Welcome to The Wise Body.
My name is Vaishali and I’m a somatic coach and practitioner based in Bangalore, India. I teach people how to live in harmony with their bodies and honour their deeper self using a variety of practices: breath and bodywork, nervous system regulation, menstrual cycle awareness and somatic meditation.
what is somatics?
Somatics comes from the Greek and Latin root word ‘soma’, which means body. Somatics is an umbrella term for a variety of practices, methods and techniques, all of which are oriented to and rooted in bodily experience. In somatic practice, we tune into and work with the felt experience of the body: sensations, movement, breath, emotions, senses, instincts, intuition, desires…
These aspects of our experience are usually overlooked and underappreciated. But when you know how to receive and incorporate them into your life, everything becomes richer, fuller, more satisfying—and your body remembers how to heal, recover and adapt to life.
Somatic work helps you rediscover and strengthen the innate connection between your mind and body, which is crucial for wellness, self-regulation, growth and authenticity.
current offerings
the way I work
Somatic work comes in many forms and takes many approaches. Over the past decade of body-oriented training, I’ve come to recognize and commit to living and working by the following principles:
individual attunement
The most important thing about the work we do is you, and how you attune (or don’t) to any given practice.
We often don’t realise that we can customise our approach to any given practice infinitely. There is literally no limit to how you can tweak things to make them supportive for you: but without experience and guidance, you may feel stuck or unsure about how to actually do this. That’s where I come in.
Choosing approaches based on your instinctive attunement to them means that:
- you’re going to experience a greater benefit because there is already a resonance between you and the practice, and
- you’re going to be more likely to do the practice because it feels natural and easy
simplicity and sustainability
Deep and effortless transformation comes from introducing small, step-by-step changes to the way you do things. While they may not seem glamorous, these are the kinds of changes that the human nervous system can easily process and integrate, without getting overwhelmed or hijacked by intense sensations and emotions.
The work we do together is not one-and-done: it is designed to be something you can take home and be with over time.
While many do experience big shifts from what we do together, I prioritise making things simple and sustainable for the long-term, rather than chasing after short-term highs or fixes.
pattern recognition and reorganization
Patterns are central to the way we operate in the world, and determine almost every part of our experience of life. The work I do is at its core about:
- recognizing your existing patterns: of behavior, thought, movement, breathing, perception etc.
- choosing the right intervention and approach to either solidify that pattern, or shift it in a different direction
Being able to see your own patterns brings clarity and relief, because now you have choices about whether to continue in the same way, or make a change.
The reorganization of patterns is a way to embed a new, conscious awareness down into your subconscious, so that the changes you make actually stick, and don’t require a ton of effort to do so.
a little hello from me
what people say
Vaishali is a well-informed, highly-trained, and approachable practitioner. Usually, one happens at the expense of the other, but she has the gift of breaking down complex constructs into practical, everyday strategies.
What is notable about Vaishali’s sessions is that one can apply the takeaways almost immediately. For a beginner who is seeking an inroad into mindfulness work, mainstream practices such as meditation, with their obdurate demands, can sometimes seem complex and unrelenting. Vaishali’s work reinforces that more simple practices can integrate into the life that you already lead, without being alienating.
Most importantly, these sessions were a window into myself – a “permission” almost, to say no to things that I was “supposed” to do, and discover more joyful ways of finding peace and contentment. These strategies and approaches are also rooted in science, neurobiology and evolutionary biology. Evidentiary substantiation is very important to me, and these sessions are chock-full of evidence, in addition to making you feel good 🙂
—Aruna
I have done both group and individual work with Vaishali, and my respect for her grows with every session. We have covered several practices, including nervous system regulation, menstrual cycle awareness, and somatic meditation.
Working with Vaishali feels like going on an important exploration with a knowledgeable and trusted guide. She will stay the course with you, feed your curiosity, and make the difficult stretches seem undaunting. Vaishali is highly intuitive and naturally thoughtful. At the end of most sessions, I generally go, “How did you know I needed that?”
—Manjari
When I first started working with Vaishali, I was going through a period of intense suffering in my life and it felt like the very ground beneath my feet had disappeared. I was trying my best to fight back and recover but a huge problem I faced was living in my head and overthinking. Working with Vaishali helped me immensely, as through our sessions she helped me make the shift from head to heart and connect with myself in a much deeper and authentic way, as we engaged in some beautifully crafted, restorative practices. I will be forever grateful for her support and genuine care during my healing process!
—Ben
more about my coaching
Breath Repatterning
I’m trained in the Oxygen Advantage® Functional Breathing method, and have years of experience with breathwork through yoga and pranayama training.
I’m here to help you identify your current breath pattern, figure out what it’s doing for you, and curate a set of practices and protocols to change your state.
Breath is so central to life that it affects every part of you: mind, body, heart and spirit. With the power of your breath, you can improve physical health, mental performance, emotional resilience and spiritual insight.
Gaining mastery over your breath is not just about doing exercises, but about understanding how breathing affects you, and how you can create change by breathing differently.
Nervous System Regulation
The nervous system is the conductor of the orchestra of your body. Under chronic or traumatic stress, the nervous system can get stuck in an unhealthy or imbalanced state of activation, shutdown or some combination of the two. In these states, we experience a range of physical, mental and emotional issues including:
- poor sleep and digestion
- increased pain sensitivity, reduced coordination and inhibited recovery
- fatigue or unpredictable energy levels
- an inability to focus, communicate or even access innate skills and abilities
- unhelpful or spiralling thought patterns of anxiety, shame or doom
These sessions are designed to get you to identify and transform the state of your nervous system, so that you can experience greater ease, pleasure, and mastery in your life.
Meditation Coaching
I teach an approach called Instinctive Meditation™, which is designed to make meditation feel like the most natural thing in the world.
Anyone can meditate, as meditation is infinitely customisable to your needs, preferences and personal situation.
With a little instruction, meditation can become your go-to resource for:
- enhancing gratitude, appreciation and love
- self-care and personal support
- recovering from and reducing stress
- preparing for upcoming challenges
- discovering your innate creativity
- and much more
Menstrual Cycle Awareness
The menstrual cycle is one of the most powerful and unique aspects of being a woman. It includes not only your period, but the entire ebb and flow of hormonal changes that take place in a female body over the course of (approximately) a month.
Your cycle is also a uniquely feminine source of strength and self-awareness. By learning to harmonise with your own cycle, you gain understanding and power over diverse areas of your life, such as: food, energy and mood, sleep, fitness, mental health, relationships and more.
If you want to shift from a tense or adversarial relationship with your own cycle to one of gratitude and understanding, join one of my cycle circles or book a coaching session.
my writing
I have a substack publication, also called The Wise Body. There I write on my work, reflect on teaching and practice, and share about my life. Since I’m not active on social media, subscribing to my substack is the best way to stay in touch with me. All you need is an email address, and you’ll get a message in your inbox from me every once in a while. Here are some of my most popular posts for you to get a taste (click on the image to read the full post):
The Wise Body 