Action, Analysis, or Presence: How Different Forms of Help Feel in the Body
There are different ways to be accompanied in times of crisis or transition. Each carries a particular tone and a particular direction of movement, and each is felt in the body long before it is evaluated by the mind.
None of these ways are wrong. They serve different moments. And often, the system already knows which one is needed — though the cues are subtle, and many of us were never taught how to sense them.
Instead, guidance usually comes from the outside. We are advised to exercise more, take supplements, practise mindfulness, start therapy, meditate. And again: all of these can be valid. I use them myself when they are appropriate.
What is less often explored is how each form of support feels in the body. When you are not used to listen to this subtle cues, you might miss them in the beginning. But it’s easy to learn.
As you read the following, I invite you to notice your own responses. Is there a subtle sense of being pushed forward, or pulled inward? Do you feel something in the solar plexus or the chest? In the upper arms, or perhaps the belly? Often it’s just a minuscule sensation, like the tightening of a sphincter.
There is no right answer here. Just a gentle invitation to feel yourself.
Being coached into action
Coaching is oriented toward movement. It invites clarity, direction, and agency, and does so by leaning the system forward.
In the body, this is often felt as activation. Attention narrows. Energy gathers around goals, decisions, and next steps. For some, this creates relief and a sense of momentum. For others, especially in phases of exhaustion, grief, or inner collapse, the same invitation can feel premature.
There may be a subtle tightening in the chest or jaw, a sense of pressure, or an inner voice that says I should be able to do this. Even when coaching is offered with care, the body may register it as demand.
In the Tao, this is a very Yang approach — active, directed, forward-pushing. When your system is already in a heightened Yang mode, the body may signal that this is not the support you need right now.
B) Being psychoanalysed
Analysis turns attention inward. It seeks understanding by looking back, tracing patterns, and constructing narrative. Often, this brings insight. Things begin to make sense. Connections are drawn between past and present, cause and effect. In the mind, there may be relief in finally understanding why things are the way they are.
In the body, however, the experience can remain surprisingly unchanged. Sensations may stay distant. The breath may remain shallow. There can be a sense of mental activity alongside a physical stillness that is more frozen than calm.
Analysis can be invaluable. It helps articulate what has been lived. Yet understanding alone does not always restore a felt sense of ground. Depending on the approach, this is more Yin — reflective, internalized, and contemplative. The body may appreciate this space, though stillness does not automatically equal integration.
C) Sitting together without agenda
There is a third way of being met that is quieter and less defined by method. Here, nothing is asked of you. There is no push toward action, and no requirement to analyse or explain. Two people sit together in calm presence, observing what is present without trying to change it.
In this space, attention rests on what is already happening — in the breath, in the body, in the inner landscape. Often, the nervous system begins to settle on its own. The breath deepens. Holding softens. Time seems to move differently.
When nothing is demanded, something essential often reappears. Orientation returns not through effort, but through safety. Meaning is not constructed here; it unfolds when it is ready. This approach is very Yin — calm, still, contemplative, and spacious.
Listening to the body
At different moments in life, different forms of support are appropriate. There are times for action, times for understanding, and times when simply being met — without agenda — is the most stabilising experience available.
If you pause now and notice your body, one of these ways may feel more nourishing than the others. That preference can change. There is no hierarchy here, no judgment.
What I offer
With my background as a Feng Shui consultant and classical homeopath, I weave years of expertise into something new: a way of deeply listening, observing, and mapping what is happening in the system without agenda. I am not married to a single method, but have studied several deeply, giving me a collection of tools from which I can choose, depending on what the situation calls for.
I may ask questions to gently explore the terrain, creating a space where your body and mind can orient themselves. Sometimes a homeopathic remedy is offered as a subtle catalyst — a nudge to help the system find its own movement. Sometimes I may invite small shifts in your space to see what arises. Sometimes I simply listen and hold the space for you.
Through this approach, presence, observation, and action come together in a rhythm that suits your system, blending Yin and Yang in accordance with what your body actually needs.
