Most high performers are tired, but keep pushing through. Strategic rest is not a break from leadership. It is what makes leadership sustainable.

This week Michal McCracken talks with Dr Erin Wilson, CEO of Design Ideal Consulting and co-author of Strategic Rest in Leadership. Erin shares how a stress-induced seizure exposed the cost of running on urgency and why leaders need rest as a core strategy, not as a reward.

They unpack:
• why leaders are performing well but exhausted on the inside
• how to build space to think instead of react
• boundaries around energy instead of your calendar
• the NAP Framework: nurture, assess, prioritize

You will hear simple shifts that support clarity and protect your peace: shorter meetings, micro pauses, and a different way of approaching pressure. This conversation is practical and relevant for women who lead teams, businesses, or demanding lives.

Click here to download Dr Erin’s Relationship Intelligence Checklist for Leaders

Relationship Intelligence Checklist for Leaders

-Strengthen trust and collaboration within your team

-Improve communication and workplace relationships

-Enhance your leadership impact through deeper connections

If this episode landed because your body is signaling that you are running too fast or holding too much, those patterns show up in leadership, decision-making, and the way you earn.

In Rewired to Rich, we look at the nervous system and capacity patterns that fuel urgency and exhaustion. When your system feels safe, leadership becomes clear and money becomes steady instead of stressful.

If you want support shifting out of the cycle of overwork and into grounded leadership and growth, let’s talk.

Click here to Book a call to explore if it is a fit

Click here to join The Wayfinder Series

Monthly micro-masterclasses for the ones who’ve “done the work” and still feel stuck.

• Tactical wisdom
• Strategy that lands
• Results that hold

In this episode, we unpack how learning to swim as an adult can shift how you lead your business, relate in partnerships, and rebuild trust in your body, one choice at a time.

Michal McCracken dives into the deeper layers of transformation with Cori Myka, founder of Calm Within Adult Swim.

Cori helps adults overcome their fear of water, not just through physical technique, but through nervous system-aware coaching, identity reclamation, and somatic mindset shifts that ripple into every area of life.

Together, they explore why so many adults carry hidden trauma or resistance around swimming (even when they live near water), and how learning to swim later in life becomes a surprising metaphor for building a business, reclaiming agency, and practicing courage on purpose.

From re-parenting our inner fears to honouring each person’s nervous system blueprint, Cori’s insights blend psychology, physiology, and embodied confidence in a way that speaks far beyond the pool.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why “calling yourself a swimmer” is a radical act of self-trust
• The connection between water, nervous system regulation, and emotional reintegration
• How early life experiences shape our relationship with risk, safety, and growth
• Why small, consistent actions build long-term resilience (in water and in business)
• Real-world parallels between adult swim lessons and entrepreneurial courage

Whether you’re terrified of the deep end or just need a reminder that identity is something you build, this conversation will leave you rethinking what’s possible - in water, and in life.

Get your free copy of The Swimming Roadmap—a simple, step-by-step guide to help adults build confidence, safety, and ease in the water. Inside, you’ll learn the core skills to focus on first, common mistakes to avoid, and receive a bonus mini water-safety video training. Perfect for beginners or anyone returning to swimming after years away.

Click here to download

And if this episode hit something tender, if fear, avoidance, or shutdown shows up in your body when it’s time to lead, launch, or take up space, it’s likely showing up around money too.

In Rewired to Rich, we look at the nervous system patterns that keep your income stuck on “hard mode” and teach you how to shift them for good.

When your system feels safe, money becomes steady instead of stressful.

Click here to book a call with Michal to explore if it’s a fit

Click here to join The Wayfinder Series

Monthly micro-masterclasses for the ones who’ve “done the work” and still feel stuck.

• Tactical wisdom
• Strategy that lands
• Results that hold

What if the real reason you’re stuck isn’t strategy, but dysregulation? This episode unpacks how to stop bulldozing your body and start listening to your inner cues, so your business feels better and works better.

In this episode of Space and Grace, Michal McCracken sits down with yoga therapist and mindfulness coach Rachel Posner to explore the powerful intersection of nervous system regulation and entrepreneurship.

Rachel unpacks how yoga therapy goes beyond movement to become a deep framework for internal dialogue between the mind and body. Together, they discuss how dysregulation (even from “good” things like growth) can derail your ability to show up clearly , and how tuning into your nervous system can help you build resilience, take aligned action, and actually enjoy the process of scaling.

Inside this episode:

• How to recognize when your nervous system is out of its window of tolerance
• Practical tools to bring your body back into regulation (based on your personal patterns)
• The role of avoidance behaviors (like “productive procrastination”) in emotional overload
• A powerful reframing of “bullying” ourselves into visibility, success, or strategy
• How to use curiosity and self-compassion to build a business that feels safe to your system

Whether you're feeling frozen, frazzled, or just fatigued from trying to do business the “right” way, this conversation will help you come home to yourself and move from burnout to embodied clarity.

Click here to book a free connection call with Rachel to explore how she can help you

If avoidance or shutdown shows up in your business, it’s likely showing up around money too.

In Rewired to Rich, we work with the nervous system patterns that keep income tied to effort.

When your system feels regulated, money becomes steady instead of stressful.

Click here to book a call with Michal to explore if it’s a fit

Click here to join The Wayfinder Series

Monthly micro-masterclasses for the ones who’ve “done the work” and still feel stuck.

• Tactical wisdom
• Strategy that lands
• Results that hold