About Michaela Alba |
Founder of Odyssey Coaching
Meet Michaela. Her work sits at the intersection of nervous system science and real, lived experience rebuilding a life from the ground up. Below is her philosophy, her credentials, and how she builds your personalized path to whole-system change.
I lived this work before I knew the science behind it.
My authority in this work comes from two places: what I've lived, and what the research confirms. I didn't start out as a nervous system coach. I started as a personal trainer, then moved through human rights work and built a successful career at a top tech company, each one teaching me something different about how people function, or don't, under real pressure. Long before I had the neuroscience vocabulary, or even the clinical language for what I was moving through myself, my body and my instincts were already leading the way.
I walked through anxiety, PTSD, chronic pain, and grief, and I came out the other side using the very tools I now teach: movement, breath, nutrition, nature, creative practice, and compassion. That process didn't just get me back to functioning. It made me a high performer. It's why athletes come to me to sharpen the nervous system skills that separate a good competitor from a great one, why executives come to me to build the capacity to lead clearly under real pressure, and why women who have spent years running on empty, holding everything together while quietly falling apart, come to me to finally feel safe in their own bodies again. What I give them is exactly what rebuilt me: proof that a nervous system pushed to its limit can come back stronger, not just intact.
That's how I know, not just believe, that whole-body health is available to us no matter what life throws at us. The nervous system is built to move, adapt, and heal when it's given the right conditions. And that’s exactly what I teach.
Why "Odyssey"
If you've spent years going to someone for relief, felt better for a while, and ended up right back where you started, this name isn't an accident. We're each on our own journey, and I think we should honor that. This work isn't a destination you arrive at, and it isn't something I hold for you. It's a path you commit to and eventually walk on your own. That's why every program I run is designed for you to graduate, not to keep coming back. The odyssey is yours.
What I believe
I believe your nervous system isn't broken. If you've ever felt like you're overreacting to something small, shutting down when you should be speaking up, or bracing for a hit that isn't coming, that's not a flaw. That's a system running on old data instead of what's actually in front of you right now.
I believe you can't fully trust your gut until that system is regulated, because when you're dysregulated, panic and instinct feel exactly the same from the inside.
I believe healing doesn't mean the wound disappears. If it did, none of us would be healed. It means you clean it, close it, and learn to live inside a body that carries a scar.
And I believe that whether we're talking about a person or a business, there is no real separation between how regulated you are and how well you perform. I'm not here to hand you the answers. I'm here to create the conditions where you find your own, because that's the only kind of change that holds.
Who I work with
If you've done the work before, therapy, coaching, wellness retreats, and you're still white-knuckling your way through stress instead of actually feeling different, you have something in common with my clients - the people and organizations done treating symptoms.
Over the years my clients have included executives at Series C technology startups, attorneys, and government-affairs professionals: high-capacity people operating in high-stakes environments, precisely the conditions that keep a nervous system on high alert.
It has also included people quietly carrying something old that keeps resurfacing in new forms: the same fight in a new relationship, the same shutdown in a new job, the same fear wearing a different face.
To date, I've maintained 100% client satisfaction. Not because the work is easy, but because I only take it on when it's the right fit.
If this resonates, let's find out if it's a fit.
Tell us a bit about you, too.
If you’re interested in transforming, fill out some quick info and we will be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to meet you!