About
“Because Humaning is harder than adulting”
The Center for Somatic Leadership & Communication empowers individuals, leaders, and groups by providing somatic play resources that expand emotional, interpersonal, leadership and communication skills for fuller, authentic expression and human harmony.
Built on the premise that all humans make better choices when they feel emotionally and interpersonally resourced, we envision a world where people live and lead from their unique vital center co-creating an equal playing field for all. In our work, we help you explore:
How do I live and lead from my heart while satisfying my own needs and wants and that of others?
How do I come into relationship with others in my environment while also expanding my relationship to myself?
What is Somatic Play:
All of the Center’s services use a distinctive approach called Somatic Play. This approach combines the proven value of improvisational as a growth tool set with the power of somatic communication. Whether in a workshop, class or 1-on-1 coaching, you will flow through our core method of Expressing, Experiencing and Expanding in your play sequences.
This approach is based on the InterPlay system, a system of improvisational movement, storytelling and vocalization that is proven to make people feel significantly more connected, energized, full of ease, and body-aware in groups even after only one experience. Watch the video to get more familiar with this approach.
Core Values
Depth
We fearlessly dive into the human experience to provide simple, direct guidance.
Playful
We trust the path of creative, wise, lighthearted play for wayfinding.
Compassion
We listen honestly, compassionately and respectfully to every Body.
Quirky
We affirm each unique human expression and our collective diversity.
Somatic
We follow the loving leadership of the body to discover accelerated pathways for ease and abundance.
Monisha Mittal
CEO, Chief Embodiment Officer
Hi! I’m Monisha. Welcome to my slice of the Internet.
I am a Somatic Coach & Play Architect. I am motivated to assist you in “climbing into your body” so you can access your unique somatic intelligence. When you use one of the Center’s services, you participate in play sequences where you experience the Real You, in your full and vital expression.
Throughout my career, I have been guided by the questions:
How do individuals find their vital expression within the system’s they operate in?
How do systems benefit as individual’s realize their fuller potential?
Chief Embodiment Officer
Examining systems such as villages, organizations and economies, I drew on skill sets from the fields of economics, public policy, psychology, communications, and facilitation.
I honed my listening skills in north Philadelphia and rural India where invisible barriers such as socio-economic, language, and cultural divides oppressed expression and opportunity. Learning from exceptional community organizers and change agents, I learned to cultivate indigenous leadership by amplifying disenfranchised voices so the community could identify change strategies from within. In my organizational work, I often bridged disconnects across different disciplines and disparate processes to build linkages and agreements within and across teams.
Still, there was something about my own operating system that I couldn’t explain. In my work, not only did I actively listen to people, I could “hear” unspoken feelings and thoughts. In meetings or facilitations, I found myself not only bridging individual viewpoints, but also expanding and deepening stakeholders’ emotional availability around the subject at hand.
As I explored different systems to find what made me tick, I eventually discovered an improvisational system based in the performing arts called InterPlay. In InterPlay, I noticed people being and feeling more like their authentic self.
Here something Big came alive; I discovered my native intelligences were somatic. Prior to this experience, I was scared of how differently I processed information, whether in educational or professional settings. I subconsciously feared I didn’t belong which made me highly anxious and filled with self-doubt. As it turns out, I have always listened with my whole body, streaming energetic data like frequencies.
As I gained my own vital expression, I chose to become certified as an InterPlay leader. Now, I love the way I roll . I merge the wise physical play of InterPlay with deep dive somatic communication techniques so people can learn their own unique wiring, re-engage with their surroundings and shine as themselves in the spaces they occupy.
My open curiousity and capacity to listen to your somatic transmissions means I am constantly attuned to the unknown that is waiting to come up to the surface for your awareness.
Formal Training
My coaching accreditation is from the Applied Depth Institute (2018); in 2020, I became a Certified InterPlay Leader (CL) and in 2023, a Certified Life Practice Program Leader (LPL). Together Together the InterPlay certifications required 100 hours of training, with built-in mentorship for leading groups and one-on-one transformation sessions. As of 2024, I have more than 60 individual coaching hours, and more than 100 hours supporting groups in experiencing loving breakthroughs.
Monisha holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School.
