Nikola Kapnisti: On Her Own Terms
Nikola Kapnisti on finding balance, the beauty of ordinary moments, and the art of listening to your body.
How often do we truly allow ourselves to switch off? Without a to-do list, another goal to achieve, or the constant urge to improve something. Nikola Kapnisti, founder of Prague’s deep-care centre Inscape, knows the world where success is measured by productivity and time has become one of our most precious luxuries. As an entrepreneur and mother of three, she is the first to admit that finding balance is not always easy. “The louder and faster my life becomes, the more I seek out moments when absolutely nothing is happening.”
It was precisely this desire to create a space where people could genuinely pause that inspired Inscape, nearly 500 square metres of tranquillity in the heart of Prague. A place where modern technologies meet mindful care for the body, mind and nervous system, and where regeneration is not simply another task on the to-do list. Nikola knows all too well how easy it is to become consumed by ambition, everyday responsibilities and the constant feeling that we should always be doing a little more.
We spoke with Nikola about everyday rituals, books worth reading, family moments and why sometimes we need to spend less time optimising and more time simply living. And about the philosophy she is embracing as she enters a new season: “Less proving, more living.”
Returning to the usual work pace after the holidays tends to happen quite quickly. What personally helps you maintain balance and avoid being immediately consumed by responsibilities?
Honestly? I’m probably the least suitable person to ask about work-life balance. (laughs) I’m a founder, I have three children, and I genuinely love my work, which is quite a dangerous combination – and perhaps one of the reasons I created Inscape, a place that teaches people to slow down and regenerate. I’m still learning that it’s not just about resting, but about being aware of what my body is telling me and responding before it starts screaming.
Sleep is my absolute foundation. I sleep a lot, I love sleeping, and I consider it the best natural way for the body to recover, as well as a daily reset and recalibration of the mind. And with the return of school and all the responsibilities that come with it, what helps me most is, paradoxically, something incredibly simple – systematically writing everything down. I need to get tasks out of my head and onto paper. The moment I do, I feel an immediate sense of relief, and they stop running through my mind. And I have to admit, few things give me quite the same small sense of satisfaction as finally crossing a completed task off my list. (laughs)
So, for me, balance isn’t about achieving a perfect equilibrium between work and life. It’s more about being able to listen to myself, recognise when I need to slow down, and have small systems in place that help prevent both my body and mind from becoming overwhelmed.
If you had to choose one treatment, class, ritual or service from your offering as the ideal reset for the new season, what would it be and why?
Without a doubt, our Comprehensive Beauty Reset. It’s a three-hour experience designed to care not only for what is visible on the outside after summer, but to regenerate the person as a whole. It includes an intensive facial ritual during which we also focus on deep relaxation, aiming to guide the client into a theta state, where the nervous system can truly switch off from the demands of everyday performance. We also measure antioxidant levels, as oxidative stress is connected to the body’s ability to regenerate, and the experience includes neurostimulation aimed at supporting brain activity and neuroplasticity. So, over the course of three hours, you care for your skin, deeply relax your body and nervous system, and give your brain a fresh impulse too. Before September, I wouldn’t start by demanding even more performance from ourselves – I would first focus on regenerating the system that has to manage it all.
“Less proving, more living. I want to hold on to my ambition, but let go of that permanent sense of urgency.”
What do you think our bodies, skin or minds need most right now?
I feel that today we’re all searching for that one new biohack, trend or miracle solution that will fix everything. But the human body is an incredibly complex and fascinating system, and nothing within it functions in isolation. The quality of our sleep affects recovery, stress influences hormonal balance and the skin, the nervous system affects digestion and physical tension, while movement supports lymphatic flow and circulation. That’s why I believe what our bodies need most right now is a return to the basics, and above all, the ability to recognise these connections – sleeping well, staying hydrated, moving, eating nourishing food, managing stress and allowing the body to recover regularly. Less searching for one miracle solution and more learning to understand our own bodies and what they are constantly trying to tell us. To me, that is what truly holistic care is all about.
Which moment from the past few months has stayed with you the most? A place, an encounter, a journey, or perhaps a completely ordinary moment you would love to return to?
