The Body is the Interface: Reflections from Coaching with Spirit
I’m 3 months into an 8 month powerful training called Coaching with Spirit, led by two masterful instructors, Guthrie Sayen and Barti Bourgault. The essence of this training wasn’t about learning flashy coaching tools or techniques—it was about deepening presence, embracing radical compassion, and trusting the innate wisdom within both coach and client.
I will track my training and summarize some of the key takeaways that continue to shape how I show up in my work.
Coaching Is Facilitated Mindfulness
We often think of coaching as a space for insight and change—and it is. But this training reminded me that at its core, coaching is a sacred invitation into presence. As coaches, our ability to be fully with our own experience is what allows us to be with our clients. We’re not there to fix—we're there to witness. From that space, transformation becomes possible.
When we’re present, we tap into what was described as the four building blocks: being, relating, doing, and Self. Self energy—a term from Internal Family Systems (IFS)—generates a coherent field. It’s that field that helps regulate the client’s nervous system, fosters safety, and invites healing.
Love Is Attention Without Judgment
One of the most profound reminders came from a quote by Carl Rogers:
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”
This was the heartbeat of the training. Real growth doesn’t happen through efforting or self-criticism—it happens through acceptance. And not the passive kind, but a clear-eyed, compassionate, moment-to-moment awareness of what’s alive inside us.
That’s what love looks like in coaching: mindful attention to whatever is present, without trying to change it. When we invite our clients to accept their own experience—even the parts they may have disowned—we open the door to real transformation.
The River of Compassion in Practice
We learned a specific protocol called the River of Compassion. It’s a process for helping clients move from fear into Self energy—through four deceptively simple steps:
Notice and name what’s happening.
Ask permission to explore it.
Stay with the felt experience.
Integrate the insight.
This protocol is a structured, presence-centered approach that invites a client into deep relationship with their present-moment experience. Rather than analyzing the narrative of a problem, this protocol brings awareness and compassion to the felt experience of what’s happening right now in the body-mind system.
In practice, the River of Compassion unfolds through four stages:
Notice and Name: The coach identifies a part of the client’s internal experience — for example, a sense of vigilance, tightness in the chest, or a metaphor. This naming often arises from something the client has shared or something the coach senses in the moment.
“Are you sensing this vigilance right now? If you invite it forward, how does it make its presence known?”
Permission and Invitation: Before moving deeper, the coach checks in — both for consent and to validate the client’s agency. This can include a direct questions like,
“Is it alright if we continue to explore these sensations?”
Exploration of Present-Moment Experience: The coach gently guides the client to stay with what’s arising in their body — tracking the sensations, emotions, and internal dialogue with curiosity and care. This is not about fixing, analyzing, or changing the experience, but simply being with it.
“Just being with the [emotion or sensation], not trying to change it or judge it… just being curious — how does it show up?”
When stories or explanations arise, the coach brings the client back to the felt sense:
“If we put aside the explanation we just heard — what is the impact of that explanation on your physical system?”
Integration and Meaning-Making: Once there’s a shift — whether it’s softening, insight, or emotional release — the coach supports the client in anchoring the learning. This may involve savoring positive sensations, asking what’s possible from this new place, or inviting a metaphor or image to encapsulate the experience.
“What do you know now that you didn’t know when we started?”
“Is there an image that can remind you of this deep learning?”
This model reminded me that the most powerful coaching happens when we stop trying to analyze or interpret—and instead, stay present with what is. Whether the client is experiencing distress or joy, our job is to slow it down and help them feel it fully. When we bring awareness and compassion to the moment, something always shifts.
The Body Is the Interface
Perhaps the biggest revelation from this training: The body is the interface with the present.
It’s easy to get caught in the mental loops—the stories, the analysis, the rehashing. But real presence lives in the body. If I can feel the pressure of my fingers pressing together, I’m here. If I can sense the contraction in my chest, I’m here. That’s where we meet the truth of our experience—not in our thoughts, but in our sensations.
When clients get stuck in story, we gently return to the body. What’s the impact of that story in your body? What emotion is surfacing? What self-talk is present, and how does it feel to hear it?
This is the dance of coaching: returning again and again to the felt experience. That’s where the magic happens.
Final Reflections
This training reminded me that our greatest tools are presence, patience, and love. That attention is a form of love. And that when we bring love to something—when we witness it without judgment—it transforms.
The magic of coaching isn’t in what we do. It’s in how we be. And in that space, our clients remember the truth: that healing, clarity, and transformation are already within them. We’re just here to help them feel it.
