deep.in.east ikigai coaching

I'm back after a loooong "creative" break!

Some of you may remember this page from another time.
Back then, I worked with Yoga, Ayurveda and movement meditation. I spent a lot of time travelling and living in Asia, and this work felt natural to me. It was meaningful and deeply connected to the way I wanted to live.

Then, around 2017/2018, something changed.
After many years in this reality, I felt the air had gone out of it. I started rejected all the "new agey" stuff and anyway, making the decision to return to Berlin and "settle down" brought a different reality: marketing, competition, high rents and the feeling that I no longer wanted to continue doing the same thing after more than a decade.

So, inspired by the “lifelong learning” philosophy and “everyone can learn anything”, I started over and jumped head on into an entirely different world, that I had, nevertheless, admired since high school 😏

I went back to college to train as a Software Engineer and moved into the Tech and Agile world. From 2019 until the end of 2025, I worked as a full stack software engineer and then shifting into agile management roles, coaching teams (surprise!) and owning products. I focused on building a new professional identity - and I gave it everything I had.

Changing careers in my mid-thirties felt like a new exciting explorative adventure and also was one of the bravest (and somewhat naive) things I have done so far and I’m still very proud that I had the courage to begin again. To be honest, it wasn't always easy, to be the "Junior" at an age, where most people celebrate the zenith of their career and skills.
A few month into this new career, the pandemic started and it felt like really the best decision I could have made – being able to work remotely from home and I felt very lucky.

Also, at the beginning of the pandemic, I separated from my partner. The months that followed were often lonely, and they gave me space - sometimes painfully so - to face questions I had been postponing. I had to acknowledge that my life might not follow the path I had once imagined, including the question of children and involuntary childlessness.
When the future you expected starts to disappear, entering existential crisis, you have to ask different questions.

What do I want now? Do I have a bucket list and what’s on it? What kind of life would feel meaningful to me? What's the alternative to having my own family and what should my life look like? (For me, No. 1 on my bucket list was surprisingly concrete: buying an old house in Japan and turning it into something of my own! 😆)

Then, around two years ago, my body began to demand my attention in a different way. I was exhausted to a degree I had never experienced before. I woke up with pain, brain fog and no real reserves. Movement that was meant to help could leave me with days of muscle soreness and joint pain. At one point, depression was diagnosed, but the word never resonated or quite captured what I was experiencing. I did not feel fundamentally depressed. I felt profoundly depleted and still I kept pushing forward, proving to myself that I can be a fast-forward successful woman in tech!

Eventually, I began to understand that perimenopause was part of the picture – alongside the strain of work and a need to rethink my everyday habits, nourishment and health support. Learning more about hormonal change and making adjustments helped me slowly find my way back to more energy and a stronger connection with myself.
When I was forced to slow down, I also realized, that somewhere along the way, I had moved further and further away from the parts of myself connected to embodiment, awareness and inner life. My new environment was practical, analytical and often quite sceptical of anything that sounded “spiritual”. Even I began to distance myself from that world.
Yoga stayed – but mostly without the spiritual dimension.
Eventually, I left my last job and needed time to recover. During the past few months, while travelling around Japan looking for „my house“, meeting great people and discovering beautiful places, I explored Ikigai and menopause coaching and began to rediscover something I thought I had lost:

a part of myself that had never really disappeared and had simply been waiting for my attention again:

Now I’m bringing the pieces back together.
• The bodywork practitioner.
• The yoga teacher.
• The Ayurveda & TCM practitioner.
• The curious traveller.
• The software developer.
• The Product Owner.
• The Agile Coach.
• The Explorer, who has changed direction more than once – and knows what it feels like when an old version of life no longer fits.

This page has now become ✨Deep in East – Ikigai Coaching✨

I’m returning with a broader perspective, a few more years of life experience and new ideas about how to support people through change.

My work is about finding direction when life is in transition – through Ikigai coaching, practical reflection, embodied practices and small, meaningful steps forward.

It’s not about becoming a different person, about following someone else’s idea of success, or about finding one perfect answer for the rest of your life.

It is about reconnecting with what matters, listening to what is changing and shaping a next chapter that feels more like your own.

There is room here for purpose, energy, health, work, creativity, relationships, community, career changes and new beginnings. Maybe even for a new business or a completely different way of living.

I’m still working out exactly what this new chapter will become taking, very Kaizen-like, small steps at a time, so keep an eye out for the next updates!

I’m glad you’re here. 💗 💕

Welcome back to Deep in East project space – which is named after my very own personal Ikigai 🍵🥰

I found this place near the sea in , that felt very Mediterranean somehow. But it also had a very old cute Japanese town. The place I parked is also popular with the locals for night fishing. 🎣 even though I wasn’t alone most of the night, people kept really quiet.. Japan… 🥹🙏🥰I fell asleep with the sunset and the sound of the waves. #軽バン車中泊　

Passing #大原 on my way to #福井.
On the road with #車中泊の旅

The islands and landscapes of the Japanese Inland Sea are so beautiful. I was super excited to leave for this trip and also a bit nervous to travel all by myself sleeping in the car. But it turned out, I wasn’t alone at all and felt very safe. I slept like a baby. #軽バンキャンプ #軽バンライブ #車旅

For 2 days I worked from sunrise to sunset, to finish O-Musubi v1.
Of course there is still a lot to do, but I added noise cancelling, insulation, built a bed construction for additional storage space, and fixed a net to the ceiling, an additional batter for working on the road, a gas stove… and smoke screens and curtains for privacy. #バンライフ #キャンピングカーの旅

Thank you soooooo@mich only with help this little dream was possible to realise! 🥰🥰🥰 I was in desperate need for a new DIY project and also for a car to help me move around, discovering the Japanese country side and finding my dream house. O-Musubi will help in this endeavour and I’m looking forward to a long lasting friendship! よろしくお願いいたします！🍙 #軽バン　 #軽カンピングバン　 #バンライフ

I am one step further in my search for a house in Japan. After several extended stays, travelling up and down Japan in in 2024/ 2025, I decided on some places that I want to understand on a deeper level. My first stop for the next couple of weeks: Oomishima, a small island of the Shimanami Kaido in the Inland Sea of Japan #空き家プロジェクト #しまなみ海道　 #愛媛

New year collages. Setting the vibe for a creative 2026! ✨

New year collages as an expression of creative transition. Setting the mood for 2026.