I teach people how to hold space as part of trauma informed coaching and instruction. The purpose of holding space in that way is to create enough safety to calm the nervous system. Why would we want to do that? To find common ground, to be able to speak to each other from a place of bi directional tolerance and understanding, to be able to listen to each other, to be able to learn from one another. Notice I didn’t say to always agree with one another. I think it’s ok that we disagree sometimes. But I want to be very clear here. Being trauma informed and following these principles does not mean that you won’t trigger someone or that they won’t get offended. As an instructor or coach (or just a regular person) you can’t be held responsible for anyone else's emotions or experiences. That’s not what trauma informed means. In order to hold space for others and truly be trauma informed you need to create your own internal safe space that is stable and untouchable. A deep calm so that when things go sideways you know which way is up.

I’m always careful when I teach to direct awareness to the muscle connection in poses, to give permission and freedom for students to feel whatever it is they feel. Maybe it’s because I always used yoga as a crosstrain or maybe because I came to it from the fitness side, but I want my students to understand some of what the body is naturally designed to do. To understand how to work with it rather than fighting to put it into shapes that are more performative than practical. 

To me these are not unicorn traits.

What used to be a common practice, setting new year's resolutions, has really fallen out of favor becoming yet another casualty of our cultures black & white thinking. So I’d like to offer an alternative for this year with the caveat that while it’s great to think about new goals at the beginning of the new year it’s also important to remember that we can update them anytime. We can make intentional changes and choices anytime in your personal and professional life. And I’d argue that we should if we want to continue to grow and change for the better. Without those conscious changes, at some point we start to stagnate.

So I’d like to introduce you to the concept of flex and flow…

My guest today is Brian Berneman. He is a well being leader, international speaker host of the conscious action podcast and as a holistic coach and co founder of conscious action and you being you he helps people discover a conscious way of living and how to have a positive impact in the world. Today on the work in we'll be exploring how to use the mind body connection in order to take conscious action towards your goals in the new year, among many, many other things.