May 5, 2025 • 47 mins
Hi!! I would love to hear from you!
What if the key to personal transformation isn't about fixing what's broken, but rather becoming curious about patterns that once protected you? Somatic coach Molly Rose joins us to explore how our bodies hold wisdom far beyond cognitive intelligence.
Drawing from her decade of experience in nonprofit management and humanitarian work, Molly reveals how organizations like Clowns Without Borders and Burning Man Project showed her the profound impact of human connection in crisis. Whether performing in refugee camps or organizing community-driven service projects, she witnessed how simple moments of wonder and laughter create resilience against overwhelming circumstances.
Molly defines liberation as "freedom from the pairs"—moving beyond binary thinking that forces us to categorize everything as good/bad or right/wrong. This approach allows us to navigate life's complexities with greater ease and authenticity. Through somatic coaching, she helps clients become aware of their conditioned "shapes" or habitual responses, creating space for new choices instead of automatic reactions.
This conversation resonates particularly for high-functioning individuals who appear successful externally but feel disconnected from enjoying their achievements, or those serving as pillars of strength while carrying the cost somewhere in their lives. Molly shares practical tools like "orienting" to regulate your nervous system during stress, and explains how six months of somatic practice can create rippling transformation.
The most powerful insight? All our strategies for moving through the world developed for good reasons—to protect our safety, belonging, and dignity. When we honor rather than reject these aspects of ourselves, change happens naturally. Connect with Molly at withmollyrose.com to explore how somatic coaching might support your journey toward greater alignment and authenticity.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome back to Empowered Ease.
I'm Jen Olinger, delighted tobring you another episode
dedicated to showcasinginspiring women who are making a
difference.
Today I'm thrilled to introducemy guest, molly Rose.
Molly is a dynamic leader andcoach with over a decade of
experience in promoting creativeand meaningful social impact.
(00:25):
Her expertise lies in fosteringresilience through relationship
and leadership development.
So Molly has worked with a vastarray of individuals, teams,
resource partners and communitygroups, helping them craft
thoughtful, inclusive strategiesthat foster transformational
change.
Whether through individualcoaching, group facilitation or
(00:48):
innovative strategy design, shehas successfully guided hundreds
of community impact leaders tocreate meaningful leadership and
program designs, both in thenonprofit world and in her
service as a development coach.
Central to Molly's approach isthe liberation from limiting and
oppressive narratives.
With a robust background insomatics, experience, design,
(01:10):
social impact and creativefacilitation, she empowers
others to explore their innerwisdom, resilience and aliveness
in all service of personal andcommunal transformation.
So Molly excels in supportingthose committed to their own
(01:33):
liberation and deconstructinginternalized oppressive
narratives.
She partners with individualsfrom privileged identities to
explore somatic awarenessrelated to crucial social issues
like class and race, strivingto build an embodied anti-racist
culture that brings culturalvalues to the forefront.
Her impressive work andcollaborations include leading
(01:55):
organizations such as Burningman Project, clowns Without
Borders, unhcr, reuters, unhcr,tedx, bushwick and many more.
She's grounded in learninglineage that incorporates the
teachings of the StraziInstitute for Somatics and I
(02:17):
apologize for this pronunciationRESMA, menachem, somatic
Abolitionismism and many otherinfluential, influential
programs.
So, without further ado, let'swelcome molly rose to empowered
ease.
Well, welcome to empowered ease, molly.
(02:39):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
thank you so much, jen.
I'm doing really well today andI'm so excited to have come to
the moment of meeting you andconnecting for the podcast.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Me too.
Me too, I kind of checked outyour website a little bit and I
don't know if you guys haven'tbeen on.
She has a beautiful website.
I love it.
I'm in the process of kind oftalking about having someone
like redo and I forget what theycall it, kind of like make
everything rebranded, like brandeverything kind of cohesively,
and so she's like pick outwebsites you love and yours.
(03:11):
So I'm like, oh, I love herwebsite, good website.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Literally so affirming.
I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, no problem, no problem.
So tell me a little bit mylisteners a little bit about
what you do.
Yeah, thanks for that question.
So tell me a little bit, tellmy listeners a little bit about
what you do?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, thanks for that question.
So I'm a somatic coach and Iactually got to somatic coaching
pretty recently out of a careerpivot from 10 years in
nonprofit management and reallyit seems different, you know,
like doing the whole nonprofitworld and working with clients
in a one-on-one sort of supportcapacity.
(03:50):
But when I think about how Iended up here, it kind of always
circles back to somethingthat's been threading the needle
for me since I started having acareer, which is it sounds
really cheesy, but it's like adeep yearning to participate in
our shared liberation.
And I think one thing that Ilearned so much over the 10
(04:12):
years kind of working at socialimpact and arts and culture was
was that we can have a reallyliberated perspective and that
we can create relationships thatare really generative and
community driven in pretty muchany environment.
And so in my path through that,I've landed at just recognizing
(04:37):
that in order to do what kindof the world is asking us to do,
kind of a culturaltransformation turning towards a
way for us to continue to be ina relationship with this planet
, that organizations are made upof people and that I really
love and feel so satisfiedworking with people who have a
(04:58):
big drive to have an impact onthe world and on their community
and like helping them on anindividual level to build more
ground and like have more spaceis something that just really
satisfies me.
So no, I'm a somatic coach.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I love that.
So you're working with likehigh achieving people with big
dreams, trying to make bigtransformation.
Is that my hearing thatcorrectly?
You?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
know the word big is there there, but I think the
word that's more true even forme is like deep um people.
It doesn't always look big likethe kind of work that my client
.
Can you repeat that I?
Speaker 1 (05:34):
think it like cut out a little bit.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
When you said the words, say the word again oh,
yeah, the word that I thinkmight be even more true is deep
or like.
Deep, I love that, okay, yes,that's the kind of work that, um
, people are up to powerful.
Yeah, the deep I love that.
Okay, yes, that's the kind ofwork that people are up to
Powerful.
Yeah, the people that I've thatI've started supporting, that
I'm up to.
It runs the gamut from folksthat have kind of a really
active leadership goal or, sorry, role in the sustainability
(05:59):
world or like in climate, butfor me it's just as meaningful.
You know, I also have clientsthat work in education, that are
accountants, that work in justkind of the jobs that need to
get done, but they have thisdrive, this yearning, this,
whether they're an artist or ahealer or an activist, like they
have a sense that what they'redoing and how they are being in
(06:23):
relationship in the world issomething that can kind of make
a difference.
I'm doing air quotes right nowfor the podcast people.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
So people committed to living deeper, people
committed to what, no matterwhat they're doing, doing it
with a deeper conviction or likeconnecting with that, like
deeper part of themselves, iswhat I'm hearing.
Is that accurate?
That's?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
exactly right and a phrase that I like to use and
that you'll see if, if anybodyvisits my website, is like
values, aligned behavior, oh, Ilove that interested in
cultivating a body and acapacity to be in choice and
really make choices and havebehaviors that are in alignment
with their values.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I like, I love that.
So when you say sharedliberation, what do you mean by
that?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Yes, so there are so many ways that people define
liberation, and one of myteachers offered me a definition
that I love.
That is the one that I use now,and it's kind of a Buddhist
definition of liberation, whichmeans freedom from the pairs.
So it's like we can feel likewe're in a big binary, like
everything is either black orwhite, or good or bad, or right
(07:38):
or wrong, and it can create alot of, it can bring up a lot of
stuff, and so when I sayliberation, meaning freedom from
the pairs, meaning like freedomfrom the binary and more
tolerance for the sort ofcomplicated, nuanced gray area
which is where we're spendingmost of our life and where most
(08:00):
of the most important decisionsare being made.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
I love that there was .
It hasn't come up for me somuch recently, but I feel like
last year the concept of dualitycame up for me so much how so
many things are so many thingsat the same time.
They're the good, the bad,they're the black and the white
at the same time, and that was atheme that came up for me a lot
last year that I like torevisit.
So I like that you said that,because that's kind of what I'm
(08:27):
thinking of, this like it'snever either, or it's always all
like so much, Okay.
Well, I love that.
So when clients come to you,what kind of what can they
expect to gain from coachingwith you?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Well, do you think I feel like a lot of people also
kind of have heard of somaticsbut don't actually like there
are again so many definitionsfor, yeah, let's explain your
definition.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
I just had like a somatic coach on a few weeks ago
, so I'm like just jumping aheadthough.
So yeah, explain to us aboutsomatics first.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Thank you, Molly, yeah, of course, like again this
, this answer would be different, you know, depending on who you
ask, but as I, as I, work withsomatics, soma is the word that
it is the Greek root, meaninglike the alive organism in its
holistic self, something likethat.
And so the somoma is really thedomain of like our thoughts,
(09:26):
our feelings, behaviors, oururges, the beliefs that we carry
about, how we are and how theworld works, and also the
energetic dynamic that we bringto relationships.
