HOW TO NAVIGATE WITHOUT A ROADMAP
This is a story about intuition.
Specifically, listening to intuition.
More specifically, LEARNING to listen to it.
This is NOT a story about taking action.
Rather, non action.
It’s also a story about navigating unknown territory without a roadmap…
When intuition is the roadmap.
At the end of last year, I was tired.
I don’t think I was burnt out, but I was starting to understand what people with burn out might feel.
Early last year I had a clear vision of bringing the magic of Breathwork to my corporate work – the waters I’ve been swimming in for 25 years.
I was aware of the resistance that might await me.
Mindfulness and mindful reflection have rightly found their way into the business world…
However, what I experienced in one Breathwork session was different…
It connected me with a part of myself that does NOT exist on the surface.
Not only was it a deeper level…it was a NON-intellectual one - a place that journaling or self-reflection can’t take me.
A place where I let go of the responsibilities, obligations and expectations swirling around in my head.
A place where I connect with who I am right now, and how I want to be.
Hence, the magic.
It’s also a place where professional development does NOT usually venture.
Continued below…
STEPPING BACK
Business professionals are in desperate need of this place - especially senior leaders and decision-makers.
NOTHING is more important than accessing a place without external noise and distraction…
Despite my initial enthusiasm and action-taking, I couldn’t find the key to bringing these two worlds together…
Hence, the tiredness.
I decided to take a step back. To wait.
Missing the key to unlock this door, stopping felt like the best course of (non) action.
Fortunately, I was heading to the Los Angeles area to visit my family for a few weeks at the end of December/beginning of January.
Christmas provided the perfect break.
To celebrate the new year, my wife and I were planning a trip up to Ojai about 90 minutes north of LA.
I had my first Breathwork session with David there after spreading my father’s ashes in February of 2024.
It just happened that David was returning from a New Year’s Breathwork Retreat on January 6th, a day before we flew back to Munich. I booked a session.
During the session, David asked me about my progress integrating Breathwork into my corporate work…
I had shared my vision with him at a Breathwork Retreat he led outside New York city in August 2024.
Incidentally, I was happy to spend a few days in Manhattan before heading upstate to the 9-day retreat (See Central Park selfie).
What a city!
Personal growth had been the main reason behind my decision to attend the retreat…
However, it also certified me as a Breathwork Practitioner.
One of my biggest take-aways from the 9 days was getting in touch with my intuition – and LEARNING to listen to it!
At our session on January 6th I shared my “tiredness” feelings with David.
He encouraged me to go deeper in my own breathing practice…
And to get more practice working with others – groups and individually.
ROAD[MAP] LESS TRAVELED
When we returned to Munich, escaping the LA fires by a few hours, I reached out to a yoga studio that opened in our neighborhood last year.
I had walked by a few dozen times over the past six months but never attended a class.
Nevertheless, I liked the name.
Or my intuition did, perhaps.
When I eventually connected with the studio, I suggested coming by and offering a “test” group session to see if Breathwork was something they could imagine offering.
After the test session we agreed it would make sense to run a weekly session over the lunch hour tailored to people looking for a mid-week ENERGY BOOST.
So far, so good - It’s been running since April at The Sanctuary’s Schwabing studio in Munich.
I don’t know how things will develop at the studio or what it will look like when I do integrate Breathwork into my corporate work.
And that’s OK.
But it’s certainly not my default. Far from it.
It’s quite a deviation from my road mapping, goal-measuring action orientation.
My intuition is the roadmap on this one.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
I don’t consider myself a Buddhist, or religious per se.
I am, however, grateful to my parents for instilling many Christian principles that guide me -
Love thy neighbor as thyself.
Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.
Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes…