This work wasn’t born in theory—it rose from burnout, family strain, and the slow erosion of self.
Years of reflection, practice, and hard-won insight brought me back to my body.
Now, I support others returning to theirs.
This isn’t just about fitness. It’s about feeling safe in your body again.
What I Do (and Why)
Somatic Performance Coaching is a body-first approach that fuses functional strength with inner awareness.
Through movement, breath, and presence, I help people build trust in their body—gently reconnecting to strength, confidence, and clarity.
This method blends ancient practices—martial arts, meditation, and breathwork—with modern neuroscience. It’s holistic, science-backed, and soul-rooted.
It’s not just a workout. It’s a way back. It’s not just science. It’s got soul.
When we begin this work, clients often notice their stress softens. Their body feels lighter. They begin to feel more present, capable—in their body, and in their life.
I’ve lived through pain that made me feel like a hostage in my own body. That’s why this work matters. Because your body should feel like an ally, not an obstacle.
The repeated performance of an action creates a mental blue print causing the formation of subtle electrical path ways in the brain, somewhat like the grooves in a phonograph record. Your life follows the grooves that you yourself have created in your brain.”
— AWAKE: THE LIFE OF YOGANANDA
How I Got Here
Before corporate life, I lived in a body that was athletic and high-functioning. From the outside, I looked strong—martial artist, climber, adventurer. But stress crept in and chronic pain followed. My relationships strained. I lost clarity, energy, and connection to myself. The pain didn’t just live in my body—it began to erode my confidence. I couldn’t travel with my family without fearing a flare-up. I slipped into depression. Eventually I turned inward and made why way back to qigong, meditation, Taoist studies, and Hermetic frameworks. I became an instructor in Wing Chun Kung Fu and Jeet Kune Do kickboxing. I also became a certified personal trainer, specializing in corrective movement. These weren’t just certifications—they were anchors during recovery. Today, I help others rebuild from the inside out. Because I’ve been there—disconnected, depleted, uncertain.
My Approach (How I Work)
Strength Through Skill
We train through skill-based movement—kettlebells, steel maces, martial arts, non-traditional tools—that builds strength and engagement.
You’ll feel your body come alive again: grounded, agile, capable.
Science Meets Soul
The work is anchored in evidence-based tools and lived wisdom:
- Polyvagal Theory: Using breath and sensory anchoring to support safety and vagal tone
- Interpersonal Neurobiology: Co-regulating presence through martial arts, breath, and energy work
- MBSR: Body scans, attention training, emotional resilience through presence
- Somatic Psychotherapy Modalities: Shaking, subtle movement, interoception, titration
This is where performance meets presence—and where transformation begins.
What Makes This Work Different
This is the intersection of strength, safety, and self-return.
It’s not somatic therapy alone. It’s not traditional fitness. It’s not spiritual bypass.
This is a trauma-aware, body-led, skill-informed method—woven with care and clarity.
You don’t have to perform to be powerful.
You don’t have to be “fixed” to move forward.
This isn’t just about performance.
It’s also presence—practiced.
Welcome home.
What Clients Say
I’m grateful to walk alongside people as they reconnect with their body and direction. These are real stories from real people. When you’re ready, I’d be honored to help you start your own.
Practical Solutions
Dan is a very experienced and practical instructor. Ive had the pleasure of doing physical fitness training and Martial Arts training with him for over 2 years. His input and instruction is always insightful, detailed, and geared towards whatever issues I’m having in a given moment ratcheted u recognized it or not.
I feel healthier, lighter, more secure in myself
I found Dan through his expertise in martial arts, but I later discovered his multiple modalities (energy healing, circuit training, confidence building and other things) through our sessions. It’s been a few months now of working with him. I feel healthier, lighter, more secure in myself, more knowledgable in Wing Chun, and generally more in tune and grounded. I couldn’t ask for a better mentor. He is very stoic, patient, and willing to shape a structure with you for your healing journey.