So when I'm working with folks,often the things that they're
seeking to transform in theirlife are around those topics.
(09:49):
Okay, so what was the question?
Again?
Speaker 1 (09:55):
We were just talking about what your, your definition
of somatics is to start with.
So that's the definition ofsomatics.
Okay, I love that.
Okay.
And then I was asking you whatkind of transformation or
changes that people work on orget from your coaching.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Great.
A lot of the types oftransformations and I'm just
kind of letting the questionland because there's a few ways
I could answer it, but thingsthat I see.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
I love your intentionality with your words.
By the way, I like from the getgo, like I, I started doing
this new introduction for theshow, which anyone who listens
to it knows.
There's a new introduction forthe last two.
So I sent Molly the thing of itand she said you're like the
first person to like revise itand send it back, which I loved
because it was the words.
The words you used were veryintentional.
(10:49):
And then I noticed, speaking toyou, you're very intentional
about your words.
So, thank you, and yeah, youwant to tell us something.
Anything about that wouldexplain that a little bit.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
I'm smiling because that's not the first time that
I've gotten that feedback.
And it's true, I am reallyintentional with language and,
honestly, in my own path, youknow, figuring out how I want to
be and who I am inrelationships with other people.
I laugh because I think about,like ex-partners when I was
(11:24):
first really landing, howimportant language was to me and
how much it mattered to me toreally say exactly what I was
trying to say.
You know, for two, three, five,six minutes, while I'm sort of
gathering the courage and theclarity to spit it out.
(11:49):
You know, whatever it is thatI'm trying to say to them and,
honestly, that's a good exampleof some of the kinds of stuff
that I work with with my clients.
I think people in a broad senseare seeking transformation
around the dynamic that theybring to relationships, whether
that's in their families or withtheir spouses or in their
(12:11):
organizations, and also there'skind of this nebulous thing of
like um on the way to leadershipdevelopment.
Often there's a step that I'vehad within myself and that I've
seen in other people of havingto reconnect with your authentic
(12:33):
information and having to buildmore trust in yourself and your
sort of somatic intelligence.
One of my teachers.
Res Momenicum talks about theseven bodily intelligences, and
cognitive intelligence is onlyone of them and it's like
(12:54):
overblown.
I'll go ahead and say it'soverblown, it's overused, at
least in the United States, inour society and the other
intelligences in our bodies areso diminished, and so I'm often
working with folks just toreconnect with the intelligence
that's already there.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Okay, so to get more attached, more aligned, more
intentional with the way theypresent themselves and interact
in the world.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yeah, and, like you know, something that might be
familiar, that I'll just say incase it resonates with anybody
is, like you know, often we havean image of ourselves, of how
tolerant or how patient or howstrategic and thoughtful we
might be, and then we have thesemoments where the pressure
really comes in and we just makea move without even thinking
(13:47):
about it and it's not the onethat we wanted to make.
Maybe we like lash out or wedisengage or put up a wall, and
then afterwards we're thinkingabout it and we're like, dang, I
wish I just had that moment,like I wish I had been able to
just take a minute, take a pause, like take a breath, think
(14:08):
about what I actually want to doinstead of just doing that
reaction.
And that pause moment is reallya lot of what sometimes we get
up to in somatic coaching,because we're basically in a
sandbox where we try on andexplore a lot of different um
I'm using air quotes again moves, and we really do it for the
(14:33):
sake of slowing everything downand being in an environment that
is, um, for the sake ofexploring and bringing an actual
curiosity to the self yeah, Ilove, I feel like a lot of
coaching is helping people todevelop that relationship with
themselves in an intentional way, and I love that.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, okay, well, I, you have like some really fun
things on your resume that Iwant to ask you about, even
though I know you're not here,let's talk about it.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
I love everything I've ever done, so fun.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
So the first one I wanted to ask you about was
clowns without borders.
So are you, do you?
I don't know how to say itbecause I know there's a way to
say it, but are you a clown?
Am I a professional?
Are you?
Yeah?
Well, do you like?
Speaker 2 (15:29):
so I had a roommate who would go to South America
and I don't know if it's thesame organization.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
It was with the.
What does the one patch out ofthis is involved in?
Is that the same one?
It's not, but I did work forpatch Adams, so my one of my old
roommates did too, and it'slike I didn't realize this at
the time and now I do.
But, like it being a clown isits own, a huge community, like,
like, and it does reallypositive, amazing things and I
had no idea and she kind of likeintroduced me a little bit to
that world so it was so cool tosee that on there, like brought
(15:53):
me back to her and she's anamazing person.
So, yeah, tell me about this.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Yeah, I really, I really love clowns and you're
right, like there is a hugecommunity of humanitarian clowns
, people that do clowning inthis environment.
And, yeah, my first real, myfirst real job was for about
five and a half years.
I was the director and variousroles for this very small
(16:18):
organization called ClownsWithout Borders USA.
There's 22 different chaptersof Clowns Without Borders USA.
There's 22 different chaptersof Clowns Without Borders around
the world and basically it'sall just working in partnership
only going where they areinvited with either an
individual or an organizationthat's local and living in the
(16:38):
area where they're going to betouring, and then organizing
free performance and workshopcircus tours in refugee camps,
conflict zones, natural disastersites and with communities,
especially families, but allpeople experiencing conflict
around the world.
And that is an amazingorganization, y'all.
I do recommend looking them up,throwing them a few bucks.
(17:01):
They're a volunteer drivenorganization.
Um, and really I learned aboutsomatics through those clown
tours in a way that at the timeI didn't have language for.
But the thing that's so amazingabout clowning in refugee camps
and with communities on the runfrom war or communities that
are, you know, strategicallyunder-resourced and undervalued,
(17:24):
is that basically the clowningdoes.
I'll just say two things.
One is it creates a wonderfulopportunity to invert a power
dynamic.
That's very unusual when peopleare receiving services and sort
of in survival mode, becausethe clowns are often the first
(17:46):
kind of foreigners that arecoming into communities not
trying to teach anything, nottrying to give anything or show
anything, like the clown isreally the bottom of the totem
pole, and so it creates thisopportunity for real human
contact, um for like realconnection and relationship.
For the second thing, which islike resilience through laughter
(18:09):
and um, just and connectionyeah, if there's one thing that
clowns without borders hastaught me, it's that um, like a,
a.
It's that like the differencebetween experiencing a crisis
and potentially you knowdeveloping PTSD, and like
(18:32):
carrying that with you for along time and having the support
to move through an experiencein the moment and ask for and
receive some things that youmight need.
Like it's a, it's a razor'sedge.
It doesn't take much to createthe circumstances for a moment
(18:52):
of wonder, a moment of awe, amoment of relaxation or levity,
which is critical for ourwellbeing as individuals and
communities.
By the way, like it's inMaslow's hierarchy of needs,
it's critical that we have thosemoments and they're so much
more accessible than they arelike at all times.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Yeah, even in the worst of times, right.
That's kind of the message.
I love that.
That's so cool that you werewith that organization.
I love just being able to talkabout that organization on this
podcast, cause I don't know if Iwould have remembered it Like
that's so cool.
Okay so other sorry did Iinterrupt you.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
No, I just said yay, I'm glad you brought it up.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Oh yeah, Another interesting thing I saw on your
podcast was you were on theboard for Burning man or
something related with Burningman.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yep, I was not.
I was never on the board forBurning man project.
I was an employee at Burningman.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
I worked full time for Burning man for also about
five and a half years forBurners Without Borders, which
is also a great program.
So I was basically a communityorganizer for the wing of the
Burning man community that'spassionate about civic action in
their hometowns.
So it was really like a.
It was the kind of the nextnatural thing, cause I'm not a
(20:12):
clown, I'm not a professionalclown, I'm very clown affiliated
.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Are you a burner?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
I'm a burner.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Yeah, you are Okay, I'm not, but I had a roommate
that was and it is another thingdifferent roommate,
surprisingly, but it is againone of those things that that,
like it, has its own community,that comes with it and people
keep in touch, like for years,so it's so cool yeah, yeah, my
Burning man community are superclose friends of mine.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
but it was a natural progression from Clowns Without
Borders because I was so clearabout the impact of kind of
relational community building,community driven service
projects and I kind ofrelational community building,
community driven serviceprojects and I kind of like was
itching to support that in morethan just with clowning and
performance, even though that isan amazing avenue for it.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
How cool.
I love that there was oneacronym on there I did not
recognize I was going to ask youabout, because I said it but I
didn't know what it meant.
So the UNHCR.
What does that stand for?
Oh, united.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Nation for Humanitarian Resources or
something Yikes.
Let's just double check that,because people in the
humanitarian world will be likewho is?
Speaker 1 (21:27):
she.
I think you are in thehumanitarian world and have
earned that spot.
