A Mind and Body Approach to Career Coaching

Why Somatic Work Might Be the Missing Piece

Are you feeling stuck or anxious in your current career and unsure of what your next move should be, or how to even get there? Perhaps you’ve tried therapy or traditional career coaching to help you figure this out, but you’re still stuck where you are and unsure of your next move.

This might be because you’ve tried to logically figure things out by thinking through options in your head, but have paid less attention to what your body and nervous system are trying to tell you when it comes to your career.

Somatic, body-based career coaching uses the full wisdom of both your mind and your body — and in fact, we lead with your body. By closing your eyes, moving your body, honing in on the sensations present, and truly paying attention to what is happening in your body and nervous system, we can start to gauge what we actually want. From there, the natural next steps begin to emerge.

Once our nervous system has been calmed and we’ve listened to the cues of our body as well as our mind, clarity becomes much more accessible.

Learn more about Somatic coaching here

My Own Career Turning Point

I spent 10 years in management at Apple, and for a lot of that time I loved it. But there was no doubt that by the end I had grown out of my role and was beginning to feel stuck.

When I thought about leaving, I was scared to make the next move and focus on something I felt truly passionate about. Of course, it was a terrific, well-paid job with arguably the most successful company in the world. And although I knew what I wanted to do — I had trained as a somatic body-based coach over the past few years — it didn’t feel logical.

Who would leave such a respected, well-paid job to enter a relatively unknown (albeit growing) field? I just couldn’t risk it.

But when I shifted into my body and quieted the thoughts in my head, and truly listened to the heaviness in my belly, my tight shoulders, and the emotions beneath them, something changed. What emerged was a deep knowing. I couldn’t stay where I was in my corporate job, and I truly wanted to contribute in other ways.

Letting the Body Lead

Having already trained, I had the qualifications. Over the next few weeks, I continued to work with my body to reach a place where I truly knew what I wanted to do. The natural next steps also emerged from this deep, body-based inquiry.

Eventually, I was able to switch my career and make the move that I had been resisting for so long. I truly don’t think I would have been able to do this if I’d continued to look at everything from a purely cognitive approach, as I had been trying to do.

Now, I can honestly say that I do a job I truly love.

Could Somatic Coaching Help You Too?

If you’re feeling stuck in your career — or in any other part of your life — somatic coaching might be the missing piece.

Please do reach out to book or try a taster session and see how tapping into your body can help you become unstuck, gain clarity, and create success going forward.

About Me

I’m Christina Shakelian, a Somatic Coach certified by the School of Embodied Arts and member of the Association of Coaching and Institute of Complementary Therapies.

I combined body-focused, somatic coaching with over 10 years of corporate coaching experience at Apple. When we combine body- first, embodied methods with structured coaching sessions, we can release stored emotions, tensions and traumas from the body and reach a deep inner knowing by connecting to the body’s wisdom, reaching our goals with more ease and pleasure.