What has stayed with me most is probably one very ordinary moment in Austria. After a bike ride, we discovered a small natural pool where my husband and five-year-old son spontaneously decided to take off all their clothes and go swimming. There was something wonderfully simple about it – peace, joy, freedom, no plans, no worries, just pure childhood spontaneity that even an adult allowed himself to be swept up in. I should add that the pool was right next to a cycling path, so quite a few cyclists were passing by, staring at them in disbelief. To this day, I’m not entirely sure whether they were more fascinated by their nudity or by the enormous sign we only noticed afterwards, clearly stating that swimming in the pool was forbidden. (laughs) But those are exactly the kinds of unplanned, slightly absurd and perfectly ordinary moments I end up remembering the most.
Which book have you really enjoyed lately, or which one has stayed with you? What would you recommend packing for the last weekend of summer, but that would be just as enjoyable at any time of year?
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. I absolutely devoured it because it describes something I experience intensely as a founder – having a vision and turning that vision into a functioning, sustainable reality are two completely different disciplines. You need to build a system where employees are happy, clients consistently receive the quality you promise, and everything works without you personally having to oversee every single detail. Right now, I’m reading Skryté signály těla (The Body’s Hidden Signals), because I’m fascinated by how much our bodies tell us long before they really start screaming.
But honestly, I wouldn’t pack either of those books for the last weekend of summer. (laughs) For that, I would choose something that allows the mind to switch off completely. I really enjoyed Doppler by Erlend Loe – it’s absurd, light, clever and very funny. And perhaps that’s actually the perfect way to end the summer: for a little while, stop optimising everything, stop trying to learn something new, and simply have fun.
What is your personal recipe for a moment to yourself when your calendar is full?
Lately, I’ve been falling more and more in love with complete silence, solitude and peace. When my calendar is full and everyone needs something from me all day long, the greatest luxury is simply being completely alone for a little while. Going for a walk in nature by myself, without having to talk to anyone, or simply closing the bedroom door and allowing myself to just be. Observing what is going through my mind, letting thoughts come and gradually sorting through them. I’ve realised that it’s precisely in silence that I can best recognise what truly matters and what was simply the noise of the day. The louder and faster my life becomes, the more I seek out moments when absolutely nothing is happening.
“It’s not traditional meditation, more like a private podcast with myself – I ask myself questions internally, allow the answers to come, and observe where my mind takes me.”
Do you have a small ritual, rule or habit that you try to maintain, no matter how busy life gets?
Probably my favourite ritual is falling asleep next to my five-year-old son. I know that, from a parenting perspective, I should perhaps already be teaching him to fall asleep on his own, and I’ve somewhat replaced my partner in bed with him (laughs), but for me, it’s an incredibly healing moment. We lie next to each other, talk, gradually calm down, and I can genuinely feel the entire day falling away from both of us, replaced by a sense of safety and closeness.
My second ritual is my daily work with my mind. It’s not traditional meditation, more like a private podcast with myself – I ask myself questions internally, allow the answers to come, and observe where my mind takes me. I often consciously “recolour” certain thoughts, giving them a different meaning or perspective so that I can feel lighter inside. It’s my way of doing a little tidying up every day, not only around me, but most importantly within myself.
What resolution or mindset would you like to bring into the new season? Is there something you would like to hold on to even as your work and social calendar fills up again?
Less proving, more living. The past year has been very much about building. When you’re creating something from scratch, you constantly feel that you need to do just a little more – work more, control more, come up with more ideas, keep pushing things forward. I want to hold on to my ambition, but let go of that permanent sense of urgency, because I’ve realised that not everything important has to be urgent. And not everything urgent is truly important.
And there is one thing I would really like to change – being closer to my team. As a founder, I’m constantly stretched across so many different roles that I sometimes feel I’m paradoxically missing what matters most: a genuine connection with my girls, the time to sit down with them, listen to them and really know how they are doing. I have an incredible team around me, and I’m becoming increasingly aware that they are the true heart of Inscape – because you may be the one who creates the vision, but it’s the people around you who bring it to life every single day. So perhaps a little less time spent on yet another Excel spreadsheet, and a little more time with the people without whom there would be nothing to put in it in the first place.
