Resilient You: Why I Said Yes to Writing a Chapter on Workplace Resilience

I was recently invited to contribute a chapter to a new book, Resilient You: An Agony Aunt’s Guide to Keeping It All Together, sharing my perspective on resilience, emotional well-being, and how my spiritual path has supported me in the workplace.

As someone who’s lived in both worlds, corporate leadership and performance culture on one side, and shamanic practice and inner work on the other, I knew this was a chance to translate what can sound “alternative” into something practical, grounded, and usable for real life.

If you’d like to explore the book, you can find it here on Amazon: Resilient You: An Agony Aunt’s Guide to Keeping It All Together.

What follows is a concise (but detailed) look at what I contributed, both the story behind it, and the tools I’ve found genuinely help when pressure is high.

My background: from corporate marketing to spiritual practice

My name is Mohave Sky Hawk, a name I was given when I was “reborn” as a Shaman. It holds deep meaning for me because it represents a return to parts of myself that were once lost.

Before my spiritual journey truly began, I lived a fairly typical modern life. I studied Film Production with Technology, became a lifelong lover of music, and eventually moved into the corporate world, starting my marketing career at Microsoft, working as a marketing executive for the Xbox 360, and later rising through global organisations into Head of Marketing roles.

I also adopted values and tools that many high performers will recognise, like Kaizen (continuous improvement), business optimisation, and cognitive frameworks, including Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). These helped… to a point.

But something was missing: not more productivity, not more “push through,” not more thinking; something deeper.

That missing piece, for me, was spirituality.

What shamanism means (in plain terms)

Shamanism can mean many things depending on lineage and culture. I tend to think of it as a broad term for indigenous practices that support healing of the mind, body, and spirit, often through altered states of consciousness.

One of the simplest definitions I resonate with is: “one who sees.”

In my own practice, “seeing” can be understood in two ways:

• Spiritually: connecting with guidance beyond the everyday mind
• Psychologically: accessing the subconscious, patterns, wounds, triggers, inner child material, without denial or avoidance

A key part of my training involved “walking the Medicine Wheel”, not as a concept, but as lived inner work: meeting strengths and wounds, fears and anger, and learning to observe the inner world with less judgment and more responsibility.

Resilience, redefined: not avoidance, emotional fluency

One of the core points I wanted to contribute to Resilient You is this:

Real resilience isn’t pretending you’re fine. It’s staying present with what’s true, without collapsing or hardening.

Earlier in my life, I struggled with anger and reactivity. I also carried experiences that shaped my sense of safety and identity. What shamanic practice gave me wasn’t a personality transplant; it gave me tools to go to the root, to stop being controlled by what I kept in the dark.

That changed how I handled pressure in my career.

During an intense period where multiple major life events converged, I noticed what didn’t happen:

• I didn’t lose my temper.
• I didn’t spiral into shutdown.
• I didn’t abandon my responsibilities.

The pain didn’t vanish, but my relationship to it changed. I learned how to let emotion move through me, rather than suppressing it, over-analysing it, or exploding outward.

A simple reminder became powerful: no matter how overwhelming a moment feels, it is still a moment. It will pass.

How spirituality supports everyday coping at work (without becoming “woo”)

When I strip spirituality back to its essence, I see it as:

• a deeper connection with yourself
• alignment with values
• practices that bring you back into the present moment
• better self-awareness under pressure

In corporate environments, I’ve repeatedly seen what happens when logic, performance, and KPIs come without emotional regulation: stress rises, empathy drops, and communication breaks down, often through tone-dead email chains and assumption-filled messages.

Spiritual practice, when grounded, becomes a stabiliser, not by removing pressure, but by helping you meet it with more clarity and compassion.

Sometimes the “practice” is extremely small:

• 60 seconds of conscious breathing,
• washing hands, and focusing fully on sensation,
• a brief pause to widen perspective before replying

These aren’t soft habits. They’re nervous system interventions.

My top 5 resilience tools for high stress and anxiety

In my contribution, I shared five principles that repeatedly help people stabilise when life gets intense:

1) Regulate the nervous system (breath + stillness)

Breathwork and meditation don’t require belief, only willingness. Even brief pauses can shift the body out of fight-or-flight, restoring clearer thinking and decision-making.

2) Anchor the mind in gratitude

Gratitude isn’t denial. It’s balance. In shamanic tradition (including practices that honour past, present, and future), gratitude helps restore emotional equilibrium, especially when the mind fixates on threat.

3) Reframe perspective to reduce reactivity

Stress escalates quickly through personalisation: assuming intent, taking things personally, reacting defensively. Reframing creates space between stimulus and response.

4) Learn your patterns

Stress isn’t random. It follows patterns. Knowing your triggers, early warning signs, and default coping strategies gives you back choice.

5) Interrupt escalation early

Most people wait until the overwhelm is extreme before they act. Resilience grows when you notice the first signs (tension, irritability, narrowing perspective) and intervene before the spiral.

Boundaries without guilt: how to communicate you’ve hit your limit

A big workplace challenge is saying, “I’m at capacity.”

Many people don’t struggle with boundaries because they lack skill; they struggle because they feel it’s unsafe. They fear being judged, losing status, or being seen as weak.

In the excerpt, I included a boundary approach that protects professionalism by removing blame and focusing on responsibility. For example:

“I feel that, given the current volume and intensity of work, I’m unable to deliver the quality of output I hold myself accountable to. To maintain that standard, I need to be clear about the level of work I can realistically take on going forward.”

That kind of communication:

• signals accountability
• protects quality
• reduces resentment
• prevents burnout from becoming inevitable

Boundaries aren’t barriers. They’re information.

A personal plan for pausing, resetting, or walking away (without burning your life down)

One of the most important truths I’ve learned: people delay rest because they believe they can’t afford it, until their nervous system forces it through burnout, illness, or breakdown.

A healthy pause isn’t avoidance (numbing out, drinking, endless scrolling, constant busyness). A true reset is intentional and inward-facing.

Practical ways to build a plan:

• Identify your early warning signs (irritability, tension, low empathy, narrowed perspective)
• schedule micro-resets daily (5 minutes of stillness, short meditation, breathwork)
• Reduce constant digital input when you notice escalation
• consider deeper pauses when needed (retreat, a few days off, stepping back before you break)

And sometimes, walking away is the most responsible choice if the environment is emotionally unsafe and cannot realistically change. The question I’ve learned to ask is:

“Can anything here realistically change?”

If not, leaving isn’t failure; it can be self-respect.

If this resonates, the book is worth your time

I’m grateful to have been included in Resilient You, and I hope my chapter helps bridge a gap: bringing spiritual resilience into language that works for real people with real responsibilities.

I am so blessed to be just one of many incredible contributors to this fantastic guide to keeping it together, and I urge you to go and get your copy now!

If you want to read the full collection, you can purchase it on Amazon here:
Resilient You: An Agony Aunt’s Guide to Keeping It Together

Quick FAQ

What is workplace resilience?

Workplace resilience is the ability to stay grounded, effective, and emotionally regulated under pressure—without burning out, shutting down, or becoming reactive.

Can spirituality help with stress at work?

Yes, especially when spirituality is expressed through practical habits like breathwork, meditation, gratitude, perspective shifting, and values-based boundaries.

What’s one fast way to reduce stress at work?

A short nervous system reset: 60 seconds of slow breathing, a brief pause, or a mindful sensory moment (like feeling water while washing hands) can interrupt escalation.

Note: This blog reflects personal experience and is for educational purposes. It isn’t medical or mental health advice.

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