The Sacred Pause: A Leadership Protocol for Better Decision Making w/ Fiji McAlpine

In the high-stakes world of leadership, speed is often valued over clarity. We are taught to execute, to pivot, and to grind. But Fiji McAlpine, a founding instructor of Do Yoga With Me, argues that the most powerful move a leader can make is often to stop moving entirely.

In this episode, Fiji breaks down the concept of The Sacred Pause: a somatic technique for interrupting the stress cycle before it sabotages your judgment. Drawing from her journey of healing a life-threatening eating disorder and chronic pain, she explains how learning to "soften into resistance" on the yoga mat translates directly to managing conflict in the boardroom.

Corissa and Fiji explore the Millimeter Miracle approach to sustainable growth, why surrender is actually a strategic advantage, and how to use your body's signals to vet decisions before your brain even processes them.

In this episode, we cover:

• The Sacred Pause: A step-by-step protocol for resetting your nervous system in under two minutes to regain executive function.
• Millimeter Miracles: Why leaders fail when they try to make quantum leaps, and how micro-adjustments create sustainable high performance.
• Somatic Decision Making: How to use your body as a "dress rehearsal" for high-pressure situations, testing decisions for alignment before execution.
• The Hoop Jumping Trap: Why we often create unnecessary friction in our teams and relationships, and how to dissolve it by changing our own energetic state.
• Redefining Surrender: Moving from the idea of giving up to opening up to new data and possibilities.

Notable Quotes:

• "Just by observing their breath, the quality of their breath got better." — Fiji McAlpine
• "Surrender doesn't mean to give up... the actual meaning of surrender is to open to." — Fiji McAlpine
• "We can get so stagnant when we are trying to wait for the perfect time... Just start." — Fiji McAlpine

Resources & Links:

• Connect with Fiji McAlpine: https://www.fijimcalpine.com 
• Fiji on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fijimcalpine 

Connect with Corissa:

• Explore the Advisory. https://corissasaintlaurent.com/advisory
• Inquire for Keynotes. https://corissasaintlaurent.com/speaking

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Thanks for tuning in!