ROOTS + INNER ARCHITECTURE
What If Falling Apart
Is the Work?
Here's your reflection guide, and one question back to you.
BY NICHOLE MICHELSON, LPC, PCC · SOMA LEADERSHIP
I'm glad this piece landed for you. The fact that you took a moment to request the guide tells me something; that you're not just reading about this work, you're ready to actually do it. That matters.
Below you'll find the five reflection prompts from the piece, pulled out into a format you can sit with more slowly. I'd encourage you to find a quiet fifteen minutes rather than moving through them quickly. These questions tend to open up more when you give them room.
What If Falling Apart Is the Work?
Five questions for the woman who recognized herself. Read each one slowly. Notice what tightens, what softens, what wants to be said.
Where in your leadership does the role feel like a performance rather than an expression of who you actually are?
What has your body been trying to tell you that your schedule hasn't made room to hear?
Which recurring dynamic in your work or relationships might be asking to be understood rather than escaped?
What is the quieter voice; the one you call impractical, actually pointing toward?
If this restlessness is a beginning rather than a breakdown, what might be trying to emerge?
A somatic note: before you write, take three slow breaths and let your attention drop from your head into your body. Notice where you feel each question; not just what you think, but what you sense. The body often holds answers the mind hasn't found words for yet.
And here's the question I'd love to hear from you, if you're open to it: which of the seven signs resonated most?
You don't have to share anything more than that. But I ask because I read every reply, and because knowing what's alive for the women in this community shapes the work I put out next. You're not just a reader; you're part of what SOMA is becoming.
Take your time with the questions. There's no rush here.
Nichole Michelson
LPC, PCC, ELI-MP · Founder, SOMA Inner Leadership
P.S. If you're finding that one question in particular keeps pulling at you, that's usually where the work wants to begin. The SOMA Rooted Leadership Lab opens again this summer; it's a 7-week cohort built exactly for moments like this. No pressure to do anything with that information right now. But if you want to know more, just reply and I'll share the details.