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Presence doesn’t start in the mind.
It starts in the body.

In Episode 107, I explore why thinking alone won’t get you present and how your body becomes your most reliable feedback system.
A continuation of last week’s episode on Presence as a condition for living well.

In this solo episode of Lead Well!, I explore why so many capable, reflective people feel disconnected from their own lives. Not because they lack insight. But because they are rarely fully present in the moments that matter.

Presence is often misunderstood as meditation, slowing down, or stepping away from real life. That is not what this episode is about.

Presence means being where you already are.
Mentally. Emotionally. Physically.

Using a simple everyday metaphor. Missing an exit while driving. I show how absence quietly shapes our decisions, our productivity, and our sense of meaning.

At sixty years old, Anne Abel found herself at a breaking point.

After leaving a dangerous teaching job, the structure that had helped her manage lifelong depression disappeared. What followed was not a neat reinvention plan, but a radical decision that started as survival.

Anne followed Bruce Springsteen’s Australian tour.

What unfolded was a journey of connection, meaning, and unexpected healing. One that later became her memoir High Hopes.

How much does your environment influence your thinking, emotions, and decisions?

In this episode, Christine explores why environment is often the missing piece in change models. From hunger and sleep to safety, noise, and the people around us, small environmental factors can radically shift outcomes.

You’ll learn:

Why environment is a leverage point for change
How basic needs affect judgment and emotional regulation
A practical framework to decide what you can control, influence, or let go
Why changing where you are is often easier than changing who you are

Listen now and start noticing how your surroundings shape your day.

What really shapes our lives. Our thoughts. Our feelings. Our behavior. Or something deeper?

In this episode, I revisit familiar psychological models like CBT and expand them with two elements that are often overlooked.
Your environment and your inner state.

Drawing from neuroscience, nervous system regulation, and my work with humans and animals, I explain why outcomes alone are a poor measure of success.
And why lasting change starts with presence, not performance.

This episode also marks the beginning of a short series where we’ll explore practical levers for real change. Without overthinking. Without forcing positivity.

Looking back at a year usually means counting results.

This episode asks a different question:
How did those moments actually feel in your body and nervous system?

Not what happened.
But the state you were in before and after.

A gentle year-end reflection.

The holiday season often comes with pressure, noise, and hidden stress.
This short episode is different.

In Episode 101 of Lead Well!, I invite you to a brief resilience break. A guided pause to help your nervous system shift out of stress mode and into a calmer, more regulated state.

You can listen while sitting, resting, or even while waiting for the bus. No special setup needed.

This episode is meant as a gift. A few quiet minutes for yourself during a busy time of year.

✨ Wishing you a calm holiday season and a gentle transition into the new...

Episode 100 is a moment to pause.
Not to summarize achievements, but to acknowledge influence.

In this solo episode, Christine reflects on gratitude. Not as a feel-good concept, but as a stabilizing force for the nervous system, perspective, and leadership. She shares the stories of nine people. Most of them podcast guests. All of them deeply influential. Teachers, mentors, colleagues, and thinkers who shaped how she works, leads, and lives today.

This episode is both a thank-you and an invitation. To revisit conversations that matter. And to notice how the people we meet quietly change the direction of our lives.

Deutsche Originalaufnahme - to listen to the English Dub version, forward to chapter 3 at timestamp 00:26:28.

In this episode, Dr. Ulrike Stefanowski joins me to explore one of the most underestimated foundations of mental and physical health: sleep.
Ulrike is a medical doctor, coach, and founder of INSANO, an institute focused on mental well-being and nervous-system regulation. She combines medical understanding with modern self-regulation methods to help people regain deep rest, calm, and stable energy.

Together we unpack…

• Why we cannot catch up on chronic sleep loss
• What really happens in deep sleep and REM sleep
•...

In this practical and energizing conversation, movement educator and physical therapist Eileen Kopsaftis explains why pain does not have to be a natural part of aging. She shares the most common myths about decline, how the brain loses contact with parts of the body, and why most people unknowingly train in ways that reinforce stiffness instead of reducing it.

Eileen demonstrates a simple seated three-plane routine to improve thoracic rotation, release the neck, and support lower back health. We discuss why manual therapy can be supportive but never restores function on its own, how much daily movement is needed, and...