Katie is a Speaker and Expert Somatic Parenting Coach. Most of her clients are moms of highly sensitive or neurodiverse families seeking someone who can bridge the science-based and intuitive worlds. Read the full interview with the passionate founder of gloWithin!
Katie Connolly, Expert Somatic Guide for Sensitive Souls
Hi Katie! Could you introduce yourself a little bit to our readers? Absolutely! I was given the gift of breathwork and meditation as a child, and discovered Somatic tools – using my body as a guide to understand and move through experiences. I attribute this to my resilience and ability to transform intergenerational patterns. In our world today, we are pulled away from our bodies through expectations, obligations, social media, and other forms, often until we hit a breaking point showing up as chronic anxiety, depression, or burnout. For all and particularly highly sensitive souls, it becomes a little more murky because we might not be able to discern what is ours versus another’s. This is one reason highly sensitive people are more prone to burnout - something I say from experience.
Discerning what is ours from another’s is a challenging subtle lesson to learn, and I love sharing these tools with others. I am an Expert Registered Yoga Teacher, Craniosacral Practitioner, Founded a Registered Children’s Yoga School, Master of Counselling Candidate, and Speaker. I have received many awards, to include the Mom’s Choice Awards® Gold Recipient for my Children’s Yoga + Social Emotional Learning Cards. Could you share what Somatic work is? Definitely, and as this has become more popular, it seems there are various iterations. The way I have worked with it since I was a child and formally for the last 12 years is being able to tune into our bodies wisdom and use our body to release what is showing up. This is aligned with Polyvagal (Craniosacral) Theory and Peter Levine’s trauma-informed work with the basis that we are quite similar to other animals. If you ask a child how they feel, they often tell you about their body rather than labeling an emotion or thought pattern. For deep emotions and experiences, they live in our bodies and it can be hard to logically recognize and articulate them. I work with families to tune into their bodies through Craniosacral and guided meditation to understand what needs to be seen and heard, and find healthy ways to move through experiences or emotions through movement, art, breath and voice work, etc.
As I mentioned and personally experienced, many live disconnected from their bodies and true selves, and it can take time to learn to tune in and listen. I also acknowledge it can be hard for those who have experienced trauma, and so I come from a trauma-informed background to support my clients in slowly tuning in and learning tools to do this on a regular basis, to prevent chronic anxiety, depression, and burnout. My work is holistic in nature, taking into account the systems within ourselves and our social context. Who do you work with? I feel our society doesn’t really value the family system or motherhood – just look at maternity leave in the US. Moms in most developed and individualistic countries are struggling. Being the ones primarily responsible for helping their children create a healthy nervous system baseline and patterns for how they perceive and interact with the world around them... and I can’t help but see that if things don’t change, our current mental health crisis is only going to get worse. I believe we are at a crossroads, and one highlighting the absolute need to reconfigure our lives into a more holistic, aligned way of being for our wellbeing and that of our future generations.
According to recent stats:
Since Covid, 41.5% of adults have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression (2021, CDC)
Prior to Covid, 1 in 11 youth were prescribed anxiety medication (2019, Mental Health Canada)
Up to 70% of moms have feelings associated with postpartum depression (2021, Psychiatry.org)
In my work as an ExpertSomatic Parenting Coach, I usually work with mom first in creating a foundation to support her and her family to thrive. We take a holistic approach, release generational patterns no longer serving, and create supportive new patterns to nourish the family nervous system. I also collaborate with other practitioners as it truly takes a village. Many moms who reach out have highly sensitive or neurodiverse children, or are themselves… which can add a layer of complexity to parenting, but when approached from a heart-centred and nourished nervous system, it can bring so much freedom and joy! Ultimately I end up working with the whole family so we can really support our children to thrive, and enjoy the experience along the way! I also want to acknowledge that there are many incredible Fathers too who are also doing this work.
