Build your Emotional Fitness
At 5th Place we enable children, youth, adults and the earth to become and remain emotionally fit.
Our groundbreaking emotional mastery course is now available online! With an average rating of 4.94, it will transform everything you know about emotions and mastering them.
Welcome to 5th Place
Join us in our mission to make the world a better place.

Hi there! We are Matthew & Chantal and our mission at 5th Place is to make the world a better place by "enabling the how..."
How to be less stressed... how to be more calm... how to feel less anxious... how to get better sleep... how to to not feel guilty when I choose me... and so on...
Building emotional fitness is a journey. Wherever you are on your journey, we invite you to join us in making your world and the world a better place!
Supporting physical and emotional wellbeing, at scale
At 5th Place we support the physical and emotional wellbeing of children, youth, adults and the earth by enabling and educating them on how to build emotional fitness, at scale. Explore the history of 5th Place, our model for emotion regulation called "Shape of Emotion" and the qualities and principles that are part of our broader body of work.
Stay up to date with "Enabling the how" our weekly publication
In a world consumed by the “What” we “Enable your How…” to
make the world a better place.
Join us, Chantal and Matthew, in our escapades every week as we stumble and trip, dance and whirl our way through very normal and not so normal weeks in our drive to make the world a better place.
This “How” comes in many different forms and in this case it comes in the form of sharing life, loves, and loss. It’s also a whole lot of what living is like in South Africa. We look at how to better manage the excessive stresses and challenges experienced at the tip of Africa through the lenses of the pillars, qualities and principles of 5th Place.
Come laugh and cry, learn and yearn, and enjoy some light reflection from a part of the world that you know only too well or not at all. We invite you to subscribe below.
Can you keep your head?
When it feels as if the world is against you, being able to step back, disconnect from taking it personally while taking a deep breath helps keep your head while all are losing theirs.
Read more...A reason to celebrate
Celebrating a birthday offered an opportunity to make more happy memories and to remember that we don’t need to wait for a reason to celebrate, we just need to remember to.
Read more...The power of writing
A report long in the works was finally written up. Young coaches reflect on saying “No” and the power of writing is used with teens to embrace the opportunity to feel better about themselves.
Read more...Listen to our Podcast "Emotions Matter. Really!"
In our podcast we explore everything about emotions, feelings, and
what it is to become and remain emotionally fit.
We believe that, although our emotions have been made the underdog to our analytical, rational minds, our emotions underpin everything we do and are. Emotions do matter. Emotions separate and connect us, they drive our behaviour and decision making, they allow us to thrive or barely survive.
We want to bring people back to the intelligence of their bodies, to connect to their feelings and, working with the information they offer, take steps to build their emotional fitness and make the world a better place.
Together we have combined decades of personal journeying, studying, working, research and guidance into our approach and process that we will share with you.
5th Place Emotional Fitness College
Our Emotional Fitness College offers a number of courses for you to build your Emotional Fitness.
Currently we support overall emotional fitness and anxiety.
The original Emotional Fitness Class
For a healthier, happier, more engaged you.
How to master your emotions
Learn how to feel better by learning how to feel, better.
Emotional Fitness Class for anxiety
Instant relief from anxiety. Go from wound up to calmed down.
Today's accomplishments were yesterday’s impossibilities.
—Robert H. Schuller