Why sensing, regulation and relational presence are key to innovation
In a world that feels increasingly fast, fractured, and full, the way we innovate must evolve. We can’t simply keep solving problems from the same cognitive patterns that created them. Einstein would agree. And we can’t access creativity, collaboration or insight when we’re overwhelmed, exhausted, or stuck in survival mode.
That’s why Co-create Change created the Inside-Out Innovation Toolkit — a collection of creative and embodied practices to support people and teams to reconnect with the deeper intelligence that lives in the body, not just the head.
From Overwhelm to Awareness
When we’re dysregulated — in fight, flight or freeze — our access to imagination, trust, and complexity-thinking narrows. Our bodies prepare to react, not reflect. We lose our sense of safety. Our capacity to relate is impacted and collaboration becomes harder. Creative thinking collapses into urgency. Systemic thinking becomes less available.
Many of us are expected to be “on” all the time — to perform, produce, decide, fix. But sustainable innovation requires something deeper. It requires presence. It requires the capacity to be with what is first, so we can respond wisely rather than react — not bypass it.
The Body as a Site of Insight
The practices in this toolkit are inspired by years of facilitation, constellations, systems sensing, somatic coaching, and my own journey with nervous system awareness. They’re simple, repeatable invitations back into connection — with self, with others, and with the more-than-human world.
Each one helps grow what the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) call our “being” capacities — things like inner compass, presence, sensing, and courage. These are not luxuries. They are foundational to navigating complexity well.
Why These Practices Matter Now
The toolkit includes star-marked favourites from my own practice and courses:
Self-Regulation Practices to Stay Centred in Uncertainty
Because we can’t access creativity or collaboration when we’re in survival mode. Regulating our nervous system is the gateway to presence, clarity, and choice.
Systemic Sensing and Deep Listening to Context and Place
Because we’re always embedded in systems — and change happens when we attune to what’s really going on beneath the surface.
Practices for Gratitude, Reciprocity, and Relational Repair
Because creative futures are co-created. Relational practices build trust, restore connection, and honour the interdependence that innovation depends on.
Appreciative Inquiry for Generative Questioning and Reframing
Because the questions we ask shape the futures we create. Shifting focus from problems to possibilities opens space for new insights to emerge.
Object-Based Reflection for Shifting Patterns
Because sometimes it’s easier to see a system when we step outside of it. Physical representations help us externalise complexity and explore it from new angles.
Somatic Imagination Practices to Reconnect with Inner Knowing and Future Vision
Because the body holds intelligence that the mind can’t access alone. Imagination becomes a compass when we can feel into what wants to emerge.
Nature-Based Invitations for Grounding and Relational Orientation
Because nature offers more than inspiration — it reminds us of rhythm, interconnection, and resilience. Tuning into place reorients us to what matters.
Future-Self Embodiment and Slow Witnessing for Guiding Wise Action
Because when we pause long enough to listen, our future self can offer guidance. Slow witnessing invites action from alignment, not urgency.
These practices are designed for use in teams, workshops, circles, or solo reflection. They support not just what we do — but how we show up as people navigating complexity and change.
Practices for People Doing the Inner and Outer Work of Change
This toolkit is for leaders, facilitators, designers, researchers, educators, and practitioners working in systems of change — especially those seeking more grounded, regenerative, and relational ways of working.
It’s ideal for:
- Innovation teams needing more than brainstorming
- Social change orgs feeling the weight of burnout
- Leaders who want to centre wellbeing in the work
- People longing to reconnect with the spark that brought them here
Real Innovation Starts Inside
As we move through this time of deep transition — socially, ecologically, economically — we need spaces to re-source ourselves. Innovation that endures is not just smart — it’s felt, relational, and alive.
The Inside-Out Innovation Toolkit is an offering toward that.
Start with one practice. See what shifts.
