Letting Go of Stress from the Past

Thanks to the popularity of books like The Body Keeps the Score and authors like Dr. Gabor Mate, there’s growing awareness that the body holds onto stress from our past.

But, I’ve noticed that for most people, it’s still a mystery how to actually let go of this stress.

I know it was a mystery for me.

About 10 years ago, I was part of a research team in a medical school studying employee conflict in healthcare. I could see how stress held in people’s bodies was influencing how they dealt with conflict.

People knew intellectually how to navigate conflict situations, but in the heat of the moment, stress and emotions held in the body would at times surface and prove to be quite unhelpful.

Our research was looking at how this conflict impacted patient safety, employee morale, burnout, and organizational culture. It was a problem I wanted to help address.

As part of the solution, I wanted to understand how people could let go of stress held in their bodies so it wouldn’t impact conflict situations and patient care.

In my own life, I could feel how I was inadvertently holding onto stress as well.

For example, before I’d give a presentation at a research conference or a training to healthcare providers, I would lose sleep for nights beforehand.

While I didn’t usually show my stress, I could feel it in my body. I could feel it as sleeplessness, but also as tension, my heart racing, and by the time I got home, as complete exhaustion.

Stress was impacting my health, but also my life. While stress was fueling professional achievement, it was at the same time keeping my life too safe and too small.

As time went on, I tried all sorts of things to let go of this stress.

I tried meditation, therapy, massage, breathwork, and yes, I even went to see an astrologer psychic to try and get answers. Funnily enough because I was a total skeptic, it was this last person - the astrologer psychic - who was most helpful and who encouraged me to explore somatics.

And here we are today.

Somatics has been the answer for how we can let go of old stress because it partially bypasses the mind, getting us out of our head and into the body where stress is held.

Releasing this stress is not a problem the mind alone can untangle.

Somatic coaching, in particular, is the work I was looking for a decade ago.

In my experience, somatic coaching is the most efficient way to let go of old stress while at the same time, resolving professional challenges in the present that result from that stress.

For example, if a manager is dealing with conflict on her team, that problem - while difficult - can become her catalyst for change. It can become the inroad to releasing stress held in her body while also learning new strategies to deal with conflict in the present.

In a full circle way, I now get to share somatic coaching with healthcare providers, and mid-level and senior leaders in other fields - helping them deal with conflict and other leadership challenges.

I structure all of my coaching in a series of just 6 sessions via Zoom, so it’s an opportunity for people to dip their toes into this work and see what it’s all about.

To learn more about somatic coaching, click HERE.

On a personal note, my own journey with somatics not only helped me let go of old stress to feel better, but it helped me transform that blocked energy into purpose.

If you’re on this path as well, looking to move forward without carrying stress from your past, I’d love to support you on the journey.

Schedule a free consult today.