So your resume says you've donesome considerable work.
Okay, so it's.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
So basically, like the contextof UNHCR on my resume is that
they were a collaborator with usfor some of our Clowns Without
Borders tours in Kenya in theKakuma refugee camp, which is
like one of the largest refugeecamps in the world and most
refugee camps are run by theseinternational organizations that
(22:00):
have you know their mission ofproviding transitional housing
for people on the run from warand UNHCR is like a really big
guy in that area.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Oh cool.
Is it involved in, like thesanctuary cities?
I have no idea, no worries.
Well, I'll look at it later.
Okay, so then I saw TEDxBushwick, which I love TED, ted
and TEDx.
So tell me a little bit aboutthat which I love Ted, ted and
TEDx.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
So tell me a little bit about that.
I love this.
This is fun for me.
Yeah, tedx was so fun and thatwas actually one of the first
things I did when I became theadministrative director for
Clowns Without Borders, becauseI was coming in with this
feeling of people need to knowabout this.
I didn't know about it until Ifound out about it and then I
was just really driven to.
(22:49):
I mean, when I joined thatorganization, they were entirely
volunteer run and I was like,listen, I'm willing to work for
free for like a couple of yearsif we are planning on becoming a
paid staff of some kind ofsustainable office, because this
is a dream job for me.
And so the director at the time, tim Cunningham, and the board
(23:11):
they were great, they were superon board.
I was like green enough to thatthey could afford me and really
, really energetic, yeah.
And so, yeah, one of the firstthings that I did was was pitch
that TEDx talk that I calledresilience through laughter, and
it really was all about justhow real it is that through
(23:31):
simple human contact with verylittle infrastructure, you can
really create transformation inpeople's experience and in the
energy of a place, and that alsotook me on a path to creative
placemaking took me on a path tocreative placemaking that is
(23:51):
cool.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
So tell me a little bit more about your background
in this creative placemaking,because I saw that mentioned a
lot on your website.
So tell me a little bit moreabout what that is.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Oh, maybe I don't think it's on my website, but
it's probably on my LinkedIn andyeah, basically, creative
placemaking is another sort ofniche world that I found a
couple of years ago that,similarly to semantics, felt
like it was giving language tosomething that I had been
playing around in, which is, youknow, placemaking the act of
(24:22):
making a place, and that it'slike something that real estate
people do of making a place, andthat it's like something that
real estate people do, or thatyou'll often talk about it in
the context of urban planning,and creative placemaking is also
sitting within that context ofurban planning, of development,
but it has a really radicalorigin and it really is about
(24:43):
how do we placemake in a waythat honors the past, that
honors what is already here andthat honors the vision for the
future of the community that'salready in this place.
Not everybody's going to defineit that way, but that's
something that has felt reallytrue to me and so, weaving it
(25:04):
all together, I did thiscertification in placement, in
creative placemaking, exploringjust kind of like what we as a
society know about leisure andrecreation.
Really, it's a lot of the stuffthat I was just mentioning
about how, like leisure andrecreation.
We know this is important.
Connection to self spirituality, like being fulfilled on a
(25:26):
higher level.
We know this is important andfor community is important to
all that.
And it's designed in to you knowto towns like we have
playgrounds, we haverecreational areas, and so I
wrote my thesis for thatcertification about creative
placemaking and its applicationsfor refugee camps, and this is
(25:53):
a total.
This is like a soapbox.
I could get on for a while, soI'll just say a couple of
sentences.
But the reason that it felt sointeresting and maybe I will
publish that sometime I neverreally I got it about 80% to
feeling good about publishing it.
But what I to feeling goodabout publishing it, but what I
learned and what it landed forme was just like we have people
(26:14):
right now I didn't know we weregoing to talk about this, so I
don't have the current numbers.
So I'd suggest that folks lookup the number of people that are
currently displaced, bothdisplaced internally in their
own countries and living inrefugee camps in the world.
It's an enormous number thatcontinues to grow very quickly.
But when we talk about that,we're talking about transient
(26:35):
location, temporary housing, butthis is something that people
are spending decades,generations of their families,
of their lives living in.
People are being born intransient locations, they're
growing up, they're gettingmarried, they're having children
, they're becoming grandchildren, and so the question that I was
really driven by was like howlong do people live in temporary
(26:56):
situations before we decidethat they, too, really deserve
to have this infrastructure forquality of life that we
recognize is critical for peopleto become the fullest
expression of themselves?
So I'll stop there.
But yeah, that's kind of I lovethat.
I love that.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
And I think it speaks a lot to the coaching you're
doing and the kind of clientsyou're looking for too, when you
talk about those kind ofinterests that you have, because
I think it's people that arepassionate on that level.
They're going to connect withyour coaching and want to talk
to you about, like ways to feelconnected to their work or their
community in that way, becauseyou can feel your passion when
(27:37):
you talk about all theseprojects, and I can feel your
passion for community and, youknow, for giving back, and so I
love that you're sharing all ofthis.
Thank you for giving back, andso I love that you're sharing
all this.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Okay, so really, really funstuff we're learning here.
So I know that you have somespots open for one-on-one
(27:59):
clients coming up, so tell us alittle bit about that, what they
would expect from that yearone-on-one coaching and then
kind of like the kind of personmaybe that this might speak to
thank you so much for thatquestion, jen.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
that's sweet to ask.
Yeah, I'm so excited to havesome spaces open in my
one-on-one coaching and I guessthe first thing that I can say,
which is also just kind of trueacross the board, about somatic
practice, is that it's amedium-term commitment.
Somatics loves repetition andso it's important when we're
(28:42):
taking a somatic approach totransformation to really give
yourself time to kind of unraveland unwind and start getting
into the practices.
So the arc of coaching is sixmonths.
I work with my clients, I meetthem twice or three times a
month and during our sessions itcan look like a lot of things,
(29:03):
but often we'll be doing acombination of different somatic
visualization and conversation.
It can look and feel a lot likeinquiry, coaching or therapy.
But then we have these physicalpractices and we have these
kind of embodiment practicesthat are, like I said, for the
sake of building that somaticawareness of what is happening
(29:25):
and priming yourself to haveopenings, and openings are
opportunities.
Once you've kind ofdysregulated your conditioned
shapes, the moves that arereally familiar, then sometimes
you'll notice like space to makea different choice.
So we're really getting ourreps in if you think of it like
(29:47):
a gym.
When we're in session together,we're getting our reps in of
somatic practice and then inbetween, my clients are doing
their own practices on their own, working with fundamental
practices.
That it really depends on theperson and it depends on what,
(30:07):
what they're trying to get up to, what those will be.
So, yeah, that's like one wayto come into answering that
question.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Yeah.
So I love that, I love thetimeframe.
Can you tell us kind of likemaybe for some like coaching
previous coaching clients, likeafter coaching with you, like
what are some of the emphasesthat they've said about your
coaching or, like you know, someof the change that they've
(30:37):
experienced?
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, thanks for that .
You know, I'll just share thetwo things that just popped to
mind.
One of my clients that I workedwith really came in working on
conflict and actually we'restill working together.
We've entered into another arctogether, but at the end of our
first arc of working together,one of the things that they said
(30:58):
to me was you know, it'sinteresting, since we really got
into the work, I feel like I'vestarted to notice conflict
coming up in my life a lot more.
But what I'm actually what'scoming to me is that maybe it
(31:19):
was always there and that I wasin a shape where I just wasn't
even able to take it in or seeit or react to it.
And the thing that's reallyexciting for me about this
report out that they then saidwas like and it's interesting
because even though now I'mseeing so much more, I'm not as
(31:41):
afraid and there's a part of methat's actually like kind of
curious and like excited about,like maybe I can do this.
So that's a really subtle one.
Another one that's really subtle, but was the first thing that
came to mind with another client.
You know, we were exploring anaspect of their, of their
(32:03):
condition tendency, of the shapethat they have learned in their
life, and at the end this wasactually just a free session, a
gift session that I offered, andat the end they said something
that really touched me, whichwas, which was I think I
actually understand whatself-compassion is, and I think
(32:25):
that I just felt actualcompassion for this aspect of
myself for the first time in mylife, and so those are kind of
small, but you can imagine likethe ripple of something like
that I was going to say.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
it sounds like a block or a barrier that they're
able to finally, like, crumbleor move.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
The work is subtle and it's one of those things
where, kind of at the beginning,you you kind of you know have a
vision of what change couldlook like and you feel like, how
could I possibly get there?
And it's really only inretrospect that you turn around
and you're like, oh, like I'mreally different than I was at
the beginning of committing tosix months of somatic practice
(33:09):
for myself.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Yeah, I love that.
Did you say ripple?
Because that's what I keptthinking of.
Like, yeah, I love that.
Okay, love it, I love that.
Um, I guess I want to peoplethat are seeking right now who
would be what.
