EMBRACING CHANGE THROUGH THE BODY
Why You Should Give Somatic Coaching A Go
“Be careful, don’t put your hand in the door hinge.” We’ve all heard this cautionary advice, yet sometimes, the most profound lessons come from experiencing it first hand, somatically. For me, this connection between theory and lived experience echoes in the realm of painting. Watching tutorials on brush techniques is insightful, but the lesson truly lands when I’ve tried it with my own hands.
This principle extends beyond art into various aspects of life. Whether it’s swimming, cycling, or playing an instrument, true understanding comes when we embody the learning process. This philosophy isn’t confined to physical activities alone; it resonates deeply in the coaching space, where the body-mind connection takes centre stage. It is now that you will experience the holistic nature of learning through direct, sensory-rich experiences. In fact, recent scientific discoveries reveal the true, two-way nature of communication between the body and brain, with the body often calling the shots on the outputs of the mind.
“Traditional coaching often delves into theoretical solutions and strategic plans, yet without involving the body, the full spectrum of experience may be missed.”
As a practitioner in somatic coaching, I’ve witnessed the transformative power of engaging the body in a somatic coaching dialogue. It’s not merely about intellectualising or visualising solutions; it’s about embodying them. Until an issue is addressed on an embodied level, it lacks the resonance and alignment needed for lasting change.
In the coaching room, individuals bring diverse life questions, from workplace challenges to personal dilemmas. “How do I deal with this micro-managing new boss?”, “Should I move country?”, “Why am I anxious before bed every night?”, “What are my values?” All corners of your life can be brought to a somatic coaching session.
Traditional coaching often delves into theoretical solutions and strategic plans, yet without involving the body, the full spectrum of experience may be missed. This is where somatic coaching becomes a shortcut to deeper insights and quicker resolutions.
Once you learn to follow clues from the body and trust it, it’s quite jaw-dropping at how revealing it can be. I believe the best way to understand anything is experientially. So please give Somatic Coaching a go.
In this article I aim to articulate and demonstrate in action an example of one type of process that might occur within a Somatic Coaching session. There are many processes but here is one type known as a Constellation - developed from the Family Constellations work of Bert Hellinger.
Case Study
“I just have this block around creating slides,” my client explains. For years she’s dreaded pulling ideas together efficiently and impressively for a presentation. She’d procrastinate, berating herself and drinking coffee, before finally breaking through that tight knot in her stomach to cobble something together.
This block was stopping her from enjoying the process. It was time wasting and it just felt awful. She came for some somatic coaching two weeks before a presentation she had willingly chosen to do. It was on a hobby topic of hers, to be delivered to a friend’s Wellness group at work. The stakes were low, but the knot in her stomach was still there. “The slides don’t matter, just put anything down, start somewhere and you can change them,” she told herself. But nothing was working.
She’d thought a lot about this knot. “I know this is a perfectionist tendency and I’m putting silly pressure on myself to produce something incredible. But if I start, it could be mediocre.” So she didn’t want to start.
In a traditional coaching conversation, we might look at this perfectionism and brainstorm some approaches to take. We could make a practical plan of action. This might be working when she’s most focussed, collaborating or asking for support, limiting the number of slides or trying other productivity tools. But it seemed she’d exhausted most of these avenues already and was still at a loss.
Let’s invite the Body into the Conversation
I asked if she’d like to try a technique that I love to use with clients. It’s called an Outcome Constellation. (Constellations are an embodied practice that unlocks our natural, systemic intelligence and yield surprisingly new insight into different situations).
A Constellation is where you write down on bits of paper (or ‘markers’) a representation of aspects of an internal issue. You then place them intuitively on the floor and stand on them and ‘sense into’ what you are noticing. An Outcome Constellation is a form of this exercise to help you understand why you might be being blocked from reaching a desired outcome.
We wrote Desired Outcome on one piece of paper:
“Feeling in flow with the project, a sense of calm and quiet in my head, and even having fun with it. Easily making connections, bursting with ideas and feeling excited. Ultimately having a sense of lightness.”
We also wrote on separate strips of paper:
● Me Now – what she felt in this present moment.
