What is somatic coaching?
Somatic coaching is a holistic, mind-body-spirit approach to learning, living, and growth. Soma comes from the Greek word soma, which roughly translates to the “all of a person.” We take a holistic approach because we are whole people and our well being involves all of these dimensions.
In many cultures, we live and work head-first. Our bodies are often viewed as a vehicle for transporting our brains around, our emotions are often experienced as something that gets in the way of what we need to do, and our spirit is often conceptual and amorphous and often thought to be accessed by leaving the body behind. In reality, we are much more integrated. These distinctions, although well developed, do not reflect how we actually live, work, love, and make decisions.
When we consciously involve our mind, body, and spirit in the coaching process, we are able to access deeper resources, open accelerated pathways for our own development, and discover new possibilities for creative and effective action. In the coaching process we often come into contact with memories, experiences, and conditioned tendencies or habits that are “stored in their tissues” and contribute to the sense of being stuck. Working gently through our bodies, we are often able to release the hold, and begin to feel more present, connected, and alive.
How do we involve the body in coaching? We start by focusing on our nervous systems and experimenting with how we can effectively self-regulate to be more centered, open, and connected. This enables us to be more responsive to life, rather than constantly reacting to what comes our way. We also pay attention to sensations in the body. Don’t worry if this sounds hard, most of us need to actively re-learn how to feel sensation in our bodies. By experiencing these sensations directly, we begin to unlock their underlying wisdom and discover our own internal navigation systems. We also practice new perceptions and skills in the body — remember how you learned to ride a bike? — so that we can become the people we want to be, live our best lives, and realize our boldest visions.