I guess I just want to likealign you with the clients that
(33:34):
might want your services rightnow for your next thing.
So I'm thinking of, like whatkind of people, what are, what
kind of things are like clientsthat would benefit from your
practices?
Speaker 2 (33:46):
See, you think they're seeking right now right
now, I think let's see like orhow they're suffering, I guess
or yeah, yeah, you know, I thinkthat some of my clients are.
Well, I guess I'll answer it intwo ways.
Um, there's one way on the nosethat a lot of my clients
externally like don't seem to besuffering Okay, they actually
(34:10):
seem to be doing pretty well andthey are like making, you know,
moves in their lives.
They're like making decisionsthat Seemingly high functioning
Exactly Thanks, seemingly highfunctioning and also actively
high functioning Exactly Thanks,seemingly high functioning and
also actively high functioning.
But, um, and like, if this isyou, then you just feel it.
But they feel something.
They feel like I'm doingeverything right, but I'm first
(34:34):
it's not hitting.
Sometimes my clients are like,they're like everything is good,
but for some reason I struggleto make contact with the
enjoyment and the pleasure ofthis present moment of my life.
Like I actually want to havemore contact with what is good
because there's so much good,but there's some reason that I'm
(34:54):
not enjoying my life as much asI think I should be.
Um, some of the other clientsthat if this is, if you're
hearing this and this is youclients, that if this is, if
you're hearing this and this isyou, then then somatic coaching
might be a good fit is, like youknow, you might have a lot of
people that depend on you.
Like perhaps you have a lot ofteams that you support, or
(35:17):
direct reports or differentgroups that you, or programs
that you oversee, and you'reknown as, like this pillar of
confidence, like a pillar ofstrength.
People really lean on you, butthe cost of that is going
somewhere, and so, whether thecost of that is coming out with
(35:38):
your family or coming out withyour friendships, or if it's
getting introjected and you'rejust swallowing it, there's a
way that you feel like maybe notcompletely authentic, because
you feel like what people areperceiving about you that you're
not fully aligning to that.
So that's another thing that istrue for a lot of my clients.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
That's why I'm like hearing this, like this, this
misalignment, and I love that.
Okay, so, okay, those are great, great explanations.
Okay.
So I ask everybody this whocomes on, but what do you?
What's your go-to self-carewhen things get hard?
That kind of helps you resetand get you back to feeling like
yourself.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
All right, the first one is crying.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Yeah, I mean, it's the way our bodies help regulate
ourselves.
So crying, I cry.
I never cried when I wasyounger, like my 20s, never
cried and now I cry like I can'teven tell you how many times a
day I'm like that was abeautiful song, that was a
beautiful post, like silly,silly things.
I cried, anything that's sorelatable.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
Yeah, people are relatable.
Yeah, people are like well, youseem so grounded and I'm like I
just want you to know that Iliterally cry, like every day.
So that.
And also spontaneous movement,you know, just throwing on a
song and as much as I can likeletting myself be moved and try,
you know, not overthinking thedance too much.
(37:06):
Yeah, letting your body take itover, yeah, and spontaneous
movement, as far as I'mconcerned, can be dancing,
standing stillness, singingright, like any of it as long as
it's what's the urges.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Expressive yeah, I love that.
I love that.
Those are great.
I don't do that as much as Ishould, but when I do do it I
can, I like, feel the release.
I love that one.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
Now that I work so much like, now that I have my
business doing somatic coaching,I do it so much more because I
I find it so important, rightfor me to continue to do my
practices, so just totallyrelatable.
There's a time when I never didanything like that.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
Yeah, yeah, and you know, different things fit for
different times too, you know,depending on what you're going
through, I feel like mine'salways changing what's feeling
good at the time.
So if someone is listening tothis and like, yes, sign me up,
where can they find you?
Speaker 2 (38:00):
They can send me a message on the contact me on my
website with mollyrosecom that'sthe same as my Instagram with
Molly Rose but, yeah, theeasiest way that'll always be
there is just going and shootingme a message and if you're
interested in in coaching, thenwe'll go ahead and schedule a
(38:20):
free one hour consultation, justa chance to get to know each
other, to learn about thetransformation that you're
longing for and whether asomatic approach is really the
best fit for you.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
I love that Beautiful .
Okay, is there anything elseyou wanted to add that maybe I'm
missing here?
I'm trying to look over mynotes I made before you.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Yeah, just as I'm like thinking about who might be
listening to this in the futurewe don't get to know when I'm
just thinking about um, you know, people are really up right now
.
There's a lot to be stressedabout um globally and I feel
like a lot of the time when I'mtalking to folks, they're just
(39:02):
like really going through it.
People are really really goingthrough it right now.
And so one other really simplekind of self-care move that I'll
just put out there is orienting.
Orienting is something thattakes no materials and you can
(39:22):
do it anywhere, but it's whenyou find yourself getting spun
up and like very freaked out,looking around, taking a moment,
looking around the room thatyou're in and looking above, to
the sides and behind you,turning from the waist, looking
(39:43):
under any desks or door ortables or surfaces in the room
and getting your eyes on all ofthe exits and windows in the
room.
And this is a tool thatbasically reminds our body that
in this present moment we areactually in a safe environment,
(40:07):
even when we're getting a lot ofinformation that's causing
anxiety and worry about what'sgoing to happen in the future,
what just happened in the past,what's happening around us.
Orienting is a tool that I useall the time, that I use with my
clients all the time to justcome back into the room and be
like all right, there's a lothappening right now, but
(40:29):
actually this physical body inthis room in this present moment
is safe.
So just want to give that towhoever might need that right
now.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
I love that.
That's like a great way to Ilove seeing these little tricks
on how to like get out of fightor flight mode.
You know what I mean, causethey're like from someone who,
like didn't know how to for along time, even recognize that
emotions had physical sensations, to like realizing like oh my
(40:59):
gosh, that's like all of a lotof things that to knowing
there's so many little trickslike that that once you can gain
like no, you're in it you canuse these things.
As soon as you gain theawareness of like I'm in one of
those states, once you workyourself, there's all these
little tricks and things you cando.
Once you find that work for you, and I love that, cause that's
a new one.
I've never heard that onebefore.
(41:19):
So thank you so much forsharing.
Okay, so you mentioned yourwebsite, or sorry, you mentioned
Insta and my website and yourwebsite.
Anything else?
You ways you any context youwant to put out there before we?
Speaker 2 (41:35):
go Just because people will be listening to it.
You can always email medirectly at mollyrosecoaching at
gmailcom.
That's where the contact formon the website goes, and I love
to yap.
I love connecting with folks,especially folks that are
interested in what I'minterested in and you know, as
I'm thinking about it, I'm likewe're we're winding up.
(41:57):
Maybe there's one other thing,if you're down, that I would
just say about a somaticapproach in general for people
that are curious, which is likethe thing that I love.
Just say about a somaticapproach in general for people
that are curious, which is likethe thing that I love the most
about a somatic approach is thatit, like somatics, posits that
it's like the book no bad parts,like there's no fixing and
there's nothing wrong with you,even if the moves that you're
(42:21):
making right now are not, um,are not having the impact that
you're making right now, are nothaving the impact that you want
them to be having.
We know that all of thestrategies for how we show up in
the world are just that.
They're strategies that havebeen developed, often when we're
young, for very good reasons toprotect our safety, our
(42:43):
belonging and our dignity.
And the more so like somaticsays that the more that we can
get curious, acknowledge, affirmand dignify the way that what
we're up to makes sense for whatwe have taken in about how the
(43:04):
world works makes sense for whatwe have taken in about how the
world works, then transformationjust happens.
It's like a gestalt perspectivetoo, that like, when we really
get clear and find a way totouch all parts of the cycle,
that change can be effortlessbecause it just happens.
And so I feel called to saythat, because I know, like and
(43:25):
especially for women, like somany of us have, like these
beliefs, that our emotionalexpression is too much, that
like we want too much, thatwe're too sensitive, that like
we should just get over things,or like that our very, or like
that we should be more you knowwhat's the word Like more out
(43:46):
there, that we should lean in,like that all of the things that
we're doing are like ways thatwe are bad or wrong or like
imperfect, and it just it's nottrue.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
Yeah, there's like this whole.
There's also like this, likehustle culture, where everyone's
trying to be all things at onetime and trying to do everything
perfectly.
And there is, like this quotethat I don't even know where I
heard it, but it was like youcan have like everything you've
ever wanted.
Like that is very possible, butyou will never have it at the
(44:22):
same time.
Like life doesn't work that way.
Like you can't do, you can't,you can have it all, but you
can't have it all at the sametime.
Like life doesn't work that way.
Like you can't do, you can't.
You can have it all, but youcan't have it all at the same
time.
You know?
So from there, it's like whatdo you want to focus on at a
time?
Like so I love that.
Yeah Well, thank you so much.
