What is Tensegrity Coaching?

In essence, the Tensegrity approach to somatic coaching uses the body as a backdoor to access the programming code stored in the physical tissues and habitual postures, and rewriting that code to remove bugs and add features that are aligned with what is actually important to you.

Below are a few of the benefits clients report from working with Tensegrity coaching:



Increased Self-Awareness

Tensegrity coaching can help individuals become more aware of their own bodies, sensations and emotions. This can lead to a greater sense of self-awareness, helping you better understand your own strengths and weaknesses and to identify areas for personal and professional growth.

Increased Resilience

Tensegrity coaching can help individuals, relationships, and teams develop greater resilience and the ability to bounce back from setbacks. This can be particularly valuable in high-pressure situations, where the capacity to persevere through challenges is essential.

Improved Creativity

Tensegrity coaching can help individuals, relationships, and teams break free from limiting patterns of thought and behavior, leading to improved creativity and innovation. This can be particularly valuable in leadership roles, where creativity and the ability to think outside the box are highly valued.

Improved Focus and Clarity

Somatic practices, such as embodied movement, breath-work, meditation, and centering can help sharpen ones focus and improve cognitive performance. By incorporating such practices into their daily routine, individuals and teams may find that they are better able to concentrate on the tasks before them and make more informed decisions. 

Meet the Coach

Somatic Coach

Yuli Smirnov

About me

As a somatic facilitator and leadership coach specializing in the bio/psycho/social approach, I help you understand the causes and effects of your current somatic shape in all of its history. Then, by means of somatic practices, I show you a way to traverse the territory of who you have been historically, towards becoming a more effectively impactful human being, no matter the situation you find yourself in. In our work together we will partner to explore how your posture and movement habits become building blocks of how you show up and express yourself in your life.

Some of the identities that inform my somatic shape are: immigrant, parent, spouse, Ukrainian Russian Jew, businesswoman, somatic facilitator and coach, musician, poet, vipassana meditator, outdoor enthusiast, pan, nonbinary, multilingual, visionary.

Since as early as I can remember I have dreamed of inhabiting a world of awakened, embodied humanity. Somatic work is the road I have chosen in my commitment towards realizing that dream. I am most inspired when actively in collaboration with the forces of creation and evolution. I am driven by a growth mindset. I aspire to help others awaken to what truly drives them, so that they can bring their actions and choices into authentic alignment from a place of structural integrity, by working through the body as the Self. 

I live on the Central Coast of California, in an intentional theosophical community called Halcyon with my husband, two wild children, two mildly wild cats, and a very tame dog.

Coach, Theosophist, Human


Experience
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
    Applied Behavioral Analysis
    Motivational Interviewing
  • Mindfulness and Vipassana Meditation
  • Strozzi trained Somatic Coach
Abilities

Bilingual coaching in English and Russian.

Client Testimonials

Don’t take my word for it – here’s what my clients say:

As a Somatic Life Coach, Yuliya has been able to illuminate how I show up in the world, both in my work and in my personal life. Yuliya took the time to understand my strengths and my needs, and made me feel seen. She has also been flexible in how she approached more difficult subjects in finding out what would work best for me personally. The tools and exercises I was was offered as a part of the Somatic Life Coaching process were intuitive, easy to implement, and tailored to my own world view and level of ability. This was key for me, as I could reach for them easily when I felt I needed them and actually use them. Though subtle in and of themselves, these practices brought about powerful differences in how I showed up for myself in a number of difficult situations and helped me stay present, grounded, and connected to myself. I highly recommend booking a session with Yuliya and finding out what that can feel like for you!

Ekaterina

Freelance Translator, Interpreter, Editor

After a year of coaching with Yuli I no longer seek to avoid conflict at all cost. Once I grew past my conditioned tendency to appease, my ability to engage in challenging and triggering conversations productively has increased. I am more successful navigating complicated situations and relationships, such as co-parenting with my narcissitic ex.

Holly

Business Owner and Single Mom

I was skeptical about somatic coaching at first, but after just a few sessions, I could feel a tangible difference in how I was showing up as a leader. Yuliya helped me become more aware of my body language, tone of voice, and presence, and gave me tools to make subtle but powerful shifts in these areas. The results have been amazing – I feel more confident, grounded, and connected to my team. I would recommend Yuliya as a coach to anyone.

Andrejs

Senior Technical Program Manager

Experiencing my body as a source of information was challenging at first because my job relies on me being in my head. I was surprised to discover the increase in my work efficiency, energy levels, and sense of life satisfaction once I got my body on board. Yuli was patient and skilled in facilitating my develoment.

Peter

Tech Support Specialist

I had been stagnant for years when I finally allowed myself the help I needed. Yuliya’s steady guidance led me to the tools I used to engineer a breakthrough-in my own body! Since then, my life has changed radically, not instantly, but consistently and irrevocably. Thank you Yuliya!

John

Environmental Scientist

What is this work about, really?

At its core, Tensegrity Coaching offers a method for leveling up in your personal and professional life by working on your development goals in, with, and through the body. In fact, I chose the name tensegrity, because it’s very meaning refers to the dynamic system of tensions and counter tensions of the muscles, tendons and bones, which (when properly aligned) allows your body to remain painlessly upright and active in space while withstanding pressure. But what does this actually have to do with personal and professional development?

Obviously, everybody has a body. However, not everybody has the same kind of relationship with their body. And, not all of us feel ourselves in our body in the exact same way. In fact, we can often see that with other people. Some people seem to be tense, ungrounded, or imbalanced, either most of the time or in certain situations. And, the more stressed out they become, the more unbalanced they tend to get. And of course, this affects how these people experience life. Most people would be shocked to learn how much of their tension they convey to their environment. Ultimately, we’ve all experienced situations like this. Meaning, we all know what it feels like when, at times, people don’t react to us the way we would like them to react or don’t believe what we say or just aren’t willing to recognize our authority. And, we’re rarely aware that this has to do with the signals and messages that our body constantly sends. Signals and messages that are received, either consciously or unconsciously, by anyone who interacts with us.

In a manner of speaking, our body is the repository of our life experience. Meaning, it keeps the score of the good and the bad that has made us who we are. Or rather, made us who we’ve come to perceive ourselves to be, based on the story that our body keeps telling. So, the signals and messages that our body sends are much more an expression of our undigested life experiences, rather than a conscious reaction to whatever situation we’re currently facing.

Tensegrity Coaching offers a system of martial arts inspired movement and awareness exercises that allow for us to change those parts of our embodied story that have been holding us back so far. In a nutshell, the method allows people to access the innate intelligence of their body and learn from every aspect of themselves, so that they can build a life of integrity and meaning. Body integrity as a pathway to life integrity is the name of the game here.
People come to me because there’s something in their life or career that they want to improve or transform.
May be they:
– keep getting overlooked for a promotion
     -struggle with work life balance
   -don’t know how to slow down to smell the roses
-have high conflict relationships with either supervisors, teammates, or employees
– feel happy in their career, but feel like a stranger in their own home
-feel exhausted and burned out
I teach evidence based practices that engage the body as the Self, giving my clients access to a simple and effective process for recovering their humanity and their source of vitality.

The philosophy is simple: everything that you master in life, you master through repetition of bodily actions which turn into muscle memory – whether it’s public speaking, playing a musical instrument, performing patient exams, or delivering reports on time. Drawing on the fields of kinesiology, neurobiology, epigenetics, and biomechanics I coach you in practices that build up the muscle memory for functional productivity, functional resilience, and functional connection – both in your immediate life structure and encompassing the scope of your commitment to your larger purpose.


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