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My ongoing path of self-discovery
Before embarking the current course
Years ago, I was on a different path, aligned more closely with my family's expectations. After earning a bachelor's degree in Power Engineering in Poland, I spent 2.5 years in Business Development within a corporate environment in Belgium. In my early twenties, I grappled with existential questions, a deep sense of purposelessness, and an intuition that my work didn't reflect my true self—though I lacked the words to articulate this at the time. While immersed in the corporate world, topics like psychology, spirituality, and the nature of reality began to subtly draw my attention.
I recall from back then two books that significantly influenced me: Inner Engineering and The Untethered Soul. The former introduced me to daily kriya yoga practices, which I maintained for over a year, helping me connect more deeply with my inner world and become aware of various tensions and blockages. The latter pointed toward a spirituality I yearned for, absent in my Catholic, dogmatic upbringing.
Eventually, I realized I need to leave the corporate bubble, which I had endured through either excessive sports, drinking, or dating. Nevertheless, I still hoped to find fulfillment by pursuing the 'engineering-success identity' embedded within me, this time, however, coupled with a desire to positively impact the world. This led me to Denmark to pursue a master's degree in Wind Energy at DTU.
Being a student again, I now had spare time to immerse myself in local communities, the Scandinavian festival burner scene, psychedelic experiences, and the world of authentic relating. Exposure to deeper human intimacy, presence and honesty made me aware of new degrees of aliveness and meaning. Writing these words I recall Jeremy Lent stating in a Sounds of SAND podcast that "meaning is a function of connectedness," a concept I began to experience firsthand back in these days.
During my master's studies, I realized one more time that computer-based analytical work brought me little joy. After six months of intense internal conflict with my 'success-oriented' identity, I took a terrifying leap into a new life chapter. At 26, self-discovery, presence, human connection, and exploring reality's nature became my primary focus. Finally!
My learning and discovery
My first two-year trainings were in Myofascial Energetic Release bodywork and the BioDynamic Breathwork and Trauma Release System. I discovered a natural ease for connecting through touch, which became a vital resource for regulating my nervous system, tuning and listening to the bodies of others.
This journey wasn't easy. I faced challenging experiences as I delved deeper into my body, encountering both opening to more joy, love, and intense waves of shame and shut down. I was learning the basics of how the body and nervous system can store developmental and shock trauma imprints and experiencing releasing some of it; on the other hand, I was being humbled and learning that the healing path is nothing but linear! I became more attuned to states of overwhelm, nurturing, freeze, fight, and flight, learning to navigate them within myself and with others.
I realized that high-quality space-holding depends more on human connection and attunement than on expertise or knowledge. Besides, after many residential trainings, I started to see a pattern that actually around 50-70% of the impact that felt enriching for me was coming from being in relationships with fellow participants and engaging in real connections, that were mostly happening outside of exercises and structured sessions. As the saying goes, "Trauma happens in a relationship and needs to be integrated(healed) in a relationship."
These realizations were bringing me closer to Circling practice, starting with weekend experiences and progressing to several six-month leadership trainings. The Surrendered Leadership paradigm was particularly impactful, helping me address core issues like self-worth, deep shame, suppressed anger, and freezing fear of intimacy. Though challenging, often including many days of feeling uncomfortable, frozen and stuck, these experiences gradually allowed me to express myself more freely and probably for the first time in self-aware life trust in my authenticity. Writing it, I feel grateful to Life that it give me energy and some degree of trust to persistently stay in a practice and do not give up there.
It took about three years from discovering Surrendered Leadership and Circling to feeling more settled and leading in a way that felt increasingly exciting and nurturing, continually pushing me to new edges of discovery. I began to trust my body's capacity to guide me and inform me about personal and group dynamics. I remain humbled by how often I act from a place of non-surrender and how pleasant and enriching it is to move from trust and ease. Circling provides me tools to engage with fundamental aspects of reality and identity, confronting blind spots and teaching me how to engage with the world from the place of love (surrender).
Alongside these explorations, I embarked on a another journey with Compassionate Inquiry, a psychotherapeutic approach developed by Gabor Maté. I was drawn to it upon realizing that, while presence-based inquiry like Circling is potent, I also needed frameworks to understand and work with developmental trauma and its integration. I've remained connected to this school for about three years, continuing to learn through ongoing supervision until this day.
Bringing the work into the World.
Engaging with various therapeutic models often brought my focus to spirituality. Questions like "What is the deeper truth of the present moment?" and "Who am I?" resurfaced, with evolving answers. While I occasionally align with specific teachings or practices, I rarely stay with them beyond a year or two. The practice that has endured over years in multiple forms is meditative observation of the totality my experience, fostering development of consciousness through focused awareness.
In facilitating groups or working with clients, I integrate these approaches into my practice and leadership. My style seem to emphasize listening to the body's intelligence and intuition, and leading more and more from the life force to engage with the core of our beings. I'm also intrigued by exploring various stages of adult development and models that describe them, and recognizing how they manifest in the group dynamics. I also find lots of joy in transitioning between deep listening and stillness to wild expression, dancing with Eros, or bursts of laughter. More and more often, I also guide sessions that fall more into the categories of energy work or life coaching, which feels like a revitalizing expansion beyond the paradigm of focusing solely on developmental trauma and childhood wounds.
As I write this in 2025, I'm about to embark on a new chapter in psychotherapy education in Gestalt linaege. I'm curious to see who this path will further develop my practice.
More than ever, I feel deeply committed to standing for innocence—to protect and embrace what is true and tender. I want to stand for everyone—myself included—who has ever felt not enough, wrong, or diminished.