This was such a greatconversation, molly.
You are so fun to talk to andit's like so relaxed.
(44:45):
You just put me in like apeaceful, peaceful state over
here and you're also remindingme to be more intentional with
my words, because that issomething like I have ADHD, I
have racing thoughts, I'm likethe worst texter and I also like
will just say stuff sometimesand I'm like you know what I
mean, but being intentional isvery powerful, and so I
appreciate you for role modelingthat.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Oh, thank you, Jen.
Yeah, I loved our conversationand I'm so grateful to have the
opportunity to connect with youand also, yeah, your audience,
whoever's listening.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
Yeah, well, thank you , and we'll put all your links
in the show notes and hopefullywe'll have you back on the show
again to see what you're up tolater, thank you, thank you,
that would be great.
Welcome back to Empowered Ease.
I'm Jen Olinger, delighted tobring you another episode
dedicated to showcasinginspiring women who are making a
difference.
Today I'm thrilled to introducemy guest, molly Rose.
Molly is a dynamic leader andcoach with over a decade of
experience in promoting creativeand meaningful social impact.
(00:25):
Her expertise lies in fosteringresilience through relationship
and leadership development.
So Molly has worked with a vastarray of individuals, teams,
resource partners and communitygroups, helping them craft
thoughtful, inclusive strategiesthat foster transformational
change.
Whether through individualcoaching, group facilitation or
(00:48):
innovative strategy design, shehas successfully guided hundreds
of community impact leaders tocreate meaningful leadership and
program designs, both in thenonprofit world and in her
service as a development coach.
Central to Molly's approach isthe liberation from limiting and
oppressive narratives.
With a robust background insomatics, experience, design,
(01:10):
social impact and creativefacilitation, she empowers
others to explore their innerwisdom, resilience and aliveness
in all service of personal andcommunal transformation.
So Molly excels in supportingthose committed to their own
(01:33):
liberation and deconstructinginternalized oppressive
narratives.
She partners with individualsfrom privileged identities to
explore somatic awarenessrelated to crucial social issues
like class and race, strivingto build an embodied anti-racist
culture that brings culturalvalues to the forefront.
Her impressive work andcollaborations include leading
(01:55):
organizations such as Burningman Project, clowns Without
Borders, unhcr, reuters, unhcr,tedx, bushwick and many more.
She's grounded in learninglineage that incorporates the
teachings of the StraziInstitute for Somatics and I
(02:17):
apologize for this pronunciationRESMA, menachem, somatic
Abolitionismism and many otherinfluential, influential
programs.
So, without further ado, let'swelcome molly rose to empowered
ease.
Well, welcome to empowered ease, molly.
(02:39):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
thank you so much, jen.
I'm doing really well today andI'm so excited to have come to
the moment of meeting you andconnecting for the podcast.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Me too.
Me too, I kind of checked outyour website a little bit and I
don't know if you guys haven'tbeen on.
She has a beautiful website.
I love it.
I'm in the process of kind oftalking about having someone
like redo and I forget what theycall it, kind of like make
everything rebranded, like brandeverything kind of cohesively,
and so she's like pick outwebsites you love and yours.
(03:11):
So I'm like, oh, I love herwebsite, good website.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Literally so affirming.
I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, no problem, no problem.
So tell me a little bit mylisteners a little bit about
what you do.
Yeah, thanks for that question.
So tell me a little bit, tellmy listeners a little bit about
what you do?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, thanks for that question.
So I'm a somatic coach and Iactually got to somatic coaching
pretty recently out of a careerpivot from 10 years in
nonprofit management and reallyit seems different, you know,
like doing the whole nonprofitworld and working with clients
in a one-on-one sort of supportcapacity.
(03:50):
But when I think about how Iended up here, it kind of always
circles back to somethingthat's been threading the needle
for me since I started having acareer, which is it sounds
really cheesy, but it's like adeep yearning to participate in
our shared liberation.
And I think one thing that Ilearned so much over the 10
(04:12):
years kind of working at socialimpact and arts and culture was
was that we can have a reallyliberated perspective and that
we can create relationships thatare really generative and
community driven in pretty muchany environment.
And so in my path through that,I've landed at just recognizing
(04:37):
that in order to do what kindof the world is asking us to do,
kind of a culturaltransformation turning towards a
way for us to continue to be ina relationship with this planet
, that organizations are made upof people and that I really
love and feel so satisfiedworking with people who have a
(04:58):
big drive to have an impact onthe world and on their community
and like helping them on anindividual level to build more
ground and like have more spaceis something that just really
satisfies me.
So no, I'm a somatic coach.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I love that.
So you're working with likehigh achieving people with big
dreams, trying to make bigtransformation.
Is that my hearing thatcorrectly?
You?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
know the word big is there there, but I think the
word that's more true even forme is like deep um people.
It doesn't always look big likethe kind of work that my client
.
Can you repeat that I?
Speaker 1 (05:34):
think it like cut out a little bit.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
When you said the words, say the word again oh,
yeah, the word that I thinkmight be even more true is deep
or like.
Deep, I love that, okay, yes,that's the kind of work that, um
, people are up to powerful.
Yeah, the deep I love that.
Okay, yes, that's the kind ofwork that people are up to
Powerful.
Yeah, the people that I've thatI've started supporting, that
I'm up to.
It runs the gamut from folksthat have kind of a really
active leadership goal or, sorry, role in the sustainability
(05:59):
world or like in climate, butfor me it's just as meaningful.
You know, I also have clientsthat work in education, that are
accountants, that work in justkind of the jobs that need to
get done, but they have thisdrive, this yearning, this,
whether they're an artist or ahealer or an activist, like they
have a sense that what they'redoing and how they are being in
(06:23):
relationship in the world issomething that can kind of make
a difference.
I'm doing air quotes right nowfor the podcast people.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
So people committed to living deeper, people
committed to what, no matterwhat they're doing, doing it
with a deeper conviction or likeconnecting with that, like
deeper part of themselves, iswhat I'm hearing.
Is that accurate?
That's?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
exactly right and a phrase that I like to use and
that you'll see if, if anybodyvisits my website, is like
values, aligned behavior, oh, Ilove that interested in
cultivating a body and acapacity to be in choice and
really make choices and havebehaviors that are in alignment
with their values.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I like, I love that.
So when you say sharedliberation, what do you mean by
that?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Yes, so there are so many ways that people define
liberation, and one of myteachers offered me a definition
that I love.
That is the one that I use now,and it's kind of a Buddhist
definition of liberation, whichmeans freedom from the pairs.
So it's like we can feel likewe're in a big binary, like
everything is either black orwhite, or good or bad, or right
(07:38):
or wrong, and it can create alot of, it can bring up a lot of
stuff, and so when I sayliberation, meaning freedom from
the pairs, meaning like freedomfrom the binary and more
tolerance for the sort ofcomplicated, nuanced gray area
which is where we're spendingmost of our life and where most
(08:00):
of the most important decisionsare being made.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
I love that there was .
It hasn't come up for me somuch recently, but I feel like
last year the concept of dualitycame up for me so much how so
many things are so many thingsat the same time.
They're the good, the bad,they're the black and the white
at the same time, and that was atheme that came up for me a lot
last year that I like torevisit.
So I like that you said that,because that's kind of what I'm
(08:27):
thinking of, this like it'snever either, or it's always all
like so much, Okay.
Well, I love that.
So when clients come to you,what kind of what can they
expect to gain from coachingwith you?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Well, do you think I feel like a lot of people also
kind of have heard of somaticsbut don't actually like there
are again so many definitionsfor, yeah, let's explain your
definition.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
I just had like a somatic coach on a few weeks ago
, so I'm like just jumping aheadthough.
So yeah, explain to us aboutsomatics first.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Thank you, Molly, yeah, of course, like again this
, this answer would be different, you know, depending on who you
ask, but as I, as I, work withsomatics, soma is the word that
it is the Greek root, meaninglike the alive organism in its
holistic self, something likethat.
And so the somoma is really thedomain of like our thoughts,
(09:26):
our feelings, behaviors, oururges, the beliefs that we carry
about, how we are and how theworld works, and also the
energetic dynamic that we bringto relationships.
So when I'm working with folks,often the things that they're
seeking to transform in theirlife are around those topics.
(09:49):
Okay, so what was the question?
Again?
Speaker 1 (09:55):
We were just talking about what your, your definition
of somatics is to start with.
So that's the definition ofsomatics.
Okay, I love that.
Okay.
And then I was asking you whatkind of transformation or
changes that people work on orget from your coaching.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Great.
A lot of the types oftransformations and I'm just
kind of letting the questionland because there's a few ways
I could answer it, but thingsthat I see.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
I love your intentionality with your words.
By the way, I like from the getgo, like I, I started doing
this new introduction for theshow, which anyone who listens
to it knows.
There's a new introduction forthe last two.
