Why is it so hard to make a significant life change? Most people fear change. We fear that if we make a change, it will be for the worse. The unknown territory is ahead of us, and our brains can’t process that on a conscious level. This is one of the reasons why we use somatic coaching – it works on a body-mind level instead of as an intellectual process.
Fear is one of the most difficult things to overcome because fear is largely a physical experience. Most people just tell you to “face your fears” or “think new thoughts.” That doesn’t work because the problem is really about how we feel – not what our mind thinks or believes.
That’s why somatic coaching works so well, specifically the Cross Mapping Method. Cross Mapping is a specialized somatic coaching method that assists a person in modifying their sensory experience to create sustainable behavior change.
What is fear and why do we experience it
What is fear? It can be defined as a feeling of apprehension, anxiety, or dread that you experience when faced with an anticipated event. Fear doesn’t have to be about something bad happening, it is a reaction to any uncertainty in the environment and body.
Fear can put someone in fight, flight, or freeze mode, where their conscious mind is generally overwhelmed by their subconscious responses. It is a mistake to try to rationalize or convince those people why they should change because these feelings are working on a subconscious operating system. Using somatic awareness instead of logic will bring them closer to change.
How fear manifests in the body
Fear of change is often a fear of the unknown. It’s not something our conscious brain can process because we have yet to experience the new change. This can lead to stress and anxiety and even manifest as physical pain in the body.
Humans are wired for survival so we naturally feel this emotion when faced with danger. However, chronic stress and trauma can actually rewire our brains to become more sensitive to any kind of stimulus that triggers fear, which means that sometimes even harmless events like going outside or meeting new people will create feelings of terror, stress, or anxiety. We often don’t realize how much fear impacts us until we take some time to really observe ourselves and watch what happens inside the body during these moments of potential danger.
When people are having an acute fear reaction, it can result in physical pain or uncomfortable sensations in the body like shortness of breath, tingling, and increased heart rate. Long term, this can create chronic pain, stress, or anxiety.
What is Somatic coaching?
Somatic coaching is effective for overcoming fear of change, managing pain or chronic discomfort, stress, anxiety, and other symptoms of trauma. A skilled somatic coach encourages individuals to explore and change their sensory experiences in order to think and act differently. They teach people how to get into and out of their own bodies.
Often people have emotional blocks that prevent them from letting themselves feel things or be in the present moment. Somatic coaches help break through these blocks by teaching people how to check in with their bodies and ask “What exactly am I feeling?”, “Where am I feeling it?”, and “What am I making it mean?”.
A somatic coach helps people to experience their body in its wholeness. Through this type of coaching, they help clients create deeper transformation in their whole self.
Somatic coaching and Fear
Somatic coaching helps us to experience a new way of being in relation to the emotions and sensations that we have. We are able to replace an old conditioned response with a new one. Participants learn how they can change their experience of fear through changing the balance between their sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. This is done through a variety of exercises, including breathing, mindfulness, and consciously shifting the sensations in your body.
This technique helps us overcome our fear of change by providing us with new experiences so that our brains can rewire themselves in different ways. Somatic coaches will work with you specifically for your needs while remaining non-judgmental about what you are experiencing; this allows you to feel less judged and more open to move forward.
Cross Mapping with a Somatic Coach
Cross Mapping is a specialized somatic coaching method that assists a person in modifying their sensory experience. Cross mapping allows a person to experience firsthand that they have a choice in how they feel. It allows them to realize that it is possible to make a choice to feel something other than their conditioned response and reaction to a situation. Somatic coaching increases awareness in the body using sensations instead of logical thinking.
Fear is a powerful emotion that can be experienced by everyone. It’s important to understand how your body experiences fear and what you might do about it. Somatic coaching may help relieve symptoms of anxiety, stress, or other emotional disorders in the long term. Cross Mapping is a specialized form of somatic coaching that has been shown to be very effective for not only reducing levels of anxiety, stress, and fear, but also for reprogramming the deep subconscious drivers that cause dysfunctional chronic behaviors.
Somatic Coaching for Fear of Change
When people feel stuck, that is when change is hard and fear sets in. They feel stuck or anxious in that feeling or place where no matter how hard you try to move forward it just doesn’t work. Coaching with somatic methods is a solution to help these people overcome fear by experiencing their body in their wholeness, using body-mind techniques like Cross Mapping, and ultimately complete what feels so impossible. It’s not enough for coaches and therapists to tell them what needs to be done; remember, fear is a physical manifestation, not something we can use outdated coaching practices and logic to overcome.
Somatic coaches are trained professionals who will provide effective guidance by illustrating practical exercises with higher mental processing techniques. This leads clients out of the state of limbo by teaching them the tools necessary for emotional independence–both from other’s perceptions as well as their own self-limiting rationalizations.
Coaches trained in these techniques help break through blocks by teaching people how to check in with their body. In other words, they help you get out of your head and experience your body in its wholeness. There are no speculative conversations about what you might do next. When you drop into your body with Cross Mapping, you can get real answers and results.
We teach our coaches to use cross-mapping and somatic coaching because it is the most effective practice to motivate change. Learn more about Cross Mapping and our coach training HERE.