New Theory of Change: Embodied Capacity Building
Part 1: a model for individual and collective capacity building (and care)
I have had a challenging time explaining what type of work I do.
Quite simply, I support people in deepening their capacity to feel self, each other, environment, and life within/around us. It is very experiential, and it is rather simple proceeses of slowing down to feel, perceive, and experience sensations, aliveness, stuckness, emotions, heartbeat, and to notice our beliefs about ourselves and others. While I say it is simple, it is not necessarily easy. It is counter-cultural to think/be/operate in a way outside of the primarily cognitive, language-based ways we usually operate. We haven’t learned to be/sense/feel/perceive, had this reinforced and normalized, or had much opportunity to fumble around with living connected to mind-and-body-and spirit. (I get it, this may not even make sesnse as you read this — it’s okay! Just take in what you can and bring curiosity.)
When asked, “what do you do?” I often go into a subtle freeze-anxious response. I fumble, start overthinking about how to share without using the terms like somatics and embodiment, and how not to be too woo-woo. I don’t know if the answer is to avoid these terms since we are broadly socialized to think and relate in a more logical, and cognitive manner, or to own them more.
Either way, I’ve finally created a “Theory of Change” that captures different elements I feel are important to support us as individuals and as groups of individuals who have a shared vision, mission, goal, and/or set of objectives and outcomes to achieve. Because we are disconnected in mind-body-spirit, we are not operating as effectively as we can be individually and/or collectively, so the invitation here is to help ourselves and our groups to become more self-aware, embodied, and self-resourced.
This model can be used/thought of in a few ways.
One, to drive outcomes of well-being, retention, belonging, equity, solidarity and care in workplaces.
Two, to strengthen the capacity of any group of people with a particular collective goal or outcome, which may be the above outcomes or something else.
Three, when we have more well-resourced (meaning needs are met) people and communities in the world, this will help us to have more productive, effective, aligned, creative and nourished workplaces too.
This framework is unfolding, beautifully incomplete, and the ideas are shaped by so many amazing friends and colleagues, moments and teachers.
Consider: What do you notice? What impulse do you feel? How does it settle you or activate you? What is missing?
Part 2: a personal example of attempting to move to a more collective approach/response driven by personal barriers hard to shift on my own
I’ve spoken to this next part before, and it’s a tangent, though connected, I promise… well, I hope.
As a personal example, becoming a solopreneur 6 years ago has been such a wild journey, and many of us don’t have a ton of support or often, consistent income or resources. I’m referring specifically to the field of consultants, coaches, and other practitioners with a commitment to amplifying intersectional justice, liberation, and healing in workplaces. The folks I know who choose this path have cultivated themselves in amazing ways (innovation and creativity, rigor and spirit, and holding a vision, an idea, a way of being and operating that is juicy, special and beautiful). Yet, even with the best of intentions, we still operate in siloes, compete, re-create the wheel, feel burnt out at times, and may have workshops and services that are underutilized when we know there is need out there.
How does this fit into the theory of change above for embodied capacity building? I was once in a session with a group of BIPOC consultants who dreamed of “What if we can collectively cover the costs of the elders in our consultant community who may not be able (or want to) work as much in a direct-service capacity? Same goes for newbies entering the field… “What-if” we had more ways to engage them in an apprenticeship and pay them for their learning time? And “what-if” it didn’t feel like an individual burden for those of us who want to teach and guide someone?
Well, to actualize something that is collective, and collaborative, and helps us gather our resources together and make the load lighter for each of us… it takes something. It takes focus, self-awareness, and shared-intention; it takes having enough capacity to take the time (unpaid time unless seed funding has been established) from our own lives and work to come together consistently and create, fumble, adjust and iterate a new model; it takes knowing in our bodies what feels possible and what doesn’t; it takes noticing when emotions are coming up that may there for a helpful reason, and/or are an old story or narrative and rooted in our collective shaping and meant to divide us. It takes keeping things simple and small, and being so generous with one another and ourselves, and continuing to move forward.
