Transcript

Ani
Hi and welcome to the Somatic Coaching Academy podcast. We are on episode 130 today. Good morning, Brian.

Brian
Good morning, Ani.

Ani
How are you?

Brian
I’m doing great and you?

Ani
Very good. Good. Enjoying the sunshine, are you? Yep. Nice savoring in the springtime.

Brian
Cool. Well, here we are for another installment in our series Insider Information.

Ani
There needs to be some kind of music.

Brian
Yeah, I was doing the same thing. I don’t know what it would be

Ani
just like, like I, I can’t even think of a show but like a

Brian
detector, like feel like. Yeah, like a reveal show, something like that.

Ani
Well, we’ll just kind of come up with something and be able to sing it next time because.

Brian
Yeah, yeah, we’ll come up with something better. Okay, so for. In this little series of, of episodes that we’re doing on Insider Information, what we’re doing is giving you an inside peek, an inside look at what’s happening in a current program that we’re running at the Somatic Coaching Academy or one that just wrapped or just finished maybe do that. I’m not even going to try to wrap.

Ani
And one of the reasons that we do this is because people say when they’re inside of the program. I wish I had known that this was what it was like inside the program. Yes. So we’re trying to show you, trying

Brian
to give you an idea what happens inside, inside the programs, actually. So this, on this time we’re talking about Somatic Practice Essentials where people earn a core centering practitioner certification. And it’s the level one. It’s the first step in our Somatic Coach training process or program or series or method sort of thing. Okay, so what happens inside of this program? Inside of the Somatic Practice Essentials program? I’m going to give it just a quick overview of the program and then we’re going to read to you. We asked either people that were currently in the current flight that was just happening in February or recent graduates from the program. We asked them two Questions about the program that. And we’re going to share those with you. So what happens inside this program? Well, course centering. You’ve heard us talk a lot about it in past podcasts, I’m sure. It’s the program where we really focus on nervous system balancing and regulation and

Ani
being able to teach other people how to do that.

Brian
Yes. Yeah.

Ani
Because it’s a certification program.

Brian
Correct.

Ani
I mean, people come and take it because they want to take it for themselves all the time. But also there’s a focus on being able to really turn key, being able to take those and work with clients.

Brian
Yeah, yeah. It’s a big part of it, being able to turn around and share. Share the love, if you will, to help other people learn how to regulate their nervous systems. So there’s a pretty big component of physiology as a part of the program,

Ani
which is love, by the way. I mean, if you like Brian’s science nuggets on the podcast, that is one of the things that people tell me all the time that they love so much about this program. It’s all the science.

Brian
Yeah, it’s so much fun. It really helps to reveal why we’re doing the things that we’re doing. And I think in a lot of ways it gives people permission to. It helps to normalize these practices because then they have a scientific understanding of physiologically the benefits that it has for them.

Ani
It has, yeah, it has kind of two big benefits. One is, oh, now I understand why it works. But the other thing is now I can articulate to other people why it works. You know, most of the people who are hanging around listeners is probably you too are like holistic people. We do stuff, like stuff in the holistic kind of space. And they’re isn’t a lot about the science behind it. I mean, there’s some people talk about the brain science, but I think that physiology component about the physiology is really what people love so much.

Brian
Yeah. So the physiology we touch upon in the program is we talk about stress physiology and the relaxation response physiology. We talk about the vagus nerve physiology. We talk about meridians and we talk about the physiology of self massage, mindful movement, breath practices and meditation. We wrap all that together into teaching students to practice and employ all four elements. Of course centering and especially the secret sauce. Of course centering, which. It’s a secret sauce. You gotta get into the program and understand why it’s secret sauce. And the way that we lay it out, there’s a kind of physiologically based method of why we do it. The way we do it because it’s

Ani
not just about doing gentle movements, self massage and meditation, breath work and all that stuff. It’s about doing it in a certain way that unlocks the physiology to be able to have the responses.

Brian
Yes, exactly.

Ani
That’s what people learn during course.

Brian
That’s what learned during the program. Yeah, we do breakout practices during the program so that students can go into the rooms with breakout rooms with each other and practice the practices. I guess practice the methods, get feedback from one another. It’s always very collegial and it’s the thing that people, when we get feedback from the program is one of the things they enjoy the most about the program.

Ani
Really? Yeah. I think that’s pretty cool because, you know, some people get really nervous. I do do sometimes about those things. So I think that’s really neat.

Brian
Well, it’s funny because when I say we’re gonna do breakouts, people get nervous and then when they come back from it, they say, that was amazing. Oh my God, can we do it again? It’s really, it’s predictably every time people are like, oh my God, what’s gonna happen? And we set them up in there and they come back and they just had a great time and they just wanna keep going back and doing those again.

