Practicing the Felt Sense of Safety as a Leader
A Felt Sense of Safety
As heart-centered product leaders, we have a profound opportunity to drive business results and positively impact the lives of our teams and customers. The first crucial step in this journey is establishing a foundation of not only psychological but an embodied, felt sense of safety.
When team members feel safe taking risks, sharing ideas, and being vulnerable, they can truly thrive, creating an environment where innovation and creativity flourish. The business value of safety is clear—it leads to better problem-solving, increased collaboration, and a more engaged workforce.
However, prioritizing safety has profound personal benefits beyond the organizational impacts. When we feel safe in our bodies, we unlock access to our deepest wellsprings of courage, wisdom, and authenticity. This embodied sense of safety allows us to show up more fully, take bold action, and bring our most meaningful contributions to the table. It's the bedrock upon which other heart-centered leadership capacities are built.
So, as we begin this exploration, let's cultivate a palpable, somatic experience of safety within ourselves and across our teams.
Grounding and Centering Practice for Embodied Safety
Research shows that somatic practices can reduce stress, increase self-awareness, and improve leadership presence. Here's a practice to help develop an embodied sense of safety:
Find a comfortable seated position with your feet flat on the floor. Close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Take three deep breaths, inhaling through your nose and exhaling slowly through your mouth.
Bring your attention to the points of contact between your body and the chair or floor. Notice the sensations of being supported.
Scan your body from head to toe, noticing any areas of tension. As you exhale, imagine releasing that tension.
Place one hand on your heart and one on your belly. Feel the gentle rise and fall of your breath.
Visualize roots growing from the base of your spine, anchoring you firmly to the earth. Feel a sense of stability and groundedness.
Imagine a protective bubble of light surrounding your body, creating a safe space around you.
Silently repeat to yourself: "I am safe. I am supported. I am grounded."
Stay in this state for 2-3 minutes, breathing deeply and reinforcing your sense of safety.
Slowly open your eyes and notice how you feel.
This practice incorporates mindfulness, body awareness, and visualization elements, which activate the parasympathetic nervous system and promote a sense of safety and calm.
The Synergy of Safety, Regulation, and Creativity
A felt sense of safety, a regulated nervous system, and access to creativity work together to help leaders feel empowered and have agency in their bodies. Here's how these elements interconnect to support leadership:
Felt sense of safety as a foundation: When leaders cultivate a felt sense of safety in their bodies, it creates a physiological state that supports optimal functioning. This state of "dynamic healing" allows leaders to access higher-order thinking and problem-solving abilities more easily.
Regulated nervous system for resilience: A regulated nervous system enables leaders to respond to stress and challenges more effectively. It allows them to maintain clarity, empathy, and resilience even in the face of complex situations.
Access to creativity for innovative problem-solving: When leaders feel safe and their nervous systems are regulated, they can more easily access their creative faculties. This enhanced creativity allows for more innovative approaches to problem-solving and decision-making.
Nuances of Embodied Safety
As we explore the concept of embodied safety, it's important to recognize its nuanced nature.
Fluid, Contextual, and Unique: A felt sense of safety is rarely binary. It's fluid, contextual, and different for everybody. What feels safe one moment might feel different the next, and that's okay.
It's a Practice, Not a Destination: Cultivating a felt sense of safety is an ongoing journey of self-discovery. It's about learning to tune into our bodies and recognize the sensations associated with feeling safe, grounded, and at ease.
Reclaiming Our Birthright: Many of us were never taught how to access this innate sense of safety. Systems like our families, schools, and even religious institutions often operate from a place of fear and control, leading us to outsource our sense of safety to external authorities.
Embracing the Full Spectrum: Life is a dance between safety and unsafety, pleasure and discomfort. By cultivating a felt sense of safety, we're not aiming for a flatlined existence but rather a richer, more dynamic experience where we can navigate the full spectrum of human emotions with greater awareness and agency.
Interrupting Somatic Survival Loops: Many of us carry unconscious, automatic responses to stress and discomfort that we develop as survival mechanisms. Cultivating a felt sense of safety allows us to interrupt these loops and respond to challenges with greater choice and presence.
By regularly engaging in somatic exercises and cultivating embodied safety, we develop a stronger connection to our bodies and a more embodied sense of safety. This, in turn, can positively impact our leadership presence, decision-making abilities, and capacity to create psychologically safe environments for our teams.
As heart-centered product leaders, let's commit to this practice of embodied safety. It's not just about our personal growth – it's about creating a ripple effect that transforms our teams, our organizations, and ultimately, the products we bring into the world.
Embrace Your Journey to Embodied Safety
As heart-centered product leaders, we have the power to transform not only our own lives but also the lives of those we lead and the products we create. The journey to embodied safety is ongoing, but it starts with a single step. Here's how you can begin:
Commit to Daily Practice: Set aside 5-10 minutes each day to engage in the Grounding and Centering Practice for Embodied Safety. Consistency is key to developing a stronger connection with your body and cultivating a felt sense of safety.
Observe and Reflect: Pay attention to how your sense of safety fluctuates throughout the day. Keep a journal to track your observations and insights. What situations make you feel safe or unsafe? How does this impact your leadership?
Share with Your Team: Introduce the concept of embodied safety to your team. Consider starting meetings with a brief grounding exercise to create a collective sense of safety and presence.
Seek Support: Connect with other heart-centered leaders or consider working with a somatic coach to deepen your practice and navigate challenges.
Integrate into Decision-Making: Before making important decisions, check in with your body. Are you operating from a place of safety and groundedness?
Cultivate Psychological Safety: Use your growing awareness to create an environment where team members feel safe to take risks and be vulnerable.
Continuous Learning: Explore additional resources on somatic practices, nervous system regulation, and heart-centered leadership to expand your toolkit.
Remember, this is not about achieving perfection, but about embarking on a transformative journey. By prioritizing your own embodied safety, you're not only enhancing your leadership capabilities but also contributing to a more compassionate and innovative product development culture. Take the first step today. Your body, your team, and your products will thank you. Are you ready to lead from a place of embodied safety?
Share your commitment or experiences in the comments below, and let's support each other in this vital aspect of heart-centered product leadership.