Despite all my accomplishments in life- professional entertainer, championship figure skater, Olympic coach, and leadership consultant- I’ve also had many struggles. Confidence, doubt, depression, fear, and anxiety. Through it all, the one constant that has proven to be my greatest ally has been my body. I did not learn this until my cancer diagnosis in 2017, just weeks after my father passed away. Following surgery, I was unable to return to the level of activity to which I’d become accustomed. When I did begin to ease back into greater activity, I learned just how important being in my physical body was to my overall effectiveness in every aspect of my life.
It’s taken years to become reacquainted with just how crucial it is to be embodied. Now that I’m older, no longer attempting triple axels and only occasionally dancing like there’s no tomorrow, I’m now tapping into the wisdom of a lifetime stored in my body through embodied practice.
Hi, I’m Byron Darden with another edition of Leading with Purpose on Purpose. In this installment, we are building on the value of an embodied practice to identify the many ways it serves us as leaders and how you can unlock your embodied wisdom to lead more effectively, from real-world insights to practical embodied practices and from the impact of global perspectives to building resilience and clarity. You may ask why I am sharing this with you. I’ll answer with a Chinese proverb that sums up my motivation.
“If you want happiness for an hour — take a nap. If you want happiness for a day — go fishing. If you want happiness for a year — inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime — help someone else.”
Helping someone else is what leaders do. Enjoy!
Begin the journey with Real World Insights into the Power of an Embodied Practice.