Let’s be honest. Most days at work feel noisy.
We jump from meeting to meeting. Our attention is split across Slack, strategy, small fires, and that report we were supposed to finish yesterday. We’re thinking fast but not deeply. We’re speaking often but not always listening. We’re doing a lot, yet it never quite feels like enough.
This isn’t just a busy season. It’s a cognitive pattern. A Microsoft study found that workers now switch screens nearly 600 times a day, and our ability to focus has dropped significantly since 2020.
Even short moments of mental fragmentation reduce working memory, decision quality, and relational sensitivity. These are the very ingredients that make a high-performing team.
In other words, mental noise isn’t just draining. It’s expensive. And in teams, it adds up quickly.
So how do we shift out of that default mode? How do we go from “I” to “us”, from self-protective urgency to shared intelligence?
This question has been on my mind for years. And oddly enough, I found part of the answer on a yoga mat.
I don’t practice yoga every morning. It’s something I do occasionally, when I have space to plug it into the week. But every time I go, something interesting happens.
At first, I arrive with a crowded mind. I’m thinking about the day, what I haven’t done, what might go wrong. I move through the poses and try to focus on my breath, but truthfully, my mind is elsewhere. I’m in my head. Self-contained.
And then, at some point, something shifts. As I move, breathe and slow down, the noise softens. I stop gripping so tightly. I let go of the need to control every moment. By the end of the class, I’m smiling at the person next to me. Maybe we exchange a few words about the teacher or the weather. The bubble is gone. I’m back in connection.
That shift is subtle but powerful. It’s not just about feeling calmer. It’s about becoming aware of myself, yes, but also of others. It’s a shift from isolation to presence.
Yoga has a word for this: Ishvara Pranidhana.
It means surrendering the ego to something greater. On the mat, it means trusting the process. Off the mat, it means showing up differently in the spaces that matter, including work.
The way we enter a yoga class is often the way many of us enter meetings: preoccupied; self-focused; trying to stay in control. We are thinking about what we need to say, how to get things done, how to be seen as competent. That’s the bubble. And when everyone operates from that place, collaboration becomes shallow. Trust is thin. Decisions are quick but rarely wise.
What’s missing is relational awareness.
The ability to genuinely notice others, to listen without rehearsing your next point, to stay open to perspectives that might reshape your own. It’s not about being nice. It’s about enabling shared intelligence, the kind that only emerges when people feel seen, heard, and invited in.
This shift from “I” to “us” can be mapped as a simple journey.
It begins with a bubble mind, that state of inward focus where our thinking is narrow and agenda-driven. It feels productive, but it often leads to disconnection and missed insight.
Then comes the moment of surrender, the pause, the breath, the letting go. This part can feel uncomfortable or slow, but it’s the necessary bridge.
Finally, we land in relational awareness, where we’re no longer just performing but truly engaging. This space invites better decisions, deeper collaboration, and more trust. And while it takes effort, it’s what real leadership looks like.
This isn’t a soft skill. It’s a leadership edge. And like yoga, it’s a practice. You won’t always get it right. But the more you lean into this awareness, the more your team benefits from your presence, not just your performance.
So this week, notice when you’re in the bubble. Try softening, just a little. Ask a question you wouldn’t usually ask. Pause before offering your opinion. Invite someone else’s voice in. That small shift may be what opens the space for something much greater to emerge.
Speak soon,
Lison
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