Welcome to Week 13 of the Authenticity@Work Leadership Tool-kit! My intention for this series is to share a quick tool each week to help you lead with more authenticity, adaptability and inspiration so we can together create workplaces where we bring the best of ourselves and inspire others. So grab a journal and an accountability partner to make these practices even more powerful for you!
In last week’s post we discussed how your body influences your presence. Have you taken note of your body posture in certain situations versus others and reconnected with your core?
Where do you feel joy in the body? What is your body’s signal for excitement? How does your body feel when you’re fulfilled and engaged in a task you love? How does it feel when you’re guarded or triggered?
So much of our day is filled with chronic stress that we don’t even notice it as an abnormal state of being. Do you know your body’s stress signals? Being aware of and in tune with your body can help you learn how to recognize stress as it occurs and when it’s escalating. I know when I’m under abnormal stress; I usually get a strange rash on my neck. My brain is usually too preoccupied to send me any kind of stress alerts, so my body tells me that my immune system is down.
This Week’s Tool:
Question to ask yourself: Where do you feel stress in your body? Where do you feel joy?
Take a mindful moment. Take a deep breath through your nostrils. Yes, I mean right now while you’re reading this. Do it from the belly, below your navel, slowly counting to seven as you inhale—almost like you’re pulling your breath up. Slowly exhale through your nostrils while counting to seven. Do this three times. Notice any tension you have in your body by doing a scan (placing your awareness in different parts of your body) from your toes to your head. As you notice where the muscles are tense, just imagine yourself breathing into the tension, and as you let the breath out, the tension gets released. Notice how this feels. You can download our authenticity-on-demand tool from our website and try the different exercises at work and at home to help you build your practice.
Get the latest resources for Authenticity@Work (this tab will get updated with all kinds of cool resources). Curious to know more about the book? Read the reviews about Wired for Authenticity here.
