Leadership in the body
Three Embodied Practices. One Leadership Journey.

Event Details
📅 27–29 January 2026
📍 Vienna, Austria
🗣️ Language: English
👥 Group Size: limited to 30 participants

What does it mean to lead with presence, compassion, and authenticity?

Join us in Vienna for three days of deep exploration at the intersection of embodiment and leadership. This is not a training to “add one more method” to your toolkit, but a journey designed to help you remember who you are when you lead from within.

🔘 [Register Now]

What makes this different

There are many leadership programs available today. Some emphasize performance and communication skills. Others focus on mental models, tools, and frameworks. While valuable, they often remain in the head space.

Leadership in the Body begins somewhere else: in the body — where your intuition, resilience, and authentic presence live.

We don’t believe leadership is a role or a title. We see it as a way of being — the way you show up in the room, in your relationships, in your work, and in your life. And your body is always part of that, whether you pay attention to it or not.

This program is unique because it doesn’t offer one single method or “truth.” Instead, it invites you into three distinct embodied practices, each a doorway into a different dimension of leadership. You’ll discover, through direct experience, which doors open most easily for you — and how to weave them into your own leadership journey.

The Leadership in the Body Journey: Three Doors, One Path

Every leader moves through thresholds: into themselves, into relationship with others, and into action in the world. This journey invites you to walk consciously through these three doors of leadership — Self, System, and Action

  • The Door to Self

Every leadership journey begins within. The Door to Self invites you into deep inner listening, cultivating awareness of how you inhabit your body, emotions, and intentions. It is about connecting with your inner compass, clarifying what truly matters to you, and finding the courage to see and be seen as you are. When you step through this door, authenticity and clarity become the ground from which you lead.

  • The Door to the System

Leadership does not happen in isolation — it unfolds in relationship. The Door to the System invites you to sense how you are part of a larger field: teams, organizations, and communities. Here you learn to perceive the often invisible dynamics that shape collective life, to notice patterns, and to participate in shifting them with awareness and compassion. Walking through this door strengthens your relational intelligence and your capacity to move with, and not just against, the currents of the whole.

  • The Door to Action

At some point, leadership asks us to act. The Door to Action is about how you show up under pressure, how you embody presence when challenged, and how you respond wisely rather than react impulsively. It invites resilience, groundedness, and the ability to take action that is aligned with your values while staying open to others. This door brings leadership into the world: calm, clear, and compassionate action that makes a difference.

Three Approaches, One Journey

To bring these doors alive, we will draw from three powerful embodiment practices. Each offers its own lens, its own way of accessing presence and leadership:

  • Authentic Movement – developed by Mary Starks Whitehouse and Janet Adler

Authentic Movement is a practice of embodied listening and speaking. With eyes closed, movers follow impulses that arise from within, and find expression in the body.

Witnesses hold space without judgment, present to what they see both outwardly and inwardly. Through this, you begin to see what’s alive in you — feelings, resistances, and truths.

In leadership, this practice cultivates authenticity and expressive clarity: the ability to listen inwardly, trust what you sense, and show up in alignment with yourself. 

  • Social Presencing Theater (SPT) – by Arawana Hayashi

Social Presencing Theater is a practice of sensing and shaping the social field. Through simple postures and movements, participants give form to collective dynamics, making visible the often invisible patterns that shape our teams, organizations, and communities.

By slowing down and embodying these patterns, a shared awareness emerges — not just of problems, but of possibilities. New insights and directions for movement become available.

In leadership, this practice cultivates relational awareness and systemic intelligence: the ability to perceive the whole, act with compassion, and help shift the collective toward greater alignment. 

  • Leadership Embodiment – Wendy Palmer lineage

Leadership Embodiment is a practice rooted in Aikido and mindfulness. Through simple, physical centering techniques, you learn to stay grounded and open even under stress or conflict.

Practices explore how body, mind, and emotions align when challenged — and how to expand your capacity to stay relaxed, clear, and connected.