So I sent Molly the thing of itand she said you're like the
first person to like revise itand send it back, which I loved
because it was the words.
The words you used were veryintentional.
(10:49):
And then I noticed, speaking toyou, you're very intentional
about your words.
So, thank you, and yeah, youwant to tell us something.
Anything about that wouldexplain that a little bit.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
I'm smiling because that's not the first time that
I've gotten that feedback.
And it's true, I am reallyintentional with language and,
honestly, in my own path, youknow, figuring out how I want to
be and who I am inrelationships with other people.
I laugh because I think about,like ex-partners when I was
(11:24):
first really landing, howimportant language was to me and
how much it mattered to me toreally say exactly what I was
trying to say.
You know, for two, three, five,six minutes, while I'm sort of
gathering the courage and theclarity to spit it out.
(11:49):
You know, whatever it is thatI'm trying to say to them and,
honestly, that's a good exampleof some of the kinds of stuff
that I work with with my clients.
I think people in a broad senseare seeking transformation
around the dynamic that theybring to relationships, whether
that's in their families or withtheir spouses or in their
(12:11):
organizations, and also there'skind of this nebulous thing of
like um on the way to leadershipdevelopment.
Often there's a step that I'vehad within myself and that I've
seen in other people of havingto reconnect with your authentic
(12:33):
information and having to buildmore trust in yourself and your
sort of somatic intelligence.
One of my teachers.
Res Momenicum talks about theseven bodily intelligences, and
cognitive intelligence is onlyone of them and it's like
(12:54):
overblown.
I'll go ahead and say it'soverblown, it's overused, at
least in the United States, inour society and the other
intelligences in our bodies areso diminished, and so I'm often
working with folks just toreconnect with the intelligence
that's already there.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Okay, so to get more attached, more aligned, more
intentional with the way theypresent themselves and interact
in the world.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yeah, and, like you know, something that might be
familiar, that I'll just say incase it resonates with anybody
is, like you know, often we havean image of ourselves, of how
tolerant or how patient or howstrategic and thoughtful we
might be, and then we have thesemoments where the pressure
really comes in and we just makea move without even thinking
(13:47):
about it and it's not the onethat we wanted to make.
Maybe we like lash out or wedisengage or put up a wall, and
then afterwards we're thinkingabout it and we're like, dang, I
wish I just had that moment,like I wish I had been able to
just take a minute, take a pause, like take a breath, think
(14:08):
about what I actually want to doinstead of just doing that
reaction.
And that pause moment is reallya lot of what sometimes we get
up to in somatic coaching,because we're basically in a
sandbox where we try on andexplore a lot of different um
I'm using air quotes again moves, and we really do it for the
(14:33):
sake of slowing everything downand being in an environment that
is, um, for the sake ofexploring and bringing an actual
curiosity to the self yeah, Ilove, I feel like a lot of
coaching is helping people todevelop that relationship with
themselves in an intentional way, and I love that.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, okay, well, I, you have like some really fun
things on your resume that Iwant to ask you about, even
though I know you're not here,let's talk about it.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
I love everything I've ever done, so fun.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
So the first one I wanted to ask you about was
clowns without borders.
So are you, do you?
I don't know how to say itbecause I know there's a way to
say it, but are you a clown?
Am I a professional?
Are you?
Yeah?
Well, do you like?
Speaker 2 (15:29):
so I had a roommate who would go to South America
and I don't know if it's thesame organization.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
It was with the.
What does the one patch out ofthis is involved in?
Is that the same one?
It's not, but I did work forpatch Adams, so my one of my old
roommates did too, and it'slike I didn't realize this at
the time and now I do.
But, like it being a clown isits own, a huge community, like,
like, and it does reallypositive, amazing things and I
had no idea and she kind of likeintroduced me a little bit to
that world so it was so cool tosee that on there, like brought
(15:53):
me back to her and she's anamazing person.
So, yeah, tell me about this.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Yeah, I really, I really love clowns and you're
right, like there is a hugecommunity of humanitarian clowns
, people that do clowning inthis environment.
And, yeah, my first real, myfirst real job was for about
five and a half years.
I was the director and variousroles for this very small
(16:18):
organization called ClownsWithout Borders USA.
There's 22 different chaptersof Clowns Without Borders USA.
There's 22 different chaptersof Clowns Without Borders around
the world and basically it'sall just working in partnership
only going where they areinvited with either an
individual or an organizationthat's local and living in the
(16:38):
area where they're going to betouring, and then organizing
free performance and workshopcircus tours in refugee camps,
conflict zones, natural disastersites and with communities,
especially families, but allpeople experiencing conflict
around the world.
And that is an amazingorganization, y'all.
I do recommend looking them up,throwing them a few bucks.
(17:01):
They're a volunteer drivenorganization.
Um, and really I learned aboutsomatics through those clown
tours in a way that at the timeI didn't have language for.
But the thing that's so amazingabout clowning in refugee camps
and with communities on the runfrom war or communities that
are, you know, strategicallyunder-resourced and undervalued,
(17:24):
is that basically the clowningdoes.
I'll just say two things.
One is it creates a wonderfulopportunity to invert a power
dynamic.
That's very unusual when peopleare receiving services and sort
of in survival mode, becausethe clowns are often the first
(17:46):
kind of foreigners that arecoming into communities not
trying to teach anything, nottrying to give anything or show
anything, like the clown isreally the bottom of the totem
pole, and so it creates thisopportunity for real human
contact, um for like realconnection and relationship.
For the second thing, which islike resilience through laughter
(18:09):
and um, just and connectionyeah, if there's one thing that
clowns without borders hastaught me, it's that um, like a,
a.
It's that like the differencebetween experiencing a crisis
and potentially you knowdeveloping PTSD, and like
(18:32):
carrying that with you for along time and having the support
to move through an experiencein the moment and ask for and
receive some things that youmight need.
Like it's a, it's a razor'sedge.
It doesn't take much to createthe circumstances for a moment
(18:52):
of wonder, a moment of awe, amoment of relaxation or levity,
which is critical for ourwellbeing as individuals and
communities.
By the way, like it's inMaslow's hierarchy of needs,
it's critical that we have thosemoments and they're so much
more accessible than they arelike at all times.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Yeah, even in the worst of times, right.
That's kind of the message.
I love that.
That's so cool that you werewith that organization.
I love just being able to talkabout that organization on this
podcast, cause I don't know if Iwould have remembered it Like
that's so cool.
Okay so other sorry did Iinterrupt you.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
No, I just said yay, I'm glad you brought it up.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Oh yeah, Another interesting thing I saw on your
podcast was you were on theboard for Burning man or
something related with Burningman.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yep, I was not.
I was never on the board forBurning man project.
I was an employee at Burningman.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
I worked full time for Burning man for also about
five and a half years forBurners Without Borders, which
is also a great program.
So I was basically a communityorganizer for the wing of the
Burning man community that'spassionate about civic action in
their hometowns.
So it was really like a.
It was the kind of the nextnatural thing, cause I'm not a
(20:12):
clown, I'm not a professionalclown, I'm very clown affiliated
.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Are you a burner?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
I'm a burner.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Yeah, you are Okay, I'm not, but I had a roommate
that was and it is another thingdifferent roommate,
surprisingly, but it is againone of those things that that,
like it, has its own community,that comes with it and people
keep in touch, like for years,so it's so cool yeah, yeah, my
Burning man community are superclose friends of mine.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
but it was a natural progression from Clowns Without
Borders because I was so clearabout the impact of kind of
relational community building,community driven service
projects and I kind ofrelational community building,
community driven serviceprojects and I kind of like was
itching to support that in morethan just with clowning and
performance, even though that isan amazing avenue for it.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
How cool.
I love that there was oneacronym on there I did not
recognize I was going to ask youabout, because I said it but I
didn't know what it meant.
So the UNHCR.
What does that stand for?
Oh, united.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Nation for Humanitarian Resources or
something Yikes.
Let's just double check that,because people in the
humanitarian world will be likewho is?
Speaker 1 (21:27):
she.
I think you are in thehumanitarian world and have
earned that spot.
So your resume says you've donesome considerable work.
Okay, so it's.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
So basically, like the contextof UNHCR on my resume is that
they were a collaborator with usfor some of our Clowns Without
Borders tours in Kenya in theKakuma refugee camp, which is
like one of the largest refugeecamps in the world and most
refugee camps are run by theseinternational organizations that
(22:00):
have you know their mission ofproviding transitional housing
for people on the run from warand UNHCR is like a really big
guy in that area.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Oh cool.
Is it involved in, like thesanctuary cities?
I have no idea, no worries.
Well, I'll look at it later.
Okay, so then I saw TEDxBushwick, which I love TED, ted
and TEDx.
So tell me a little bit aboutthat which I love Ted, ted and
TEDx.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
So tell me a little bit about that.
