Question 1

What is Somatic Coaching?

Accepted Answer

"Somatic" seems like a new buzz word lately but all things related to the soma have been around for quite some time. You’ve probably heard terms like somatic awareness, somatic movement, somatic therapy, somatic practice, etc.  The word ‘somatic’ means anything of or related to the body.

Somatic Coaching is a body-centered approach to self-improvement, healing, and personal growth. It focuses on developing body awareness to explore and understand how mind and body communicate.

By engaging this connection, Somatic Coaching helps you build a deeper and more balanced relationship with yourself mentally, emotionally, and physically.  Rid yourself of unwanted habits and behaviors, thought forms, and self-talk. Understand how physical and emotional symptoms are intertwined and learn how to work constructively with your symptoms.  Somatic Coaching empowers you to develop, listen to, and rely on your intuitive knowing as a vital resource for your health, happiness, and overall well-being.

Question 2

How Can It Help Me?

Accepted Answer

If you are someone who wants to connect to your body with more presence, somatic coaching giving you tools and practices for life.

If you are someone who wishes to deepen your connection to your inner world,  and resolve self-sabotaging behaviors,  limiting beliefs and seemingly impossible obstacles to your joyful high-quality life, somatic coaching can give you a turbo boost towards an existence that resonates with you!

Presence is key to cultivating greater awareness.

Through this process, you'll become more attuned to how stress manifests in your body and develop resilience to handle stressors and triggers. You’ll gently unwind trauma and transform limiting thought patterns. This could involve shifting your mindset around mobility or gaining the confidence to achieve goals that once seemed lofty and unattainable.

The process is akin to neuromuscular repatterning. In neuromuscular repatterning, we observe movement, becoming aware of default tension patterns. We then practice new movement pathways, building new patterns that soon retrain dysfunctional patterns for long-term mobility improvement. Similarly, with psychosomatic patterns and triggers, we learn to track, unwind, and transform them through the coaching process.

Somatic awareness brings clarity to questions about your growth and healing—whether emotional, physical, spiritual, or ancestral.

You will be able to create more connection and ease in your body, regardless of your focus. You’ll feel empowered by building new habits and using tools that transform emotions, thoughts, and feelings into positive experiences.  You’ll become more centered and grounded in your responses to emotional triggers and better equipped to manage life’s stresses, minimizing their impact on your body and mind.

Somatic coaching truly offers transformative benefits for those ready to embrace its practices and enter into greater presence with their bodies.

Question 3

What Does a Somatic Coaching Session Look Like?

Accepted Answer

Breath
We always start with breath. Breath is our foundation and the vehicle we use to sink into the body.  The breathing techniques themselves vary. One technique I like to use with almost everyone I work with is called Box Breathing.  This technique is comprised of steady rhythmic breathing for a number of minutes taking 4 counts to inhale, 4 counts holding the breath in, 4 counts to exhale, and 4 counts holding the breath out.  The cadence is fast enough to feel easily attainable, but slow enough to calm the mind and the nervous system.

Movement
We also use movement or embodiment practices in every session. 
We allow the "Felt sense" to rise to the surface by tracking the subtle sensations of the movements with an inner focus.  The Felt sense -another term that you will learn more about, is precognitive bodily awareness and intuitive understanding that does not arise from our mind or thoughts.

One movement technique I employ often is called Tracing. Tracing supports and helps build interoceptive awareness (our ability to sense what subtle motions and feelings are arising in the body).  The practice starts with standing, or sitting comfortably in a chair, eyes closed.  The participant begins with a subtle, internal movement that "traces" the perimeter of their internal space.

Exploration
Other aspects of the session vary.   We dialogue about what you notice in your movements and sensations. We talk about what bubbles up from the subconscious mind as we explore the body.  There are various other techniques that we blend into a session, as we figure out what will work best for you. You can read more about some of these modalities in the next section.

Some people come with very specific issues and traumas to unpack and work through.  Others come in with a general sense of desiring deeper internal connection to the self or a multitude of other reasons.  The discovery path is equally unique for everyone, but the framework for coaching is consistent and offers real structural support as well as room for fluidity.

Is It a Formula?
We move into and build each session based on the engagements and recognitions from the former session(s). It is not formulaic. It is flexible and customized to you and your needs.

Question 4

What are the Somatic Techniques?

Accepted Answer

Like bodywork and massage, there are many paths into the body. With Kinconnxon's Somatic Coaching, I bring together a  mandala of 22 years of hands-on healing experience, training, and clinical practice, and integrate it with mindful practices that enhance interoception, proprioception and intuition.

These methods and many more, along with a rich vocabulary and framework are part of what  
you'll learn throughout the coaching process.   
You can famliarize yourself with some of this terminology in my free Somatic Vocabularly PDF download.

Somatic Exercises
An intrinsic part of this work, every coaching client who works with me receives an individualized  program made up of specific exercises, and contains video demonstration and written instruction.  The program is used as part of regular homework assigned through our work together,  and the contents of it depends on what the client is dealing with.

A program may include simple stretching, isometric stretching, ART -active release techniques, controlled articular rotations and joint facilitation, "free" movement, and/or embodiment techniques such as "Bouncing" or "Squeeze & Release".  At-home breathing practices, and guided meditation work is often also included.  There are images and PDFs to assist you in breath practices and embodiment techniques.

Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy aids in aligning the subconscious and conscious mind, to help you towards your desired goals and outcomes. Hypnosis is one of the most effective ways to bypass the critical mind when it resists and distracts us from what we most desire to achieve. It helps our minds become more receptive to change, creating new models of behavior, habits and beliefs.

Hypnotherapy clients often are able to completely transform their relationships with anxiety, fears, & phobias, as well as more easily let go of poor or undesirable habits and behaviors. It can help with the effects of trauma, and aid you in bringing it to closure by clearing the impact of trauma from the subconscious mind and thus the nervous system. In this way, hypnotherapy is a wonderful tool that can support a sense of safety from within.  Hypnotherapy is NOT the wacky world of mentalism and mental manipulation that you may see on tv.

Somatic Parts Work
Somatic Parts Work is a profound therapeutic approach that focuses on exploring and healing "parts" or aspects of the self, like characteristics of the personality.   These 'parts' are often held in the body and we track them through physical sensations, emotions, and subconscious memories. By engaging with and getting to know these various parts, we become more integrated and able to effectively care for ourselves in times of stress or duress.

Visualization and Guided Imagery 
These practices are deeply connected to the mind-body relationship, which is central to somatic coaching, as it encourages individuals to become more aware of the sensations, emotions, and unconscious patterns held within the body. Imagery is a vital aspect of our subconscious mind’s communication, while our conscious mind communicates in words and thoughts. When we apply imagery through these techniques, we invite the expansion of our awareness into areas of our lives that we are inquiring about.

Touch Therapy and Bodywork 
If proximity allows, I also offer to incorporate bodywork sessions into your coaching program.   If we are not in close range, I often guide and and incorporate self-touch techniques and practices into the program to allow you to administer self-touch safely and adeptly.