About Aspasiana
BREATHE · MOVE · RISE
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A different way of understanding yourself.
Aspasiana supports people navigating pressure, responsibility and change.
Through nervous system education, movement, breath and self-leadership, we help people understand what happens within them under pressure and develop practical ways to respond with greater awareness, resilience and intention.
Because sustainable performance and meaningful living require more than simply pushing harder. They require the capacity to regulate, recover, adapt and remain connected to yourself and others when life becomes demanding.
This is not about escaping pressure. It is about building the capacity to meet it well.
The meaning behind Aspasiana
Aspasiana brings together two ideas: the power of understanding ourselves and the wisdom of working with the body.
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ASPASIANA
Aspasia represents the mind.
Pranayama brings us back to the body.
Aspasiana brings the two together.
Science and embodied practice.
Awareness and action.
Thinking and feeling.
Performance and wellbeing.
Aspasiana exists to help people understand themselves more deeply and build the capacity to live, work and lead with greater awareness and intention.
ASPASIA
Aspasia was an influential thinker, teacher and intellectual figure in ancient Athens. Although women held little formal power in public life, she became known for her intellect, rhetoric and association with some of the leading thinkers and political figures of her time.
For Aspasiana, she represents curiosity, courage, independent thought and the capacity to influence through how we think, communicate and lead.
PRANAYAMA
Pranayama is the yogic practice of working consciously with the breath.
Long before modern neuroscience began exploring the relationship between breathing, attention and physiological state, these traditions recognised something fundamental: body, breath and mind are deeply interconnected.
For Aspasiana, pranayama represents embodiment; the understanding that meaningful change cannot happen through thought alone.
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Meet Maaike
Science, movement and lived experience brought together.
I’m an adventurer at heart, a scientist by training, and endlessly curious about what helps us remain clear, adaptable and connected to ourselves under pressure.
My professional background spans environemental science, engineering, sustainability, consulting and complex project environments. Alongside this, more than two decades of yoga, movement, meditation and breathwork led me to explore the relationship between the body, mind and how we respond to the world around us.
That curiosity deepened through training in yoga, NLP and the study of nervous system regulation, resilience and human behaviour.
But Aspasiana grew from something personal too. For years, I knew how to achieve, take responsibility and keep going. What I understood much less was how to recognise what was happening within me and remain connected to myself while doing it.
I came to understand something that now sits at the heart of Aspasiana:
Leadership begins with how we relate to ourselves. Especially under pressure.
Today, I bring together science, embodied practice and lived experience to help people build the awareness and capacity to navigate pressure with greater resilience and intention.
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Background and Experience
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Breath & performance
Breathwork and freediving instructor
Practical experience with breath, focus and regulation under pressure
Professional experience
Sciences, Engineering and Sustainability
Project & People Management
Workshop Facilitator & Speaker
Training & practice
20+ years of yoga, movement and meditation practice
200-hour Yoga Teacher Training
NLP Master Business Practitioner
Let's build capacity that creates impact.
© 2026 Aspasiana. All rights reserved.
Whether you're investing in yourself or your team, we'd love to help you take the next step.
