Understanding the Mind–Body Connection and How to Shift Old Patterns with Somatic Coaching
Unpacking the Mind-Body Connection: A Somatic Perspective
So many of the patterns we live with, like the endless late-night thinking loops, the automatic “yes” when we mean “no,” the crushing feeling of self-doubt, are often considered to be mindset problems.
But if you have ever tried to think your way out of them, you will know that reframing our thoughts can offer relief, but doesn’t address what might lie beneath and causes these thoughts to arise.
That’s because these patterns don’t begin in the mind.
They begin in the body.
Before these patterns became habits, they started as survival strategies. Unconscious, protective responses to moments when something in our world felt too overwhelming for our system to cope with: too much, too fast, too soon - or conversely, not enough.
At the time, our body intelligently adapted in the only way it knew how, in service of our safety and belonging.
And over the course of our life, through unconscious repetition, these adaptations became woven into our inner fabric.
When we work somatically - using body-mind approaches - we see these patterns as deeply intelligent adaptations, and we gently help your body learn that it no longer needs to hold on to them to survive and belong.
As these patterns soften, the result is often less overthinking, more grounding, serenity and self-trust, a greater sense of wholeness, a reconnection with our own needs, desires, and dreams, more energy and vibrancy, and the ability to set boundaries with more ease and less guilt.
So how does this mind-body connection work?
The Vagus Nerve - A Two Way Communication Highway Between Body and Brain
Your body is in constant conversation with your brain.
Through your nervous system, including the vagus nerve, other neural pathways, and a whole web of sensory signals, information is continually travelling from your body to your brain, letting your mind know whether you are safe or in danger.
Your mind then makes meaning from those signals…
The vagus nerve plays a critical role in this two-way conversation.
Often called a “communication highway” between body and brain, it carries a vast amount of sensory information from your organs, tissues, and internal environment up to the brainstem.
What is fascinating is that about 80% of its fibres run from the body to the brain (and only around 20% run from the brain to the body). In other words far more of this information originates in the body. This information gives your brain real-time updates on your physiological state.
When the signals travelling along this pathway indicate safety, your brain can support calm, connection, and openness. You feel clear, grounded, open to connecting with others.
However, when they signal a threat, the brain prepares you for protection.
This is one of the reasons why tending to your body’s state can have such a profound impact on how you think, feel, and respond.
And here’s where it all comes together: your brain doesn’t just receive these signals. It weaves them into a story.
When your body’s state says “I’m safe,” your thoughts tend to be more open, hopeful, and grounded.
When your body’s state says “I’m under threat,” your mind often spins into vigilance, doubt, or worst-case scenarios.
Polyvagal theory calls this story follows state, which means that your physiology quietly steers the tone and texture of your inner narrative.
This is why working with both the body’s state and the mind’s story is so powerful. Together, they help create lasting change.
How Somatic Imprints Are Formed (and Why Mindset Work Alone Isn’t Enough)
Our body stores experiences in more ways than the memories we have of them (explicit memories).
At times when our system feels overwhelmed, our experiences can become encoded as implicit memories (beneath our conscious awareness).
We don’t remember them, but it’s as if our body was carrying the echo of those moments.
It can be the clench in your stomach every time you hear a certain tone of voice. The way your breath gets constricted in response to conflict. Or your throat painfully tightening when you are asked to share your opinion in a meeting.
These aren’t conscious choices or responses.
We don’t decide to respond this way. They are protective patterns shaped by what we lived through.
And because these patterns were first formed in the body, beneath conscious thought, they are hard to shift by talking or thinking alone.
The nervous system stores these imprints and keeps sending signals to the brain that continue to shape our thoughts. And that creates the same story on repeat until the body’s state begins to change and these imprints are ‘digested’.
Because these are unconscious responses to a feeling of threat or unsafety, when I work with clients, we first start by gently shifting out of survival into a greater felt sense of safety in the body.
Then, we slowly meet these patterns at a pace that feels right to their nervous system (so it doesn’t get overwhelmed). Over time, these patterns soften and beautiful new possibilities open for the body to respond differently.
They feel different in the moments that used to shut them down or send them into overdrive or overwhelm.
Why Body–Mind Approaches Matter, Especially for Women
As women, many of us have been shaped by systems that taught us to override ourselves to fit in.
Somewhere along the way, we learn to be who we are expected to be, to accommodate the needs of those around us, to give to the point of exhaustion.
We internalised a belief that safety comes from being pleasing, that living a successful life requires that we sacrifice ourselves, and that we don't deserve rest until we are on our knees.
This conditioning doesn't just live in our minds, it’s somatic.
It lives in our bodies, in our tissues.
It is alive in the habitual way we override our hunger, we push past exhaustion, we silence our inner knowing when it lets us know we need rest, and we say "yes" when every fibre within us is screaming "no."
And as we have seen, body-mind approaches are needed to meet these patterns compassionately, to ‘digest’ them and pave the way for more expansive and empowering ways of being to come online.
Why Safety Comes First in Body–Mind Transformation
When I support women in this work, our initial focus is always on creating the safety their body has been longing for, so it no longer has to be on high alert. And that alone can have a profound impact - as their whole system ‘exhales’.
As that safety grows, the constant bracing eases. They stop overriding their needs just to keep the peace. Their mind quietens down because their body trusts it’s no longer under threat.
And this is where the magic happens.
As a client, this approach helps you to feel more grounded in your own body. You make decisions from a place of inner authority. You can set boundaries with less guilt. You have the capacity to rest, to be present with the people you love, and to pour your energy into the things that matter most, without burning out.
Slowly and steadily, we untangle the patterns of self-abandonment, inner criticism, and depletion. You begin to live from your own rhythms, your own truth. And over time, you learn to deeply trust yourself, your body, your inner knowing again.
This is the heart of regenerative somatics: not just easing old patterns, but creating a way of being that feels whole, sustainable, alive and expansive.
An Invitation to Come Home to the Wisdom Within
Whether you are seeking to heal, to lead, or simply to feel more at home in your own body, this is tender but potent work.
If you are curious to find out more, there are two ways we can walk this path together:
One-to-One Somatic Coaching - A compassionate, attuned space where together, we will explore the patterns you are desiring to shift and pave the way for new possibilities.
The Wisdom Within™ Somatic Coach Training - Learn to hold somatic spaces for others, grounded in compassion, presence and the wisdom of the body.
I may be your guide, but the wisdom always lies within you.
You might also be interested in:
3 Ways Somatic Coaching Is Different From Traditional Coaching Approaches
Anxiety Relief for Women: Why Somatic Approaches Are the Key You May Have Been Missing
