How to Coach in Sensory Awareness?

Senses bring the food for our actions

Upanishad

Almost everything we feel, think and do, is based on how we respond to our sensory perceptions. Vedic philosophy speaks of three basic human characteristics called guna. These are calmness or sattva, passion or rajas, and laziness or tamas. Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita expands on it in multiple verses. These guna determine how we react or respond to a situation based on what we sense.

Neuroscience tells us that our senses are the first responders to any external situation. Senses gather metadata, billions of bytes at any moment. Not one is wasted. Only a fraction though is processed. The process is complex. Let me present it simply shorn of jargon.

The sensory metadata goes through the neurons to the limbic brain, to the hippocampus, the memory store and the hypothalamus the emotional brain. The hippocampus compares the meta-sensory inputs with its database and forwards them to the amygdala in the hippocampus to label them as emotions. The metadata is modified and labelled as emotions. This emotional data is transferred to the frontal cortex to be cognised as thoughts. This is the secondary level of modification from emotions to thoughts. At each level of modification resulting in the corruption of data, there is a loss to the purity of the original data through perceptional and conditioning interference.

Whether in therapy, counselling or coaching, exploring thoughts is about looking into data twice corrupted and exploring emotions is looking into once-corrupted metadata. The only uncorrupted data is sensory metadata. The only way to help a client unambiguously is to coach the sensory metadata.

5000 years before modern science did, Vedic science presented the mind as different from the brain in 4 parts. These were the senses, manas; limbic brain, ahankara; memory, chitti; and frontal cortex, buddhi. It also did one more thing that neural sciences do not have a clue about till now, but Quantum Science does. The Vedic Science presented an energy map of our mind and body with 108 touch points, of which 7 were emotional centres as well. These are called chakra.

I am criticised for speaking of chakra by many saying there is no proof that these exist. The same 'intelligent' people will blindly without proof accept Einstein's Theory of Relativity, which is not proven yet, and is as urban legend says understood by only half a dozen people out of 8 billion. Einstein's theory has spawned thousands of applications that prove it beyond doubt. Chakra meditations have healed millions of people.

@Coacharya, we integrate the neuroscience of sensory metadata being the purest evidence of one's experience with the Vedic chakra science of emotional wellness to create a powerful coaching process of Sensory Energy Awareness Coaching. We have worked with several thousand people using this successfully helping them heal traumas. The Sensory Energy Awareness Coaching process has these steps.

1. Elevating: Briefly inquire into what the client's issue is and what the client wants in the session, without going into any personal details, ensuring privacy. Anchor the client kinaesthetically in any past empowered state they recall when they were happy by pressing two fingers together. This elevates their cognitive, emotional and sensory states.

2. Evidencing: With the client's permission, ideally with eyes closed, request them to experience the emotional trauma that is disempowering them as a body sensation in the trunk space, between the throat and lower abdomen. Coaches would need to self-coach themselves in this process first to help the clients. This also helps the coaches shed their own conditioned baggage. This has been possible with every single client I have worked with and coaches I have trained worked with. The sensory scan evidences how the retained sensations of the trauma affect the client.

3. Exploring: Request the client to observe how the trauma shows up as a bodily energy sensation. What is it like? What shape? What colour? Is it moving? Is it solid or fluid? Expanding or contracting? As they keep describing the energy manifestation will change. This exploration creates awareness. It also heals.

4. Energising: Ask the client whether there is a discomfort. What is on a scale of 10?  If uncomfortable, let the client inhale deeply and explosively exhale a few times. Then go back to observing and describing. This process may take 20 to 30 minutes. The deep inhalation and explosive exhalation energise.

5. Empowering: Gradually the sensation of discomfort will recede. The trauma manifestation will lighten or disappear completely. At this point request the client to repeat the elevating anchoring experience merely by putting their fingers together. Clients will be anchored into a positive state empowering them to move away from the traumas.

6. Executing: The coach can debrief the client for their awareness, insights and learning during the process, partnering with them to create follow-up action as needed. This execution helps the client to anchor the empowered trauma-less state

This process does not involve going into the past and personal details of content and context of the client. This process inherently builds in confidentiality and privacy. The simplicity of the process handled by an empathetic coach creates trust. The partnered awareness in the present moment with no need for coach interpretation creates presence. The entire process is built around awareness that leads to empowering growth actions.

Self-coach yourself. If you have queries connect with support@coacharya.com

Ram is a co-founder and mentor at Coacharya. Ram's focus is the integration of Eastern wisdom with modern science, spiritually, systemically and sustainably.