Ani
Part of the reason for that is because the practices are great. Like when people get nervous, oh, could I leave a class, lead a class? Oh, could I do this with my clients? You know, you kind of can’t screw it up because the, the practices in the way that you teach people how to, to do it in a certain way just are. They feel so nice. Yeah, yeah, it feels great to not have a good time.

Brian
Exactly. And then the other thing that we do as a part of the pro, so the kind of the delivery of the program, it starts off with a two day intensive where we get together for two, like for two days and we go through all the practices, all the physiology. By the way, there’s a whole vault that goes along with the program also that has physiology videos in it that a lot of people watch even before coming to the two day intensive. So they feel like they’re already prepared and ready to jump in. And then what we do for four weeks following that two day intensive, we do a weekly practice session where we get back together and I lead a class and oftentimes I ask the students, what would you love to have a class in? What are your really your questions about? So this, the flight we just did in February, the February group, they wanted to know, well, what about a core centering practice for waking up during the day or in the morning? So we did a course entering wake up practice. Then they wanted to know, what about a course entering practice for helping me fall asleep at night.

Brian
So we did a course entering falling asleep sleepy time practice, and we record those practices. Then we put them in another vault, or actually it’s still in that course entering vault, but where all graduates can access it also. So we kind of keep building a bank of practices that people can go back to and look at. We also did in that session, they want to know what about little quick hits. And they did little, gave me little scenarios during the day. They said, what if I’m, you know, what if I’m at work during the day and I have a hard, difficult conversation coming up? What can I do really quickly? I said, okay, so this is what you do. You step into a boardroom or step into the, you go step into the stall in the bathroom and this is what you do. And we did like a three minute course entering practice specifically to help them prepare for that conversation or meeting. We actually set it up as a before, during and after. They’re like, these are things you do before something. These are things you can do during. Like one of the students want to know, hey.

Brian
She said, I lecture and I teach a lot and if I get kind of disregard, I’m doing that. What can I do? So we walked through a simple course setting practice you could do during her lecture. And then we did an afterwards also, like, something happened, what can I do? And we made them all very quick hitting practices. That’s what they wanted to know. So that’s what we created for people. So we really try to answer people’s questions during the process and during the program and then give them resources so they can take it out there in the world in a really powerful way.

Ani
There’s tons of resources in the vault, by the way, about how to, like we said, turnkey, take this in and don’t forget about me. I do a business building bonus as a part of this program that we have grads come back to over and over again, where we talk about our client connection model, which is the method that we use to help attract clients. And one of the things I really always appreciate about it is we always have really experienced practitioners as a part of our program. People are already therapists and coaches and working on their own or people who are leaving their jobs and want to start their own thing. But especially for the people who have already, you know, Heard information about how to get clients before. They always really appreciate our relationship based model and how easy it is, especially when they use course centering.

Brian
Yeah. So let’s share some of the insider information from some of the students who just finished in this past February or the flight before that. Happened in the November before that. So this is from the last kind of two flights.

Ani
What questions did you ask them?

Brian
The two questions I asked was, what was the thing that you enjoyed the most about core centering? Or were the things that you were excited about the most? And then the second question was, what do people who did not choose to join the program need to know?

Ani
Oh, okay. I like that.

Brian
Right. So those are the two things. So first question. So Sarah Baldwin, who’s a recent graduate, said for that first one, she said, I really appreciated how grounded and real the group space feels. There’s something powerful about learning somatic tools by actually practicing them together. Slowing down, noticing what’s happening in your body and sharing that process with others. That’s what Sarah enjoyed most about the program.

Ani
Cool. I was just looking at Adele’s and what she liked most about the program because she said she liked the breakout room sessions. I thought that was fun.

Brian
Yeah, you want to share that?

Ani
Exactly what you said. I loved the practice and the breakout room sessions, you know, exclamation point. It was fun and effective. But she did say that her favorite thing was learning with the community. And I think that’s one of the things that’s really hard to articulate about what’s in the program before you get in the program is the community here in the classes in any of our programs have these like, mature, professional, open, curious, consciously minded, caring human beings in them that are just like people say all the time, the community that I have been looking for that I couldn’t find. So Adele speaks to that and she was saying that she had a profound breakout room moment where she was guided through something that she still thinks about a year later. So there you go.

Brian
And she was. She was guided through one of the practices that she learned as a part of the program. Right. So that was really cool. Yeah, exactly. I just want to circle back to Sarah really quick. So Sarah said, you know, for. For someone who didn’t decide to do it yet or haven’t decided to do it yet, they’d be missing the chance to experience regulation from the inside out. She said it’s one thing to learn about the nervous system intellectually, but it’s completely different to feel it shift in real time and build skills you can actually use in your daily life.

