What is the “subtle body”?

The term “subtle body” has its origin in the ancient Vedic understanding of the layers of the Body, the koshas, which form the totality of a human being.

Here’s some woo for you: The koshas are the physical and energetic layers of the body that encase your Soul, like nesting dolls. The Body speaks to us through sensation, and it is from our physical sheath (the Annamaya) that we learn to speak Its language. The “subtle body” is the combination of layers we don’t see: the life force, mental, wisdom and spiritual sheaths that trap the traumas we accumulate

In Subtle Body Work ™, we use the term to refer to the entirety of all the layers of the mind-body-spirit system AND their functional interconnection, incorporating modern scientific understandings of the nervous system and the unconscious mind. We use the sensations of the outer kosha, the Body, to help us align the inner koshas for release, like lining up notches in a padlock to open it.

A deeper explanation is beyond the scope of this FAQs page and largely unnecessary for this work. But it’s a fascinating subject, as its definition spans many cultures, and philosophical, religious, spiritual and energetic schools of thought.

Will we talk about embarrassing things?

Not if you don’t want to! This is not therapy. This work is anchored by the Body, not the Mind. The Mind is the story. The Mind is what keeps us stuck or spinning…we can’t think our way out of what the Mind has created.  The Body tells its story better than the story we can ever remember.  The Body speaks through sensation, and sensation is what we’re interested in.

What kinds of things will we do?

A first session is used to clarify the client’s priorities for coaching, begin turning toward the sensations in the Body, introduce and apply first-step fundamental tools and schedule out the remaining appointments to create the Container of Commitment.

There are many facets to this technique, not all of which are used at all times. In that we are led by the Body, what sensations come forward direct the work. Therefore, in a package, you can typically expect to train somatic awareness, use intentional triggering, structured self-talk and psychological acupressure (tapping) to align the subtle body towards release, exercises informed by polyvagal theory, with the possibility of breath or vocal techniques should a trauma wave crest up and out. Side of woo, if appropriate.

What is a “trauma wave”?

When we experience a trauma (large or small), our nervous system goes into “fight or flight”. Unfortunately, unlike the rest of the animal kingdom, the societies and conditions in which the human animal survives make it much more difficult to “shake it off” and move on. We, the human animal, therefore typically suppress the death threat level physical sensation of trauma to a “freeze”. And we wrap this frozen trauma with layers of Mind errors and lies: psychological, spiritual and physical protections to avoid feeling that pain again. But feelings buried alive never die!

A trauma wave is the breaking free of a piece of frozen trauma, sometimes all of it. It is the moving up and out, the moving past, that requires us to go back into the “fight or flight” place and stay with that death threat level sensation as it builds, breaks and ebbs away, released.

Will I have homework?

Yup! This is not magic (though I might argue it is “magick”…feel free to discuss). And you’re only gonna get out of it what you put in, like any other course of self-improvement. Your homework is prescribed based on the challenges presented to us. You gotta show up for you, in and out of session, to achieve the maximum benefit for which your subtle body system currently has capacity.

What if I'm not good with technology?

If you have found this website, you have the skills to do remote coaching. You will only need to be able to schedule a Discovery Call (using the buttons placed throughout this site) and attend a Zoom meeting. To move forward from there, you will pay an online invoice and receive an intake form to complete. Once done, you schedule your first full appointment and we set the dates for the rest of your package.  All sessions are conducted over Zoom.

Can I book a single session, or just a few?

No…and ultimately yes. It has been shown that a package approach to healing work, regardless of modality, is way more effective than one-offs, a key to maximizing results. That first massage ain’t gonna do much for ya…but by the end of a prepaid package of five, eight or twelve and you’ll be glad you committed to the process. The package approach establishes the Container of Commitment, a crucial ingredient to overcoming Resistance and all its sneaky tactics to undermine personal growth. Therefore, it is only after a client has spent enough time committed to the work that we might consider a drop-in approach.

What if it doesn’t work?

What if it does…?! What if we could allow for the possibility that it could be easy? It ain’t gonna hurt you to try!

Every subtle body system is different, some more locked down than others. There are people who come to a first session ready to release, and people who spend much of their sessions in the throes of deep Resistance, moving slowly toward allowing physical sensation to be present, and felt, at all.  This is also important, meaningful and forward-moving work.

Regardless, you will walk away from coaching with practical and applicable tools, tools to meet you where you are on this spectrum and help support you toward eventual release.

But know this: This shit will not work if you do not show up.  “Not showing up” takes many forms, but all of them amount to Resistance.  It may present as fear, shame, judgement, guilt, dissociation…these are universal challenges, noone is alone in this!  It may be you just can’t seem to get yourself to do the assigned exercises?  Fog out and forget to apply your techniques between sessions?  Tell yourself you’re too busybusybusy to do your homework?  Whatever it is, your Mind Stories and Protector System are winning to keep you stuck.  From a trauma lens, these adaptations served you in the past to keep you safe.  It worked, well done!  You survived, and we honor that.  But they aren’t healthfully serving you any more.  Because you’re here, right?  Right.  So.  Help me help you, by being aware of how your Resistance is manifesting and sabotaging you, being on a vigilant lookout for it, so we can address it quickly to get more from our time together.  We are in the realm of radical personal responsibility here, and when it comes to addressing Resistance, we gotta name it to tame it.