One day I woke up and said, I want to become something new. I want to add to my skills as a Tantra Teacher and create deeper change in the world. I think I want to become a coach. I didn't know anything about the process, or Layla Martin, but I knew I wanted a really in-depth training and for it to be Tantric focused. I can't believe I only looked at one program and signed up, but it was one of the greatest choices I've ever made in my life! This program is giving me so many tools to share my gifts with the world! So, what is a coach? And does that word even really encapsulate what I'm going to be doing?
The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. I find the most important word here to be "partnering". In the method I'm learning, the VITA method, we don't place ourselves above the client, we get on their level with them. Meeting people exactly where they are because in Tantra, we believe that all things are divine, even when you believe you are broken, you are still divine. There is nothing to fix, only things to discover and align. Another way to put "maximize their potential" is to thrive! In VITA we are partnering with clients to help them thrive! But how?
I'm learning how to work with desire-based outcomes. I don't tell you what I think you should desire then sell you an un-customizable plan to get you there because that's what worked for me. I'm not learning tips and tricks to get you results. I'm learning how to focus on every client's desires, determine what's in the way of those, and support them through deep transformation to move through blockages. And it ain't just talk.
I've watched the creator of this program, Layla Martin, coach many of my peers live. It's an outstanding process that can only be felt! It's so hard to put into words, but it's not just talking about your problems, it's feeling what's beneath them in the body. I've seen Layla upend generational trauma, relationship trauma, childhood trauma and help people befriend their most hated parts, all in under an hour. It's a somatic system. That means we go through the body, not just the logical mind. If you've ever felt stuck in years of therapy and you have made all the logical connections, but your body still freezes, or fawns, or you keep repeating the same pattern over and over, then somatic therapy might be for you!
And it's not just some woo woo shit. Science backs this incredible process! Imagine your issue is that you feel disconnected from yourself and your partner (a common issue). I'm learning how to get you to feel into your body and find where this discomfort or numbness is coming from. Then we literally speak to that blockage. Usually, we find that this is protecting you in some way. Maybe a past traumatic event caused this and the only way it knew how to protect you at that point was to numb it. But you couldn't just numb that one piece, all parts were numbed. This somatic process is about finding how to understand, accept, and love even these numb, disconnected parts. And in loving those parts you can be liberated by them!
This can be used for almost any issue someone can have. Most of the issues we develop are from some kind of light or heavy trauma somewhere in the past. When the trauma goes unresolved it lives in our body (science!) and it causes problems. This coaching method isn't about fixing what is broken, but by loving what is protecting. You aren't broken. You are divine in every way. Maybe you just don't feel in alignment with your desires. This program is teaching me how to get you back into alignment with your deepest desires through your body. And I'm amazed at every lesson, every interactive session, every coaching development call. It's literal magic!
There's still SO much for me to learn. It's a yearlong program that began in January. But I wanted to share a little bit of the magic that is happening in my life weekly in this program! I can't believe the first program I signed up for was this one. It feels so incredibly aligned with who I am and who I am becoming. I can't wait to start offering free and discounted sessions to you all as I learn the ropes and transform in front of your eyes into a supportive, passionate, safer, loving VITA coach!
INSPIRED ACTION: What do you really want? This is one of the first questions we ask in a coaching session. What do you REALLY want? Forget about responsibilities, and what you should do. Get deep into the question. I empower you to go out and get it!