Opportunities to Breathe

Inbreath, outbreath, inbreath, outbreath, inhale the good air, exhale the CO2. Breathe, breathe, breathe. "How fascinating!" Coaches and consultants like me encounter a plentiful share of opportunities to breathe, then keep going. Every episode brings with it the chance to focus on the breath and oxygenate my brain. Breathing enables me to deal with a challenge, to repair a mistake, and handle a difficult moment. 

"Breathe through it" is my personal take on the athletes' "just do it." Taking a moment to breathe along with an incredible circle of colleagues and friends gets me through.

A few years ago, I was graced with a series of opportunities to engage my breath as a helper. First, upon arrival at a client's city, I discovered my accommodations were quite a bit less accommodating than I expected. My inner "accidental tourist" reacted instinctively and with alarm. Breathe, Diana, breathe. 

That wasn't all. I found myself facilitating small group-oriented workshop activities in an auditorium with rows of seats. My hosts and I had exchanged advance communications about how to set up the room for learning. All those agreements hadn’t achieved the results I anticipated. I breathed my way through that too. Good thing I had brought my own supplies. I didn't need to rely on the un-sticky sticky notes and dried out easel markers they provided.

When I traveled onward from that stop, my luggage took another route. My belongings and I had diverging itineraries for five days. Relying on someone with local shopping knowledge, I bought a few replacement items, but mostly wore the same clothes, day after day. Deep, deep breaths. 

At my next stop I discovered the organizers of the next workshop I had prepared had canceled it, while I was en route. Now I had three days to fill before my flight home and no chance of an earlier flight.

More breaths, and I remembered that a former collaborator had relocated to this city. A quick call, and a new opportunity presented itself. I came up to speed on the needs of a new client, and we were off and running. Sometimes almost breathless with the rapid pace of change. But only almost. Taking time to breathe and reflect helped us there too.

I gave myself permission to breathe. To feel the anxiety and keep moving. To acknowledge my vulnerability, feel the fear, and stay on course anyway. To throw my hands in the air and say, "How fascinating!" as life tossed another unexpected challenge my way.

My willingness to "breathe through it" is beneficial, but on that trip it needed additional force. Throughout this experience I relied on the strengths and kindness of familiar colleagues and new acquaintances. 

Taken together, mindfulness and steadfast collaborators have made my life as a coach and consultant rich in so many dimensions. The Agile coaching community has provided plentiful support and resources. They’ve offered fresh ideas and reminders of familiar techniques. They impart an unending source of information about domains and locales new to me.

And, hurrah! My community continues to grow. I am so grateful for the international community of practitioners emerging in the Agile Fluency? Project. As I encounter challenges with new clients, I can turn to the folks who've become facilitators of the Agile Fluency Suite. We gather in our online forum, in virtual lean coffee meetups, at impromptu gatherings at conferences, and more.

I have a new circle who remind me to breathe when I need it, and who support our shared vision. "We envision a world where Agile is done well in every organization, where all teams practice effectively to sustain continuous improvement, and where each team performs at a level of fluent proficiency that is fit to purpose." We’ll all just keep breathing until we get there.