The Neuroscience of the ‘Reflection Ledge:’ Leading with Both Sides of your Brain
Sometimes, the most powerful leadership breakthroughs don’t happen in boardrooms or strategy sessions.
They happen in stillness.
On my recent family vacation in the Bahamas, I stumbled onto what I now call the “Reflection Ledge.”
It’s nothing more than a stretch of stone at the lip of an infinity pool, but something extraordinary kept happening there.
People would sit — sometimes in silence, sometimes sharing whispered dreams with loved ones — all while gazing out at the horizon. Ideas seemed to rise to the surface effortlessly. The air felt lighter. The pace slowed.
As I sat there myself, my background in neuroscience — shaped by my recovery from a brain injury 13 years ago — started connecting the dots. This “Reflection Ledge” experience wasn’t random. Science can explain why it’s such a powerful reset for leaders.
The Science Behind the Reflection Ledge
Stress Chemistry Resets
Nature reduces cortisol and adrenaline, allowing your nervous system to shift into a calmer, more resourceful state.You Access Your “Right Brain Magic Machine”
This is the seat of creativity, intuition, and big-picture thinking — often where your best ideas live.Horizon Gazing Expands Perspective
Softly looking at the distance and using peripheral vision lowers stress and literally opens your mind to new possibilities.
How to Create Your Own Reflection Ledge
Find Your Spot: A dock, park bench, quiet trail, or even a sunny corner in your home.
Practice Vision Resets: Switch between close focus and soft horizon gazing to calm your nervous system.
Switch Brain Modes on Purpose: Step away from the grind and give your right brain space to create solutions.
Anchor It: Keep a photo of your spot as a visual cue to return to that state.
This Fall, I encourage you to intentionally build Reflection Ledge moments into your leadership. Not as a luxury — but as a high-performance tool.
Because the leaders who master both the strategic grind and the creative flow are the ones who inspire, innovate, and lead with vision.
Are you Ready?!?
If you’re ready to design your own Fall Leadership Reset — one that blends high performance with neuroscience-backed resilience — I’d love to help you create it.
This is one of those tools that’s too simple to ignore — and too powerful to delay. The best time to create your Reflection Ledge routine is before the busynes of Fall ramps up and you’re swept back into endless to-do lists. Let’s get you started now while your mind is still open from summer’s slower pace. Message me now to book your FREE session for me to help you build your internal ‘Reflection Ledge!’
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