Martin Engdal
About Me
I am first and foremost a student of life—curious, listening, and shaped by experience more than theory. Teaching came later, as a natural extension of walking the path and being asked to share what I had learned along the way.
For a decade, I held a leadership role in the mountains, developing and managing a lodge that gradually transformed into a retreat center. What began as a quiet vision slowly found its way into form. The process taught me patience, responsibility, and the subtle art of bringing something unseen into reality—one decision, one season, one conversation at a time.
For over twenty years, my life has been devoted to personal development and inner work. The journey has moved through Gestalt therapy, coaching, yoga, meditation, and long periods of silence. I became a Certified Co-Active Coach (CTI) and a Certified Goal Mapping Practitioner, and I’ve worked for several years as a coach in both business and life settings, supporting people through change, growth, and uncertainty.
My teaching is grounded in the body and the nervous system. I am trained as a Hatha Yoga Teacher (200h), Elemental Yoga Therapist (600h), Kundalini Yoga Teacher (200h), and Zen Thai Flow Teacher (200h). I’ve also studied Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine through Zen Shiatsu and yoga therapy, learning to listen to the language of energy, breath, and rhythm—where much of our wisdom quietly lives.
One of the most meaningful chapters of my work was starting and leading a yoga and meditation program inside the prisons of Oslo, Norway. What began as a solitary initiative grew over three years into a multi-teacher project across several prisons. I also trained other yoga teachers to work in these environments, where presence is essential and authenticity cannot be faked.
I have sat through dozens of Vipassana meditation retreats and completed many courses in coaching and personal development. Each experience refined my understanding, not of perfection, but of humility.
I am a husband and a father to three beautiful children—two boys and a girl—who keep me grounded in what truly matters. I am self-made, having pulled myself up from very little. I grew up in a challenging home that shaped years of insecurity and anger in my youth. I learned how to appear strong while feeling deeply lost.
The moment I realized that healing was possible, something opened. I never looked back. That realization began a lifelong journey of healing, curiosity, and service—one that continues to unfold as I explore the many layers of this human experience and the subtle realities beneath the surface.
What I offer is lived practice rather than promises: authenticity, resilience, nervous system healing, breathwork, fasting, and cold exposure. Simple, ancient tools for modern lives—shared with respect, care, and trust in the intelligence already within you.