Five years ago, I joined a group of coaches for a six-month training. The training was online, but it was based in India. And somehow, even through the screen, I felt something very specific in that space: comfort, patience, openness, and peace.
This year, when I physically arrived in India, I felt the same thing again. Not because India was quiet. It was not. There were cars and people everywhere. Heat around 40 degrees. Long bus rides – one of them seven hours. Movement, sound, colours, intensity.
Inside my body I felt calm. Nothing really bothered me and that surprised me a bit.
As a somatic coach, I often speak about the difference between the external environment and the internal state. India gave me a living experience of that. Peace is not always created by perfect conditions. Sometimes peace is the capacity to stay connected to yourself while life is loud around you.
For me, India was a lesson in embodied leadership. Because as I always say – leadership is not only about vision, decisions, and direction. It is also about nervous system capacity.
- Can I stay present when things are unpredictable?
- Can I remain open when I do not fully understand the culture, the rhythm, or the rules?
- Can I meet difference with curiosity instead of control?
India invited exactly that.
It is a country of deep contrasts: ancient tradition and rapid innovation, spirituality and entrepreneurship, temples and technology, history and future. India has around 1.45 billion people, making it the world’s most populous country, and it is also one of the world’s fastest-growing large economies. It has 22 constitutionally recognized scheduled languages, and 44 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
You can feel this complexity everywhere. Maybe that is what touched me most: India does not seem to try to make everything neat. It holds many realities at once.
There was also a funny moment during the trip: in some places, people asked me and others from my group to take pictures with them. At first, it felt amusing. Like suddenly becoming a local attraction but on a deeper level, I felt something else: openness and willingness to show curiosity and express a reaction honestly.
In many cultures, we hide our curiosity behind politeness. There, I felt people simply allowed it to be visible.
The group I travelled with was also a beautiful lesson in human connection. We were very different – from 14 to 83 years old, from different towns, life stages and stories but we connected. We were willing to be present with each other.
In coaching and leadership is the same: real connection does not require sameness but presence.
India reminded me that leadership begins in the body.
- Pause before reacting
- Breath before judging
- Be open to meet what is different
- Stay peaceful, even when everything and everyone is in a rush
I went to India expecting to see a new place and came back remembering a deeper truth: Sometimes the most powerful journey is not into another country. It is back into yourself.Top of FormBottom of Form
