〰️ Cat-Cow Pose (Marjaryasana–Bitilasana): Staying Agile Without Losing Center

Welcome back to Yoga for Leadership™.

 🌱 This is your calm and centered leadership series, where I share one yoga pose each week with a leadership practice you can use in real time.

We’re beginning a new 8-week series focused on Presence to Impact.

How we lead from a grounded center as the pace around us keeps spinning.

I feel it in my own work.

I hear it from my clients.

AI is moving fast.  Information never stops.  Current events are unsettling.

And still, decisions are needed sooner, with less certainty. 

Projects need to move forward.  Hard conversations still need to be held.

Many leaders are being asked to adapt before they have fully landed.

Last week, we created some breathing room with Wide-Knee Child’s Pose.

This week, I wanted to work with a pose that helps us move without losing ourselves.

〰️ Cat–Cow (Marjaryasana–Bitilasana)

Leadership Practice: Staying Agile Without Losing Center

Cat–Cow is one of those poses I come back to again and again.

It’s simple, yet deceptively powerful.

You move between two shapes, guided entirely by breath.

On the inhale, the spine arches and the chest opens.

On the exhale, the spine rounds and the body releases.

What I’ve learnt is that the real practice isn’t perfecting Cat or Cow.

It lives in the transition, not in holding a single position.

This pose reminds me that steadiness often comes through movement.

By responding to what is happening instead of bracing against it.

I see this all the time with the leaders I work with.

They’re capable, thoughtful, and deeply committed.

And they’re constantly integrating new information, shifting priorities, and recalibrating direction.

The challenge isn’t change.

The challenge is staying connected to yourself while adapting.

Cat–Cow offers me a different way to think about leadership.

It reminds me that steadiness can be built by moving, adjusting, and staying connected as you go.

🌱 Leadership Practice: Building Steadiness through Movement

When things start to feel fast or fragmented, I invite you to slow your attention before moving with intention.

Take one full inhale and notice what wants to open.

Take one full exhale and notice what needs to release.

Let your next move come from rhythm, not reactivity.

💫 Reflection

Where might staying responsive, rather than rigid, help you lead with more clarity this week?

One breath. One pose. One leadership practice at a time.