What some easy practices you can use to shift from reactivity to leading with more clear authority? Read on…

A client recently came to me frustrated by how quickly he was snapping in virtual meetings with the level of distraction evident in his distributed team members. He knew his short temper wasn’t aligned with the leader he wanted to be, but awareness alone wasn’t changing it.

The coaching focused less on fixing behavior and more on building his capacity to stay present in challenging circumstances. 

I guided him to try some simple, consistent regulation practices. I encourage you to try them as well:

✅ Grounding Through the Body
Place both feet on the floor, feel the chair supporting you, and name 3 physical sensations you notice. This practice supports you in shifting your attention away from the mental spin and back into the present moment. From this foundation of being reconnected with the body, you can then make more conscious choices of how you respond.

✅  Breathing + Posture Reset
Sit upright, roll shoulders back slightly, and take 5 slow breaths while gently lengthening the spine. I’ve done this practice in yoga classes and functional fitness classes for years. And what I know from my own training as a yoga teacher is that the simple practice of shifting your posture can shift how the nervous system responds under stress.

✅ Micro-Recovery Between Meetings
Instead of scrolling on your phone right after a call or meeting, step away from the technology for 2 minutes. Take a purposeful breath while looking out a window and softening your gaze. Let your rate of breathing begin to slow naturally. This practice resets the nervous system by helping to prevent stress from stacking up and compounding throughout the day.

✅ Label the State (Not the Story)
Silently name what’s happening inside your body and mind. For example, a word like: “activated,” “tense,” or “settled.” This practice helps the body to be “seen”, letting it know that you are paying attention to the signals it is sending you, so it does not have to shout louder at you. Labeling the state reduces reactivity without needing to fix or change anything about your circumstances.

✅ Regulate First, Then Respond
Ever respond to a text or email while feeling charged up? We’ve all learned this does not lead to a positive or productive result, even if the ego does feel good for a bit. Instead, do this: Pause and regulate yourself before responding. How? Pay attention to how you are breathing and follow the inhales and exhales through three rounds of slow breaths. Then, notice how this practice can shift your outlook, and ultimately the tone and clarity of your text or email response.

For this client, I worked with him to learn and practice these approaches for regulation. The result? Within weeks, his team noticed the shift in him. On virtual team calls, there were fewer tense exchanges – and less reason for the team to be distracted with DMing about him. He was having more decisive conversations. His shift led to less second-guessing after meetings and decisions. Overall, he became steadier and behaved more like the leader he wanted to be.

This is an example of what regulation does — it gives leaders access to their best thinking when the pressure is on.

👉 Consider this a small experiment — try it once and notice how your decision-making feels afterward.

Contact me to learn more.