Finding the Wisdom Within: My Journey to Somatic Coaching

I’ve always been curious about people—the way we move through the world, the stories we tell ourselves, the patterns we repeat even when we swear we won’t. More than that, I’ve always believed that people already have the answers they’re looking for. Not in some far-off, abstract way, but right here, within them.

I didn’t always know how to articulate that belief. But I felt it. And it was my own journey—especially through sobriety—that showed me how true it really is.

The Moment I Knew Something Had to Change

There was a time when I thought the answers I was looking for were somewhere outside of me. In the right book, the right relationship, the right job. Maybe if I could just be more disciplined, more successful, more something, I’d finally feel okay.

But the more I chased those external markers, the further away I felt from myself. My body was speaking to me in ways I didn’t yet understand—tightness in my chest, a racing heart, a stomach that twisted in knots at the thought of slowing down. Instead of listening, I pushed through, ignoring the signals until they became unbearable.

The moment I knew something had to change wasn’t dramatic. It wasn’t rock bottom in the way movies portray it. It was a quiet, almost imperceptible realization:

I can’t do this anymore. And beneath that, a deeper whisper: There has to be another way.

When My Mind Couldn’t Be Trusted

Early in sobriety, I was faced with an important decision. One of those moments where I felt like whatever choice I made could change the trajectory of my life. I wanted to make the right decision, but I didn’t know what that was.

I did everything I had been taught—I made a pros and cons list. I asked for advice. I prayed. The 12 steps suggested turning to a higher power, but I found myself stuck on one question: How would I even know what the right answer was?

I had learned something crucial in those early days of sobriety: I couldn’t yet trust my thoughts. My mind had led me in circles for years. So if my head couldn’t guide me, what could?
That’s when, almost instinctively, I turned to my body.

Sobriety wasn’t just about putting down the drink afterall. It was about learning to be in my body—learning to feel everything without numbing, without running.

Learning to Listen to the Body

So in that moment of indecision, I sat still. I stopped thinking and just noticed.

When I brought to mind one choice, it made my chest feel tight, my breath shallow. My stomach clenched, as if bracing for something. The other option—though still uncertain—brought an unexpected feeling. My breath softened just a little—barely perceptibly. My body settled, just a little.

It wasn’t a lightning bolt moment.

No voice from the heavens confirming my decision. But it was clarity. The kind I hadn’t been able to access before.

12-step literature describes this exact experience: learning to lean into the innermost self. They called it an “unsuspected inner resource.” And for me, that resource was the wisdom of my body.

The Body Knows

That moment changed everything. It showed me that wisdom isn’t just intellectual—it’s physical, emotional, sensory. My body had been speaking to me all along, but I had spent years literally drowning it out.

The more I leaned into that awareness, the more I saw how my body had been guiding me all along. It was never about figuring things out in my head—it was about sensing, noticing, allowing.

This realization—this deep trust in the body’s wisdom—is what led me to somatic coaching. I knew that if I could learn to listen to my body and find clarity, then others could too.

As a coach, I don’t give people answers. I don’t tell them what they should do. Because they already know. They are already whole. They are, as the Buddhist story goes, the Golden Buddha—already radiant, already wise, just waiting to be uncovered.

My role is simply to help them tap into that wisdom—to act as a guide to the path back to themselves.

We do this through breath, through movement, through noticing what’s happening right now instead of getting lost in the past or the future.

The Next Right Step

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the body never lies. It holds our fears, our joys, our longings. It also holds the way forward. The more we listen, the clearer that path becomes.
So whether you’re at a crossroads, feeling stuck, or just wondering what’s next, know this: The wisdom you seek is already within you. Your body knows.

You just have to listen.

We do this through breath, through movement, through noticing what’s happening right now instead of getting lost in the past or the future.