Between the Breath
Between the Breath: Essays on Rest, Leadership & Listening
There is a moment between the inhale and the exhale where nothing is required.
No decision. No performance. No forward motion.
Just a pause - subtle, often unnoticed - where the body gathers information before moving again.
This journal lives there.
Between the Breath is a space for reflection on rest, leadership, and the practice of listening in a culture shaped by urgency. It is not a place for quick answers or tidy conclusions. It is a place to slow down enough to notice what is already present — in the body, in our work, in the systems we inhabit.
Much of leadership today asks us to override our signals in the name of responsibility. We learn to move faster than our capacity, to decide before we have fully felt, to call endurance a virtue rather than a cost. Over time, this disconnect narrows our perception and erodes our ability to lead with clarity, ethics, and care.
This journal begins with a different premise:
that leadership is shaped by the body
that rest is not disengagement but capacity,
and that listening — real listening — requires space.
The essays here draw from somatic therapy, embodied practice, and systems-level inquiry. They are written for those who carry responsibility — for people, organizations, communities, or change — and who sense that something essential is lost when we move too quickly past ourselves.
Between the Breath is not about stepping away from leadership. It is about inhabiting it more fully. It is about learning to pause without withdrawing, to feel without collapsing, and to respond rather than react.
If you are here, you are not behind. You are not late. You are not failing to keep up.
You are listening.
And that, in itself, is a form of leadership.
Breath with Me (consider closing your eyes or softening your gaze)
Notice one breath as it is - without changing it. Feel where your body is supported.
Let the next step wait. Carry what resonates. Leave the rest.
Stay for the exhale.