Maria Connolly, LPC
This may surprise you: There’s a vast difference between having centering practices and being a centered person. A centering practice can regulate your nervous system for a few minutes. An embodied center changes who you are under pressure. A centering practice is something you do. An embodied center is how you live.
What happened to my client, Laura (not her real name), illustrates this well.
If you’re like many high-achieving women I work with, you’ve mastered the art of fitting in, yet you may not have truly found a group of supportive people where you belong.
My clients know how to succeed in professional environments. They know how to support others, carry responsibility, and adapt to what is needed. They know how to be capable, dependable, and accomplished.
Yet beneath all that competence, many carry a quiet longing.
A longing to be fully known. To belong somewhere without having to earn it. To be surrounded by people who understand not just what they do, but who they are.
On May 8 and 9, I had the privilege of gathering with colleagues from around the world for the 9th Annual Americas Coaching Supervision Network Conference. The theme was Mosaic, and it turned out to be much more than a conference title. It became a transformative experience for me, as a person and, as you’ll see soon, in my business.
Mosaics speak to me because Italy, my birthplace, has some of the most beautiful mosaics in the world. It’s fascinating how artists can take millions of broken pieces of pottery to make a beautiful, cohesive piece of art. So immediately the word, Mosaic in the context of coaching spoke to me. But I didn’t realize what a transformative experience it would be!
Many women don’t actually know what rest feels like anymore. Even on vacation, the nervous system often stays in motion. We pack the schedule full, trying to make the most of every moment, or we collapse completely, using food, alcohol, scrolling, or sleep to recover from the pace we’ve been keeping for far too long. But neither busyness nor numbing truly restores us.
Real restoration happens when the body finally feels safe enough to soften.
December arrives with its familiar chorus: Finish strong. Wrap it up. Close out the year. Review, reflect, resolve. Everywhere you look, things promote the myth of closure. It’s as if there’s a demand to tie neat bows around the past twelve months.
But some things won't tie up neatly. There’s the relationship that's still evolving in ways you can't yet name. The career transition that's half-formed, neither here nor there. The creative project that keeps calling to you, even though you haven't figured out what it wants to become. The question you've been living with all year that still has no answer. What then?