In Colorado, back in 2022, I initated and organized a research paper on the DEI field of coaches and consultants. I was affirmed. I was validated. I was humbled. I was surprised. So many of us wanted something collective, something to help us organize and not re-create the wheel, yet, after the report was finished, it also felt exhausting to put even more energy into organizing this “something.” We met a few times, and then the energy faded.
I offer this as an example, of how we each may hold visions of doing things differently in our workplaces (i.e. of being liberated, and having people feel well-resourced and not tapped out), and the broader ecosystem; yet, to shift from idea and vision to actualizing and building the vision, it takes something on both the individual and collective level we need to define and be clear about. There’s still something to emerge for us as practitioners in the Colorado community, and now that DE&I is being targeted even more than it has in years back, I am choosing to trust that whatever is needed will be made known to us.
For all of us in our various communities, circles, and networks — I don’t know what all those “somethings” are that are required to move forward each of our visions, and here are a few questions to explore:
Get curious about what it may take on the individual and/or collective levels to create the change we seek.
What is a problem we are facing, that enough of us share, and agree on? What is required of us to address it?
What actually is our shared vision and goal? How will we know when we’ve made micro-progress towards it? How will we support ourselves through inevitable changes and conflict?
Who are our partners in this — who are ready and interested? Because not all of us who may believe in something, may have time or attention right now, and that’s okay. People who bring different skills and talents - ideator, generative, accountability, strategic planning, innovation, funding.
Do the individuals we seek to organize/gather with even have capacity to support collective change — to offer the time and space (with breadth and depth) we need for a shared vision and goal? People may not. Though, we can consider what may help us get there and practice being vulnerable and share this with others we want to organize with. The main point here is: How can we support people individually in our circles to be as resourced as they can be? What is a need they have that we can help with (so this isn’t a need that gets in the way of participation and so their need is met)?
For example: With the report above, it became clear that we needed funding to be able to pay for people’s time to build something together. Is there a creative solution to this?
For others though, perhaps the barrier is not about finances, rather around self-care/burnout. Another question to consider:
Is someone emotionally, physically and/or spiritually tapped out and exhausted? This is personal inner work, but it is also collective work, and can be encouraged when we seek to shift culture in our groups and normalize things such as taking time off, caring for oneself, and asking for help.
How are we making time for the collective conversations to happen so we can come together around a shared vision and goal?
How can we support these conversations being strategic and consistent, while also embodied as much as they are intellectual?
Likely, even if we don’t have the words for it, or feel like we’re making any progress or movement, we have already been building towards whatever it is we seek. Maybe something more doesn’t need/want to emerge, or perhaps it will and the timeline may be longer than we have learned to be comfortable with. Maybe someone else will take it on. I say this to myself, just as much as to you — lets slow down, feel ourselves and each other, check in on and honor our capacity, offer grace and self-acknowledgement, notice what’s calling our attention, and as a dear friend Otisa said: start small, and grow from there.
We’re not alone in this moment. There is so much support out here. With love, Sarah
Sarah Rimmel (she|they), Founder of Slow Integration Coaching, is a Denver-Colorado based certified Strozzi Institute Somatic Coach and also holds the credential of Associate Certified Coach (ACC) through the International Coaching Federation. Sarah offers 6-week internal workplace groups, team coaching, individual coaching, embodied strategy sessions, and facilitation to support people in becoming more skilled to tend to themselves and become embodied as a pathway to navigating systemic inequities and increasing retention, belonging, and access. This includes visioning, learning skills to regulate oneself, practicing holding one’s boundaries, interrupting internalized isms, moving towards connection and support, and bringing curiosity to one’s needs. If you’d like to talk about about providing support to you and/or your team through coaching, capacity building, and accountability-building, please email me hello@sarahrimmel.com or use the form below.