my superhero ‘origin story’

Well, IF I had a superhero origin story, this would be it…

Scene 1 would be me working as an actor—TV & commercials—while doing life coaching on the side.

(The truth was, I wasn’t booking a lot of jobs, and it felt sh!tty.)

I was constantly stressed. I felt insecure and questioned myself every day:

‘Am I on the right path?’

‘Is this really what I’m meant to do?’

‘Maybe there’s something better for me out there?’

I was all over the place with my emotions. I’d walk into auditions filled with self-doubt, all tense and disconnected.

My performance anxiety was so bad that my lip would quiver during auditions.

Spiritually, I was lost…

It’s hard to feel faithful when you’re constantly wondering if you’ve poured your heart into the wrong thing.

Then came a gift—though it didn’t feel like it at the time.

My acting teacher introduced me to the Alexander Technique, a wonderful performance tool to improve posture, movement, and well-being.

At first, I didn’t think much of it. It just seemed like another tool, another method. But the more I practiced it, the more things began to shift.

The technique emphasized getting out of the head and into the body.

It helped me experience the relationship between movement, posture, & breath.

Mastering these three things—movement, posture, and breath—was key to mastering groundedness.

And that groundedness translated directly into my performance.

I became more present on stage, more fluid in my movements, and better able to handle the pressure of auditions.

And, suddenly I started getting jobs.

At the time, I thought the results were simply a byproduct of better technique.

It wasn’t until later that I realized the true depth of what occurred.

Long story short, COVID hit, and the acting business came to a halt.

No auditions. No jobs. Nothing. It was like my entire world stopped.

I had to face the reality that maybe acting wasn’t my purpose after all. Maybe I needed to do something else.

But I didn’t want to lose that sense of connection to myself that acting had given me.

I had been coaching on the side (story for another day), so it was an easy decision to go to grad school and become a therapist.

But here’s the thing—halfway through grad school, I hit a wall.

I was the only student in my class to get hired full-time while in school, so I was seeing 22-24 clients a week, while trying to juggle coursework and researching/writing my thesis.

I was dumb.

I should have stayed part-time, but I have a habit of overextending myself.

I was completely burned out, and to make it worse?

The methods I was learning in school—CBT worksheets, talk therapy—weren’t cutting it.

I felt like I was doing everything right. I asked a million questions in class, but nothing was working for me.

It wasn’t until my second year, when I took a single-credit class on somatic therapy, that it all started to make sense.

Somatic work reminded me of the Alexander Technique.

It had elements of tuning into the body, releasing tension, and finding freedom through movement and breath.

But, it was different because it also showed me all the ways we can impact, open up, and release energy from our nervous system.

And then it hit me: maybe it wasn’t the fact that I was getting more acting jobs that made me feel better all those years ago.

Maybe it was the fact that I had connected to my body in a deeper way.

That I had found a way to give my nervous system a momentary reset and let go of all the stored stress I’d been holding onto.

Somatic work saved me in grad school, just like the Alexander Technique saved me in acting.

It was a full-circle moment.

I realized that my body had always been the key—whether I was struggling on stage or burned out as a therapist, my body knew how to guide me back to balance.

Two of my life’s lowest moments ultimately became a saving grace, as they forced me to turn to my body’s natural abilities.

Since then, I’ve committed myself to sharing the knowledge and practices that helped me through my toughest times.

After working with over 100 people, helping them unlock the power of their own nervous systems, I’ve seen some patterns.

I’d like to share the blueprint to success.

I’ll be doing that this week when The 20-Minute Neural Reset course launches.

I’ll have a special bonus for early sign-ups click this link to make sure you’re included on that list 🙂

But first, I need to tell you why this approach works when nothing else seems to—and how you can tap into this power yourself—so keep an eye out for tomorrow’s email.

Love ya’ll,
Brian Maierhofer

Professional Human