Somatic Coaching —
Transformation From and Through the Body
What is Somatic Coaching?
Somatic Coaching brings awareness to the body, sensation, movement, and inner experience, helping you access deeper self-knowledge, transform limiting patterns, and create new possibilities from the inside out.
How is Somatic Coaching Different from Traditional Coaching?
Somatic Coaching invites the body, your relationship to your body and your full somatic experience into the coaching as an equal partner in the coaching inquiry. You are led into a more interconnected and coherent balance between what the mind is producing and what the body is informing; between thought and feeling, between idea and sensation and concept and awareness.
Why Does the Body Matter in Coaching?
"The Body Knows...." Our awareness and ability to listen to the body's innate intelligence and wisdom can be an enormously beneficial and informative perspective to our interpretation of our lived experience. Our somatic perception and perspective is grounded in a more profound level of our existence, connected to insights and answers that our minds alone can not access. Adding this dimension to coaching can have profound affects on the work and change you are setting out to do.
What is the Relationship Between Awareness, Sensation, Movement, and Change
Our experiencing of our body's presence is personal, complex and fluid; however the entrance point is usually by developing Awareness. Awareness opens and focuses our attention on what was previously unperceivable. Awareness allows us to form Sensing; bringing quality, specificity and aliveness to new areas, creating Sensations. Sensation can then be directed and channeled through the body into Movement: both interior and into space. Movement is Change. Movement brings about Change by shifting Awareness and Sensation, by moving our whole bodily experience in new ways, into new territory and new ways of being.
How Can Somatic Coaching Help with Life Transitions?
The body definitely knows when it is time to change! When change is being called for, is inevitable, coming or being avoided, the body emits strong signals and feelings that can be uncomfortable and hard to ignore. We can learn to accept and listen to these signals, to commit to learning what the body is telling us about our current situation and what future would bring us more equanimity, peace, fullness, expression - even pleasure - in our body. We can engage with and follow that sequence of Somatic inquiry outlined above: Awareness to Sensation to Movement to Change to guide us through the Life Transition we are being asked to make. This is where Life Transitions Coaching can be a valuable addition and support of Somatic Coaching.
Somatic Coaching and Transformation
Ultimately, true meaningful lasting transformation can only happen when there is transformation in the body also. A new relationship to your body, a new somatic reality and inner experience that aligns with, supports and expresses the personal change that is happening in all other parts of yourself and life.
This is why Somatic Coaching in partnership with Transformational Coaching is such a powerful combination; creating holistic change that is literally "full being and full bodied". change you can feel and that lives in and continues to evolve in every fiber and tissue of you.
Can Somatic Coaching Help with Limiting Patterns?
Our patterns, our limiting beliefs, our emotional signatures: our whole life long catalogue of experiences are stored in the body, As Bessel van der Kolk ays in her seminal book on trauma in the body: "The Body Keeps Score."
​Somatic Coaching can help you identify and feel into the sensations of holding, blockage and somatic shaping that your life experience has created and habituated into our body. Through gentle caring probing, these patterns can be released, redirected and have great affects on liberating you from limiting patterns that are holding you back.
My Somatic Approach
In my coaching and guiding, I create a space where speaking, movement, creativity, and embodied awareness coexist, allowing the body, mind, and inner life to enter into dialogue. It is in this space of acknowledgment and active involvement of the whole self - cognitive, emotional, physical, creative, imaginative, spiritual - that true and meaningful change can emerge.
My work as a Somatic Coach is heavily informed by my forty plus years as a professional dancer and educator; and my deep exploration of somatic research and pedagogy. So, perhaps the most distinctive difference in my approach is how I use guided movement to integrate and embody the somatic discovery and change that has come about. This does not mean at all that you need or should have a background in movement, or dance! The degree to which movement is included depends on your desires and benefit.
Another distinctive aspect of my practice is the use of "hands-on self- guidance". I believe all of our hands hold immense wisdom, power and intuition; and over decades I have developed a technique of using our hands to inform, guide and share somatic information. This is the deepest, most direct and powerful way to communicate directly to your body and soma and is the core of my in person and group facilitation. It has become a vital part of what I teach and use in my virtual Somatic Coaching.
Somatic Journeying into Somatic Manifesting
Somatic Journeying into Embodied Manifestation is an ongoing shared research, practice and method for exploring what is possible when we let go of limiting beliefs and open into the possibilities about the mysterious and wondrous relationships between our bodies, minds, imaginations, spirit, consciousness and the universe.
It is rooted in the materiality of the body; in anatomical awareness that inspires somatic imagination to enliven and transform our somatic reality. To open energy channels and consciousness; to free us from limitations and guide us into deeper and expanded realms of embodiment where transformation and manifestation emerge.
What Happens during a Somatic Coaching Session?
Sessions usually start with a somatic centering meditation followed by a check in to discover what is asking for attention, care and inquiry; both in the body and person. From there we may continue with some coaching conversation until we are led to closer sensing into what is happening in the body, and where. We would explore what these sensations are bringing up and possible ways to move and transform them in the body through guided touch, somatic imagination and often times guided movement. We end by bringing the session into integration of what has been discovered and processed, embodying new awareness, insight and change. and using all to create a pathway forward.
What Changes can I Expect from Somatic Coaching with You?
​​​Working with me can help you cultivate:
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A deeper sense of self-recognition, self-compassion and self-acceptance
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Greater confidence and trust in yourself, through great sense of groundedness and safety
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A stronger connection to your emotions, inner experience and wisdom
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More clarity, courage and inspiration to make meaningful changes aligned with who you are
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An expanded awareness and sense of belonging to your place in the world and universe
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More Expression, Joy and Creativity in and through your body and into all aspects of your life
Who Is Somatic Coaching For?
Somatic Coaching is for anyone who has a curiosity and openness to explore how their body can become a more integrated part of their whole life experience: their reflection process, learning and meaning making - their healing, change and evolution - as well as their participation in, enjoyment of and their life and sense of place in the world and universe.
One on One Somatic Coaching Online
For those seeking individualized support in navigating life's challenges and transitions from a holistic, body-based perspective, I offer private Somatic Coaching
sessions online to clients around the world.
Together, we create a space where conversation, movement, creativity, and embodied awareness can coexist, allowing the body and mind to integrate and
become part of the dialogue towards change.​​
If you're curious about whether this way of working might be a good fit for you,
I invite you to schedule a free 45-minute Intro Call and Session.
We'll talk about what brings you here, answer any questions
you may have, and explore together whether working
together feels like the right next step.
Practice Groups for Somatic Journeying into Embodied Manifesting Online
A rotating small group of practitioners exploring Somatic Manifesting. Through self guidance, gentle movement, somatic exploration and discourse we create SOMATIC JOURNEYS that lead us into embodied states where our powers of manifestation are opened, directed and maximized. Move, Transform and Live into your envisioned future self and desired reality.
“The body is the instrument of our sense of self.”
— Antonio Damasio