Another Way of Leading: Love-in-Action, Coherence and Not-Knowing at the Spirit of Oneness Retreat

In late August 2025, thirty‑three people from different countries, disciplines and spiritual lineages gathered at Villa Unspunnen near Interlaken, Switzerland, for the first Spirit of Oneness Retreat. Embedded in the dramatic landscape between the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, this circle met not to discuss Oneness as an idea, but to explore it as a lived reality through silence, dialogue, embodied practice and multidimensional ritual. Over several days, a “Golden Thread” became visible – a felt sense of unity, love‑in‑action and deep coherence weaving through diverse experiences.

The Spirit of Oneness Retreat offers a rare, embodied glimpse of what becomes possible when leadership, power, not‑knowing and unity are coherently aligned. It created conditions in which Oneness could be directly experienced as a living field. This review intends to trace the conditions that allowed such a field to emerge and the insights it offers for future work with leadership and transformation.

Leadership in service of the field

Leadership at Spirit of Oneness was clear yet remarkably light and joyful. Three co‑facilitators held the space “with love, light and laughter”, each bringing distinct gifts – connection to place and multidimensionality, planetary and cosmic perspective, and moderation of meaning and participation. Rather than pushing a pre‑set program, they continually tuned into what wanted to emerge, explicitly inviting the subtle realms, nature, ancestral and even star lineages into the gathering - and creating space for everyone to join in this.

Power - a word that hardly fits the context - was thus exercised as service: grounded in deep listening rather than control, expressed as invitation, and shared with the circle instead of concentrated in a single authority.

The underlying design – Instigation, Inner‑Tuition, Integration – created a strong, simple architecture that held the group without constraining it. Within this frame, participants were invited to become “soul‑models”, co‑creating the field through their presence and contribution rather than consuming a sequence of sessions.​

Not‑knowing as shared practice

A defining quality of the retreat was the way not‑knowing was honoured. Rather than being treated as a deficit to be fixed, the “field of unknowing” was named as a sacred space – “that beautiful void of attention and chaos of potential”.

The process deliberately opened room for intuition and inner tuition, used poetry, movement, ritual and constellation work to access non‑linear intelligences, and invited trust in what cannot be planned or captured conceptually.

In this way, not‑knowing became a collective practice: participants could rest together in “expectant stillness”, listening for what wanted to emerge next. Uncertainty was not a gap in leadership, but a consciously held threshold between what had been and what was coming into being.

Oneness as lived reality

The Spirit of Oneness Retreat was rooted in the conviction that unity is not merely an ideal but a fundamental reality that can be experienced and enacted.

This was cultivated on several levels. The retreat was framed within a cosmic and planetary context: Gaia, cosmic intelligences, ancestors, future generations and subtle realms were explicitly acknowledged as active participants in the field, expanding the sense of “we” beyond the human circle. Collective field work  invited the group to explore what the “Knowing Field” wanted them to see about what is emerging. Through embodied practices like Qi Gong, dance, nature immersion, gong ceremony, silence, spontaneous dancing and shared laughter, nervous systems softened and unity was anchored in the body; participants spoke of renewed trust in life, a felt sense of belonging, courage to live from the heart and a commitment to serve life where they are.

A central metaphor – the Golden Thread – captured the insight that “we are not separate threads trying to connect; we are already woven, remembering how to move together.” Unity was thus experienced as something to relax into.

Coherence: more than consensus

What emerged over the days was not conceptual agreement but coherence. The triple‑loop design invited action, reflection and re‑configuration of being, allowing insights to ripple through individual, relational and subtle dimensions.

Key elements that supported coherence included: a clearly held intention to serve the good of the whole and the evolutionary potential of humanity, a process architecture that balanced form and freedom, continuous feedback and adaptation of the “deep design”, deep respect for the not-knowing, and a rhythm of silence, expression and integration that kept returning the group to shared ground.

Because of this, differences in background, language and spiritual framing did not fragment the field; they enriched it. The retreat became a “living field of love‑in‑action”, in which diversity could be held within an underlying sense of unity.

A felt example for future work

Spirit of Oneness offers a felt example of conditions that allow collective processes to become deeply generative:

Leadership that is anchored in inner alignment and humble service, rather than in control or charisma. ​

Power understood as something that flows through a coherent field, rather than as something individuals hold over one another.

Not‑knowing embraced as a shared threshold, held by practices of listening and stillness.

Oneness cultivated as an embodied experience, through which joy, courage, tenderness and clarity naturally arise.

Coherence tended as an ongoing practice, weaving memory, meaning and momentum into a living legacy that continues beyond the event.

In this sense, the retreat can be seen as a quiet prototype of another way of being together: a way in which leadership is an expression of love‑in‑action, and where the deeper intelligence of life itself is trusted to move through the many, as one.

 

 

„Sacred Business“ by Nikki Trott

“Sacred Business” by Nikki Trott is a powerful, practical guide for anyone who wants to align inner transformation with outer impact in their work and organisation. The book really lives up to Nikki Trott’s own description of it as a framework for shifting from ‘business as usual’ towards ways of working that honour people, planet and the wider web of life.

Core structure and theme

The book is built around a logical, easily applicable architecture: four parts that mirror an inner–outer journey – Mind (the separation), Being (the transformation), Ecosystem (the integration) and Embodiment. Within these parts, nine shifts (for example from busy to present, from fear to love, from competition to symbiosis, from short-term to evergreen) make it immediately tangible how conventional business logics can evolve into “sacred business”.