Ani
So Adele talks about tools, but she also talks about this idea that everything we want to create in life begins when we bring balance to our system.

Brian
Yes.

Ani
And now Adele is also a graduate of all of the programs, so she’s really seen the continuation of the work

Brian
right at that level one, gone all the way through to level three.

Ani
Right, right. So she really now understands some of the most advanced stuff that we’re teaching here and seeing how it really starts with bringing balance to our system. It’s like that. It’s that important. But at the end, especially when you know the most advanced level skills, because you can just go in and, like, do a few practices with people, Because I know coaches and therapists who just pull out a few, you know, tricks out of their.

Brian
Yeah. Kind of ad hoc.

Ani
Yeah. And it can feel good. I mean, hopefully nobody’s re traumatized because that can happen. But, you know, it can feel good. But then, like, how do you make it become the basis for a transformation? That somebody has to be able to make sustainable transformations? And that’s really what Adele speaking, too.

Brian
Yeah. Yeah. Well, so let’s go to Chelsea. So Chelsea said her favorite thing about the program was the way it combined the best of eastern and western thinking to yield the highly effective and practical strategies to help her find her center. And she loved that. Now she has the entire repertoire of the somatic exercises at her disposal that she can tap into anytime, anywhere. She doesn’t need special equipment. She doesn’t need a large space. She said it’s so convenient. And she literally uses these in her car when she’s stuck in traffic sometimes.

Ani
Yeah, it’s actually a really good way to use it. We wouldn’t know that because the only traffic. We get stuck behind the tractor once in a while on our Amish cart. So Chelsea has lots of things to say about if you haven’t joined the program, what you need to know. And. And Chelsea was a big fan of the science and stuff. She also, like, really had a profound personal transformation. So I’m going to point out some things that really stuck out to me, but you might see some other things, too. Chelsea wants you to know that our species is not meant to function under chronic stress. And I think one of the things that I appreciate about doing the work as a practice, doing course centering as a practice is recognizing over and over again for myself that I was having more stress than I thought I was. And we encourage our course centering teachers and practice leaders to help people to See, See, actually that they were having more stress than they thought they were. Because when we bring awareness to the fact that we’re functioning under chronic stress, it can be really, really helpful to understand so much about the problems that we’re.

Ani
All kinds of problems that we’re having in our life. So she reminds us that we’re not meant to function under chronic stress, and then goes on to say that she realized that how much harm she was inadvertently doing to herself simply by adhering to the status quo, which is what we were talking about on a podcast. Was it last time? Last week?

Brian
Yeah, last week. Yep. Which time we talk.

Ani
Yeah. So if you want to hear Brian and I get on a soapbox about that, check out last week’s podcast. But, I mean, Chelsea is a person who feels just like, renewed based on having this. I think this. This part that she says about inadvertently doing harm to myself by adhering to the status quo, like, she just didn’t know. So I vowed to appreciate, respect, and honor my biology moving forward. And I just really see that for. For her, this program taught me how to do that. And she uses her course entering tools regularly, and it is happier, healthier, and finally feeling empowered to lead the kind of life I want to lead.

Brian
Yeah. And, you know, other thing I really love about Chelsea is by training, she was an early educator.

Ani
Right.

Brian
And so she is very passionate, again, a lot about what we talked about last week about offering these types of tools to kids who need that access and also parents of kids who need that access as well. He’s kind of has a whole nonprofit charitable mission around that, which is really awesome.

Ani
I always appreciate that our students who are educators, because we’ve had a number of them, really love this program. They love all of the programs, Brian, because you do such a fantastic job to be able to really put together a program that is stimulating intellectually without being over people’s heads. It’s like, just the right amount. And it’s hard to talk sometimes about these universal principles, and you make it very practical. But it always makes me very happy when somebody has a lot of education and they take our programs and they feel really met.

Brian
Yeah.

Ani
By the programs. Because, you know, sometimes this kind of stuff, you know, not here, but when you take a. Take classes with other people, can feel a little fluffy. And so in our programs, you’re not going to feel like it’s fluffy, but you’re also not going to feel like it’s over your head, and you’re not going to feel like it’s too Much to digest. Like you’re getting a fire hose. It’s just like sitting down to a really wonderful meal. Like it’s just. It meets people’s intellect and learning and integration just the right way. Yeah, that was my thing.

