Sarah Kowalski
I am the owner and founder of Alaya Coaching. Many years ago I went to law school, and began the grind as a corporate attorney in Silicon Valley. I found myself exhausted and burnt out. The long hours and constant stress got the best of me. It got so bad that I was forced to leave the practice of law for health reasons.
After leaving corporate litigation, I began the long-journey of rediscovering myself. Because of my undergraduate degree in Medical Anthropology and Psychology, I was fascinated with the link between body, posture, emotions, health, self-image and fulfillment for a long time. I got curious about the crucial role the body plays in achieving performance, satisfaction and health and organically developed a coaching method that takes all of these factors into account.
Because I was dealing with chronic pain after leaving my corporate job, I started exploring several somatic modalities. After having profound, immediate results with the Feldenkrais Method, I enrolled in a 4-year training program and became a certified Feldenkrais practitioner in 2005. During this time, I was also introduced to Qigong. I have been studying for 8 years and was granted permission to teach by my Qigong master 2 years ago.
Although I initially explored Feldenkrais and Qigong for pain reduction, the depth of awareness and possibility that they created for me changed my perspective on life profoundly. Because of this shift, I also became inspired to help people powerfully transform their lives. To that end, I became a certified Integral Coach through New Ventures West in 2004. This methodology provided a perfect outlet for my somatic work because it emphasizes that the body must be included in order to sustain a powerful behavioral change.
With this rich and rigorous training I have developed my own unique approach through which I help my clients develop potent action as they become present to their embodied experiences moment to moment. Through Somatic Coaching, I cultivate the ability to return to a sense of "home" or rest in the body, so that a new clarity arises from which my clients can begin to look at life's big questions. Clear, sustainable, and potent actions become possible from this new foundation.
I offer individual leadership development coaching, somatic coaching circles and workshops on leveraging the body for wellness, resilience and executive presence. After undertaking a radical career transition myself, I also have a unique affinity for working with people in career or life transition. I also teach Qigong classes, Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement Lessons and Functional Integration Lessons.
I have coached attorneys at Farella, Braun + Martel; Baker McKenzie; and Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., Richter & Hampton LLP and The Kimpton Group, as well as all levels of executives and managers, companies such as Genetech, Oracle, Motorola, Flixster, and Malcolm Pirnie. The common link is that they are all exhausted, burnt out in some way and struggling to stay afloat. It may show up in their leadership skills, work-life balance or simply a constant feeling that their lives are becoming a one-dimensional unrecognizable jumble.
I graduated from UC Berkeley with Honors in Anthropology and Psychology in 1994. I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Santa Clara University School of Law and passed the California bar in 1998. I have also completed a course in Business Mediation Skills Training and am a graduate of the Hoffman Process. I am a member of the Professional Coaches and Mentors Association, SF Coaches, the Feldenkrais Guild of North America, and an inactive member of the State Bar of California.
I live a rich, balanced, joyful life in San Francisco, California. I regularly practice Qigong and Feldenkrais for the deep awareness they cultivate as well a way to manage pain. Dance, and in particular Cuban salsa dancing, has become an outlet and expression of the joy to be in my body again. I’ve also pursued a life-long dream of being a singer by taking lots of singing lessons and briefly joining a band as a lead singer.
View these case studies as examples of how my approach can help you »
Read more about my approach: The Embodied Clarity Approach
Somatic Coaching
Feldenkrais Method
Qigong
