People are experiencing burn-out and feelings of uncertainty about how to break out of systems that don’t support their individuality, personal rhythm, and unique genius.

Burn-out occurs across the board from personal, work, family, community and global systems.

Changing a system can feel like pouring honey on a winter camping trip – in its frozen form you don’t access the sweetness.

The number of health issues related to demanding work environments and high levels of stress has precipitated increased reports of:

Depression and anxiety
Adrenal fatigue
Illness
Conflict and communication breakdowns
Feelings of suicide
An experience of living a robotic life of ‘going through the motions’
An experience of living a compartmentalized life with an undertone of feeling ‘numb

Many of us, at some point, have felt trapped by staying in these environments, and simultaneously paralyzed by the threat of leaving and losing our perceived sense of stability.

We want to leave but we are scared of the uncertainties of the future. We begin to wonder how to find or create new ‘systems’ that support an integration of mind, body and innate wisdom.

“Essentially, we seek a system that invites us to grow and one that welcomes all parts of our uniqueness.”

The illusion of looking outside for happiness and fulfillment

Much of what we’ve been taught to value points us outside of ourselves and increases a sense of feeling separate and alone.

If we can’t force a system to change then what can we find inside of ourselves that carries us through the storm of collective change?

How can leaders challenge the old paradigm and support a collaborative and wisdom-oriented approach towards effective change?

Leading from the inside out

People are hungry for leaders who can guide business practices into an orientation of leading from the inside-out. These “Modern Day Pioneers” supports people and systems to value and integrate:

Wisdom-oriented action
Emotional intelligence
Open-minded/hearted leadership

The qualities of establishing effective systems, inspired cultures, creative solutions, and sustainable and intimate relationships correlates with a system’s relationship to inevitable change and chaos.

Chaos can be unconscious and destructive or it can be creative and energy generating. Leaders can cultivate an environment where chaos is a healthy catalyst for change and growth.

Wisdom-Oriented Action

Wisdom-oriented action is a reflection of how we observe, discern, listen deeply, and learn when it’s time to take action. This often requires us to stay alert and be willing to rest in a feeling of ‘eternal’ patience, not knowing or to mobilize into immediate action.

From this approach we learn to recognize how to perceive information as open and receptive versus contracted and protective. We learn not to judge how information arises, including all the judgments, fears, anxiety, self-doubt, and arrogance.

We become the eternal witness listening for the next action to move us.

Emotional Intelligence

One of the extraordinary qualities of being a human being is our vast range of emotional experiences. Emotions are a language that can guide us to understand what is needed in any given moment.

Emotions often are a call to action. If we find ourselves feeling a strong emotion we have an opportunity to investigate into the source of the feelings to explore whether an action is calling us forth.

When we by-pass the emotion and dismiss, judge or criticize our emotional reactions we may have more difficulty accessing Wisdom’s guidance.

Open-Minded/Hearted Leadership

We see the world through the filters of our life experiences. This inherently diminishes our capacity to see outside of these limited beliefs and views.

An open-hearted/open-minded leader is someone who is humble, honest with themselves and able to start anew in any given moment.

This approach is an exploration into how our unconscious ‘wiring’ impacts our capacity to live a life that feels whole and in alignment with our deepest hearts desires.

Your unique worldview

Our current reality and the choices we make usually stem from the beliefs and stories we’ve created about the kind of world we live in. These worldviews usually take shape at very early ages and imprint how we perceive reality.

Early on we decide if it is ‘a loving world’, ‘a supportive world’, ‘a rejecting world’, ‘a world we have to work hard to find a sense of belonging in’, ‘a world where we can’t afford to fail’ and so on.

Based on our beliefs, we tend to experience circumstances that support this worldview.

As an adult we have the opportunity to inquire and take inventory into the blueprint of our early experiences with family, school, culture, and friends and the worldview that’s been created.

When we discover what observes our limited and conditioned view, we access an expanded place within that guides us to inner peace and freedom over and over again.

We don’t have to change who we are, but rather remember to look for the part of us that observes; especially when the volume of our minds, stories, fears, and judgments amp up.

Why the mind-body connection is of value

Somatic (body-mind oriented) therapeutic approaches support self-discovery through accessing habitual patterns, thoughts, beliefs, and emotions that reside within and outside of the conscious mind. The human experience of suffering, feeling isolated, disconnected, anxious, disappointed or depressed are common to us all and exploring these states can be catalysts to our healing.

Feeling stuck in familiar patterns that seldom change, regardless of how much ‘personal development’ we explore, can feel discouraging.

Revealing these unconscious patterns of thoughts, beliefs and emotions can lend to greater awareness, more choice and breaking cycles of suffering, pain and chaos.

Studying these reactions and finding the witness who observes it all is a catalyst for our growth.

Fierce grace

In summary, we are all leaders and we all have worldviews that give us a unique perspective in which we interpret our experiences. We don’t need to change anything about who we are but rather learn to observe and step back to receive the guidance of an ever-present innate wisdom that is always available to us no matter how much pain, suffering and confusion we feel.

When we commit to building a relationship with the truth of who we are then magical shifts can occur without effort. This is what many people, including my teacher, Adyashanti, call ‘fierce grace’.

When we commit to this path we are building communities of authentic leadership; one at a time and together

Trapped in the System?