How many of us long for inner wisdom?
Yet, we resist the intention required to honor the soul of our leadership.
Perhaps, because we intuitively know that such nurture requires surrender. On a gut level, we know that the surrendered life is about releasing our need to be in control… to be right. Much of our ability to let go depends upon our ability to entrust ourselves to the journey.
This involves a commitment to waking up and growing up. Without such commitment, our formation will remain on the surface, never integrating life’s challenges, let alone providing the means by which the emergent future might be made known.
Pause, and think of a time when your sense of self shifted, and you became aware of a deepened connection to both yourself and your world. Accompanied by this connection was an awareness of the potential that you could be living into.
Joseph Jaworski reflects on this connection: “It takes courage to listen to your inner knowing. But once you hear the voice of that knowing, deciding becomes fairly easy. You don’t have to think or strategize. You just know.” Making decisions then becomes not so much about deciding as about letting an inner wisdom emerge.
We live in a threshold time—when one way of being is ending as another emerges. Our relationship with Source, stranger and self cannot be orchestrated, controlled, or forced; only lived. The future will not come by majority vote or even consensus. Leading, especially in changing times, is an action of the surrendered heart. While we cannot predict the future, aligning with the movement of Source through an open mind, heart, and soul allows the future to emerge through us.
A way to begin to align is to simply pause and connect body, mind and heart:
- Begin by settling yourself into stillness. If you find yourself scattered and diffused, tie a short phrase—like “Be still and know”—to your breath. Breathe in: “Be still.” Breath out: “and know.” Allow your mind to listen to your body and your heart.
- Next, do a mental scan of your body, starting with your toes and working up to your head. Notice areas of tension, relaxation, soreness, or limberness. What is your body trying to say? Incorporate a few moments of stretching as a form of bodily meditation and release. Breathe in… and release.
- Now, dwell with your heart. Name what your heart holds. Honor what your heart seeks to share. What action might you take to either nurture or release this feeling?
In our practice is our path. The soul of our leadership depends upon it.