Somatic Presence

Chapter 1 · §1.2 · 7 min

Two executives, same meeting, opposite nervous systems. One broadcasts stress, the other broadcasts coherence. Both are contagious. Only one of them knows it.

Chapter 1 · §1.2b · 6 min

Ventral, sympathetic, dorsal. Three states, one nervous system. The leader who can name the state of the room can change the state of the room.

Chapter 1 · §1.2c · 5 min

Coherent nervous systems regulate the rooms they are in. Incoherent ones do too. The leader does not get to opt out of the broadcast.

Chapter · 01 · 5 min

Porges' map, stripped of jargon. Also stripped of the parts where your friend at brunch talks about the vagus nerve like it is a rock band.

Chapter · 02 · 6 min

Connection, curiosity, capacity — and how to access it on demand. Free. Portable. Slightly embarrassing to Google.

Chapter · 03 · 7 min

Sympathetic activation as data, not failure. You are not broken. You are just online. Log off for a minute.

Chapter · 04 · 8 min

Recognizing freeze in yourself and others. It looks like calm. It is not calm. Ask a follow-up question.

Chapter · 05 · 5 min

Your nervous system as a public utility. Bill the company for it.

Chapter · 06 · 6 min

Three patterns every leader should own. None of them require an app. All of them work. This is a public health scandal.

Chapter · 07 · 7 min

The leadership instrument you stopped practicing when you got your first monitor. Reclaim it. Sparingly. Not creepy.

Chapter · 08 · 8 min

Why your voice quality is more persuasive than your slides. Also: stop using upspeak in Series B meetings, we're begging you?

Chapter · 09 · 5 min

What is appropriate, what is not, and what is missing. Handshakes count. Handshakes are also, apparently, back.