What's this
Fitness?

“You can't stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn

Fitness is the ability to be at ease in a ever-changing environment.

Navigating complexity is much like surfing. Like the ocean, the contexts we find ourselves in are unstable, dynamic, and always in flux. Even seasoned surfers can still be surprised by unpredictable waves and currents. While this holds potential danger, it also holds opportunity and adventure. The same is true for us. Much is unknown or even unknowable; we can't wish away or ‘tame’ the complexity, but we can learn to navigate it; we can learn to be at ease and even enjoy ourselves in the waves.

One aspect of becoming a good surfer is maintaining a dynamic tension between stability and flexibility. This is also key in Pilates practice. From a place of inner stability, we can flex and adapt to even highly unstable and turbulent environments.

Complexity fitness is a lot like surfing.

Our core stability comes from several interwoven aspects.  First, we need to acknowledge when we find ourselves in complexity, i.e. we must be able to recognize it.  Then we need to embrace it, not attempt to avoid or simplify it.  Complexity fitness is about cultivating the ability to BE WITH the discomfort of ambiguity and uncertainty.  It is cultivating the ability to notice, sense, and mindfully respond to our context.  

Complexity fitness is the proverbial CORE that helps us become Change Fit and Future Ready.  It gives us the skills and capacities we need to co-creating the future.  It invites us to flex and lean into uncertainty with curiosity and imagination.  We can span boundaries, explore new frontiers and become comfortable with discomfort.  It is here that we can form a new relationship with uncertainty and change, where we are able to truly appreciate the value of diverse perspectives and navigate the messy tangles of the complex systems we work and live in.

So what will you discover of this Complexity Fitness journey?

  1. Rediscover agency ... Complexity is not something "done to you" or something you "suffer" ... you ARE complexity.  One day, while stuck in traffic, Casper saw this phrase written on a billboard: You are not stuck in traffic, you are traffic.  When we realise this, we can have agency.
  2. You already know how to do this ... Complexity is not new.  Even small children know how to navigate it.  In a way, we are re-introducing you to skills you already have.  We are re-building capacities that wasted away in mechanistic education and work systems.
  3. You can relax into complexity ... Complexity doesn’t have to be scary; it is beautiful and filled with opportunity.  While uncomfortable, the boundary between knowing and unknowing is filled with possibility, but we need the ability to stay there mindfully. 
  4. beCOOL  ... There are habits of mind practices we can pro-actively cultivate to help us prepare for an unknown and emerging future.  We can practice being COOL, to have the mindful presence needed deal with messy, tangled challenges that can feel so overwhelming at times, AND be ready to spot potential and make the most of unforeseen opportunities.

 

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