...and how it can completely change your life
Introduction: I am a super analyst...and that is both my greatest skill and my biggest problem.
A few days ago I was at a neuropsychiatrist and she was asking me questions about the history of my awareness of myself and the world in order to be able to offer me the appropriate cognitive tests for the answers I was looking for (more on this subject soon).
Her questions reminded me how much I start from an analytical and intellectual place. I grew up dissociating myself from the feelings and emotions of others and my own because my system then experienced it as both invasive and incomprehensible. I spontaneously became an expert at observing and intuitively understanding the systems around me, because I have always needed to quickly understand why things work the way they do, and I still have a lot of pleasure in understanding how the interactions that make up the human world work.
The downside is that the more time has passed, the more my immediate consciousness has become dissociated from the information coming from my entire body (extroception and interoception* in particular) and their effect on me in terms of energy consumption, attention and mood. For example, it took me almost twenty years to integrate that an environment like a subway car with bright artificial lights, metallic noises in all directions and a large number of strangers regularly moving very close to me was exhausting for my nervous system and that it put me in a state of impatience and high nervousness for several hours.
The last decade has been a great movement for me of returning to the "rest of the body" and reconnecting with my physiological system and my nervous system. Through many practices such as dance, yoga, martial arts, conscious breathing, some forms of holistic therapies from various backgrounds, many readings, conversations and trainings, I have gradually reintegrated the stimuli of my whole body into the equation of my present consciousness. And my entire experience of being human has transformed. My desires, my goals and what I like to experience has become more conscious, more aligned with all that I am, more patient, more open, more satisfying and profound than ever before.
We and Descartes
Most of the French people I know are among the most intellectual people in my social circles. Culturally, the country of Descartes has long valued intellectual reflection and understanding above all other forms of human experience, and it is common for us that "being right" or only practice something that first makes logical sense is felt better than to try out pragmatic solutions if they have not first been validated theoretically. Yet, much contemporary research in psychology and neuroscience tends to show that intellectually understanding where we come from and why we want what we want is not necessarily of great help in achieving our goals or changing a situation in which discomfort dominates. To give an example: it is not because after twenty sessions of psychoanalysis I have perfectly understood why I have an early childhood trauma around abandonment that my system has gotten rid of my visceral attachment reactions and that these no longer generate tensions in my current relationships. There is a link missing in the chain for the structural change to take place in itself... does that ring a bell?
What if you too were disconnected from a part of yourself?
Somatic coaching is an approach that seems almost counterintuitive to very analytical minds. And if my story resonates with you, you know how trapped you can be in your own head, dissociated from the feelings that run through your body.
Recently, I realized how much my body awareness had been neglected, while I lived almost exclusively in my brain. This “return to the body” changed my life. Today, I invite you to discover why and how somatic coaching can also transform the way you understand yourself, act and experience existence.
1. The trap of hyper-cognition: understanding everything, but feeling nothing
You may have grown up honing your ability to analyze, explain, and understand. Your intelligence, your logical mind, your ability to grasp complex systems define you. And that's great...to a point.
The downside? By living in your head, you've been able to disconnect from what your body is telling you. Maybe, like me, it took you years to understand why certain environments or situations left you exhausted, stressed, or angry for no apparent reason.
Why is this mode of operation problematic?
• You ignore essential signals – like fatigue or stress – until they become unmanageable.
• You intellectualize your emotional blockages instead of feeling them in order to transform them.
• During important transitions, whether personal or professional, you come up against decisions that your mind alone cannot resolve.
This is precisely where the work in somatic coaching begins: recognizing that your head, however brilliant it may be, cannot solve everything on its own.
2. Somatic Coaching: An Approach to Aligning Your Brain and Body
Somatic coaching , contrary to what you might think, is not a mystical practice. It is a rigorous method that integrates your entire being – thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations – to help you move forward. What distinguishes it from traditional coaching approaches is its inclusion of the body in the transformation process.
Concretely, how does it work?
• Where are you starting from? Your coach helps you identify how your present experience manifests itself, consciously and unconsciously.
• Where do you want to go? We clarify your goals while taking into account their resonance with your values, your emotions and your physical sensations.
• What is blocking you? Your limiting beliefs are often rooted in body patterns that somatic coaching helps you to perceive, and "seeing is transforming".
• How to move forward? Through simple intentional practices, such as conscious breathing and observing sensations, you find a deeper connection between your rational awareness and the rest of your bodily experience.
This process allows you to realign with who you truly are, in the present moment, and act from that space.
3. Why your body must participate in your life transitions
Changing careers, moving up the ranks, going through a breakup, or even embracing a new opportunity: These transitions aren’t just about logic. They’re about who you are as a whole.
But if you ignore what your body is telling you, you may feel stuck or move in a direction that doesn't feel right for you.
Somatic coaching allows you to:
• Identify bodily tensions that sabotage your efforts.
• Fully feel your choices instead of getting lost in endless analysis.
• Return to what really matters to you: your values, your desires, what resonates with your whole being.
A somatic coach acts like a mirror: helping you observe what your body is saying about your emotions and desires, often with a clarity that your mind alone cannot achieve.
4. The concrete benefits of somatic coaching to reduce stress
Why should you, with your sharp mind, explore a body approach? Because that is precisely your blind spot. Here is what somatic coaching can bring you:
• Mental clarity: When your body calms down, your mind becomes more focused and efficient.
• Better emotional management: You learn to welcome your emotions instead of running away from them or over-analyzing them.
• Stress reduction: Somatic practices release physical tension and allow your nervous system to regulate itself.
• Global alignment: When your feelings, emotions, thoughts and values align, you become more authentic and more serene.
This alignment, called congruence, transforms the way you live and interact with the world.
5. Somatic Coaching: Responding to Skeptics’ Objections
Maybe you're thinking, "That's not for me." I've often thought that about approaches that seemed too simple or too abstract to be profound and effective. And I ask you a question: Was your mind alone really enough to solve all your impasses?
Some preconceived ideas to overcome:
• “It’s too abstract.” Wrong. Somatic coaching is ultra-concrete: you listen to your body, you observe its signals and you act on them.
• “I don’t have time.” In reality, slowing down a little can help you make clearer and more effective decisions.
• “I think very well on my own.” Perhaps, but some transformations require more than intellect: they require feeling.
Somatic coaching is not there to challenge your intelligence. It is there to complement it.
Finding a global awareness of the body, to move forward in depth
Thinking won't get you where you want to go if you ignore what your body is trying to tell you. Life transitions aren't something you go through with your head alone. They require a commitment from your whole being.
Somatic coaching invites you to rediscover what you feel, what you are, and what you want to experience. So, ready to take the first step? Your body may already have the answers you are looking for.
Want to know more? Book a contact call
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*• Interoception refers to the awareness of internal sensations within your body, such as your heartbeat, hunger, breathing, or tension in your muscles. It helps you understand your internal physical state and is closely linked to emotional regulation and well-being.
• Exteroception refers to the awareness of external stimuli coming from your environment, such as sights, sounds, smells, textures, or temperature. It allows you to interact with the world around you through your five senses.
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