I love this.
This is fun for me.
Yeah, tedx was so fun and thatwas actually one of the first
things I did when I became theadministrative director for
Clowns Without Borders, becauseI was coming in with this
feeling of people need to knowabout this.
I didn't know about it until Ifound out about it and then I
was just really driven to.
(22:49):
I mean, when I joined thatorganization, they were entirely
volunteer run and I was like,listen, I'm willing to work for
free for like a couple of yearsif we are planning on becoming a
paid staff of some kind ofsustainable office, because this
is a dream job for me.
And so the director at the time, tim Cunningham, and the board
(23:11):
they were great, they were superon board.
I was like green enough to thatthey could afford me and really
, really energetic, yeah.
And so, yeah, one of the firstthings that I did was was pitch
that TEDx talk that I calledresilience through laughter, and
it really was all about justhow real it is that through
(23:31):
simple human contact with verylittle infrastructure, you can
really create transformation inpeople's experience and in the
energy of a place, and that alsotook me on a path to creative
placemaking took me on a path tocreative placemaking that is
(23:51):
cool.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
So tell me a little bit more about your background
in this creative placemaking,because I saw that mentioned a
lot on your website.
So tell me a little bit moreabout what that is.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Oh, maybe I don't think it's on my website, but
it's probably on my LinkedIn andyeah, basically, creative
placemaking is another sort ofniche world that I found a
couple of years ago that,similarly to semantics, felt
like it was giving language tosomething that I had been
playing around in, which is, youknow, placemaking the act of
(24:22):
making a place, and that it'slike something that real estate
people do of making a place, andthat it's like something that
real estate people do, or thatyou'll often talk about it in
the context of urban planning,and creative placemaking is also
sitting within that context ofurban planning, of development,
but it has a really radicalorigin and it really is about
(24:43):
how do we placemake in a waythat honors the past, that
honors what is already here andthat honors the vision for the
future of the community that'salready in this place.
Not everybody's going to defineit that way, but that's
something that has felt reallytrue to me and so, weaving it
(25:04):
all together, I did thiscertification in placement, in
creative placemaking, exploringjust kind of like what we as a
society know about leisure andrecreation.
Really, it's a lot of the stuffthat I was just mentioning
about how, like leisure andrecreation.
We know this is important.
Connection to self spirituality, like being fulfilled on a
(25:26):
higher level.
We know this is important andfor community is important to
all that.
And it's designed in to you knowto towns like we have
playgrounds, we haverecreational areas, and so I
wrote my thesis for thatcertification about creative
placemaking and its applicationsfor refugee camps, and this is
(25:53):
a total.
This is like a soapbox.
I could get on for a while, soI'll just say a couple of
sentences.
But the reason that it felt sointeresting and maybe I will
publish that sometime I neverreally I got it about 80% to
feeling good about publishing it.
But what I to feeling goodabout publishing it, but what I
learned and what it landed forme was just like we have people
(26:14):
right now I didn't know we weregoing to talk about this, so I
don't have the current numbers.
So I'd suggest that folks lookup the number of people that are
currently displaced, bothdisplaced internally in their
own countries and living inrefugee camps in the world.
It's an enormous number thatcontinues to grow very quickly.
But when we talk about that,we're talking about transient
(26:35):
location, temporary housing, butthis is something that people
are spending decades,generations of their families,
of their lives living in.
People are being born intransient locations, they're
growing up, they're gettingmarried, they're having children
, they're becoming grandchildren, and so the question that I was
really driven by was like howlong do people live in temporary
(26:56):
situations before we decidethat they, too, really deserve
to have this infrastructure forquality of life that we
recognize is critical for peopleto become the fullest
expression of themselves?
So I'll stop there.
But yeah, that's kind of I lovethat.
I love that.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
And I think it speaks a lot to the coaching you're
doing and the kind of clientsyou're looking for too, when you
talk about those kind ofinterests that you have, because
I think it's people that arepassionate on that level.
They're going to connect withyour coaching and want to talk
to you about, like ways to feelconnected to their work or their
community in that way, becauseyou can feel your passion when
(27:37):
you talk about all theseprojects, and I can feel your
passion for community and, youknow, for giving back, and so I
love that you're sharing all ofthis.
Thank you for giving back, andso I love that you're sharing
all this.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Okay, so really, really funstuff we're learning here.
So I know that you have somespots open for one-on-one
(27:59):
clients coming up, so tell us alittle bit about that, what they
would expect from that yearone-on-one coaching and then
kind of like the kind of personmaybe that this might speak to
thank you so much for thatquestion, jen.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
that's sweet to ask.
Yeah, I'm so excited to havesome spaces open in my
one-on-one coaching and I guessthe first thing that I can say,
which is also just kind of trueacross the board, about somatic
practice, is that it's amedium-term commitment.
Somatics loves repetition andso it's important when we're
(28:42):
taking a somatic approach totransformation to really give
yourself time to kind of unraveland unwind and start getting
into the practices.
So the arc of coaching is sixmonths.
I work with my clients, I meetthem twice or three times a
month and during our sessions itcan look like a lot of things,
(29:03):
but often we'll be doing acombination of different somatic
visualization and conversation.
It can look and feel a lot likeinquiry, coaching or therapy.
But then we have these physicalpractices and we have these
kind of embodiment practicesthat are, like I said, for the
sake of building that somaticawareness of what is happening
(29:25):
and priming yourself to haveopenings, and openings are
opportunities.
Once you've kind ofdysregulated your conditioned
shapes, the moves that arereally familiar, then sometimes
you'll notice like space to makea different choice.
So we're really getting ourreps in if you think of it like
(29:47):
a gym.
When we're in session together,we're getting our reps in of
somatic practice and then inbetween, my clients are doing
their own practices on their own, working with fundamental
practices.
That it really depends on theperson and it depends on what,
(30:07):
what they're trying to get up to, what those will be.
So, yeah, that's like one wayto come into answering that
question.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Yeah.
So I love that, I love thetimeframe.
Can you tell us kind of likemaybe for some like coaching
previous coaching clients, likeafter coaching with you, like
what are some of the emphasesthat they've said about your
coaching or, like you know, someof the change that they've
(30:37):
experienced?
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, thanks for that .
You know, I'll just share thetwo things that just popped to
mind.
One of my clients that I workedwith really came in working on
conflict and actually we'restill working together.
We've entered into another arctogether, but at the end of our
first arc of working together,one of the things that they said
(30:58):
to me was you know, it'sinteresting, since we really got
into the work, I feel like I'vestarted to notice conflict
coming up in my life a lot more.
But what I'm actually what'scoming to me is that maybe it
(31:19):
was always there and that I wasin a shape where I just wasn't
even able to take it in or seeit or react to it.
And the thing that's reallyexciting for me about this
report out that they then saidwas like and it's interesting
because even though now I'mseeing so much more, I'm not as
(31:41):
afraid and there's a part of methat's actually like kind of
curious and like excited about,like maybe I can do this.
So that's a really subtle one.
Another one that's really subtle, but was the first thing that
came to mind with another client.
You know, we were exploring anaspect of their, of their
(32:03):
condition tendency, of the shapethat they have learned in their
life, and at the end this wasactually just a free session, a
gift session that I offered, andat the end they said something
that really touched me, whichwas, which was I think I
actually understand whatself-compassion is, and I think
(32:25):
that I just felt actualcompassion for this aspect of
myself for the first time in mylife, and so those are kind of
small, but you can imagine likethe ripple of something like
that I was going to say.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
it sounds like a block or a barrier that they're
able to finally, like, crumbleor move.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
The work is subtle and it's one of those things
where, kind of at the beginning,you you kind of you know have a
vision of what change couldlook like and you feel like, how
could I possibly get there?
And it's really only inretrospect that you turn around
and you're like, oh, like I'mreally different than I was at
the beginning of committing tosix months of somatic practice
(33:09):
for myself.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Yeah, I love that.
Did you say ripple?
Because that's what I keptthinking of.
Like, yeah, I love that.
Okay, love it, I love that.
Um, I guess I want to peoplethat are seeking right now who
would be what.
I guess I just want to likealign you with the clients that
(33:34):
might want your services rightnow for your next thing.
So I'm thinking of, like whatkind of people, what are, what
kind of things are like clientsthat would benefit from your
practices?
Speaker 2 (33:46):
See, you think they're seeking right now right
now, I think let's see like orhow they're suffering, I guess
or yeah, yeah, you know, I thinkthat some of my clients are.
Well, I guess I'll answer it intwo ways.
Um, there's one way on the nosethat a lot of my clients
externally like don't seem to besuffering Okay, they actually
(34:10):
seem to be doing pretty well andthey are like making, you know,
moves in their lives.
They're like making decisionsthat Seemingly high functioning
Exactly Thanks, seemingly highfunctioning and also actively
high functioning Exactly Thanks,seemingly high functioning and
also actively high functioning.
