The Shift from Flow to Immersion: A New Frontier for Leaders
My leadership and coaching journey has been a constant experiment in understanding what truly motivates people. For a long time, the concept of Flow, popularised by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, was the gold standard. A state of complete absorption, a "sweet spot" where a person is so deeply engaged in a task that time seems to disappear. It's a powerful state for individual productivity, one we often keep chasing.
Fear, Intuition, and the Whisper I’m Learning to Trust
Every day since leaving my corporate role to build my coaching practice, I wake up with fear.
For me it lives in my belly, like a gentle hook pulling just below my right ovary. It’s not dramatic, more like a persistent tug. For most of my life I tried to push it away. Now I’m learning to befriend it, to sit with it, breathe with it, and ask what it’s trying to protect. To see it as a marker that something important is unfolding.
Brave Spaces and Bold Goals: Leading with Head, Heart, and Gut
Last week, I came home from my most favourite and life-affirming event of the year, the London COO Roundtable retreat.
Every year, this gathering reminds me why I do the work I do. It’s a rare space where generosity flows readily, where people are willing to show up courageously and vulnerably, and where the beauty of human connection unfolds in ways you could never script.
To the brilliant humans who were there, thank you! You brought your full selves. You took risks. You shared openly. You listened deeply. Together, we created something very special.
Follow Your Bliss (Even When You’re Tired)
Last week I was speaking with a founder, part of a group of startup leaders I was supporting. We were reflecting on transitions, and he turned the spotlight on me: "So… what do you want to do next?"
I’d just wrapped up a two-month road trip after resigning from my leadership role, and I gave what I thought was an honest answer: “I want to do more of what brings me joy.” But he wasn’t satisfied. "So, no specific job? No goals?"
I paused, scanned my body, and said again: “I just want to do more of the things that make me feel alive.” He smiled and said, “Ah. So… you’re following your bliss.”
The Power of Awe: A Leadership and Life Superpower
I am currently experiencing a lot of awe. Perhaps it’s because I’m surrounded by vast mountains, pristine lakes, and breathtaking landscapes whilst visiting Tyroll. Being in nature seems to be the easiest and most accessible way to evoke this powerful emotion. It stops me in my tracks, expands my perspective, and makes me feel both small and deeply connected at the same time.
But I don’t always have access to dramatic landscapes, so at home, I’ve built a practice to train my awe muscle—I run a daily awe Instagram account where I post a photo of something that symbolises my experience of awe that day. It forces me to slow down, notice, and appreciate the extraordinary within the ordinary.
Befriending Your Emotions
For 43 years, I physically felt the rising tide of emotions, trying - sometimes desperately - to control them. I had been told that emotions had no place in boardrooms, that they were unprofessional, that they clouded rational thinking. I believed it. I tried to push them away, manage them, suppress them.
Then, my coaching supervisor Divinia Knowles FCMA said something that changed everything:
"What if your emotions were your superpower?"
Embodied Leadership Takes Courage: Reflections from a Coaching Retreat
This is my favourite picture from a recent coaching retreat I had the pleasure to co-facilitate with Divinia Knowles, the founder of COO RT. The smile on my face says it all. While it might look like I’m watching a group of ‘kids’ in kindergarten taking their afternoon nap, the reality is far more profound. I was witnessing a group of courageous COOs fully immersing themselves in the process—letting go of hesitation, scepticism, and coming home to their bodies.
The Sound of Silence: Leadership Lessons from a Silent Retreat
Yesterday, I returned from a silent retreat, aiming to deepen my mindfulness practice and find answers to some pressing questions that have been piling up in my head. Over the course of 116 hours, 108 of which were spent in complete silence, I discovered that silence isn’t as silent as one might think. The world is a noisy place, even without the distractions of wifi, TV, and digital devices.
Where Solitude and Focus Meet, Good Things Are Born: How I Built My New Website
Launching my new website, dagmaraaldridge.com, is both an exciting and nerve-wracking milestone, but I am super happy to share with you all the fruits of my labor. This project was born out of a solo trip I took to Wales, so I could focus entirely on this daunting task. As someone who's never built a website before, it was a steep learning curve, but I’ve always believed that with focus and dedication, we can learn anything.
My Journey to ICF ACC Credential (spoiler alert - it was hard at times).
I'm beyond happy to share that on Monday, I have received confirmation of my ICF Associate Certified Coach credential and today I received my Credly badge for this achievement! This journey, which began back in January 2022, has been one of profound growth and relentless dedication. It also felt hard at times, juggling two jobs at one point, coaching education and coaching clients.
Embracing the Chill: Lessons from Cold Water Swimming.
For nearly three years, I've been journeying into the embrace of cold waters, a journey that has profoundly impacted both my mental and physical well-being. Today's swim was the epitome of why I cherish this practice. The water was a crisp 6 degrees - no wind, the lake a mirror of glass. Being the first to break the surface, to disturb the stillness, is an experience unlike any other, my absolute favourite.
Why Kids Should Learn to Breath Before Spelling.
Today marks 100 days of daily breathwork practice, a personal journey from skepticism to advocacy for the power of breath. As a leader, emotional regulation was a struggle for me, with my emotions often visibly overwhelming me for everyone to see. Advice to "just breathe" seemed overly simplistic, if not dismissive, until it transformed my life.
I Love Flying and What That Has to Do with Mindfulness?
In May 2014, I began my mindfulness journey, a path that turned out to be filled with ups and downs, much like the altitude changes in flight 🛩
This on-and-off affair, marked by over 1,000 sessions and nearly 14,000 minutes of meditation, led me to today's milestone: 100 consecutive days of seated practice!
