There is increasing conversation in the online business world about nervous system regulation, and you might be thinking about becoming a nervous system coach. Or, perhaps you are looking to find a nervous system coach!
In either case, let’s discuss at length what nervous system regulation is, why somatic coaching has become so popular, how you can find your own somatic coach and how you can become a nervous system coach.
How To Find And Become A Nervous System Coach
Before we dive into discussing our nervous systems, survival mechanisms and how our physical reactions affect us mentally and emotionally, let’s define nervous system coaching.
What Is A Nervous System Coach?
A nervous system coach, or somatic coach, is a professional who specializes in helping individuals regulate and optimize their nervous system function. They use different techniques to assist clients in managing stress, improving emotional regulation, and enhancing overall well-being.
They empower clients to cultivate resilience and achieve greater balance in their lives, promoting mental and physical health.
Mind and Body Awareness
One differentiator in a nervous system coach versus another type of life coach or mindset coach is the mind/body aspects. A somatic coach is a type of life coach who focuses on helping the client achieve mind and body awareness.
The more you increase your awareness of how you physically react to triggers, the more you can consciously navigate through life rather than experiencing impulsive survival responses.
Somatic coaching is a holistic approach to personal development that integrates body-centered practices with traditional coaching techniques. It focuses on how when we connect our body, minds and emotions we become more deeply aware and are better able to grow and heal.
Survival Responses
Part of what this mind and body approach helps with is identifying what’s going on with your nervous system’s responses to stress – which can also be called survival responses.
Your sympathetic nervous system is best known for its role in responding to dangerous or stressful situations. The survival response refers to the body’s natural ability to react to perceived threats or danger, triggering physiological changes aimed at ensuring our personal survival. Somatic coaching helps individuals understand how their survival responses may manifest as patterns of tension, or dissociation. By becoming aware of these patterns, we can learn to regulate their responses more effectively and cultivate a greater sense of safety and resilience.
Flight Response
The flight response is one of our body’s primal survival instincts and stress responses, characterized by the urge to escape or avoid perceived threats. In somatic coaching, the flight response is explored in relation to patterns of avoidance, disconnection, or seeking external validation. By bringing awareness to these tendencies and exploring their underlying causes, we can develop healthier coping mechanisms and better engage with life.
Autonomic Nervous System
The autonomic nervous system or ANS regulates involuntary bodily functions such as heart rate, digestion, and respiratory rate. It has two main branches: the sympathetic nervous system (responsible for the body’s fight or flight response) and the parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for rest and relaxation). Somatic coaching balances the autonomic nervous system by supporting our active responses and resting nerves.
Nervous System Regulation
Okay, now that we know we are often victims of our own nervous system, how can we become more ware of that? The more power we have over our reactions to life, the more power we will have in our own lives and the lives of our clients.
Somatic coaching often involves understanding and working with the nervous system, which plays a central role in regulating our body’s response to stress and trauma. By learning to recognize and regulate the nervous system’s responses, we can better manage our emotions, reactions, and overall well-being. This involves practices such as breathwork, mindfulness, and body scans to promote relaxation and balance within nervous system work.
Read this for more about nervous system regulation.
So, now that you understand how the nervous system and trauma might affect mindset, let’s connect the dots to somatics and your mental health.
Somatic Techniques and Mental Health
What are somatics? Somatics is the exploration of the first hand experience of the Brain and Nervous System through movement.
The latest neuroscience is starting to point towards a somatic approach as a crucial part of personal and professional development.
Somatic coaching employs uses lots of different techniques that directly engage the body to release tension, trauma, and emotional blockages. These techniques include movement based practices like yoga, tai chi, or dance, as well as hands-on modalities such as massage, bodywork, and somatic experiencing. By reconnecting with the sensations and experiences stored in the body, individuals can access deeper levels of insight and healing.
Somatic techniques help us to deal with life on life’s terms. Instead of reacting we can internalize our desire to act out and learn how to thoughtfully respond to life instead, both physically and mentally.
Somatic techniques can be used to alleviate many of life’s physical and emotional ailments, including:
- General feelings of stress
- Unease from a difficult family life
- Chronic stress from a job
- Panic attacks
- Depression and anxiety
- Chronic pain made worse by stress and tension
- Moving through past experiences
- Healing unhealed trauma
The Impact On Physical Health
Somatic exercises are meant to alleviate somatic pain. The other good news is the effect of less stress on everyday life cannot be overstated. We will explore how deeply nervous system regulation affects us mentally, emotionally and so professionally. However balanced nervous system states have a profound effect on our overall health and wellness. Our daily life is improved by this mind-body connection because less stress on our bodies every single day can actually lengthen our lives. It is not unknown that stress can shorten our lives.
Learn about hip release trauma for more about the impact of somatic pain and trauma release.
It is pretty standard medical advice to decrease stress. Stress can speed up our life clocks and “chilling out slows it down,” according to Yale News. Your ability to navigate through a stressful situation can make you live longer!
So how can we help ourselves to better navigate survival states in the present moment?