Usefulness for leaders and organisations

What impressed me most is how systematically the book invites readers to audit and realign their own business, organisation, NGO or professional path with deeper values and life-serving principles. Each chapter combines reflection with concrete exercises and “life experiments”, so that inner work and strategic decisions mutually reinforce each other instead of being treated as separate worlds.

Connection to my own work

As founder of re-connect – Institute for Lived Spirituality and Resilience, and as an author writing about why we need to speak more often and more openly about spirituality and religion, I felt profoundly seen in my own questions and commitments. It resonates strongly with my own work of supporting individuals, teams and organisations to reconnect with what is precious – inner sources of strength, shared values, and a sense of responsibility for the wider web of life.

Personal encounter with the author

Meeting Nikki Trott in person, I experienced the integrity and clarity that also shine through these pages. Her combination of strategic sharpness and spiritual depth makes this book a trustworthy companion for leaders who are ready to question old patterns and co-create a regenerative, values-driven economy.

Recommendation

“Sacred Business” indeed feels like a personal mentor in written form for anyone who, in Nikki Trott’s words, wants to bring purpose, prosperity and meaningful impact into coherent alignment. I warmly recommend it to leaders, entrepreneurs, consultants and change agents who sense that the next era of business must be both spiritually grounded and practically effective.

(Book recommendation published on Amazon)

Macht und Liebe

Macht – ein Wort, das im Deutschen oft schwer wiegt. Es ruft Assoziationen von Kontrolle, Unterdrückung oder Manipulation hervor. Im Englischen klingt „power“ offener, neutraler – es steht auch für Energie, Handlungskraft oder das Potenzial, etwas zu bewirken. Diese Zweideutigkeit sagt womöglich was aus über unser kulturelles Verständnis von Macht und wie es unsere Haltung demgegenüber prägt.

Ob wir es wollen oder nicht – Macht ist allgegenwärtig. Sie durchzieht alle sozialen Gefüge, auch jene, die bewusst versuchen, ohne Machthierarchien auszukommen. Wo Menschen zusammenkommen, entstehen Dynamiken von Einfluss und Entscheidung. In Organisationen, Teams und Gemeinschaften gibt es immer Menschen, die lenken, gestalten und/oder bewahren. Wer diese Strukturen leugnet, läuft Gefahr, unbewusste Machtmechanismen zuzulassen, die oft destruktiver wirken als offen reflektierte Führung.

Deshalb brauchen wir Klarheit und Wissen über das Wesen der Macht. Wie wirkt sie? Wie kann sie konstruktiv gestaltet werden? Welche Rolle spielt sie in unserem eigenen Leben? Hier setzen aktuelle Bücher an, die neue Perspektiven eröffnen. Ich bin gespannt auf das neue Buch von Prof. Dr. Carsten C. Schermuly „Psychologie der Macht“, das demnächst erscheint. Er ist Direktor des Instituts für New Work und Coaching bei der "SRH University of Applied Sciences" in Berlin.

Erkenntnisse über das Thema Macht sind nicht nur für politische oder wirtschaftliche Systeme relevant, sondern für jede Zusammenarbeit – insbesondere dort, wo Hierarchien bewusst flach gehalten werden. In meiner Tätigkeit als Teambegleiterin, Supervisorin und Moderatorin arbeite ich vor allem mit Gruppen, die sich selbst als gleichberechtigt organisieren. Es ist ein hohes Ideal und darf nicht zu Ohn-Macht führen. Es erfordert dazu ein tiefes Bewusstsein für die Dynamiken, die entstehen, wenn Entscheidungen getroffen und Verantwortung verteilt wird. Eva Stützel hat sich in dem Buch „Macht voll verändern“ (2024) vor allem mit solchen nicht-hierarchischen Strukturen und Gemeinschaften beschäftigt.

Ein Buch, das mich nachhaltig inspiriert, erschien bereits in 2010. Adam Kahane beschreibt in „Power and Love: A Theory and Practice of Social Change“ das essenzielle Spannungsfeld zwischen diesen beiden Kräften: Ohne Liebe wird Macht destruktiv, ohne Macht bleibt Liebe wirkungslos. Leider wurden dieses und auch die anderen sehr inspirierenden Bücher dieses Autors bis jetzt nicht ins Deutsche übersetzt. Seine Ausführungen wurzeln in seiner Beratungsexpertise in herausfordernden Situationen.

In der aktuellen Austauschgruppe „Spiritualität und Politik“ gehen wir der Frage nach: Wie kann eine spirituelle Haltung helfen, mit Macht reflektiert umzugehen? In einer Zeit, in der Misstrauen gegenüber Autorität wächst, aber gleichzeitig klare Ausrichtung und Handlungsfähigkeit dringend benötigt werden, kann eine bewusste Verbindung von innerer Integrität und verantwortungsvoller Macht ein Schlüssel sein.

Macht ist eine Kraft, die gelenkt werden will. Ob in der Gesellschaft, in Organisationen oder im persönlichen Leben – sie fordert uns heraus, unser eigenes Verhältnis zu ihr zu hinterfragen. Wo übe ich Macht aus? Wo lehne ich sie ab, obwohl ich sie vielleicht nutzen könnte, um Gutes zu bewirken? Und wie finde ich inmitten dieser Kräfte mein eigenes Gleichgewicht?

Mir scheint es in der momentanen Situation wichtig, Macht als Gestaltungskraft zu sehen und dabei darauf zu achten, dass die Verbindung mit humanen Werten nicht auf der Strecke bleibt. Ein Handeln aus innerer Stille, Liebe und Verantwortung.

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