What is Somatic Coaching?

Somatic: of, relating to, or affecting the body

Soma: the body living in its wholeness

What would it be like to embody a more authentic experience of yourself?

To act in alignment with your most deeply held values?

To navigate high-pressure situations with more skill?

To experience more connecting and satisfying relationships with others?

This is what somatic coaching can help make possible so you can be the change you want to see in the world. To feel alive, present, and engaged with life. For many of us, our bodies operate in the background; we only become aware of them when something breaks, we get sick, or we have a health issue. But our bodies hold a wealth of information, guidance, and wisdom that can support us as we pursue our goals and dreams. 

When we invite our bodies into our coaching conversations, we want to understand all of our experience, which means noticing the habits of attention, the segments of emotional armoring, or the blockages that hold back our natural flow of energy, aliveness, and emotions. Limiting our emotional experience can hold us back and limit our view of the possibilities that exist for us in this world.

Nowadays you hear so much about cultivating emotional intelligence. A somatic approach to developing emotional intelligence is so important because the significant energy we exert to hold back our feelings blocks the very intelligence that we wish to unleash! The tension created by this kind of “blockage” creates stress. And it’s exhausting! This can leave us feeling disconnected from others and ourselves.

Operating in the world with this kind of armor also limits our access to our inner resourcefulness and creativity. Here is where somatic coaching can step in to help. It can be a powerful support as we go beyond talking about our challenges. We discover where those challenges live in our bodies and find ways to unconceal, embody, and utilize the resourcefulness waiting in the wings. 

What does this coaching approach look like in practice?

In relation to your goal, vision, or direction, we attune to and discover a body habit, an emotional blockage, or segment of emotional armoring impeding your progress. This helps us discover what is most important and can help refine the meaning and purposeful work we want to be doing in the world.  

1. We spend the first few sessions getting to know some basic principles of somatics and learn some gentle grounding, centering, and breathing exercises.

2. We try out practices to slowly release some of these blockages. It may involve light breathwork, gentle self-contact with your hands, stretching, and even other conversational methods to shift what may have been a long-standing pattern. 

3. I’ll offer a link to take an optional Enneagram assessment. The point of working with the Enneagram is not to understand what type you are. Rather, the point is to more deeply understand yourself. This can help point us to some of the segments of emotional armoring that may be historical patterns for you. 

4. This is a very customized approach. No one is the same and you are always offered many choices in how to “get to know” these parts of yourself and together we discover the way that feels right to follow.

Additionally, I’ll provide you with recordings of somatic practices, written materials, and guided meditations to supplement your practice.  If you’ve never practiced anything like this before, no worries, it’s a very gentle and customized approach for exactly where you are.