A 6-week program for somatic awareness and transformation
what
I created this six-week program to give you a taste of my style of coaching. In this program I blend practices from meditative wisdom traditions with body-based explorations. The point is to take you on a journey into yourself, to a place where you can intuitively and creatively play with ideas and discover fresh answers to your questions.
Everything real and meaningful ultimately comes out of your own instinctive and embodied intelligence. Insight that emerges from inside (or ‘bottom-up processing’) is closely aligned with who you are—it feels authentic and natural and unforced. It’s therefore much easier to implement, track and stay close to in your ordinary life, compared to external ideas that you try to fit yourself into from the ‘top-down’.1 True transformation happens when bottom-up and top-down processing are integrated, so that you absorb fresh input from your body and senses, and then synthesise it into a conceptual framework that makes sense to you.
In other words, when we connect to the embodied dimension of self, we make space for all the other parts of self—thoughts, ideas, imagination, dreams, visions, to name a few—to align and rest in their rightful place. We find an inner order amidst the chaos, one that emerges organically from presence, attention and trust.
why
There are many reasons why you might find your way to me or into this program, including:
- you’re going through a life transition or challenging time and need support and guidance (from someone like me, but also from within yourself)
- you feel stuck, or that you’ve been living superficially, and you want to go deeper and have a richer experience of life
- you are unclear or confused about a particular issue in your life and want to access your innate wisdom to gain clarity on it
- you’re struggling with physical or psychosomatic issues and want to make a connection with your body/self in order to heal*
- you tend to overthink things, or you don’t know how to deal with your thoughts, and are seeking a less ‘head’-y, more embodied way to live
- you’ve tried conventional ‘top-down’ modes of self-help, coaching and therapy and they didn’t help, or you’re reluctant to try them out for some other reason
- you’re a kinaesthetic or embodied learner looking for new modes of self-understanding
- you’re curious about somatics, or meditation, or both, and want a place to begin, or to consolidate your experience of this field
- you’re a seeker of altered states and are wondering whether your body has something to offer in your quest (yes, it does)
- you’re not sure what it is but you have a gut feeling or an instinct to work with me
When I first started working with Vaishali, I was going through a period of intense suffering in my life and it felt like the very ground beneath my feet had disappeared. I was trying my best to fight back and recover but a huge problem I faced was living in my head and overthinking. Working with Vaishali helped me immensely, as through our sessions she helped me make the shift from head to heart and connect with myself in a much deeper and authentic way, as we engaged in some beautifully crafted, restorative practices. I will be forever grateful for her support and genuine care during my healing process!
—Ben H.
how it works
1-1 sessions
We begin with a 15-min introductory call for me to get to know you, where you’re coming from and what you’re looking for. I then craft a custom series of sessions for you (the ones in the image above are just an example). In each session, there will be a guided exploration of a certain theme, body system, or area of life. There is also plenty of time to share thoughts, discuss, integrate and process as we go along. If you request it, the guided practice will be recorded and provided for you to continue to use between or after sessions. I may also give you reflections, journaling prompts or other take-home material if it will be helpful.
I recommend that you do the sessions weekly (or fortnightly at maximum), to create a time-limited container for yourself. This allows you to commit to the process and to fully absorb and integrate the experience of your sessions. Sessions can be done virtually or live in-person at my home studio.
group sessions
I’m available to lead this program (or to create a similar one) for small groups at your studio, wellness center, apartment complex, neighbourhood park or company office. Please get in touch for more information.
learn more
If you’d like to learn more about me as a coach and practitioner, you can read my bio here. You may also wish to get to know me through my writing on substack, linked below.
- Top-down and bottom-up processing refer to two different modes by which the human nervous system and psyche process information. ‘Bottom-up’ means coming from the senses and the body up into the brain and mind; it is how we receive fresh input and stimulation and is free from preconceptions or limiting beliefs. Top-down means coming from the mind and brain down into the body; it is how we order our understanding through familiar language, words and concepts, and tends to rely on existing, patterned imprints and ideas of how the world is. ↩︎
The Wise Body 