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today I think there were a few moments that were really pivotal, as is the case for many. As I mentioned, my Mom shared breathwork and meditation with me to help reduce my anxiety as a child. Fast forward to when I was 18, I remember watching my Mom working from the hall, and thinking that our society is really going to need to change if we want to raise healthy families. I also realized that many women and moms were going to be highly educated and want to do both, but this can be hard being pulled in many directions. Now the reality is that both parents usually do have to work. This inspired me to create a beloved community space in North Vancouver, Canada, which I closed in 2020. This healing space offered yoga, healing modalities, and as a platform for practitioners to share their gifts with the community. Another key moment was the out of body experience (OBE) I had when I was 21. I regularly went out of body as a child, but this was completely different. I was at work, and passed out in front of my co-workers. I spent the next 24 hours in tears, deeply releasing all the emotions I had attempted to repress. See, while I did regular Somatic work, it’s hard to do the really deep work on yourself… particularly if there is not the space emotionally to do so. As a sensitive child, I stepped up to take on a parent role at around 10 and began to disconnect from difficult emotions to be brave. Additionally my body became the focus in inappropriate ways at family events, which led to body dysmorphia and an attempt to physically disconnect until I was about 25. This OBE was a key awakening into beginning to reconnect with my body and emotions to heal. This OBE also made it difficult to fit in and do the ‘normal’ thing. Like many who have a near-death experience, I was experiencing more regular spiritual moments – many I had no idea why I was receiving the information I was. Like in my teen years, I again struggled to connect with my peers who were excelling in their careers, while I appeared to be floundering. While I had a great track record managing programs until I was 23 and graduated with my undergrad in business with scholarships and awards, in my first three years post-uni, I was laid-off four times for no real reason. Although I felt gutted and lost, I knew I needed to surrender and listen to where I was being guided – not easy when there was no clear path. I share this because I know I am not the only one to go through these experiences and as challenging as it was I tried to see the gifts in it. I knew if I could navigate this experience, I needed to be able to offer support to those who were also struggling… which we are seeing more of in the last few years as our world is in flux. I continued to follow the path I was guided upon… and here I am, blessed with a healthy, happy family, wonderful friends and community, and a career I am incredibly passionate about! What sets gloWithin apart from competitors in the same niche or industry? What unique features or qualities do you bring to the market? While there are many parenting coaches, we each offer something different. My clients agree that my work is truly holistic, and I bring lived experience and many qualifications. Having started when I was a child and formally doing this work for over 12 years now, I have a deep understanding of the physical body, fascia, the nervous system, and can intuitively see how this connects with our emotional, mental, and energetic bodies. Through this holistic understanding and approach, I am able to support clients in intuitive and tangible ways to help them create sustainable calm and alignment in their lives. I feel so grateful to be able to bridge science and intuition, helping clients to understand their human and spiritual experiences in a trauma-informed way. My work at its core is to help end unhealthy systemic cycles within families and communities to create a brighter, healthier future for all. While I love working one one-on-one on deep levels with clients, I also really enjoy being able to speak to large groups to create greater impact. You’re welcome to read about my qualifications here.
Can you tell me about the products or services you offer on your website, and how they cater to the needs or interests of your target audience? Absolutely! In order to make learning playful and tangible for families, I created award-winning social-emotional learning(SEL) tools, to include my gloWithin App and Children’s Yoga Cards. My Award Winning Children’s Yoga Cards offer a fun, age-appropriate way for families to practice Somatic tools to help set the tone for the day and to use these life skills during challenging moments. Additionally, on my App, I offer a Free Intro Course sharing age-appropriate breathwork and offer many more courses here for parents, individuals, and yoga teachers continuing education.
I also offer the Motherhood Journey, a live, virtual community for Moms. Within this offering Moms can find the package that suits their needs, from community-based learning to hand-in-hand support to help them become the calm, confident version of themselves, trusting in their wisdom to empower their family to thrive!
What kind of content can our readers expect from you?
I’m looking forward to sharing Somatic tools to empower families navigating the challenges of raising sensitive and neurodiverse souls today, and speaking to support for highly sensitive moms. I might throw in some other interesting tid-bits too… we shall see where the inspiration leads me!
Are you interested in working with Katie to see how she can support you and your family? Take a look at what she offers here.
