Somatic Bodywork in the Workplace Part II
As discussed in the previous blog, our workplace effectiveness, successes, and team-building is hinged on our ability to respond from a place of center rather than reacting from our conditioned tendencies. As we become more aware of how in our body we tend to pull away or, conversely, push against, we have more choice in doing something different. We have more choice in how much conflict and discomfort we can contain and, therefore, more choice in how big (i.e. effective) we can be as leaders.
Adjusting How We’re Viewed In The Workplace
The other piece to our leadership development is working with how others view us. It may be the case that we can learn to reshape our conditioned tendency to come from more of a place of felt center, but if our colleagues don’t see us as leaders it will still be challenging to build trust. Trust, of course, is both necessary and often sufficient for team-building, communication, and advancements of all kinds.
How others view us is expressed through a myriad of factors, many of which are somatic in nature. These include our tone, our speech cadence and pitch, quality of eye contact, tension in our face, posture, etc. As humans we are assessing others from the moment we meet them, and much of this is done by tuning into these somatic cues we are receiving from the other. When we engage with someone, what’s registering in our nervous system (on a deep and often unconscious level) are questions like: Do I feel safe around this person? Are they really listening to me? Are they speaking from a place of authenticity or are they performing in some way? Are they really attuning to me and can I trust them?
Somatic Markers
In working with a client, I am able to offer assessments about all of these somatic markers as a way of supporting them in more clearly seeing how they come across to others. For example, if a client furrows her brows and tightens her eyes while I am speaking with her, it will likely come across to me that she is trying to figure something out instead of listening (i.e. she is not really present with me) or that she is distrusting of what I am saying. It’s important to point out that it may very well be the case that neither of these is occurring in the moment; she may furrow her brow simply because that is what she learned to do when listening. However, the story about why someone is doing something can be irrelevant for leadership development because it seems as if she is doing one of these things. A furrowed brow and sharp gaze will likely have the effect of triggering the other in a way that will decrease trust and connection. The same can be said of countless other somatic markers we all do unconsciously, despite our best intentions.
Unless we are living in our body and able to feel in our body how we hold tension, we have no way of knowing how the somatic cues we transmit to others might influence our workplace relationships. The power of somatic bodywork is that it is a catalyst for people to feel their body, feel how they create tension in their body, feel what it’s like to be more relaxed. It’s often the case that after I work on a client’s eyes and jaw, they report that they simply never knew what it felt like to have a relaxed face. Through this work clients become more aware of when and how they are holding tension in their body and therefore when and how to relax. This process aides people in learning how to become more embodied so that others can more easily view them as being open, engaged, and present leaders in the workplace.
Are you looking to center yourself in the workplace and better manage healthy conflict? Reach out to certified somatic coach and bodyworker Lennon Molofsky with Mindbody Somatics today to begin a journey to relief through somatic bodywork.