About

I’m fascinated by the possibilities of healing, empowerment, and liberation that lie in the human body.

Hi, I’m Marina Nabão, Somatic Trauma Healer and Embodiment Coach dedicated to supporting people through a trauma-informed journey of somatic healing and empowerment.

I offer my clients a loving, compassionate, gentle, and judgment-free container of embodiment coaching and nervous system regulation so they can access deeper layers of their wisdom, creativity, vitality, focus, and leadership.

Working with hundreds of clients worldwide, both in my coaching practice and also as a Senior Teacher at Layla Martin’s VITA™ Coaching Certification, I have witnessed the power of embodiment as a healing and empowering path.

You might be wondering how I got here...

Let me share my story

I’m a Brazilian, biracial, black, cis woman living in the SF Bay Area, CA.

Daughter of a psychologist and a philosopher, curiosity and the search for a broader understanding of life is my natural state. So I’m not surprised that my own search to understand my inner world and grow in all areas of life – professional, relational, affective, sexual, and spiritual – have taken me on a very rich journey!

I did years of therapy – both talk and somatic-based approaches. I wouldn’t stand here as I am if it weren’t for the support of those professionals I had the privilege of working with.

I also participated in women’s circles, did community service, was a fierce activist for racial democracy, and joined different spiritual communities.

Workshops, retreats, books, online courses… I was always doing something to help me make sense of this life and deal with my limitations and struggles.

Meanwhile, professionally, I was an ESL teacher before I went into the corporate world for 14 years, developing business partnerships worldwide. My career as an executive was solid and prosperous, but it certainly didn’t fulfill my soul.

I knew there was something different in my future, but I just didn’t know what it was.

Eventually, I came across the holistic sexuality universe (what we call neo-Tantra in the West) and experienced an entirely new world of awareness and understanding.

It was a huge shift, as I finally touched deeper layers of my body’s wisdom and power. It was, and still is, fascinating!

In 2017, I made the decision to leave the corporate career and devote this new and exciting chapter of my life to work with somatic healing and female empowerment.

Since then, I have been certified as an Ontological Coach and as a VITA™ Sex, Love, and Relationships Coach. These trainings are the foundation of my current practice, as they beautifully prepared me to integrate mind, body, emotions, language, and spirituality.

The body, and more specifically, the nervous system, continues to fascinate me. Currently, I am taking the 3-year Somatic Experiencing Training for Trauma Renegotiation as a way to further deepen my holding capacity with the clients I’m lucky to be working with.

2017 was also the year that during a trekking trip in the Chilean Patagonia, I met David, the love of my life. We dated long-distance, traveling back and forth from Ribeirão Preto, SP and the Bay Area, CA.

We got married in 2019 and today I live with him and our dog Jessie in the US, loving this new life chapter and adapting to the new country.

education

Qualifications

I have an Education BA, a Business MBA and over 1000h of Coaching & Somatic Training, certified in Brazil and in the U.S.

Certified in Somatic Experiencing®: 3-year Practitioner Training with the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute, founded by Dr. Peter A. Levine.
I’ve trained with Dr. Abi Blakeslee, Francine Kelley and Dave Berger. I’m mentored by SE faculty Ariel Giaretto.
Certified Sex, Love & Relationship Coach: 1-Year Intensive Coaching Training with Layla Martin and the VITA™ Coaching Method. The VITA™ method takes the most effective teachings of modern neurobiology, holistic healing, and modern coaching, and blends them with ancient wisdom & teachings from Tantra, Taosim and Sacred Sexuality. VITA™ stands for: “The Vital and Integrated Tantric Approach.”
I’m currently a Senior Teacher on faculty in this training program.
Certified Ontological Coach: 7-month Coaching Training followed by supervised practice sessions and continuous group case consultation support.

Other trainings and meaningful lived-experiences that inform my work:

Certified Breath Coach: using breathwork for nervous system regulation
Nonviolent Communication: 2 years studying and practicing in dedicated groups
Spirit Mediumship: 2-year long training in Brazil studying Allan Kardec’s Spiritism lineage
Candomble Spiritual Community: 7 years of active religious learnings and devotional practices as a non-initiate with the Yoruba Orisha Tradition in Brazil
Paramahansa Yogananda’s Self-Realization Fellowship: I grew up following his teachings, and attending service at the SRF on and off until my early twenties
Altered states of consciousness through breathwork: I’ve been a student, practitioner and facilitator of deeply spiritual breathwork experiences since 2017
Community organizing and social activism for racial democracy: 7 years of intense & fierce work with a Brazilian group of activists devoted to sharing racialized education and community organizing promoting racial democracy.

Lineage

In Honor and Gratitude

To the great Goddess and the spiritual wisdom that transcends, holds and guides us, regardless of what we call it.

To my female ancestry: my mother Lúcia Nabão, my sister Teresa Moraes and my grandmothers Maria Cacilda Amaral and Gessy Nabão. I am grateful for you teaching me so much about being in the world with dignity, integrity, devotion, fierceness and leadership.

To my husband, David Becker, who shows me daily that gentle, generous, honest, dedicated and vulnerable love transforms our soul and has the power to change the world.

To my preschool teacher Brisa, for reminding me to always cultivate my joy of living.

To Teresa Von Gal, my Bodytalk therapist for six years, who supported, welcomed, encouraged and helped so much the blossoming of the woman that I am today.

To my teachers, mentors, coaches and facilitators who promote the expansion of consciousness in ways as diverse as complementary: Layla Martin, Nikka Karli, Káritas Ribas, Matheus Ribas, Gustavo Gitti, Fábio Rodrigues, Minke de Vos, Master Mantak Chia, Byron Katie, Hiro Boga, Nisha Moodley, Dave Berger, Peter A. Levine, Ariel Giaretto and so many others that influenced me so much.

To my extended family, the friends who, far or near, give me a huge sense of belonging and affection: Sônia, Hermínio and family, Teresa, Roberta, Rita, Simila, Paula, Monica, Cristina, Tatiane, Lilo, Fabinho, Shareid , Luciana, Celiane, Graziela, Bianca, Vanessa, Teófilo, Ana Rosa, Fernanda, Melissa, Yara and Caicó.

To the artists who made this site beautiful. Rogério Shareid developed my beautiful brand; Carolina Motta, Letícia Cherman and Jonathan Wilkins photographed me in Brazil and Amy Thompson photographed me in the US.

Finally, I thank Marluci, Glauce, Igor, Nilse and Flávia, the first five clients I had the privilege of working with during my first coaching training and who taught me much more than they can even imagine!