Jenn Noble, relationship coach, TEDx speaker, and founder of Speak Honest, is extending her coaching practice into formal psychological research by asking: Can paying attention to physical sensations connected to positive memories change how people experience themselves and their relationships?
Her current study at San José State University features a question that dictates the flow and connection of attachment, communication, and body awareness. The question is still open. Noble is now testing one of her own practices using research methods.
From Coaching Practice to Research Question
Jenn Noble developed Somatic Affirmations while working with coaching clients and after observing traditional affirmations. Repeating “I am enough” or “I am capable” asks someone to say a positive statement. Somatic Affirmation makes this addition: finding evidence from the person’s own life and noticing how that evidence feels in the body. This is a tangible element of the idea, charting a fresh outlook. Participants will be finding memories that already support their affirmations.
Noble’s current study is an IRB-approved research project at San José State University. It is supported by a university research grant awarded to her. Participants practice Somatic Affirmations for 30 days. The research examines five areas: relationship satisfaction, communication competence, attachment style, emotion regulation, and self-compassion.
Every single area is assessed through a validated questionnaire. The target is 40 participants, with data collection still in progress.
Jenn Noble’s Somatic Affirmation Approach
The practice has three connected elements: evidence, somatic sensation, and timing.
Evidence begins with memory. A person chooses an affirmation such as “I am enough” and recalls five moments that support it. The memories do not need to be spontaneous or involve big changes. They can come from years ago as well (though the study does not rule out something that happened earlier that day).
Next, somatic sensation highlights the physical response connected to each memory. This includes warmth in the chest, relaxed shoulders, a change in breathing, or another physical sensation. What this stage does is simply observe the body, not repeat a sentence.
And lastly, timing matters because the practice is intended for a relaxed and receptive state. Noble recommends moments such as shortly after waking or before sleep.
The entire practice takes about five to 10 minutes, further solidifying Somatic Affirmation’s state as being quite different from a purely verbal affirmation exercise. The person is connecting language to autobiographical evidence and then observing the physical and emotional response associated with that evidence.
Why the Body Belongs in the Communication Conversation
More commonly, communication is a matter of words, but a wider stance is acknowledging that it also happens through emotional and physical states. Attachment theory is one way to understand this. People develop recurring patterns in how they approach closeness, conflict, reassurance, and emotional distance.
Noble’s work can help them understand these patterns and how they relate to communication. Research into embodied approaches has similarly explored how body awareness, movement, and nonverbal interaction can contribute to understanding attachment-related experiences.
Somatic Affirmations asks: if people repeatedly connect affirming beliefs with memories and bodily sensations, could that practice be associated with changes in how they regulate emotions, communicate, or experience relationships?
Coaching Needs More Research. Why?
Coaching has produced thousands of frameworks. But a popular idea that works with clients does not automatically establish its scientific validity. Noble is testing a practice through a formal research process.
The wider coaching industry can also certainly benefit.
Practitioners can develop ideas from professional experience and clarify what deserves further investigation, what needs modification, and what claims should remain tentative.
Another notable literary contribution by Noble is Dance of Attachment, her bestselling book on attachment and relationship patterns. The book already discusses psychology, communication, and attachment. Her research furthers many of these topics, which can be examined systematically.
From Practice to Evidence
In summation, the most interesting part of Noble’s research is the question it leaves open. Somatic Affirmations, which began as a practical coaching exercise, is now being examined through an academic research process at San José State University. What can be said now is that the research creates a structured opportunity to examine a body-based communication practice through measurable psychological variables. That is a useful step for a coaching field where many practices begin in real-world work long before they reach formal research.
Noble’s work has taken her on an interesting path, from relationship coaching to research. A larger understanding of the work reflects an interest in why people communicate the way they do, with the data poised to establish a conclusion that will widely benefit the coaching world.
Connect with Jenn Noble on LinkedIn to follow her work in relationship coaching, attachment, communication, and ongoing research.
