Intentional Living & The Things She Gave Up to Be Free

There's a particular sense of interconnection that comes from meeting someone whose life has been running parallel to yours without either of you knowing it. That's what happened when I met Noeyoni.

Noeyoni is an architect, community planner, and poet whose eight-year spiritual journey ran almost in step with mine and gave rise to her book of poetry, As You Be. In this conversation we talk about the difference between intentional living and a "checklist life," what letting go of control actually looks like, and why she believes the future of leadership looks less like a lion leading the pride and more like a colony of ants.

Key Takeaways

  • Inner work can deepen a profession rather than replace it. Noeyoni still practices architecture and community planning, but now brings more openness, fearlessness, and a spirit of service to her clients and communities.

  • Ego isn't the same as arrogance. Noeyoni came to understand ego as the belief that our identity is separate from other people's.

  • Intentional living is different from living with intentions. Living with intentions means tracking goals like a checklist, while intentional living means setting an intention and then letting go of how and when it arrives.

  • Observing life instead of trying to control it, becoming a witness to it, helped Noeyoni move through a long period of anger and disappointment.

  • In Noeyoni's view, leadership is shifting from a single leader directing the group to collective leadership, where people organize together and listen for answers that may come from anyone.

  • Noeyoni gave up complaining and now treats a complaint as a signal of something within herself that needs attention.

Quotes from this Conversation

"When they say ego, what they're meaning is believing that our identity is separate from others." — Noeyoni

"We are beings of joy. Our true nature, human nature, is to be joyous." — Anu Arora

"Leadership doesn't always mean having all the answers and directing people." — Noeyoni

Questions this Episode Answers

  • What's the difference between intentional living and living with intentions?

  • How is leadership shifting from individual to collective?

  • What does letting go of control look like in daily life?

  • How can a spiritual practice change the way you approach your professional work?

Some of what Noeyoni and I talked about — the anger she carried toward the divine, her becoming an unwitting therapist to a therapist, and the years it took her to stop mistaking control for care — these things really resonated with me.

I encourage you to listen to the full interview. When you’re ready for more, Noeyoni’s collection As You Be is a great place to explore. It’s currently available in digital form — the limited edition print run sold out — it’s the kind of book you don’t read in one sitting, so much as return to over and over again.



CORRECTION: Around minute 23:30, Noeyoni references Vinyasa Yoga when she was referring to Vipassana Yoga.

Resources

Episode Details

Guest: Noeyoni, architect, community planner, and poet, author of As You Be
Host: Anu Arora, executive and team coach
Series: Mindful Momentum: Leader Podcast
Published: September 16, 2026 · 38 minutes
Watch on YouTube

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