Some rather special people have recently qualified as Strozzi somatic coaches, and I’m inviting them to guest blog.
Here’s the first, the soulful Mark Kelly. We met almost ten years ago and our paths keep crossing (which is something I pay attention to). He’s a Certified Somatic Coach (2018) and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (certified in 2021) and is currently studying Visionary Craniosacral work and will certify in September of 2026.
I’m confident in who he is and his gentle offer in to the world and I am grateful for his work with someone important to me, who reported significant and satisfying changes as a result. Without further ado, here’s his contribution.
Body as Archive
This living, sensing knowing body is a pure miracle that often surprises and inspires me. How many things she does for us without us asking! Accessing this beautiful body archive has been my life’s work, first as a dancer and now as a Somatic Therapist. I am in awe of how safety, play and curiosity can invite the body to share from her archive. It is like searching for treasure – uncovering files that were locked away or buried in the past. The body has a wise knowing when the right moment comes to unwind a past trauma. The soul will have no more violation, it’s – simply – time.
The body loves to be attended and listened to, slowing down and smiling at receiving gentle respectful attention. As I witness my clients unfolding it is like a work of art being created before my eyes. Each session they invite me to look at a new archives. Working with a client recently, she made an exquisite gesture, opening her arms and chest to the world – a moment of awe for me/us as she shared a new door with me.
This process in my experience goes in both directions as I too open my archives for clients. Sometimes the person feels heavy, stuck, flooded with the too-muchness of the world. When listening in to the boy she knows how to rest and let go of that which is no longer serving. In that letting go energy returns and blank pages appear for new stories to be written. This might be a new gesture, breath cycles that are deeper and clear crystal whites of the eyes.
For anyone reading this right now, my invitation is to discover new archives in yourself: express them through gesture, walking, painting, singing, cooking. Find your own medium! We live in times where the body can easily be mechanised to getting us around. What would it be like if we moved slower? What would it be like if we looked at nature to see her archives?
After you read this sentence put the phone down and gently close your eyes and allow a gesture, sound, movement, a word that express your own unique body archive. Or for you it might be in the quiet space the magic happens?