Finding stillness in the storm

Reflections on Mindfulness and Leadership

‘Stillness in the storm’
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher training retreat
Photo by Insightful Path

I came to mindfulness not as a retreat from the world, but as a way to meet it more skilfully.

Years ago, I attended a Mindfulness Training Institute - Australia - New Zealand (MTI) retreat as part of my training to teach Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). At the time, I was already working with senior leaders across the Australian Public Service. What struck me most on retreat wasn’t just the depth of silence or the insight that arose, but the growing realisation that the practices we were engaging in (moment by moment) were directly applicable to the high-pressure environments these leaders faced daily.

‘The light of insight’
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher training retreat
Photo by Insightful Path

Since then, I’ve integrated mindfulness into almost every leadership program I design and facilitate. Not as a “nice-to-have,” but as a core capability, one that helps leaders move from reactivity to responsiveness.

That said, it’s not always an easy sell. The leaders I work with are sharp, committed, and under immense pressure. The culture around them rewards speed, decisiveness, and constant motion. In this context, slowing down (even for a few breaths) can seem counterintuitive, even risky. And terms like “mindfulness” can sometimes trigger unconscious biases, especially when perceived as too esoteric or unrelated to “real work.”

‘Taking steps to arrive in the present’
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher training retreat
Photo by Insightful Path

So I’ve learned to meet the audience where they are: grounding practices in neuroscience, leadership research, and psychological science. I draw connections between ancient wisdom and emerging leadership theory, and I cite the growing body of evidence that shows how mindfulness enhances focus, decision-making, and resilience. In doing so, I’ve watched walls soften. Something lands. Something shifts.

‘The Work and the Practice’
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher training retreat
Photo by Insightful Path

But perhaps what stays with me most is this: the real transformation often happens not during formal meditation, but in the quiet moments in between… in a leader’s ability to pause during a tense meeting, to breathe before responding to criticism, to notice the tightness in their chest before launching into a reaction.

‘Making space in the day to be’
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher training retreat
Photo by Insightful Path

These moments of awareness (small as they are) have power. They allow space. And in that space, something more intentional can emerge.

‘The space of stillness - found in the centre of the haste’
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher training retreat
Photo by Insightful Path

I return often to the image of the eye of the storm: a place of stillness in the midst of turbulence. That’s what mindfulness offers, not an escape from the demands of leadership, but a refuge within them. A steady ground from which to respond, rather than react. A way to reclaim agency in a system that often seems to reward the opposite.

For me, the MTI retreat was not the beginning or the end, but a deepening. And I’m grateful to still be walking this path, learning, teaching, stumbling, and returning.

If you want to learn more about how to walk this path of insight - and incorporate mindfulness into your leadership practices, reach out today. I’d love to help. If you want to learn more about Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction - reach out to MTI - I heartily recommend their teacher training! You can find their website and details here.

‘Moments of calm, and flowering insight’
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher training retreat
Photo by Insightful Path