But, um, and like, if this isyou, then you just feel it.
But they feel something.
They feel like I'm doingeverything right, but I'm first
(34:34):
it's not hitting.
Sometimes my clients are like,they're like everything is good,
but for some reason I struggleto make contact with the
enjoyment and the pleasure ofthis present moment of my life.
Like I actually want to havemore contact with what is good
because there's so much good,but there's some reason that I'm
(34:54):
not enjoying my life as much asI think I should be.
Um, some of the other clientsthat if this is, if you're
hearing this and this is youclients, that if this is, if
you're hearing this and this isyou, then then somatic coaching
might be a good fit is, like youknow, you might have a lot of
people that depend on you.
Like perhaps you have a lot ofteams that you support, or
(35:17):
direct reports or differentgroups that you, or programs
that you oversee, and you'reknown as, like this pillar of
confidence, like a pillar ofstrength.
People really lean on you, butthe cost of that is going
somewhere, and so, whether thecost of that is coming out with
(35:38):
your family or coming out withyour friendships, or if it's
getting introjected and you'rejust swallowing it, there's a
way that you feel like maybe notcompletely authentic, because
you feel like what people areperceiving about you that you're
not fully aligning to that.
So that's another thing that istrue for a lot of my clients.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
That's why I'm like hearing this, like this, this
misalignment, and I love that.
Okay, so, okay, those are great, great explanations.
Okay.
So I ask everybody this whocomes on, but what do you?
What's your go-to self-carewhen things get hard?
That kind of helps you resetand get you back to feeling like
yourself.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
All right, the first one is crying.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Yeah, I mean, it's the way our bodies help regulate
ourselves.
So crying, I cry.
I never cried when I wasyounger, like my 20s, never
cried and now I cry like I can'teven tell you how many times a
day I'm like that was abeautiful song, that was a
beautiful post, like silly,silly things.
I cried, anything that's sorelatable.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
Yeah, people are relatable.
Yeah, people are like well, youseem so grounded and I'm like I
just want you to know that Iliterally cry, like every day.
So that.
And also spontaneous movement,you know, just throwing on a
song and as much as I can likeletting myself be moved and try,
you know, not overthinking thedance too much.
(37:06):
Yeah, letting your body take itover, yeah, and spontaneous
movement, as far as I'mconcerned, can be dancing,
standing stillness, singingright, like any of it as long as
it's what's the urges.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Expressive yeah, I love that.
I love that.
Those are great.
I don't do that as much as Ishould, but when I do do it I
can, I like, feel the release.
I love that one.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
Now that I work so much like, now that I have my
business doing somatic coaching,I do it so much more because I
I find it so important, rightfor me to continue to do my
practices, so just totallyrelatable.
There's a time when I never didanything like that.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
Yeah, yeah, and you know, different things fit for
different times too, you know,depending on what you're going
through, I feel like mine'salways changing what's feeling
good at the time.
So if someone is listening tothis and like, yes, sign me up,
where can they find you?
Speaker 2 (38:00):
They can send me a message on the contact me on my
website with mollyrosecom that'sthe same as my Instagram with
Molly Rose but, yeah, theeasiest way that'll always be
there is just going and shootingme a message and if you're
interested in in coaching, thenwe'll go ahead and schedule a
(38:20):
free one hour consultation, justa chance to get to know each
other, to learn about thetransformation that you're
longing for and whether asomatic approach is really the
best fit for you.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
I love that Beautiful .
Okay, is there anything elseyou wanted to add that maybe I'm
missing here?
I'm trying to look over mynotes I made before you.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Yeah, just as I'm like thinking about who might be
listening to this in the futurewe don't get to know when I'm
just thinking about um, you know, people are really up right now
.
There's a lot to be stressedabout um globally and I feel
like a lot of the time when I'mtalking to folks, they're just
(39:02):
like really going through it.
People are really really goingthrough it right now.
And so one other really simplekind of self-care move that I'll
just put out there is orienting.
Orienting is something thattakes no materials and you can
(39:22):
do it anywhere, but it's whenyou find yourself getting spun
up and like very freaked out,looking around, taking a moment,
looking around the room thatyou're in and looking above, to
the sides and behind you,turning from the waist, looking
(39:43):
under any desks or door ortables or surfaces in the room
and getting your eyes on all ofthe exits and windows in the
room.
And this is a tool thatbasically reminds our body that
in this present moment we areactually in a safe environment,
(40:07):
even when we're getting a lot ofinformation that's causing
anxiety and worry about what'sgoing to happen in the future,
what just happened in the past,what's happening around us.
Orienting is a tool that I useall the time, that I use with my
clients all the time to justcome back into the room and be
like all right, there's a lothappening right now, but
(40:29):
actually this physical body inthis room in this present moment
is safe.
So just want to give that towhoever might need that right
now.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
I love that.
That's like a great way to Ilove seeing these little tricks
on how to like get out of fightor flight mode.
You know what I mean, causethey're like from someone who,
like didn't know how to for along time, even recognize that
emotions had physical sensations, to like realizing like oh my
(40:59):
gosh, that's like all of a lotof things that to knowing
there's so many little trickslike that that once you can gain
like no, you're in it you canuse these things.
As soon as you gain theawareness of like I'm in one of
those states, once you workyourself, there's all these
little tricks and things you cando.
Once you find that work for you, and I love that, cause that's
a new one.
I've never heard that onebefore.
(41:19):
So thank you so much forsharing.
Okay, so you mentioned yourwebsite, or sorry, you mentioned
Insta and my website and yourwebsite.
Anything else?
You ways you any context youwant to put out there before we?
Speaker 2 (41:35):
go Just because people will be listening to it.
You can always email medirectly at mollyrosecoaching at
gmailcom.
That's where the contact formon the website goes, and I love
to yap.
I love connecting with folks,especially folks that are
interested in what I'minterested in and you know, as
I'm thinking about it, I'm likewe're we're winding up.
(41:57):
Maybe there's one other thing,if you're down, that I would
just say about a somaticapproach in general for people
that are curious, which is likethe thing that I love.
Just say about a somaticapproach in general for people
that are curious, which is likethe thing that I love the most
about a somatic approach is thatit, like somatics, posits that
it's like the book no bad parts,like there's no fixing and
there's nothing wrong with you,even if the moves that you're
(42:21):
making right now are not, um,are not having the impact that
you're making right now, are nothaving the impact that you want
them to be having.
We know that all of thestrategies for how we show up in
the world are just that.
They're strategies that havebeen developed, often when we're
young, for very good reasons toprotect our safety, our
(42:43):
belonging and our dignity.
And the more so like somaticsays that the more that we can
get curious, acknowledge, affirmand dignify the way that what
we're up to makes sense for whatwe have taken in about how the
(43:04):
world works makes sense for whatwe have taken in about how the
world works, then transformationjust happens.
It's like a gestalt perspectivetoo, that like, when we really
get clear and find a way totouch all parts of the cycle,
that change can be effortlessbecause it just happens.
And so I feel called to saythat, because I know, like and
(43:25):
especially for women, like somany of us have, like these
beliefs, that our emotionalexpression is too much, that
like we want too much, thatwe're too sensitive, that like
we should just get over things,or like that our very, or like
that we should be more you knowwhat's the word Like more out
(43:46):
there, that we should lean in,like that all of the things that
we're doing are like ways thatwe are bad or wrong or like
imperfect, and it just it's nottrue.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
Yeah, there's like this whole.
There's also like this, likehustle culture, where everyone's
trying to be all things at onetime and trying to do everything
perfectly.
And there is, like this quotethat I don't even know where I
heard it, but it was like youcan have like everything you've
ever wanted.
Like that is very possible, butyou will never have it at the
(44:22):
same time.
Like life doesn't work that way.
Like you can't do, you can't,you can have it all, but you
can't have it all at the sametime.
Like life doesn't work that way.
Like you can't do, you can't.
You can have it all, but youcan't have it all at the same
time.
You know?
So from there, it's like whatdo you want to focus on at a
time?
Like so I love that.
Yeah Well, thank you so much.
This was such a greatconversation, molly.
You are so fun to talk to andit's like so relaxed.
(44:45):
You just put me in like apeaceful, peaceful state over
here and you're also remindingme to be more intentional with
my words, because that issomething like I have ADHD, I
have racing thoughts, I'm likethe worst texter and I also like
will just say stuff sometimesand I'm like you know what I
mean, but being intentional isvery powerful, and so I
appreciate you for role modelingthat.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Oh, thank you, Jen.
Yeah, I loved our conversationand I'm so grateful to have the
opportunity to connect with youand also, yeah, your audience,
whoever's listening.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
Yeah, well, thank you , and we'll put all your links
in the show notes and hopefullywe'll have you back on the show
again to see what you're up tolater, thank you, thank you,
that would be great.
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