Meet Mike Sagun | Certified Professional Somatic and Trauma Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mike Sagun and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mike, what’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make?
This is a great question. 14 years ago, I made the riskiest decision of my life. I knew that if I made this decision, I would suffer, be alone, and I would lose a lot of people in my life. But I also knew that making this decision would save my life.

I was in my early 20s, graduating from college, and I had spent the majority of my life hiding and keeping secrets. I had developed all these masks that I perceived to keep me safe. At home, I was a good son who was ambitious and got good grades. At church, I was a youth leader on my way to becoming a minister. With my friends, I was the out-going party starter who attracted all the women. But to myself, I was a fraud.

At the time, I had lived my life based on other’s expectations and I was depressed. I had fabricated this life that felt inauthentic, but the shame I felt kept me hidden. I started engaging in risky behaviors: drugs, alcohol, unsafe and anonymous sex, and I started contemplating suicide. Everything just got too overwhelming for me.

Luckily I had enough awareness to sense that my behavior was leading me down a path of darkness and ultimately death. And after many unsuccessful attempts to “heal my sickness” (words my church leaders used), I decided to take a risk.

I came out.

The pain and regret I felt was also met with relief. I was alone for the first time in my life, but I also felt whole. This wound became a sort of superpower. I learned to be unapologetically me. I learned to love and forgive myself. And I learned to accept every part of my being.

Deciding to come out was the most difficult decision I’ve had to make. And it was the best decision I’ve ever made.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I’m the co-founder of MELD (Men’s Emotional Leadership Development) and the founder of RESET Men’s Retreat. Being an entrepreneur has been one of the greatest challenges of my life. For the first part of my career, I worked for a huge health care organization in Northern California. I truly enjoyed our mission and the work we were doing in our communities, but it wasn’t my life’s purpose. Deciding to work with men came at a time when men’s mental health statistics were getting noticed. Male suicide rates were increasing, depression and anxiety in men were being talked about, and loneliness was becoming a public health crisis.

MELD is leading the way as the go-to organization for men’s mental health. While other simliar men’s organizations skew towards the cognitive approach to men’s mental health, we focus on the science, data, and the body. The foundation of our work is inspired by the experts in trauma healing and somatic psychology. Dr. Peter Levine, Dr. Stephen Porges, Dr. Gabor Mate, and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk all inform our work with men.

You see, our body-based approach to men’s mental health relies on the fact that our body’s store trauma and it has the capacity to let go of trauma. We train guys how to regulate their nervous systems, respond to stress with clarity and confidence, and connect emotionally to themselves and other people. We believe that when men work on themselves, the entire world benefits.

What we’re doing is providing a new way for men to be better, healthier men.

It’s common for men to leave our programs feeling different. Many report feeling more like themselves and with energy to take on things that used to paralyze them. Sure, we provide the data and research, which can be heady and intellectual, but we back it up with experience.

And that’s what we’re all about. We’re all about guiding men through an experience that literally changes their physiology. They create a new map in their body where old neural pathways (or old ways of doing things) fall away, and it’s replaced with neural pathways that promote a new way of living.

I’m so inspired by this work because I’ve experienced first hand how my body is the gateway to feeling better… Not my head.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’m one of the lucky ones. My life has been filled with many mentors and teachers that have helped shape me as a man. In the 5th grade my parents were going through a divorce and although I tried to pretend like my life was fine, my teacher noticed the hurt I was feeling and she took the time to become my first confidant. Ms. Kachmanian, now Mrs. Fries, was the first adult in my life who I felt safe to talk to about life at home. She demonstrated to me that there were adults out there that really cared.

Then in high school, I had 3 teachers who became important adult figures in my life. Steven “H” Harrington, was my drama teacher who gave me full permission to embody characters and personas that were never safe for me to embody at home. He encouraged my charisma and weirdness like no other adult had done. I immediately felt safe with him. Kevin and Melinda Lasit taught choir and drama. And they created an environment for me to be vulnerable on and off stage. At rehearsals they would circle the students up and prompt us with a reflective question like, “when was the last time you were hurt by someone?” These questions were often asked to help us develop our characters, but for me it strengthened the skill of opening up and sharing. These 3 teachers really influenced my future as a teacher and coach.

Aside from “H”, who passed away a few years ago, all of these teachers are still very active in my life. And I’m forever grateful for their mentorship and guidance.

Website: www.meld.community, www.mikesagun.com

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Image Credits
Tom Kubik
Cole Kiburz