Free Resources | The State Shift Institute | Sylvia Holtslag

The State Shift Institute

Free resources

An exercise to experience. A masterclass to attend. A session to book.

Sylvia Holtslag

Free exercise

The Observer

The Observer is the foundation for every other card in the State Shift Method™. A guided exercise with audio that takes you from stuck to moving in a few minutes.

Close your eyes. I guide you through it. You experience the difference between reading about change and feeling it happen. It comes as a PDF with a guided audio recording.

Download the Observer
State Shift Method™ card deck
Sylvia Holtslag masterclass

Live every month

Free masterclass

Every month I host a free live masterclass. You do an exercise from the deck, you feel where you're stuck, and you leave with something you can do the next morning.

No theory. An experience. Eyes closed, live, together.

See the next date

How I got here

I spent years doing everything right on the outside. Good job, stable life, showing up every day. But at night I numbed myself. Too much wine, scrolling through the news until midnight, eating things I knew weren't good for me. I functioned. I didn't feel alive.

I tried everything. Therapy, coaching, retreats, courses, books. I understood the concepts. I could explain them to anyone. But understanding didn't change what happened when the alarm went off on Monday morning. Same thoughts. Same patterns. Same voice telling me I wasn't doing enough.

My parents both died young. My mother from the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle. My father when I was nineteen. Watching that happen changed something in me. I didn't want to repeat their story. And I didn't want my son to watch me disappear the way I watched them.

The turning point wasn't another insight. It was the moment I stopped trying to understand my way out and started doing something with my body instead of my head.

I found the Tools of Phil Stutz and Barry Michels. Body-based, practical techniques you do in the moment you're stuck. I combined them with the awareness work of Michael Singer and the daily discipline I learned through Heroic. I practised every day. I failed. I practised again.

Over time, something shifted. I wrote two books (over ten thousand copies sold). I built a coaching practice. I worked with hundreds of people who recognised the same gap I had lived in: knowing what to do, not doing it.

The State Shift Method™ is everything I learned, tested on myself first, condensed into one daily practice. A deck of cards. Three steps. STATE. SHIFT. STEP. Every morning. Every time you're stuck. Every time that voice shows up.

I'm the only European coach listed on thetoolsbook.com. I'm a certified Heroic Level 2 Coach. But more than any credential, what qualifies me is that I've been where you are. And I found a way through.

★★★★★
"What stood out most was that the method worked with the way I naturally process things rather than expecting me to fit into a particular way of learning or exploring myself."

Che Kelly

Newsletter

Follow my Substack

Every week I write about breaking patterns, the Tools, and what I learn from working with people. Short, personal, unfiltered.

Read on Substack

LinkedIn

Weekly reflections

Every week I share a personal reflection on LinkedIn. What moved me, what I learned, what I did differently.

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Want to talk?

Curious whether the State Shift Method™ is right for you, or how I could help? Book a free session. No obligations, no pitch. We talk about where you are, what keeps coming back, and whether this approach fits. I've had these conversations hundreds of times. Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes it's not yet, sometimes it's something else entirely. All of that is fine. You are welcome.

Book a free session