January Wellness: Izzy Naud Wellbeing

This January, we’re spotlighting dance-music-adjacent wellness practices that offer grounding and sustainable regulation for creative bodies and minds. As conversations around burnout, nervous system regulation and the demands of tour life intensify, Izzy Naud Wellbeing has emerged as a powerful voice that draws from decades of practice in movement, energy and martial arts. And the best part? She translates her knowledge into practical tools for our high-stimulation industry.

Lived experience, not trends

Founded in 2021, Izzy Naud Wellbeing sits at the intersection of Chinese martial arts, preventative health and performance psychology. Unlike trend-led wellness, her work is rooted in lived experience. She has a long relationship with Tai Chi, Qi Gong and martial arts rooted in her heritage, combined with firsthand knowledge of the toll the music industry can take.

Before launching Izzy Naud Wellbeing, Izzy’s relationship with wellness was shaped by over 25 years of practice in Chinese martial arts where she learned how to harness movement, energy and disciplined flow.

“I'm a Tai Chi master and a Qigong facilitator,” she says. “I’ve been teaching since 2014 and practicing Chinese martial arts since 2000, so that's over 25 years of practice.”

Growing up with the cultural influence of martial arts cinema, Izzy was drawn to the physical energy and ethos of kung fu. “I'm Chinese and grew up in the 80s, so it was all about Bruce Lee,” Izzy says. “So this was my influence, and in 2000 I joined a gym where they had all sorts of classes, but kung fu stuck.”

Izzy explains there’s a big difference between the internal and external arts. “Tai Chi and Kung Fu, they belong to this family called Wushu. And this is Chinese martial arts, and Kung Fu is more external, while Tai Chi is more concentrated in moving the vital energy inside our body.”

This lineage, rooted in internal movement, breath and energetic awareness, became the foundation for a practice that later evolved into targeted wellbeing support for electronic music professionals.

Burnout as a turning point

Izzy’s mission is personal. After working in the electronic music industry for a decade, hosting a podcast, promoting artists and launching an Artist Management Agency, she hit a wall.

“Back in 2011 I was experiencing burnout,” she says. “At that time, I didn't have healthy habits, which led me to the mental health hospital. I had a psychotic episode, and I had nobody to talk with. It felt very lonely, and I found out who my friends were.”

From that low point, she reoriented her life and career toward health as the central value, a shift that would later inform every aspect of her coaching work.

Building Izzy Naud Wellbeing

When COVID-19 hit and the industry faced a collective existential stress, Izzy saw what many were beginning to articulate: artists and professionals were struggling. With income, with touring cancellations and with sustained pressure, resulting in mental health crises and burnout.

“And before that, the passing of Avicii opened the conversation about mental health in the electronic music industry and this was kind of a wake up call,” Izzy says.

This crystallised her vision: combining body-centric practices, martial arts wisdom and systemic support for those who give so much of themselves to the nightlife industry.

“I realised I can join my two passions, which are Chinese martial arts, wellness and electronic music,” she says.

Izzy Naud Wellbeing officially launched in 2021, offering a suite of coaching, movement practices and personalized programmes designed to help professionals master their health rather than simply react to crises.

Between Movement and Music

Rather than positioning itself as a conventional wellness brand, Izzy Naud Wellbeing has a broader vision: one that sees health and creativity as intrinsically linked.

“So my vision is to help electronic music artists and professionals become masters of their health and well being,” Izzy explains.

Her clients come from all corners of the electronic music industry, including DJs, producers, songwriters and tour managers, and with a wide range of challenges: stress, anxiety, insomnia, performance pressure or early signs of burnout. Izzy meets each client with bespoke tools and practices aimed at prevention, regulation and resilience.

Personalized Coaching with Impact

At the heart of her offering is the Back on Track programme, a 12-week health and wellbeing coaching journey tailored to each individual’s needs.

What makes Back on Track distinctive is its integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine principles, Tai Chi, Qi Gong and personalized fitness training, adapted to travel, late nights, erratic sleep after gigs and performance schedules.

Participants in the programme report reduced stress and better sleep, as well as a sustained sense of balance and energy that supports creativity, stamina and overall wellbeing.

And Izzy’s much-loved Beat the Burnout checklist helps industry folk stay on track even in the most high-stress situations.

Speaking, community and industry engagement

Public speaking is another crucial pillar in Izzy’s work, and a way to bring these practices into broader industry conversations, attending Amsterdam Dance Event each year to discuss wellbeing in the industry.

“My best times are when I do public speaking,” she says. “In 2024 I gave a talk about burnout, and last year I was on a panel talking about the pressure in the music industry and how to find balance.”

She also hosts events like For The Love And Health Of House, where she leads Qigong workshops and panel discussions on burnout and balance, and connects individual wellbeing to structural awareness around creativity and sustainability in dance music.

Movement, Flow, Creativity

For Izzy, the relationship between Chinese martial arts and artistic flow is physical, emotional and cognitive. “I think they have a strong similarity with music and creativity, because we are in the flow with both,” she explains.

Tai Chi, in particular, mirrors the creative process: continuous movement, centred awareness and dynamic presence. “Just like the creative process,” Izzy says.

These practices offer something the music world genuinely needs: a body-based path out of overthinking, stress and mental exhaustion.

What’s Next

Izzy will continue to expand in 2026 with online workshops, group programmes and media projects. Her monthly Sound Mind Sound Body Zoom workshops explore yin and yang energy and offer practical exercises musicians can use backstage, in the studio or during travel. She’s also preparing a podcast based on interviews from IMS and ADE, bringing voice to diverse wellness stories.

A new group programme, The Pillars of Flow, will focus on sleep, nutrition, exercise and stress management, the four foundations essential for sustained creative output.

In a scene increasingly reckoning with sustainability, whether in our careers, bodies or mental health, Izzy’s work shows us how to integrate flow into daily life.

In her own words, this is about “becoming masters of health, not just art” – a shift that marks the difference between burnout and brilliance.

For all her latest news and events, follow Izzy Naud wellbeing on Instagram.