Brian
That was your takeaway. Well, let’s kind of leads into what Adrian was saying for her favorite thing about the program. She said her favorite thing was learning about the science and physiology of stress and anxiety. And. And how the core centering practice is structured to help people rebalance their nervous systems effectively. And then the magic happens when we learn the practice and can see how efficient it is as well for ourselves. The physiology part is presented in such a way to be accessible to understand and also share about. When I’m giving presentations or classes, people really appreciate and enjoy learning more about it. So it kind of leads exactly what you were talking about.

Ani
Well, I really appreciate what Adrienne said about things you want to know too, about being in the program. This one, I think speaks to what I was talking about as well. Like it’s good for all levels because sometimes people will ask us, I’m already a yoga instructor. I’m already a tai chi instructor, qigong instructor. I’m already. I have a master’s in neurology, whatever those kinds of things do I have? Do I have to take this? And Adrian says that it’s great for all skill levels if someone’s just starting out, it’s a great solid foundation. And if you have a practice already, it takes you to the next level. And I’ve really, really seen this with people. She’ said, I had a meditation and breath work practice before, but I would still find myself struggling to stay focused at times with a racing mind. It’s. That is so common.

Brian
Exactly. So common.

Ani
So common. But core centering has taken my energy, movement and meditation to a whole new level. I’m able to access a balanced, grounded meditative state so much quicker. And it’s because of the secret sauce.

Brian
Yes, because the secret sauce, exactly. Love it. And then Brian, Brian Tanner says my favorite thing about the Somatic Practice Essentials program was the experience of the practice. Even while learning how to practice it with others. I know exactly how wonderful practicing course centering can feel. And I’m so rewarded by being able to impart this feeling of relief and alignment to my class participants.

Ani
And then he talks about actually doing course centering professionally, which I appreciate because we’ve put a lot of time and effort into making sure that people again have that turn key solution to be able to Take this work into their work. And he says someone who has not joined the program needs to hear that this program teaches you how. How to set themselves up to teach core Centering entirely from the practice itself, being deeply rooted in the mind, body, experience, to the business bonus. Thanks for the shout out, Brian. That allows someone to work immediately. This program is full of opportunity. I’ve also been pleasantly surprised at how many potential practice locations Respond with somebody who says, oh, my goodness, this is exactly what our members have been looking for. That’s what I’m telling you in the business bonus. Like, there are literally people waiting for you to do these practices. Thank you, Brian. That makes me so happy.

Brian
Yeah. And so it’s funny, as we were first creating core centering, this training, and this training’s six years old now.

Ani
It’s gotta be older than that, isn’t it?

Brian
Well, the. Oh, no, it’s current form at 6 years old. Obviously we were teaching these things long before this.

Ani
Right. We’ve been teaching these incarnation for like 14.

Brian
But the thing is, it’s like when we first put it in this form six years, six years ago. And then we would ask people with their barriers were taking it out in the world and they would come up with barriers. So we’d solve that solution, we’d put it in another one. They solved that solution. Right? We put that in the program. Put that program. And we’re at the point now where we have no excuses. We’ve taken away everyone’s excuses. And people will say that the last part of the two day intensive, we go through the whole vault and I walk people through there and show them all the resources they have. And people are like. I remember one student in particular was like, oh, damn it. And I said, what? She said, you took away all my excuses because now I actually have to do it. I can’t say I don’t have that or I don’t have that. You’ve actually thought of everything. And I said, yeah, well, we did that because we are tired of hearing people’s excuses about why they weren’t taking this work out into the world. So we wanted to solve every.

Brian
So I challenge you as a student coming through the program. Find a hole, find an excuse. We will solve it and give that to you. I mean, we can’t go actually out there and do it for you. So we can’t do it for you. But we’ve given you all of the tools in order to go out and do it. Turnkey. It’s a turnkey program.

Ani
Yep. Shout out To Sarah and Chelsea and Adrian and Adele and Brian, thanks so much for sharing your experience. Your voice matters. So much so that people can understand the kind of work that. That we’re doing here at Hispanic Coaching Academy, the kind of work you’re doing and the kind of impact that we can make in the world when we take these tools to people. Because that’s really what we’re about here, is helping people to be able to fully express themselves in a world that is safe enough for everybody to do that and can do that with a program like this.

Brian
And these are the people that are doing it. So if you’re inspired by these people’s voices and by their stories, I’m inspired by by their voices and their stories. If you’re inspired by them too, these are the kind of people who are inside of the Somatic Cushing Academy community, and they’re the kind of people that are waiting for you to join them, cheer you on.

Ani
Yep. Hey, thanks, Brian. That was super fun.

Brian
Thanks so much, friends, for joining us for another insider information. We’re working on it. Okay, thanks so much, everybody. See you next week.

Ani
Bye. Bye.