This interview is with Melody MortonBuckleair, President at The Good Space Pilates Studio & Elmwood Place Pilates.

 

Melody MortonBuckleair, President, The Good Space Pilates Studio & Elmwood Place Pilates

As the creator of Conscious Contact, can you tell us about your background and what led you to develop this unique body-based approach to leadership?

As the creator of Conscious Contact, my journey began long before I had a name for it. I’ve been teaching classical Pilates — on both the mat and the reformer — for over two decades. During that time, I watched how consistent movement didn’t just strengthen muscles; it reshaped the body, recalibrated the nervous system, and transformed the way people carried themselves in the world. I noticed that when someone aligned their spine, deepened their breath, and truly connected to their core, they didn’t just move better — they led better. It was leadership development happening through the body.

Alongside my work in the studio, I spent time observing and learning from horses — specifically how they communicate without words. Horses respond to energy, intention, and consistency. They mirror your internal state with striking honesty. That mirrored beautifully what I was teaching in Pilates: that leadership is not what you say, but how you show up — in your body, in your breath, and in your presence.

Conscious Contact emerged as a natural blend of those two worlds: somatic intelligence and relational trust. It’s a body-based leadership approach that teaches people how to lead themselves first — through nervous system regulation, aligned posture, and non-verbal communication. This method isn’t just about personal growth. It’s about creating teams that are calm, clear, and connected from the inside out.

You’ve spent two decades training movement instructors and facilitating leadership retreats. How has your perspective on effective leadership evolved over this time?

Over the past 20 years, my view of leadership has shifted from being skill-based to being state-based. In the beginning, I focused on helping people become better teachers — clearer cuing, stronger presence, more knowledge. But what I’ve come to understand is that the most effective leaders aren’t the ones with the most information — they’re the ones with the most regulation.

Leadership isn’t just about what you say or how much you know. It’s about how you manage your own energy. When a person is grounded in their body, breathing fully, and present in the moment, they lead from a place of calm authority. That’s what people trust — not perfection, but presence.

Facilitating retreats has shown me this in real time: people don’t follow words, they follow nervous systems. And when leaders prioritize nervous system health — through breath, posture, movement, and awareness — everything else aligns: communication, decision-making, and trust. It’s not just leadership from the head — it’s leadership from the whole self.

Can you share a specific example of how you’ve seen a leader’s physical presence dramatically impact their ability to build trust and influence others?

Yes — I’ve seen it again and again, both in my students and in myself. When someone begins to realign their posture, deepen their breath, and reconnect to their core, there’s a visible shift not just in how they move, but in how they carry themselves — and how others respond to them.

I’ve watched students walk into a room unsure of themselves, physically collapsed inward, and over time — through Pilates, breathwork, and nervous system education — transform into grounded, confident leaders. Their voice steadies. Their decisions become clearer. They stop seeking permission and start standing in self-authority. It’s not about ego — it’s about embodied security.

I’ve experienced this in my own leadership as well. The more I regulate my body — especially through breath and spinal alignment — the more trust I build with clients, staff, and peers. People intuitively follow someone who feels centered. When your presence says “I’m safe, I’m steady, I’m listening,” it creates an unspoken trust that no résumé or credential can replace.

Your approach emphasizes that ‘leadership is physical.’ Could you walk us through a simple exercise that leaders can use to quickly ground themselves before an important meeting or presentation?

Yes — one of the simplest and most effective grounding exercises I teach is what I call the “Posture + Breath Reset.” It takes less than a minute, but it shifts your nervous system fast — especially before a high-stakes meeting or presentation.

Here’s how to do it:

Stand or sit tall with your feet flat and rooted. Soften your knees, and feel the weight drop evenly through your heels and the ball of your foot.

Realign your spine. Imagine reaching up through the crown of your head and down through your tailbone — like you’re being gently stretched in two directions. This activates your postural muscles and brings your body into architectural alignment.

Take 3 full breaths:

1. Inhale slowly for a count of 5.

2. Exhale for a count of 5, using your abdominal muscles like you’re wringing out a wet rag. Let the exhale fully empty your lungs.

3. Focus on the exhale — that’s where your nervous system drops into calm.

Optional: As you breathe, place one hand lightly on your low belly and one on your chest. Feel your breath stay low and centered. This keeps you out of shallow, chest-driven anxiety breathing.

When your body is aligned and your breath is deep, you walk into the room already embodying clarity, presence, and trust. People feel it — often before you say a word.

You mention using horse-assisted exercises in your training. Can you describe a particularly memorable moment where you saw a participant have a breakthrough in understanding non-verbal trust through this method?

Yes — there’s one moment that stands out every time, and I’ve witnessed it in participants, my own children, and even in myself. It happens in the round pen when we ask the horse to move away — not with force, but with energy, intention, and clarity. The human sets a boundary. The horse responds. But then something remarkable happens: the horse chooses to come back. The leader doesn’t call the horse with words. There’s no rope. No command. Just breath, posture, presence — and trust. When the horse lowers its head, softens its eyes, and begins to follow the human — a 1,200-pound animal tracking like a dog on a leash — you can feel the shift. The person is no longer seeking control. They’re embodying leadership. That moment is unforgettable. It’s the birth of a new kind of authority — one rooted in safety, clarity, and calm. You can’t fake it with a horse. That’s what makes it such a powerful mirror. When someone earns that follow-through, without force, they know in their body what true leadership feels like. And once you’ve felt it, you carry it with you — into work, relationships, parenting, and beyond.

