PAULO CORDEIRO
INTEGRATIVE & SOMATIC COACHING 

1. Safety: It's crucial, above all, to begin by creating feelings of safety within the body, enabling access to its sensations and emotions. This is where you'll spend most of your time—helping your nervous system return to a state of balance and developing the capacity and resilience to process different emotional states and energies. To achieve this, we can engage in some somatic exercises or pose reflective questions to help you develop a greater awareness of your body, sensations, and emotions. Consequently, you'll start to feel more connected and secure in your own body, understanding it in a more integral and holistic way. You'll also learn some practices to carry out between our sessions.

​

2. Connection: As you begin to feel more secure in your body, it will become easier to recognize its different emotions and sensations. In doing so, you're helping your nervous system become more accurate about what is actually happening internally, thus enhancing its sense of security. For example, if we feel apathetic, it often signifies a disconnection from our emotions, and by recognizing them within our body, we are also reconnecting with it. Behind anxiety, there may be emotions that aren't being acknowledged, such as sadness, fear, excitement, anger, etc. The more precise you become in identifying these emotions, the more signals of security and connection your nervous system receives.

​

Each emotion is associated with an impulse. For example, in anger, the impulse may be to hit, kick, or shout. In sadness, it may involve curling up in a fetal position or crying. In fear, it might be to flee. This connection with your body will allow you to begin recognizing these impulses and which ones you've learned are "not allowed." Due to our traumatic experiences, some of our impulses may be blocked or suppressed. For one person, it may be difficult to cry, while for another, it might be challenging to say No or speak more assertively, or to leave a situation that makes them feel insecure. When the energy of these natural impulses is suppressed, we feel more insecure about expressing our authenticity and truth.

​

3. Expression: As you build these foundations of safety and connection, you'll begin to feel more comfortable expressing what was previously blocked. So, it's time to start allowing that energy to be expressed. This could involve crying when you couldn't before, saying No, or respecting your limits and needs. It might also mean distancing yourself from people or situations that don't serve you well and seeking out where you feel more nurtured. You're restoring free expression to the body and empowering yourself with that energy. There's nothing wrong with our emotions or their impulses. Problems arise when they're not available to us when we need them (which makes us feel disempowered). We just need to help the body and nervous system feel the safety and capacity necessary to begin expressing them.

​