Lena, a 50-year-old People & Culture leader, was navigating a corporate layoff, the beginning of a divorce, starting a business, supporting two graduating teenagers, and experiencing perimenopause symptoms.
Prior to beginning somatic coaching, she had started therapy for anxiety and depression with a psychologist and started medication. She entered virtual somatic coaching seeking clarity on her career, stability, and a way to reconnect with herself through her body. Somatic coaching, Somatic Experiencing, and other embodiment practices were applied.
“I want to get to a place where I can just totally let myself relax. I have a hard time doing that.”
“I’ve been so focused on holding everything together, I don’t even know what I want anymore.”
We started with goal setting and somatic education and awareness, as well as language to describe what was happening in her body. Lena described long-held tension in her shoulder and a click in her jaw for over two years. She shared she had been prioritizing others over herself. Through body tracking and awareness, she released some tension in her shoulders and gut. She noticed her jaw stopped clicking — a change she hadn’t expected. At the end of the session, she felt relaxed and shared a metaphor that would continue in future sessions:
“It’s like I’m trudging through deep snow, but I don’t know where the trail ends.”
Lena began to recognize how much she was taking on. She had started exercising and was considering work options. She expressed hesitation between returning to consulting or stepping into a new role.
“I could probably conserve a ton of energy if I would allow others to do their things.”
“I don’t want to do any of the jobs I’ve done before… but I don’t trust myself to fully go for what I want.”
We used somatic awareness practices to explore where the hesitation lived in her body, with particular attention to her legs. Lena noticed intense sensation when she began to track these areas:
“My feet and my legs are on fire right now.”
Research Insight: Somatic Experiencing supports the completion of incomplete defensive responses (Payne, Levine, & Crane-Godreau, 2015), helping discharge stored survival energy from the autonomic nervous system. This process restores regulation to bring the system out of chronic fight, flight, or freeze patterns.
We used a somatic coaching exercise to explore her experience of feeling stuck. Lena embodied her current state, listened for impulses, and shifted to a new shape (Theory U Stuck exercise). This supported increased awareness of sensation, movement, and response. Sensations repeatedly moved to her legs. After the session, she took a rare solo daytime walk.
Lena felt stuck in her freelance and job search efforts. We explored it somatically with nervous system resourcing and awareness tools. We introduced the window of tolerance and explored states of functional freeze through education drawn from polyvagal theory.
Research Insight: Studies show that somatic awareness can interrupt freeze responses and support re-regulation through increased interoception and movement (Fisher, 2021).
Using principles of central nervous system training, Lena tracked sensations. As activation increased—particularly in the head and upper body—we paused regularly to allow space for integration without pressure or interpretation.
She noticed her legs felt less heavy or frozen and reported increased movement and sensation. Lena reported feeling lighter and more alert — signs of a gradual increase in nervous system capacity.
Research Insight: According to polyvagal theory (Porges, 2011), the dorsal vagal pathway can lead to immobilization responses under sustained stress. These are protective states, not pathologies. Building somatic awareness supports the central nervous system in recognizing and responding to such patterns with greater flexibility (Dana, 2018).
Offline Practice and Reflection (after Session 4):
“My body just feels like it has energy flowing throughout it, down to the tips of my fingers… It feels electric, like it’s alive. It’s almost like I was the walking dead. I didn’t feel my body.”
Lena practiced making embodied requests, using clear communication, and exploring boundaries.
“It’s hard for me to say what I want.”
“I cannot trust that I can say what I want and it will be respected.”
Offline Practicing, Coaching, and Integration (after Session 5):
She applied the requests embodiment exercise to a challenging conversation.
“I was remembering to stay grounded. I had a piece of paper in my hand with my request on it.”
This created distance between her sense of self and the potential rejection, helping her stay regulated and embodied in real time.
Research Insight: Externalizing emotionally charged material (like a request) is a somatic technique that supports self–other boundary awareness and reduces limbic reactivity (Ogden, Minton, & Pain, 2006). By anchoring attention to an external object, the nervous system is less likely to default to survival responses during perceived interpersonal threat.