You will not regret joining his program!
Working with Dan has been a life changing experience. He is able to get to the root cause of disfunction in the body, and apply effective measures to address is. His knowledge about the inner workings and functions of the body is boundless, as is his passion for helping others. He is pleasant to be around and to work with, you will likely find yourself becoming friends with him as I have. You will not regret joining his program!
Dan really knows his stuff
All I have to say is that Dan really knows his stuff when it comes to stretching and foam rolling certain muscle groups and making sure he provides you with the tools and know how to do it at home as well! Love the fact that he also focuses on what you want out of the session and is very flexible with his schedule. I definitely would recommend Dan for anyone dealing with tight and sore muscle whether it be your legs, back, shoulders, hips.
Highly recommended
My session with Dan was very educational as well as very tailored to my needs since I am one to work one job too many so physical health as well as mental health was much needed to be tuned up. I was able to learned a variety of stretches as well as mini workout. Since I’m constantly running from one job to another, Dan was able to show me how to squeeze in a few full body workout moves that I can do if I had about 5-10 mins to spare through out my day and it also targeted areas that I needed to strengthen. Stretches! Definitely my favorite part of our session. Not only did Dan help me realize how beneficially it is to stretch but he also points out which muscle group it was and which areas of my body that I am stretching. I tend to have a lot of back, neck, and shoulder pain/problem but within our session I was able to feel loosen up and rejuvenated. Highly recommended, he’s a great guy and is willing to your concerns. The fact that he is willing focus on targeted areas, I don’t feel like I am wasting my time/money on other things that isn’t troubling me.
has set my mind at ease in my daily life
I’ve been practicing Qigong for about a year and although I’m still evolving in this practice, Qigong has improved my well-being and has set my mind at ease in my daily life. I am pretty grounded and straightforward in the things I do, but I am learning to introduce the water element into my daily life. The water energy symbolizes emotional connections and transformations through my social interactions with others. This allows me to experience growth, personal development, and navigating my emotional challenges through my relationships or communication with people.
I didn’t know what an amazing trainer was until I started training with Dan
He is a great trainer / coach. He is very patient and he’s helped me grow in a number of ways aside from training and helping me become better at kickboxing. We’ve done really great strength training, cardio, meditation, mindfulness techniques, and it’s been really great. I’ve had some good trainers over the years, but I didn’t know what an amazing trainer was until I started training with Dan, and I highly recommend starting with him and seeing for yourself in how he can improve you and your life.
A great teacher
I have known and worked with Dan for the past five years in a Martial Arts setting. As a teacher he is patient and has insight into what is needed for his student’s success. He has a deep understanding of the human condition. He has a strong desire to help others adapt and overcome the challenges we face as individuals. He provides not only guidance with the physical challenges we may face but also the mental support that we may need when trying to better ourselves. I know this because he has helped me in so many ways. I have a better understanding of my physical self from working with him. He has personally helped to be more flexible while building strength within my body. He has helped me to better understand some of the struggles that I have had in my personal relationships with offerings of wisdom and understanding.
better balance both physically, and…I feel balanced mentally as well
Over the last month, I have been working with Coach Dan to help me work on some fitness goals. I needed help with lower back pain and tightness and I wanted to work on exercises that would target my core while also helping me lose a little weight. The exercises that Dan put together for me have given me some early results and I couldn’t be happier with the program that Dan put together for me. Dan continued to meet my needs while changing the program up to provide variety while also adjusting the difficulty and duration of the exercises as I progressed. I have noticed less back pain and my core strength has improved. I feel like I have better balance both physically, and with the meditation added to the program, I feel balanced mentally as well. I have enjoyed my time working with Dan and I am satisfied with the results I have seen and felt.
Still Have Questions?
If something in this speaks to you, let’s talk.
I offer a free 15-minute discovery call—no pressure, just a calm space to explore what’s possible.