Conscious Contact integrates the idea that ‘prevention is smarter than recovery.’ How do you guide leaders to recognize early signs of burnout in themselves and their teams, and what’s your go-to intervention?

One of the key principles of Conscious Contact is that burnout doesn’t happen all at once—it whispers before it screams. The body always gives signals, but most people are trained to override them. So I teach leaders to start by tuning into the early signs: shallow breathing, jaw tension, tight shoulders, irritability, decision fatigue, or that quiet disconnection from purpose and presence.

With teams, I encourage leaders to notice shifts in energy, body language, or even sarcasm and silence. Burnout doesn’t always look like collapse—sometimes it’s hiding behind performance.

My go-to intervention is what I call a Reset Ritual—quick, embodied, and effective:

Stop and Breathe: Step away from screens. Inhale deeply for 5 counts, exhale for 5. Focus on fully emptying the lungs by engaging the abdominals, like wringing out stale air from a wet rag.

Roll on the Spine: A few rounds of Rolling Like a Ball or the abdominal series from classical Pilates aren’t just core work—they’re nervous system therapy. When you roll along the spine, you stimulate the spinous processes and activate the vagus nerve, which helps regulate the parasympathetic state. I often compare it to resetting the breaker box in your house. Your spine is the control panel for your nervous system. Rolling gently over it helps turn off the excess charge and restore electricity to the peripheral system—calming, reconnecting, and rebooting your body’s communication lines.

Realign Your Posture: Reach through the crown of the head and down through the tailbone. This vertical opposition brings gravity and alignment into play—two natural tools for nervous system support.

Recheck Your State: Ask, “Where am I holding tension? Where did I stop breathing? What do I need to come back to myself right now?”

When leaders do this regularly—and out loud—it not only prevents burnout, it models true self-leadership. Nervous system regulation isn’t a luxury. It’s maintenance. Just like electricity, presence flows best when the circuit is clear.

You’ve introduced the concept of ‘architectural alignment’ in posture. How does this differ from traditional ‘power poses,’ and what impact have you observed when leaders adopt this practice?

Traditional “power poses” focus on how leadership looks — big, open, and performative. But in Conscious Contact, we focus on how leadership feels in the body. I teach architectural alignment — a practice rooted in the principles of Pilates, where posture comes from integrity, not inflation.

In Pilates, we make gravity a friend, not a foe. We don’t resist it — we use it. It’s natural. When you align your body properly, you harness the two forces of gravity: reaching up through the crown of the head and down through the tailbone in opposition. This activates the deep postural muscles, lengthens the spine, and signals safety to the nervous system.

When a leader adopts this kind of alignment, they don’t have to “pose” at all. They become steady, centered, and trustworthy — because they’re rooted in their own structure. I’ve seen this shift transform how someone walks into a room, holds space during a tough conversation, or leads a team under pressure. People feel the difference. Because true leadership doesn’t push — it pulls from within.

In your experience, how has incorporating mindful movement and breathwork into leadership training affected the emotional intelligence and decision-making capabilities of the leaders you work with?

In my experience, incorporating mindful movement and breathwork into leadership training radically shifts not only how leaders feel—but how they think. Emotional intelligence isn’t just a trait; it’s a physiological state. When someone is breathing shallowly, holding tension in their body, or locked in fight-or-flight, they’re far more likely to react impulsively, misread cues, or default to control.

Movement and breath reintroduce choice.

When we train leaders to tune into their bodies—to feel when their breath shortens or when their posture collapses—they begin to notice the difference between reaction and response. I’ve seen leaders go from micromanaging to mentoring simply because they started their day with movement that grounded them in presence. I’ve watched clients recover from high-stress decisions by pausing, breathing, and realigning—and then coming back with clarity instead of chaos.

These practices build self-awareness, which is the root of emotional intelligence. And once a leader can regulate themselves, they can hold space for others. Better conversations happen. Better boundaries form. And decisions are no longer made from reactivity—they’re made from alignment.

Looking ahead, how do you envision Conscious Contact evolving to meet the changing needs of leaders in an increasingly digital and remote work environment?

As we move deeper into an increasingly digital and remote work environment, I believe Conscious Contact will become more essential, not less. The more we live in our screens, the more critical it becomes to return to our bodies. Leaders can’t guide from a disembodied place. They have to feel their feet on the ground, their breath in their chest, and the impact of their presence — even across a screen.

There’s nothing like the experience of joining up with another animal — like a horse — and realizing your breath patterns have synced. That moment is pure presence. It cannot be replicated in a Zoom room. You have to unplug. Sink your heels down into the earth. Realign your spine. And focus inwardly before you can truly lead outwardly.

As Conscious Contact evolves, I see it offering more hybrid formats: in-person retreats for full nervous system reset, paired with digital micro-practices that bring embodiment into the remote workday. Think 3-minute reset rituals, posture reminders, and breath-based decision-making tools. But the core will stay the same — helping leaders root into their physical body so they can lead with clarity, calm, and true connection in any environment.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you—I’m grateful for the opportunity to share this work. If there’s one thing I’d want leaders to walk away with, it’s this: your body is not separate from your leadership. It is your leadership. How you breathe, how you stand, how you respond under pressure—that’s where trust is built.

We live in a time of constant stimulation and disconnection, but leadership doesn’t start with more information—it starts with embodiment. Conscious Contact is about returning to the body as a source of wisdom, clarity, and calm authority.

And if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s this: when we breathe together—whether in a studio, in a boardroom, or in a round pen with a horse—we remember how to lead.