Rhythm Is Regulating: What Leaders Can Learn from the Body

There’s a reason we say teams are “in sync.” Because at our core, human beings are rhythmic creatures.

Our hearts beat in patterns. Our breath has cadence. Our bodies regulate through repetition—movement, sound, ritual, and connection.

When that rhythm is disrupted—by chronic urgency, disconnection, or fear—the nervous system loses its sense of safety. And when leaders lose rhythm, teams do too.

Urgency Culture as a Nervous System Problem

In today’s workplaces, we normalize “always on” as if it’s a badge of honor. But what we’re actually normalizing is collective dysregulation—a workplace nervous system stuck in perpetual action mode.

This is what scholar Tema Okun describes as a feature of white supremacy culture: the elevation of urgency, perfectionism, and productivity over depth, rest, and connection. These traits don’t just show up in policies or timelines—they live in our bodies.

When urgency drives every decision, people lose access to curiosity and care. When perfectionism dominates, leaders mistake control for safety. When individuality is prized over interdependence, teams forget how to coregulate.

These are not personal flaws; they’re inherited patterns. And the body keeps score.

Why Rhythm Matters

Dr. Bruce Perry once said, “Rhythm is regulating. All cultures have some form of patterned, repetitive, rhythmic activity as part of their healing and mourning rituals.”

Leadership is no different. Rhythm is how we bring order to chaos, and predictability to stress.

When teams have consistent meeting structures, clear transitions, and rituals of check-in and closure, people’s bodies receive the message: You can exhale here.

Predictability isn’t rigidity—it’s safety.

Rhythm helps us unlearn the pace of white supremacy culture and replace it with something wiser: connection, pacing, and collective care.

The Rhythms of Regulated Leadership

Regulated leadership is leadership with rhythm—pace, pattern, and pause. It’s not about control or composure; it’s about attunement.

Here’s what that can look like in practice:

• Pacing: The team knows when to sprint and when to rest. Not everything is urgent.

• Transitions: Leaders tend to the spaces between meetings, emotions, and decisions.

• Consistency: Expectations are clear, and follow-through is predictable.

• Ritual: Shared practices—like opening check-ins or intentional endings—signal belonging.

These small acts create big nervous system shifts. They transform workplace culture from reactive to restorative, from performative inclusion to embodied equity.

What Regulated Leadership Looks Like

A regulated leader isn’t the calmest person in the room—they’re the most attuned. They notice when tension rises, when pace tightens, when silence grows heavy.

Instead of reacting, they pause. They help the team reset. They restore rhythm.

This is the kind of leadership people remember—not because it avoids conflict, but because it offers steadiness in the midst of it.

A Reflection for Leaders

Think of your team as an organism with its own pulse. What’s the rhythm you’re setting?

Is it frantic, scattered, or reactive—or steady, spacious, and connected?

Before you introduce a new process or policy, ask yourself:

“What would make it easier for people’s bodies to stay regulated here?”

Because when we regulate ourselves, we regulate the culture. And that’s how we begin to unlearn the rhythms of white supremacy—and practice something new.

Author’s Note: I help leaders and organizations build rhythm, regulation, and relational safety into how they work—transforming urgency culture into environments of trust and balance. If your team is ready to move beyond burnout and into rhythm, I’d love to connect.

Amanda Singh Bans MA, MSW, LCSW

She/Her

Managing Director @ Resonance LLC | DEIB Strategies | Culturally Responsive Mental Health Services | Moving workplace cultures from survival and burnout to resilience and trust using the science and soul of connection.