I work with leaders to enhance their agency, impact, and influence.
The root of “somatic” is ‘soma’, from Ancient Greek. It translates to “the body”. The Greeks used it to refer to the mind, body, spirit complex, the “living wholeness” of a being - the full expression of a human.
This isn’t your traditional leadership coaching. We won't be setting performance metrics or tracking achievements. This is coaching through a somatic lens. Our focus is on cultivating deeper emotional & bodily intelligence.
Why somatic coaching?
The world needs more embodied, empathetic, effective leaders.
A leader’s capacity for presence and calm, strategic decision making & communication skills - all of which impact business outcomes, team synergy, employee retention, and productivity - are all influenced by their somatic state.
What is somatic coaching?
Increasing Resilience Under Stress
Building Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
Cultivating Bodily Intelligence
Tools, Techniques, & Practices to Support a Regulated Nervous System
Why is your focus on clients in leadership roles?
A high emotional toll comes with leadership.
Financial pressures, time constraints, risk of failure, market volatility, rising interest rates, layoffs and cost saving initiatives. All of these contribute to feelings of overwhelm and uncertainty.
There’s stigma around seeking help.
81% of leaders report that they don't openly share their stress, fears, and challenges. 72% report that stress from their role impacts their mental health. Yet only 23% have sought support from a therapist or coach.
Studies show that burnout & stress lead to lower levels of complex cognitive functioning and a decrease in consideration of alternative solutions. Which in turn leads to reduced performance and job satisfaction and increased withdrawal & turnover.
4 AREAS OF FOCUS & OUtcomes
Embodied Leadership
Your body language & facial cues are unconsciously read by everyone in the room. What are you conveying? Your physical posture, listening skills, and vocal tone all directly affect your emotional state, as well as the state of those around you. An embodied leader leads by example, inspiring authenticity in the actions of their team and trust in their capacity to lead.
Outcome: Authenticity & embodiment, increased trust from others in your capacity to lead, the ability to use your body posture and vocal tone to impact & influence the room you’re in.
Somatic Literacy
Do you know the different states of your nervous system? Can you describe the unique sensations of those states? Somatics is the language of the nervous system and this is language learning - equipping you with tools to more clearly communicate your experience to yourself and others. Somatic Literacy supports clear and consistent communication with self & with others.
Outcomes: Confidence & clarity in your communication, an understanding of your nervous system states & tools to track those states, langauge to describe your internal experience and share it externally
Interoceptive Awareness
What does stress feel like to you? How does your body experience overwhelm? Interoception is noticing and interpreting the signals from within the body. Compromised interoceptive function is linked to anxiety, addiction, & major depressive disorder. Increased interoceptive awareness means the ability to flag stress before it becomes overwhelm.
Outcomes: Higher Emotional Intelligence (EQ), greater self-awareness, better boundary setting abilities
Nervous System Regulation
What happens when you get angry in the boardroom? When you feel anxious on an investor call? When one of your senior execs quits? Regulation is about having the capacity & tools to move in & out of stress with the ablility to come back to baseline with ease. A regulated nervous system supports clear, strategic, and resolution oriented thinking and resiliency
Outcomes: Increased resilience under stress, tools & techniques for nervous system regulation, more capacity for strategic problem solving, better conflict resolution skills
I’m generally a successful, high-performing leader. Do I need a coach?
We hire skilled professionals in all areas of life: to cook for us, to educate us, to manage our money - coaching is no different. Instead of food or finance, the medium of coaching is change.
The definition of a coach, via Merriam Webster, is “one who instructs, teaches, or trains”. As your coach I’m holding you accountable for the changes you want to see in your life. I’m your mirror, your thought partner, your reminder of your capacity.
What could you create in the world with that type of support?
What could you shift & change in your own life?
Will this type of coaching support both my personal development and my business & leadership goals?
The way we do one thing is the way we do all things.
How you lead at work impacts the way you engage at home and vice versa. Your capacity for presence and calm, your strategic decision making and communication skills - all of these impact your business, team, & family - and they are all connected to your somatic state.
What’s your style of coaching like?
Every coaching engagement is unique & custom to each client. Your program is designed exclusively for you. We meet weekly or bi-weekly for either 60 or 90 minutes. I work with most clients for a year. Consistency is a powerful tool when creating change. Compensation is paid in full from the start - an investment in mindful decision making, clear communication, & your capacity for bold action.
I take my work seriously and have invested hundreds of hours + tens of thousands of dollars in my own training to develop the skill, support, and service that I provide. My commitment to my growth & healing over the years is a foundational piece of my approach. I don’t have it all figured out - I’m human and ever evolving just like you. Clients describe me as a skillful facilitator, distinctly insightful, gentle yet firm, and innovative.
I ask that you commit fully to our coaching engagement, show up, do the work, and follow through with the practices. In turn, you can count on me to be honest, inquisitive, and persistent, holding you to the highest expression of yourself and your potential.
Why did you choose coaching?
For years I’ll admit I would cringe a little at the word “coach”. Growing up my experience with coaching was encountering life coaches of the “live, laugh, love” variety. As the child of a therapist, I was always a big fan of that modality of self-work (and still am).
In my late 20’s I entered into my first coaching relationship and…. over the course of that year I was supported, encouraged, challenged, and expanded in ways that created meaningful and lasting change.
Coaching is the lane I chose because I wanted to work outside of a licensed system with the freedom to use a variety of modalities that resonate with me and my clients. This has allowed me to create a unique container informed by multiple modalities, trainings, and lineages of healing.
How do I distinguish a skilled coach from an unqualified coach?
A skilled coach will be able to create new distinctions for you on a discovery call. They won’t be pitching you their services, they’ll be showing you their skillset in action from the start. They’ll ask you about your dreams, fears, and desires, meet you where you are with deep inquiry, and you’ll feel excited about what they can help you create in your life.
Who do you coach? Do I need to be in a leadership role to work with you?
I work with a range of clients, not all are executive.
I have four criteria that my clients meet:
They have a deep desire to create positive change in the world around them. They want to have an impact.
They don’t shy away from commitment or a challenge. They’re here to do the work.
They’re open to alternate points of view and changing their mind. In fact, they love seeing from a new perspective.
They’re inspiring to engage with. They bring intelligence and expertise to the table, and I get to learn from them.
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. - Viktor E. Frankl