You meant to stay calm during the meeting, but you snapped at your colleague, just like it happened last time. You swore you wouldn’t take on all the extra work again, but you stayed late anyway. Why does this keep happening? When we’re under stress or pressure, we fall back on old habits wired into our bodies: reflexes that once helped us get by, even if they don’t serve us anymore. In this episode, corporate sociologist and embodied leadership expert Suzanne Mau-Asam explores, with learning and development expert Emma ten Veen, the science and stories behind these conditioned tendencies: the automatic reactions we all carry. These patterns aren’t your flaws. They’re old survival strategies you simply don’t need anymore. And once you see them clearly, you can begin to change them. This episode covers: Why your nervous system leads the way (before your brain can catch up) How your biology, biography, and context shape your reactions A somatic exercise to help you recognise your conditioned tendencies and start to shift them Learn more about our embodied leadership programmes on our website. Follow us for more tools and episodes.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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