I wish You the best,
Mateusz
Reflections on facilitation and values
This interview took place in May 2025 as part of Relating Arts, an initiative by Peter Munthe-Kaas. In this recording, I speak about my past, approach to facilitation, and the values that guide me in working with groups in Circling and breathwork, and somatic work with individuals.
My educations and affiliations
TESTIMONIALS
Marco
After the series of sessions, I realised some very useful insights and tools to accept and mitigate my experience of restlessness in my legs and continue to integrate these lessons into different aspects of personal development and discovery. Very valuable experience, thank you, Mateusz
Emma Garðarsdóttir
Violinist
I came to Mateusz for help to find peace in my body, after being abused. I had already been many times to psychologists and found peace in my mind and heart, but the fear and sadness were still in my body. Already after the first session, I felt a big emotional and physical relief. I always feel safe during sessions and leave them happier, and more centered.
Ernest Holm Svendsen
best-seller author, coach
Sessions with Mateusz allowed me to sink into the body and tune into its needs and natural impulses. While the process was organically unfolding I could release physical tensions, and feel into their emotional component which allowed for more complete integration. It left me with a deep sense of calmness and grounding.
Julie Reindl
Cultural Researcher
Mateusz's practice truly supports me in my journey of finding back to my body and restoring deep gratification for it. His touch, presence, and emotional sensitivity are without a doubt healing energy. Whatever arises during a session, Mateusz holds space for it. His practice and his calming energy are in many ways touching.
Zuzanna Gruszczynska
Health Care Proffesional
I would recommend Mateusz without any reservations. His holistic methods, and compassionate approach are working very well for me.
Jonas Ingerslev
Engineer
A completely unique and liberating treatment. Mateusz is very present and creates a very special space where traumas can be acknowledged and released. My highest recommendations from here 😊
Melany
Mateusz helped me to release feelings that I had held on to for a long time. I used to be fearful or angry most of the time. After a few sessions, I was able to release these feelings. I now have a wider range of more subtle emotions. I am also more relaxed and am able to stay calm in stressful situations.
Tina Kretschel
Data Analyst
I came here not sure what I was looking for, but felt in the right place immediately. My world felt too heavy and my feelings too big. My hardest fight was between me and my own thoughts.Mateusz helped me to get out of my head and feel my feelings instead.It's making me vulnerable in front of another person. It's breathing with me when I don't know how. It's helping me listen to what my body's been trying to tell me for years. Mateusz offered a safe space for all of that, for which I'm truly grateful.
Anna Greenberg
Military instructor
Before the session I felt the urge to connect to my body and my heart, it’s like I felt detached instead of whole. This is also what I wanted to work on and I came in with the wanting to understand and explore myself and my body-mind connection.
The session was everything I had hoped for and more, it helped me to let go and feel comfortable in my own skin and with myself, something that I’ve been feeling lately was missing.
It created a space for my mind and my heart to breathe.
PURPOSE
Embodied Release means to me bringing the potential for a lasting change, in my own, and another person's life. Change happens by connecting with sensations of the body and releasing the emotional charge of the past, while opening to the developmental potential emerging from the present moment. That process is held in the space of safety, compassion, and awareness, which allows for a deep release of tensions and behavioral patterns.
I am committed to being a compassionate and humanly engaged witness to the processes of my clients, trusting everyone's capacity for healing and the intelligence of the body. My goal is to support people in discovering their own truth, and sometimes, for the first time since childhood, getting in touch with their authenticity and freedom.
During sessions, I invite you into a space where everything is welcome. The full range of your emotions, from sadness to joy, anger and love, terror, and peacefulness. I desire to be in a therapeutic relationship, with no plan of how someone's healing should look like but being guided by the present moment.
Wish you the best,
Mateusz
TESTIMONIALS
Natacha Withøft
I've been to several breathwork and dance events and I leave feeling present and full of life. Mateusz creates a safe space that I deeply appreciate.
Estrid Mortensen
I had a really good experience with body therapy at Embodied Release. Mateusz is a skilled practitioner with great empathy. After the treatment, I felt more comfortable in my body, a higher level of body awareness, and more in touch with my emotions. Particularly the latter was something I desired but wasn't sure if I could expect. I highly recommend Embodied Release to anyone interested in the connection between body and mind, or who simply wants to release tension in the body.
Liv Linea Holm
Agriculturist
I've had regular individual sessions with Mateusz for the past three years and have been really happy with it. It has always been a safe space for me. In the beginning, it was mostly physical release, but later on, there was more emotionally therapeutic work, which opened up new doors for me. I highly recommend Mateusz as a practitioner.
Sara Hyldegaard Lystbæk
Yoga teacher
I received a breath therapy session by Mateusz, and I felt so safe and seen. He was beautifully holding space for my emotional vulnerability with big empathy. I felt a deep dedication and passion from Mateusz - he is a body therapist by heart
Sarah Warny Berg
Anthropologist, Group Facilitator
Mateusz met me with a very comforting and warming presence, which made me feel very safe and taken care of already from the beginning.
I felt he was very respectful and genuinely curious in understanding my body during the treatments, and at the same time as he was very gentle, he also managed to give me that firm squeeze in sore spots of my muscles, that no massage therapist has ever managed to treat so satisfyingly.
Belinda Neuhauser
Yoga teacher
Mateusz radiates a very deep and truthful presence that encourages the entire system to trust and allow for the release of long-held patterns of control. After the session, I felt very much grounded in my natural flow of life, trustful to breathe deeper and enjoy more. I highly recommend working with him.
Benjamin Hugo
Experience Designer
Mateusz is perceptive, he reads my body and applies measured and consistent force with serenity and care. I trust his hands and heart and I can let go with him in a brotherly way.
Zuzanna Gruszczynska
Health Care Proffesional