The Art of Somatic Coaching: Embodying Skillful Action, Wisdom, and Compassion

When we turn our attention to the life of our body we’re cultivating a Somatic Awareness and at the same time we’re strengthening our attention. The attention is like a muscle in that it can be trained. Just like going to a gym and doing repetitions with barbells with a certain muscle group to make it stronger, we can make the attention stronger by

When we’re at a distance from our bodies we become confused about how to live our lives. This leads to fear, which produces violence, inequitable rights, and self-isolation. The distance we live from our body is the distance we live from our self, from our emotional reality.

Beneath the clever wit and trendy moves there’s a nagging doubt about who they are; they harbor a suspicion they’ll be found out. They’re afraid of the shadow that lurks beneath appearances and they work hard at keeping it out of sight. There’s an underlying shame about the limits they may find in themselves. Working through their body they begin t

The nature of our life energy, however, is to circulate in an unbroken cycle of forming and reforming; it’s life’s impulse to continuously move through the cycles of birth, growth, fruition, completion, and renewal. In counterpoint, the culture shuts this energy down through an egregious disregard for the wisdom of the body. Our institutions have f

who is it they are becoming; and fourth, is there alignment of who they are in present time and what they’re becoming, their vision of their life, the practices in which they’re presently engaged? That is, is the competency, capacity, and commitment present to bring their becoming to fruition? Or, are they simply being driven by a hope, desire,

Over the course of his work Geoffrey began to see that the question wasn’t “why” is something the way it is, but “how” is it the way it is? When we see how something is constructed we can see what it has served, but more importantly we can see how to dismantle it if we so choose. The how perspective gave him much more power in observing himself and

In aikido we call this zanshin, which roughly translates “what is happening between the techniques.”

When our awkwardness (a sure sign of learning), resistance, and impatience to learning arise we’re coached to see how this reaction is historically embodied. Becoming aware of the frustration that can accompany the learning process allows us to more easily deal with our shame, embarrassment, or striving as we travel this new ground. We’re encourage

Stepping into our body can quickly reveal a deeply ingrained fear of uncertainty, the resistance to letting go to something larger than our self.