Tired of feeling like a stuck lump of clay? Try these fun, physical bodycoaching exercises. pssst! This is a Sneak Preview of the soon-to-be-released e-book, The Bodycoaching Resource Book: Playful, Powerful, Practical Ways to Get Out of Your Head, Into Your Body, and MOVE Your Life Forward

Overcoming inertia is one of the most commonly occurring coaching issues, as you may well imagine. Who among us hasn’t balked like a recalcitrant mule, overcome with exhaustion and ennui when it’s time to pay the bills, or finish that dissertation, or start that remodeling project?

The following exercises are designed to not just plow right through inertia, but to use the potential energy trapped in inertia to move you to action!

1. Become Inertia Incarnate - This exercise works on the premise that our state of being is legitimate and can be a vital messenger in our own self-enlightenment. You now have a chance to personify your inertia, really get to know it, and see what wisdom it might have to offer.

· Focus your attention on the inertia you’re feeling and then exaggerate it.

· Allow your body to move into a position that is the physical manifestation of this inertia.

· WITHOUT JUDGING IT, be fully in this state of being inert for at least one full minute, and notice what shows up – insights, impulses to judge, gremlins, actual physical pain, messages, etc.

· Journal or group-share your discoveries

Example - Carl’s story

Carl is a top level manager for a large manufacturing company. He also has three college degrees --- obviously no slouch! Yet recently our coaching call focused on his inertia toward learning a new software program that he believed would make his life simpler and help him organize his time more efficiently.

Carl: What is the matter with me? I’m amazed at how much of a slug I can be. It’s really pretty scary!

Me: Sounds like a lot of gremlins crawling all over that one!

Carl: Yeah, I guess; but why would I not want to spend just one afternoon getting over this learning curve so I can actually SAVE myself time and hassle later? I don’t get it!

Me: Yeah, I hear your desire to find a way to work more efficiently. But I wonder if your inertia might not have a nugget of wisdom to offer you.

Carl: (laughs heartily) Yeah right…should I grab a bag of chips and a six pack too?

Me: Actually that sounds kind of good right now, but we digress! Let’s play with this inertia thing and see what, if anything, it has to say.

Carl: Okay

Me: Just totally give in your inertia, physicalize it so you become it.

Carl: You mean like, just sit here like a lump

Me: If that’s what it feels like to you, yes.

Carl: (short pause) Oh man, I am a lazy cus!

Me: Give those gremlins a roll of duct tape and send ‘em out to play! You don’t get to pass judgement on yourself during this game! (laughter, followed by a pause.)

Me: Are you being a lump?

Carl: Oh yeah!

(about 5 seconds go by)

Carl: Oh my God!

Me: What?!!

Carl: I just realized that this software program is too rigid for my work style, and THAT’S why I’ve been balking! I need something that really honors my desire for flexibility and variety! Man, if I stick with this thing I’ll be bored to tears or I just won’t do it.

Me: Cool! Your body and your inertia knew that. Carl: …right, and I just wasn’t listening.

…and then again, sometimes

2. Shape it and mold it

· First get to know this inertia through exercise number 1 above.

· Now, literally step into another place in the room and look back at Inertia. What do you notice from this perspective?

· From this new perspective, ask Inertia: “What do you need/want?” For example, it might be perfectly willing to budge if you stop pushing it to move so fast!

· Based on Inertia’s answer, step over there and physically give it a loving hand to shape it into what you need it to be, or a point in the right direction, or a swift kick in the pants --- the point is, physically, literally, manipulate and move it. By moving the energy through and outside your body, you shake things up and get them moving on the inside, as well.

· What do you notice?

· What action will you take now?

· Journal or group-share your findings.

3. Wrestle your obstacle

Actors need to make some basic decisions about their character, two chief ones being 1). what they want, called an objective and 2). what’s in the way of getting what they want, called their obstacle. The obstacle can be something or someone outside themselves, or something inside themselves, like fear.

Get ready to be very physical with this exercise! You’re going to wrestle with an imagined opponent (Inertia incarnate), which will stir up a lot of energy in you. You’ll be amazed at how much clarity of purpose and revved up desire this enormous physical release will yield.

· Personify Inertia and place it a few feet away from you in the room. For example, Inertia might be Sasquatch, or a two ton lump of stinking fur, or one of your gremlins. Get this image really vivid in your mind’s eye.

· Start to literally, physically wrestle with this obstacle to your desire.

· Use your voice --- scream, yell, shout!

· Move as vigorously as you can for one to three minutes (set a timer), keeping the image of your obstacle and the intention of winning this battle foremost in your mind.

· Take up as much space as safety will allow, roll around on the floor, jump, run, rip, tear, punch ---- get moving!

· When the timer goes off, stop wrestling and look at your obstacle, defeated and tamed.

· Check in with yourself, as you walk around the room to cool down. What do you know you can accomplish now?

· Process the exercise with your coach, group, or journal

· What intention will you set for accomplishing your goal?

4. Banish the Obstacle

· Personify Inertia again and place it a few feet away.

· READ IT THE RIOT ACT AND TELL IT TO LEAVE YOU ALONE!

· Let ‘er rip for one to three minutes, exorcising this thing. Get your body involved, too, but really use your voice to banish and order Inertia to leave you NOW!

· Process the exercise with your coach, group or journal

· What intention will you set for accomplishing your goal?

About the Author

Connie de Veer, MFA, CPCC, is a Certified Life Coach and published author. She teaches successful professionals how to break free from performance anxiety and move ahead in their careers. Look for her e-book, Pull the Plug on Panic: Speak With Confidence, and Keep Your Armpits Dry! due out August 2003. Learn more at www.cdvcoaching.com.