At Just BE, we believe healing and liberation are not luxuries—they are essential practices for Black, Indigenous, Women of Color (BIWOC) entrepreneurs reclaiming their time, power, and futures. As we work toward economic sovereignty and freedom, one of the most powerful tools we’ve found is somatic coaching.

But what exactly is somatics? And why is it such a transformative practice for BIWOC visionaries?

This is both personal and collective. So let me start with my story.

How Somatics Has Transformed Me

Somatics has helped me embody more grace, compassion, and self-love, which in turn has rippled outward into how I relate to others. It’s changed how I understand my “shaping”—the habits and roles I’ve embodied over time—and given me tools to meet grief, conflict, and pressure with presence and care.

In 2021, I hit a wall. The aftershocks of COVID shutdowns were intensifying, economically, emotionally, and spiritually. I found myself navigating three different interpersonal conflicts simultaneously: with family, friends, and collaborators. It was overwhelming. And while I did everything I knew how to do—mediating, fixing, taking responsibility—it still felt like I was failing. Deep inside, I carried an unbearable sense of shame and self-blame. If only I had done more, I thought, maybe these ruptures could’ve been prevented.

I now see that those stories were shaped by something somatics helped me name: a conditioned tendency toward “over-caretaking.” Since childhood, my body had internalized the roles of peacemaker, fixer, and emotional anchor. I had been shaped into a “toward” pattern, moving toward others at the expense of myself, for protection, safety, and belonging.

Through somatics, I began to see that this pattern wasn’t a personal flaw. It was a deeply intelligent survival strategy, rooted in my own history and the collective history of Black and Brown women. But what once kept me safe was now exhausting me, and in my darkest moments, nearly convinced me I didn’t belong here at all.

Thankfully, I was also in therapy, navigating depression and anxiety. But it was somatic coaching that brought a new level of healing. I began to feel, rather than just think about, how these patterns lived in my body. I learned I have the right to dignity, the right to say no, and the right not to be liked. I practiced holding boundaries, feeling my feet on the ground, and staying present in discomfort. Slowly, my shame spirals loosened their grip. I still have hard days, but I move through them differently now—with more self-trust, compassion, and breath.

**What is Somatics?**

Somatics is a theory and practice of transformation that recognizes the body as a site of change.

The word comes from the Greek soma, meaning “the living body in its wholeness.” Somatics reminds us that we’re not just minds—we are whole beings: body, mind, spirit, emotions.

In a world that tells us to “power through” or “think our way out,” somatics invites us to feel our way in.

Our bodies carry histories, personal, ancestral, and cultural. We carry survival strategies in our nervous systems: how we hold stress, suppress needs, or disappear in conflict. These embodied habits often form in childhood and become automatic. And while they were once protective, they can limit our freedom today.

Somatic practice helps us uncover and rewire those habits. It helps us embody the values we believe in, especially when under pressure.

This isn’t a new idea. Our ancestors knew the power of movement, ritual, rhythm, and rest. But colonization severed us from that knowing. It taught us to disconnect from our bodies and prioritize logic over intuition, productivity over presence, dominance over interdependence.

Somatics, then, is also a form of decolonial remembering. A return to the wisdom that has always lived in our communities. A reclamation of wholeness.

What Is Somatic Coaching?

Somatic coaching is a transformational, body-based process that supports people in aligning their daily actions with what they care about most. It’s not just about understanding your patterns; it’s about practicing new ways of being that are rooted in your values. In coaching, we ask:

“Are the ways you are moving through the world aligned with what you most long for or care about?”

Often, the answer is: not yet. And that’s okay. Somatic coaching isn’t about fixing; it’s about building the capacity to show up differently. That might mean practicing boundaries, asking for support, or pausing when your instinct is to push.

Many BIWOC have struggled with these skills. We’ve inherited the weight of systemic oppression: people-pleasing, hyper-independence, scarcity, and perfectionism. These are embodied survival strategies, not personal failings. And somatics gives us the tools to shift—not just mentally, but physically—how we show up under pressure.

Through repetitive, intentional practices, we build new muscle memory for trust, safety, collaboration, and care. Over time, those new ways of being become natural and instinctual.

How Somatic Coaching Supports BIWOC Entrepreneurs, Leaders, and Organizers

At Just BE, we work alongside hundreds of BIWOC entrepreneurs—creatives, healers, freelancers, organizers—who are building toward economic sovereignty. This is no small feat. To run a business as a woman of color is to challenge systems of oppression every day.

It’s also an act of ancestral wisdom. Our grandmothers and great-grandmothers dreamed of freedom, of rest, of stability. When we build community-rooted economies, we are carrying that dream forward.

But we are also carrying intergenerational trauma. Years of navigating racism, sexism, capitalism, and extraction have left deep imprints in our nervous systems. And all too often, we unknowingly replicate the very systems we’re trying to escape.

We see this in:

Overwork and burnout
Isolation and distrust
Fear of failure or visibility
Self-sacrifice in the name of “success”
Resistance to asking for help or resting

These aren't random; they are embodied responses to an unjust world. And while strategy and mindset work are important, they aren’t enough. Without healing the body, sustainable liberation remains out of reach.

Somatic coaching gives us the missing piece. It helps us:

Release patterns rooted in fear and control
Practice relational, restorative, and regenerative ways of leading
Build internal safety to take aligned risks
Deepen our capacity for joy, rest, collaboration, and trust

This is the kind of leadership we believe in at Just BE. Leadership that is embodied, collective, and rooted in care.

We Believe in Embodied Liberation

After nearly a decade of working with BIWOC entrepreneurs, we’ve learned that healing is not separate from business development. Healing is the soil from which liberatory, collective restorative economies can grow.

Somatic coaching helps us break generational cycles, build economies of care, and lead with integrity, especially under pressure. It helps us come back home to ourselves.

This is why Just BE is investing in somatics. We’re not just offering strategy or tools. We’re offering transformation at the root level—body, mind, and spirit.

**Ready to Begin?**

We’re currently accepting new 1:1 somatic coaching clients. Whether you’re navigating a big transition, feeling stuck, or longing to show up more fully in your leadership, we’d love to walk with you

👉🏾 Learn More here

👉🏾 Complete our interest form here

Want to explore more? Here are some resources that have shaped our practice:

Embodiment Basics Course ( self-guided) - The Embodiment Institute
Generative Somatics ( BIPOC monthly practice sessions, networks, and resources)
The Politics of Trauma ( self-paced online course ) - Staci Haines
Soma Social Justice Practice Community ( multiracial online space ) - Staci Haines
Strozzi Institute (in-person and online trainings for all )
Politicized Somatics from Generative Somatics ( article )

Your body holds wisdom. Your body remembers freedom. Let’s return together.

With care and love,

Hope + Just BE Team