounded I feel overall has been huge."

Paige Morgan · Google review

Here's how to begin.

Take the Presence Profile.
A few questions in MoreYou.app show you how often you're bracing against your experience instead of being in it, and where it makes sense to start.
Begin your practice.
One-on-one in Wicker Park, in a small group once a month, or every day in the app. Choose whatever fits your life right now.
Meet pressure with presence.
Take what you practice into the next hard conversation, and notice what's different.

No pressure. No pitch. You set the pace.

Find your starting point

The part no one talks about

When pressure builds, it feels like the problem is out there: the deadline, the team, the people who won't do what they said they would. So you do what has always worked. You push harder, plan more carefully, and try to get everything around you to cooperate. Sometimes that helps for a while, and then the same situation comes back.

Think about watching a movie. From your seat in the audience, you can see what the character on screen can't: the pattern, the misunderstanding, the door that was open the whole time. When it's your life, though, you're the one on screen.

Most of us assume we already have the view from the seat, because we've spent so much time thinking about ourselves. Research suggests about 95 percent of people believe they're self-aware, while only 10 to 15 percent actually are.

But thinking about yourself isn't the same as seeing yourself, and no amount of strategy changes that. What gets you out of the scene is feeling safe enough to stop bracing. That's what everything here is built to create: the conditions where you can see what you've been missing and choose again.

Find your starting point.

Each of these stands on its own, and they're designed to work together. Start with the question that sounds most like the one you're asking.

Can I stay sharp without staying on guard?

NeuroStability Training

You can't think your way into feeling steady. It starts in the body, so start here. NeuroStability Training uses NeurOptimal® neurofeedback, which gives your brain moment-to-moment information about its own activity while you sit back and listen. There's nothing to do and nothing to get right, just a chance to feel what steady is like and find your way back to it.

One-on-one, in person at SolFlo in Wicker Park. Your first session is about an hour.

See availability and book →

Am I capable of expanded self-awareness?

MoreYou Monthly Mini-Retreat

Most of us meet our own reactions with judgment, and judgment makes us look away. The Mini-Retreat is an evening to practice noticing what's happening in you without running from it or gripping it, alongside a small group doing the same.

Second Tuesday of every month, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at SolFlo. Up to 12 people.

See dates and book →

Am I forcing or flowing?

MoreYou Creativity Retreat

Pressure doesn't only show up at work. The Creativity Retreat gives you an unfamiliar art medium, unhurried time, and no expectations, so you can notice what you do when things don't go your way: grip harder, or get curious. No experience needed, and nothing to finish.

Monthly, in person. Dates on the booking page.

See dates and book →

Not sure where to start?

See where you're bracing.

The Presence Profile is a short set of questions in MoreYou.app. It shows you how often you're bracing against your experience instead of being in it, and which starting point fits where you are right now. There are no right answers and no score to beat, and it takes about 10 minutes. You'll create a free account so your results stay private. Once you're there, the daily practices in the app are open to you too.

Take the free Presence Profile

Start where you are.

You don't have to figure it out first.