02Oct 2026 by Manuela Zeitlhofer

Time is the Enemy of Stress

About Coach Manuela, Mindfulness, Personal Development
A Personal Note “Time is the enemy of stress!” – I heard myself saying to my teenage daughter, right before she went on the school bus – because she had spent her morning dawdling, which left her rushed… and stressed. Afterwards, something fell into place in my heart, and I realized that this is exactly where stress lives for me: in that condensed sense of scarcity (of time). As soon as I stretch that space, as soon as I shine the light of attention on it, stress begins to dissolve. I have a client — and it is curious how things sometimes come together like puzzle pieces in perfect synchronicity — who has been practising noticing when that familiar feeling of stress begins to build inside her. She doesn’t just…
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03Dec 2024 by Manuela Zeitlhofer

How to Embrace The Aging Journey

About Coach Manuela, Mental Fitness, Mindfulness, Personal Development
Yesterday I went for a health check. The doctor told me that everything is mostly fine. There are just a few small things that could be counteracted. For example, the natural aging process. Hormone deficiency, fat around the middle, and muscle loss were mentioned. Medication was contraindicated. Suggestions for optimal nutrition were made. The doctor also suggested endurance and strength training twice a week. In addition, one could counteract the hormone deficiency, preferably with creams. As I sat listening to the wealth of information and suggestions, I also asked myself to what extent Western medicine attributes positive aspects to the aging process, or whether the focus is purely on the body bending to life. That sounds rather deterministic, doesn't it? What about, for example, wisdom, empathy, and a greater sense…
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30Sep 2022 by Manuela Zeitlhofer

Coaching with #ManuCoach4You

About Coach Manuela
I work with people with a strong environmental conscience, who want to live a sustainable and responsible life without sacrificing what they love doing and thereby creating and strengthening their authentic self. My target group feels stuck between the responsibilities of (mid-)life, while yearning for more self-determination and connectedness to the natural world and the freedom of their younger years. There might be stress, anxiety, burn-out, and other internal or external conflicts that seem daunting. Through mental fitness training and coaching in, around and with the help of nature, I assist them in carving out time and energy to step into their full potential and experience their autonomy and authenticity. I do that by assisting them in reframing the problems into opportunities for growth. I have a long history of…
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21Jul 2022 by Manuela Zeitlhofer

In My Own Way

About Coach Manuela, Mental Fitness, Mindfulness, Personal Development
Have you battled internal obstacles – problems that were entirely created by your way of approaching the world in your thinking and actions? – I have! For more than a year I had been bothered by a digestive issue: There was a knot in my intestines, always in the same spot. It never went away. The intensity of the discomfort varied. I consulted my family doctor. I consulted an Ayurvedic doctor. Nothing. I researched online. – A partial breakthrough was achieved when I found a useful video how to alleviate the symptoms temporarily. But no solution appeared. I started to despair. Then, we went on vacation and I did not drink my tap water. The discomfort was gone. I had stumbled upon the solution. The problem – or obstacle –…
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15Jul 2022 by Manuela Zeitlhofer

Doing Little Things That Matter

About Coach Manuela, Connecting with Nature
Do you remember the story “The Star Thrower” who was rescuing starfish one at a time, and even it did not seem to make a difference in the big picture, it made every difference to the starfish he did rescue. Here is how this story resonates with my life: I believe in minimizing my footprint and taking care of nature. I own a little piece of land – 4 acres – and I feel that I am the steward of this land. I am responsible for, but I am not entitled to do any damage to this land. I have the right to live here, to grow my plants, to live in my house, to be who I am. I see this stewardship as our calling as humans. We have…
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24Aug 2021 by Manuela Zeitlhofer

I am a Lady

About Coach Manuela, Self-Reliance
… most of the time just from the inside. I should probably start by define my interpretation of the term: A “lady” is stylish, unique, a bit eccentric, but not annoyingly so, who is not following trends but creating her own. That is me. Normally, I would not refer to myself as a lady tough, because I spend a lot of time doing things that I would not consider typical for a lady – like fixing roofs. Last Thursday, I was fortunate to go to a small music event. And there, surrounded by inspirational music, beautiful people, and the gorgeous backdrop of our river, I did feel like a lady. The setting reminded me of a similar event in London (Great Britain) in 1993. It was called “Music in the…
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07May 2021 by Manuela Zeitlhofer

Nurture with Intention

About Coach Manuela, Connecting with Nature, Philosophy, Self-Reliance
I love my house. And I love my garden. My property is surrounded by wilderness, I have started o draw a line of where my endeavors end and the freedom of the wild space around me begins. In some way, that is also where my freedom (the freedom to enjoy instead of trying to control and modify for example) begins. I cannot help it. I pull out the grass from the well-fertilized garden beds, and I start grass on the less fertilized and sandy soil around. “Of course”, I thought yesterday, “the grass wants to grow in my garden beds – that’s what I nurture. I have to nurture the grass where I want it to grow.” What do you want to nurture in your life? And do you do…
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12Mar 2021 by Manuela Zeitlhofer

Meet the Coach

About Coach Manuela, Self-Reliance
My name is Manuela Zeitlhofer. I was born in Austria, Europe. When I was a young adult, I left Austria to immigrate to Canada. It was not so much that I did not want to live in Austria, it was more the strong desire to live in the wilderness that led me to Canada – more specifically to the Yukon Territory. At first, I worked as a tour guide. I was very fortunate to guide tourists into the most pristine parts of the Yukon Territory and Canada. The winters were quiet and long, and so I started teaching as a substitute teacher during the winter. After several years of guiding tourists in the summer and teaching little kids in the winter, I decided that I wanted to be a teacher.…
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