In leadership, this practice cultivates presence and resilience: the ability to remain calm under pressure, to recover quickly from setbacks, and to act with wisdom and compassion even in difficulty.

Together, these approaches form a living weave of personal exploration, relational intelligence, and embodied leadership.

A Living Arc of Leadership

Together, the three doors — Self, System, and Action — create a living arc of leadership. They invite you to explore leadership as a whole-body journey: authentic in who you are, relational in how you connect, and wise in how you act.

Through the three embodied approaches, you will walk this arc step by step. Each door opens into a distinct dimension of leadership, and each practice offers a way to explore it in depth. By experiencing them both separately and in dialogue with each other, you will weave your own leadership presence — one that is true to yourself, responsive to others, and aligned with your deepest values.

This is not about adopting a model of leadership. It is about discovering, in your body, how you want to show up in the world — and who you are becoming as you do.

Who is this for?

This journey is for anyone who feels called to explore leadership in a deeper, more embodied way.

It may be for you if you are:

  • Leading teams, organizations, or projects and want to move beyond techniques to the essence of presence
  • Navigating personal or professional transitions, seeking a compass in uncertain times
  • A facilitator, coach, or changemaker looking to bring more embodiment into your work with others
  • A professional who wants to align outer leadership with inner truth
  • Curious about the body’s role in how we live, lead, and relate

No prior embodiment experience is required — only curiosity, openness, and a willingness to explore new ways of being in your body.

What people say

“This is a powerful and subtle practice for improving self-awareness. I use it on a daily basis in the office and at home with my family.”
— Pierre Antonini, Director General, Stanton Wallace

“Dancing with Ana… was the highlight of my week. No matter how stressed or disconnected I felt, Ana created a space where I could let my guard down and connect with all my feelings. It was a journey of pure magic, healing and joy.”
— Isabelle, participant in Moving From Within

“The days at the alp seminar taught me how much we can learn simply by being among people who are courageous enough to share their stories and struggles, and who are ready to change together.”
— Raluca, NGO Leader

What you’ll leave with

  • Practical tools and body-based practices you can apply in everyday life
  • Greater self-awareness and connection to your values
  • Clarity in how you want to lead and live
  • A felt sense of confidence, calm, and grounded presence
  • The support of a diverse, like-hearted community
  • A renewed trust in your body’s wisdom as a guide for leadership and life

Your Guides

Paola Bortini

Sociologist, systems change facilitator, Mindfulness and Self-compassion teacher as well teacher of Social Presencing Theater. Paola brings clarity, compassion, and a systemic perspective to personal and organizational transformation.

https://www.limina.at/paola/

Ana Bernardes

Psychologist, embodiment artist and facilitator, trained in Authentic Movement and Social Presencing Theater. Ana creates spaces of deep listening, creativity, and embodied exploration.

https://movingwithana.com/

Pierre Goirand

Pioneer in embodied leadership and senior teacher in Wendy Palmer’s lineage. Pierre integrates decades of experience in somatic martial arts, and collective leadership.

https://www.presenceleadership.net/en/

Together, they bring decades of experience, international reach, and a rare synergy of depth, lightness, and wisdom.

 

Practical Details

Dates: 27–29 January 2026
Location: Vienna, Austria
Language: English
Group Size: Limited to 30 participants

Fees for self-sponsored and non-profit sector:

  • €490 – Super Early Bird (until 30th September 2025)
  • €590 – Early Bird (until 15th November 2025)
  • €660 – Full Price

Fees for corporate-sponsored:

  • €660 – Super Early Bird (until 30th September 2025)
  • €770 – Early Bird (until 15th November 2025)
  • €880 – Full Price

Fee includes facilitation, materials, and refreshments. Accommodation and meals not included.

Ready to join us?

If you feel called to explore how your body can become a deeper source of leadership — this is your invitation.

Step 1: 🔘 [Register Now]

Step 2: We’ll confirm your place and send you details.

Step 3: Begin the journey.


Questions? Contact us at paola@alp-network.org