Have you heard the expression “The body keeps the score”?

 

If you’re interested in trauma, you certainly have. It’s the title of an influential book by Bessel van der Kolk.

And the phrase has taken on a life of its own.

It beautifully captures that what we experience in life cannot be separated from how our bodies function. Our nervous systems record what happens to us. Our muscles, breath, posture, and internal chemistry reflect our history.

But there is more.

Our bodies don’t just keep the score of painful experiences.
They are not tally sticks marked only by harm.
They are not passive recipients of what life does to them.

Our bodies are also portals to pleasure:

Through loving touch.
The sweet smell of roses.
The taste of a delicious meal.
Birdsong in the forest.
Leaves rustling in the wind.
Music that moves you to tears.
A sight that fills you with delight.

Your body stores these experiences too. A waft of freshly baked cookies can bring you straight back to your grandmother’s kitchen — and flood you with warmth and happiness.

But there is still more.

Your body is not just a record-keeper. It is a treasure chamber.

An Aladdin’s cave of embodied resources.

And I want this truth to become as widely known as the trauma narrative. Because without realising it, we are selling ourselves, and our clients, short.

The Body as a Treasure Chamber

In Soul-based Coaching, we use embodied metaphor to unlock these inner resources.

In more than twenty years of doing this work, I have seen even the most stuck clients find profound movement — into peace, clarity, confidence, and possibility.

Let me give you a recent example.

A client came wanting to understand how to use all the skills and tools she had collected over the years. She wanted to show up more fully for her clients, but she kept doubting how.

As we worked with her embodied metaphor, something shifted.

She found herself stepping into her wise self, an ageless presence wearing a white cape. This self knew exactly which tool to use in every moment.

And as she realised this, a white rose began to open in her heart.

I watched it happen.

Her breathing slowed. Her energy softened and deepened. She began to radiate calm authority.

The rose expanded into her inner landscape (as we call it), touching every other part of her experience.

The doubt that had brought her into the session dissolved.

In its place: deep trust.
Clarity.
Stillness.

The next steps were obvious.

These moments feel magical — for the client and for me.

You can analyse this logically if you wish. But in my experience, there is no need.

The rose is now part of her system — consciously and subconsciously. It is integrated in her body, mind, and soul. And because we explored what allowed her wise self to emerge and the rose to open, she can return to this state whenever she chooses.

For two decades, I have watched inner shifts like this profoundly affect what clients feel, think, and subsequently do in the outer world.

Why This Matters for Coaches

Do you see the difference this makes?

It’s not just that clients “find a resource.”

It’s that they discover resources within themselves. Things like:

• Trust

• Courage

• Comfort

• Healing

• Excitement

• A new perspective

• Even a well-timed kick up the backside

And even better: they don’t need to know in advance what they are looking for.

This client did not come asking for a white rose in her heart. I had never encountered that image before — and I never will again. It arose organically from her inner journey.

That is what makes this work so powerful.

The resources that emerge are: unique, they are perfectly fitted to the client. They are embodied, and they are available whenever needed.

Clients experience — directly — that what they need is already inside them.

And that is deeply empowering.

Back to trauma therapy

If you are wondering how powerful these embodied resources are, then we can circle back to trauma therapy, the field that I started this post with.

The reason we know how to access these resources, is all thanks to David Grove, a psychotherapist in the 1980s working with trauma survivors. Both war veterans and people having suffered childhood abuse. He found that the closer people came to talking about their traumatic experiences, the more they started to speak in metaphor. David wondered ‘What if these metaphors are a function of a healthy system? How can I honour them and work with them?‘. This enquiry let him to develop the Clean Language Questions, and helped him develop a powerful methodology were the client’s natural metaphors lead to actual, embodied healing.

So yes. Even in the coaching context, these metaphors are potent and powerful.

We Are So Much More Than We Think

Most people are denied access to these inner treasures simply because most coaches and therapists were never taught they exist.

So here is what I want you to know:

First:
The body doesn’t just keep the score of painful experiences.
It is also home to a vast store of inner resources: like Aladdin’s cave, our inner richness is unimaginable.

Second:
You can learn to access your own inner treasure.
And you can learn to guide others to theirs.

We humans are so much more than our conscious, logical minds would have us believe.

Want to learn more? 

Sign up for our (free) on-demand masterclass here. And you can check out our training programs here.