State Shift
State Shift
State Shift was built from two approaches: the performance focus of Tarik's method, and the depth and precision of Susan's practice. Together, they're the studio.
Tarik went from 270 lbs, nerve blockers and chronic pain to full-time performance coaching. By every external measure he had turned it around, until a gruelling certification built for coaches working with elite first responders broke something open.
Mid bear-crawl, his diaphragm finally had room to move, and he took his first full breath as an adult. "I had no idea that even though I was in the best shape of my life, I was an absolute mess of a breather."
That obsession became the studio: the thing he wishes someone had handed him years earlier. His work blends breath mechanics, nervous-system regulation, and performance.
Susan's work brings together evidence-informed breathing, nervous-system regulation, movement, and somatic breathwork into an approach that is both practical and deeply human.
With a background in exercise science and rehabilitation, and years of advanced training in functional breathing, trauma-informed breathwork, movement, and cold exposure, she teaches people to understand not only how to breathe, but why it matters.
She believes breathwork doesn't have to live at either extreme: overly clinical or purely intuitive. The science provides understanding; the experience creates change. Rather than asking people to memorize techniques, Susan teaches them to understand the body, trust what they feel, and use the breath as a lifelong tool for health, performance, recovery, and everyday life.