Embodied Leadership

with Wendy Palmer

Many of us aspire to be more centered, mindful, and compassionate in our lives and as leaders, but return again and again to unskillful reactions and habits, especially when stressed or when faced with conflict. We are unable to embody the changes that we know we want. Conscious Embodiment draws on the traditions of Aikido and mindfulness practice to offer simple yet deep techniques that help you recognize how your mind and body habitually react to pressure, and to access more skillful and unified responses.

Drawing on 25 years of experience developing Conscious Embodiment, Wendy leads you through exercises that provide a vivid sense of what it feels like to align conceptual, emotional and embodied aspects of yourself, and of what it feels like to be out of alignment. The practices develop presence, confidence, and compassion which cultivate integrity in meeting the challenges in organization and empowerment in our lives.

Research tells us that 70% of all communication is non-verbal. Learning to unify the body's message with what is being said enhances satisfaction in our lives and our capacity for effective leadership.

Through simple physical forms, work in pairs, and group discussions, this module will offer you:

• insights into your personal reactive patterns and limiting assumptions;
• tools and practices that help you increase your presence, confidence, compassion and sense of humor as you deal with organizational change;
• an approach to synchronize the body's energy with what is being said, bringing unity and clarity into action;
• increased capacity to live with paradox and the tension between opposites;
• a way to recover balance and clarity when faced with moral, business, and political dilemmas.

Wendy Palmer has been teaching classes and workshops in Conscious Embodiment for over twenty-eight years. She is a sixth degree Black Belt in Aikido and author of two books: The Intuitive Body: Discovering the Wisdom of Conscious Embodiment and Aikido (Blue Snake Press, 1994) and The Practice of Freedom: Aikido Principles as a Spiritual Guide (Rodmell Press, 2002) and a DVD: Conscious Embodiment (2006). She offers coaching in embodied leadership for individuals, groups and teams. Her clients include DaimlerChrysler, NASA, Genentech, Oracle, McKinsey, Intel and The US Forest Service. For more information go to: www.consciousembodiment.com

ALIA Europe Modules

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Embodied Leadership
with Wendy Palmer

An Integral Practice for Evolutionary Leadership and Change
with Peter Merry and Dylan Newcomb

Practicing Fearlessness in Times of Fear
with Margaret Wheatley and Jerry Granelli

Solving Tough Problems: Co-creating New Realities in Complex Systems
with Adam Kahane, LeAnne Grillo, and Mustafa Suleyman