Training your body for transformation in Somatic Coaching

The premise of somatic coaching, as I learned it in my certification training at the Strozzi Institute, is that our life experiences – especially those that occur between the ages of 0-8 - literally shape us, as in shape our bodies.  As we move forward in life, we enter into new experiences in this acquired, unconscious, physical shape. Through a cultivation of awareness, bodywork, and mindfulness practices, we can assume a new shape more aligned with our current adult goals, and less determined by experiences that happened to us in childhood.  Often it is our physical structure  - rather than our lack of imagination, will or intelligence - that hampers our ability to achieve what we dream possible.

For example, maybe you have a lot of dreams and visions about where you want to go with your life, but you are frequently beset with the feeling that you start things and get going, only to have trouble finding the focus and energy to stay with your projects. An interesting way to work with this tendency comes from a Strozzi exercise called “The Grab.”  In this exercise, a partner positioned behind you suddenly and literally grabs your wrist and says “hey!”  Repeating the exercise several times, we look to see how your body responds: do you  jerk with a startle response only to become immobilized; do you instinctively pull your hand sharply away; do your hands curl into fists and you lean in?

In this way, we observe the nervous system’s automatic and unconscious response to sudden external stimulation or challenge; the way you might have trouble containing the incoming energy (startling and freezing), or the way you might want to RUN (and pull  away); or the way you might get threatened and defensive and want to fight.   With practice, you can learn to cultivate an alternative response to getting “grabbed” by life; let the startle and run impulse pass, take a deep breath into your center, and turn TOWARD your partner to blend your energy with their’s, instead of jerking away from it.  What if you could do this with your projects when they pick up steam?  Or with your boss or team member when they drop a last minute ask on you?  Instead of freaking out, feeling overwhelmed and going into freeze/flight/fight, what if you could breathe and integrate the increased energy, using it to continue with what you care about?

I love supporting you to explore how your body’s unconscious tendencies impact the way you are currently living your life.  Explore somatic coaching to discover how your physical structure shapes your experience, and practice new ways of being in the world.