“I noticed my body starting to feel stressed and overwhelmed, and I was able to say, ‘I’m overwhelmed,’ and pause.”
“This body awareness is amazing. It’s helping me navigate these conversations and giving me language to do that.”
“I keep reading about Polyvagal and am blown away. The world needs to hear more about all of this. Makes so much sense and I wish I knew about it years ago. You are onto something important and needed for so many people.”
Between sessions, Lena received ongoing support via email and voice messages. She began applying body awareness tools in daily life to support self-regulation and stay present in relational situations.
“I was in awe with how I was able to get through the day and manage all the emotions and feelings. I was able to use ‘I’ statements and held my boundary.”
“The tingling in my fingers, the feeling in my chest and throat — it’s a signal I’m coming back to life.”
“Today I’m holding on to tension — anger at my ex-husband. I’m realizing the gripping I do, especially while driving. I keep remembering my breath and allowing the sensations.”
She also began taking practical action — choosing to job search, making vision boards, and becoming more aware of control patterns.
Research Insight: Support between sessions helps clients apply somatic tools in everyday contexts. This can reinforce self-regulation, build awareness, and support capacity for choice (Levine, 2010; Ogden et al., 2006).
Lena explored her emerging life direction while continuing somatic education and practice. She reported increased ease in handling stress and staying centered:
“I’m able to step back and be an observer and choose how I want to show up.”
“It’s a pause, a thought. I pay attention when I feel the emotion start to spike, and I say, that’s not where I want to go.”
“I shake it off in the moment or try to clear my head. I pay a lot more attention to my breath.”
She described being more intentional and responsive in how she engaged with others:
“I have greater capacity to stay in my own energy zone and not get sucked into the drama.”
“I’m being more intentional in how I want to show up, using the signals in my body to check where I’m at and then decide what I want to do.”
Lena continued developing her new life vision and her capacity to communicate clearly, complete unfinished conversations, and act from intention.
“This isn’t new energy — this is me. I’m not wasting energy containing anymore.”
Over the course of the three months of sessions, the client navigated a period of intense uncertainty and life transition with increasing self-regulation, emotional clarity, and embodied resilience. She learned to track her physiological cues in real time — recognizing when to pause, rest, or move to release tension.
“I was tuned in to when I needed to ‘shake off’ extra emotional energy that was building up.”
She also reported improved emotional boundaries and energetic containment in relationships, applying grounding techniques.
“I was able to listen, but not take on their emotion.”
Following a major milestone (her ex-husband moving out), she deepened her use of nature-based regulation tools. Forest bathing practices were discussed throughout the sessions.
Research Insight: Nature-based and sensory immersion practices, such as cold-water exposure, have been shown to support autonomic regulation and emotional recovery (Van Tulleken et al., 2018; Bratman et al., 2015).
Professionally, she’s now more at ease with uncertainty, no longer forcing answers, and has noticed a renewed trust in her intuition.
“In shedding this extra mental and emotional weight I’ve been carrying, I feel my resilience building and like I am returning to me.”
Disclaimer: This case study is provided for educational purposes only. The coaching and somatic work described are complementary methods that support self-awareness, nervous system education, and personal development. Client experiences vary. They are not a substitute for medical or psychological treatment.
Serving clients in Switzerland
and globally.
Zug & Zurich Offices or online
Leadership Performance
Communications Coaching
Burnout Prevention
Team Dynamics
Stress Test
Newsletter sign-up
Navigate
Sign up with your email address to receive news and events.
Serving clients in Switzerland
and globally.
Zug & Zurich Offices and online
Leadership Performance
Communications Coaching
Burnout Prevention
Team Dynamics
Stress Test
Newsletter sign-up
Serving clients in Switzerland and globally.
Zug & Zurich Offices or online
Sign up with your email address to receive
news and events.
Leadership Performance | Team Dynamics | Communications Coaching | Burnout Recovery | Nervous System Regulation