Suggested Somatic Exercises
Below are somatic practices that are suggested to start you on your journey to healing your body and mind with a somatic approach. These simple exercises are actually profound somatic experiences.
- Increase body awareness. By identifying tension, for example, we can start to identify a safe space.
- Resourcing. This refers to strengthening our sense of stability and safety.
- Grounding. This offers us connectedness that calms and regulates our nervous system.
- Get descriptive. The more words you can out to your feelings, the more you understand them.
- Movement. Data is easier to process in the mind when combined with movement.
These are just some ways we can begin to change the way the nervous stem feels and interprets things. Somatics uses mind-body connection to help us develop a deep rooted sense of security and safety so that we can make peaceful decisions and take calm actions.
This list above is easier said than done. Just reading it over can feel overwhelming. With so many complicated intricacies and with somatics being different and personal for each individual, guidance might be your best option to get started.
Somatic Coaching And Your Professional Career
Somatic coaching and somatic therapy can offer profound benefits in the workplace by enhancing self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and stress management. Through a focus on the mind-body connection, somatic coaching helps individuals recognize and release physical tensions and patterns that may inhibit performance or communication.
By cultivating greater bodily awareness, individuals can develop a deeper understanding of their own reactions and behaviors, leading to more effective leadership, improved decision-making, and better interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Moreover, somatic coaching techniques can contribute to a more positive work environment, fostering resilience and adaptability amidst challenges.
Somatic coaching can help you to:
- Improve your leadership skills and decisiveness
- Regain focus and motivation
- Develop trust in your team mates… or yourself!
- Increase self regulation
- Ease communication and collaboration
- Improve your ability to keep commitments
Finding A Nervous System Coach
It really is hard to find tangible tools for somatics coaching. Even with all of the blog reading and internet digging you can do, real guidance and hand holding is a safe, reliable way to progress in somatics and eventually become a better nervous system coach yourself.
Ultimately your coach should make you feel safe. Here are some tips for identifying your perfect nervous system coach.
Find someone who makes you feel comfortable. If you can’t be honest and communicate with your coach, it will be hard to grow.
Find someone who energetically feels good to you. Trust your intuition and make sure you vibe with your coach.
Find someone who has similar goals to your own. Maybe they are in the same niche or same spiritual view as you.
Find someone who has experience. Interview your potential coach to make sure they have the experience necessary to confidently guide you.
Find someone with certifications. With so many educational opportunities out there, find a services provider with the ability to be competitive.
Find someone who helps you grow. Perhaps you just need a different kind of coach after experiencing one for a while. Do not be afraid to explore. You can measure your progress and level of healing at any time.
Become A Nervous System Coach
Perhaps on your healing journey you have decided you want to help others find connectedness between their mind and body in order to heal from trauma and move better through the stresses of life and survival instincts. These tools will make you a better somatics coach:
Personal experience navigating through your own body-mind connections is going to make you the best nervous system coach you can be.
Your own coach will show you how it feels emotionally to be guided and give you better tools for holding a client’s hand.
Get a certification. There are many different certification programs available. The certification program you choose may vary in hours. Do your due diligence. Research all programs in detail and interview past students if possible to make sure you are moving through legitimate course content.
Available Nervous System Coach Certifications
Co-Active Training Institute is a well respected holistic coaching program that integrates body checks and paying attention to client body movement like posture, tone, energy, facial expressions, and gestures. Training is globally accessible through a network of partners for in-person or online training. Their purpose is to help people become more aware of their impact in the world, so they experience life in responsible relationship to it.
The Somatic School offers a body-and-mind-as-one approach to coaching. This accredited coaching program has a powerful body-mind oriented framework.
The Somatic Coaching Academy offers a Somatic Coaching Certification Program. It teaches you to detect the most subtle cues in your client as if reading their mind.
These are just a few of the many legitimate resources you can find for becoming a nervous system coach.
A Note About The Neurofit App
Neurofit App is a neuroscience-based wellness app.
It provides opportunities for finding a somatic coach or becoming a nervous system coach.
Neurofit App Membership Details
Neurofit app offers a comprehensive nervous system fitness experience, integrating the Neurofit Learn library, providing users with diverse workout routines tailored to individual needs and preferences. New customers can enjoy a free 3-day trial period to explore the app’s features before committing. Upon subscription, users are prompted to provide credit card information, with the purchase date marking the beginning of their membership.
Active members benefit from regular updates and support, ensuring an engaging neuro-fitness journey. Those with an active subscription can access the Neurofit Learn library and utilize the full range of features. In case of an early cancellation, users may be entitled to a refund for the unused portion of the term, subject to the app’s full terms. Subscription expiration prompts users to renew their membership, particularly for quarterly subscription users seeking uninterrupted access to Neurofit’s benefits.
Nervous System Regulation For A Balanced Life
It’s evident that nervous system coaching plays a crucial role in optimizing both mental and physical well-being. By understanding and regulating our nervous system responses, we can better manage stress, improve resilience, and enhance overall quality of life.
Nervous system coaching offers valuable tools for navigating your challenges with greater ease and balance.
Experiencing somatic work will not only make you a better human, but it will teach you how to be a nervous system coach yourself.
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