● Resources – her creativity and ideas, her focus and knowledge of the subject.
● Blocker – whatever it was that was blocking her, which she’ll explore as we go.
“Ok, lay these markers out on the floor, without over-thinking it. Let the body lead in placing them down,” I gently instructed.
This is what she noticed. “The Blocker is sitting between Me Now and Desired Outcome, and Resources is pretty much on top of Desired Outcome.” She knows she has the capability/drive/ideas, but this annoying Blocker is in the way. The markers were also close together and linear. “It all needs to be step by step. If there’s too much distance or space, I’m worried about being confused or forgetting,” she told me.
Just the intuitive positioning of these markers was already telling her something.
Sensing into the Markers
“So, where do you have an impulse to move to?” I asked.
She stood on Me Now. “I feel hopeful,” she said, her open palms facing out. “A feeling of abundance.” Her legs were strong and rooted and she was leaning forward. I noted the sway in her body. “There’s something holding me back and my feet are stuck,” she said.
Looking down she saw how white the tips of her big toes were. This was her embodied “Ah, Ha!” moment. She looked up, her eyes darting around. Her memory went to an Outdoor Adventure Obstacle Course she had done over the summer. There was a high ledge that she had to jump off, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
It suddenly felt resonantly symbolic. Her memory, her body, her lived experience. It was all connecting. As she stared down again at her toes desperately gripping the floor, she realised there’s this part of her that doesn’t want to move forward. “It’s protective, rather than fearful,” she explained.
I asked what the toes might need to hear. “You can trust yourself,” she told me. Next, she practiced stepping forward easily, instead of pushing herself. She jumped forward and instantly threw her hands in the air and let out a ‘whoop’ of excitement.
“Of course, of course, I wish I had just taken the jump at that Outdoor Obstacle course. I know nothing bad would have happened!”
Taking the Next Step
I invited her to move where she was impulsively led. She positioned herself in the middle of the room. To her left she glanced down at the Me Now and Blocker slips of paper, and to her right there were the Desired Outcome and Resources markers on the floor.
At first, she was facing Me Now, but immediately swivelled towards Desired Outcome.
“I really want to separate the Blocker from my Desired Outcome. To stand in no man’s land in between,” as she put it. “I know I can get there. I’m in between because I am aware of my blockers.”
Connecting the Dots — Holistically
After the exercise she realised how exhausted she was, even with a headache coming on, but also with a sense of something moving. Spotting and then relaxing her big toes was a mirror of
how she needed to metaphorically release the grip which was blocking her ability to move forward.
This was allowing her to connect multiple parts of her:
● Physical: gripped toes
● Embodied Memory: obstacle course jump
● Emotional: regret not jumping
● Belief: “I can trust myself.”
Now all she needed to do was to transfer the felt sensation of these anxious procrastinating “Don’t jump!” moments into an ongoing work project. This was releasing and felt hopeful.
Integration after the Session
She decided not to spend her Saturday at her laptop working away at her slides. Instead, she took a long walk instead, actively thinking about releasing the grip of those tired big toes. She then felt the urge to dictate ideas for the structure of the presentation. She’d found a light and playful route in. She had turned her back on her Blocker and moved into her Desired Outcome.
On Monday she sat down to the slides, and to her surprise… no knot! “I reminded myself to take things step by step,” mirroring what was mapped on the floor. “I made a mini action followed by another mini action. No thinking ahead. That’s what always got me stuck, the beautiful design of the slides. The big, impressive end goal, what people are going to think. I got way ahead of myself.”
Whenever she felt these thoughts come up, she would actively release her toes and rock from heel to toe, bouncing slightly, reminding her body of a feeling of lightness and movement. No hard gripping. Bringing it back to the body, the Now.
And what of the presentation? Two weeks later, succinct and pain-free slides in tow, she enjoyed sharing her knowledge with the group and realised how much more ‘in her body’ she was during the talk. Less grip, more flow and a surge of relief and joy.
Want to experience this yourself? Then, why not…
Somatic Coaching, Awaken the Wisdom Within
Sarah Yearsley
Bowen Therapist and Somatic Coach
e: sarah@somatic-coach.org
m: 07710 329 449