Karen White discusses the growing field of Ontology, which is the study of what it means to be human.

1. Ontolog
y
Ontological
Coaching
=
The study of being /
Nature of human existence
=
Coaching to Way of Being

2. Communicati
on and
Behavior
Way of Being
Results
Quality of
Existence
Perceptions Attitudes
(Many of which are deep seated and out of awareness)
Language Emotion
Body
Generates
Reality
Predisposition
for action
Change
Happens in the
Nervous System

3. The world shows up to us based
on how we observe the world
Way of Being
=
Observer

4. Basic
Linguistic
Acts (Speech
Acts)
Words
Listening
Language
Descriptive Generative

5. Moods
= Spaces of Possibility

6. Body
= the way we have organized our physiology
• A key factor in how we OBSERVE is based on how we hold
our bodies, what we experience within our bodies, and
how we use our bodies.
• For change to be fundamental and lasting, a shift in the
body is required.
• Small and subtle shifts in our body, can have a profound
impact on how we perceive…. Well everything
• This area of our being has been most neglected

7. A Basic Somatic Coaching Process
It is suggested that you coach each other while standing so that the full body is
engaged.
Coachee - Think about / feel the emotions associated with the issue. Label the issue
(eg, X or dark purple) or provide a brief description.
Coach - facilitate your partner moving through the following steps
• Ask him or her to describe aspects of his or her posture using the basic somatic
framework (on flipchart)
• Invite your partner to move to another space (step to right / left / front / back)and
to shift into what they consider to be a more helpful posture (again use basic
somatic framework on flip chart).
• Ask permission to offer your suggestions to enhance the coachee being in an even
more helpful/resourceful posture. Eg. drop chin a bit and lengthen the back of
spine.
• Ask coachee to move back to the spatial location of the old, unhelpful posture
and to notice the experience.
• Now invite the coachee to go back to the spatial location of the more resourceful
posture and ensure they begin to consolidate this way of being in their body.
• In the more resourceful body ask the coachee to think about the issue and what
they notice to be different emotionally and in the way they think about it.
• Check with the coachee if there is anything they particularly valued about
themselves as a person in the old, unresourceful posture that they want to
integrate into the new, more resourceful posture.
• Then ask, “Do you genuinely give yourself permission to begin to fully live from this
new, more resourceful posture?”