Restoration
It was a cool spring here on the East Coast. Perfect biking weather. This month, for the first time in a long time, I tuned up my bike and got back out on the trail. And it felt great.
After the first few miles to work out some aches and stiffness I slid into that coveted space of clarity and connection that brings me back to these long treks beside the river.
Emerging from an unusually long sedentary season, my body has been healing from a broken foot this past fall and shoulder stiffness from a long-ago car accident. The rebranding of my coaching practice has also introduced logistical swirls of onboarding and attending to new clients that have kept me indoors, glued to my desk. My weight is drifting upwards.
This day reminded me how, in the midst of our work, we can forget ourselves.
Or, as my kids’ dance instructor cautions, “Sometimes we get so focused we forget to breathe.”
The energy needed to launch new initiatives, oversee key projects, and haul the team up the mountain can suck you dry. You can forget what keeps you grounded, what makes you feel alive. You can forget what this is all for.
I come back to these biking treks along the river because they bring me back to myself.
Commitments are made. To take care of yourself. To keep your instrument healthy and resilient. To exercise, eat well, connect with friends. To meditate, to journal, to dance. To bike.
Yet sometimes these are the first things that get pushed aside when your business presses on you. Fluctuating between attending to the work and what’s meaningful to you. And it can get really confusing when the work IS what’s meaningful to you. Purpose driven, yet mechanized, this is not why you went into business for yourself.
I hear executives stress eating or stress starving. Waiting to push past the next hurdle before they reward themselves with a break. Fearful if they take their eye off the ball, all that they gained will disappear.
And maybe that’s true. And maybe if you win the game, there’s a chance you might lose yourself.
Breath is where it starts. When I feel I’ve lost myself I come back to remembering this: If you can breathe, then you can walk. And if you can walk, then you can begin to run – or bike, or swim, or dance. And when you run then your body will crave healthier food. Healthier food brings healthier rest. Clarity becomes restored. Energy is regained. Life is reclaimed.
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Leadership Development Practices to help you engage with these concepts in your own leadership development journey:
Refuel with Breath: Intentionally set aside refueling breaks each day. Experiment with what helps you find your breath. The breath you’ve forgotten in the rush of deadlines. The breath you’ve abandoned in your goal focus. Bring awareness to the movement of air. How it fills you and sustains you. How part of the rhythm of breathing is letting go. Listen for what else your body needs to feel alive. What happens to your energy and focus when you’re more connected to your breath?
