Expanded consciousness on the workfloor
It’s the end of the holiday season, everybody is slowly but surely getting back to work. We all know this feeling that after our holidays, it’s like our mind has more space, a feeling of peace and clarity, room for new insights. You can see things from a different perspective again. New solutions and inspiration emerge for the change that is so often needed in our organizations, in our world. And then, after three weeks of meetings and emails, that feeling, that state is gone.
Stress is back, our minds are too fullagain. We’ve lost that pure connection with ourselves, our intuition. We are doing things “like we’ve always done”, flexibility and innovation are just a faint memory. It doesn’t feel good and we know that it doesn’t make us a better leader or professional, but it’s almost inescapable.
Almost. We actually can do better, and there is a field of research to back that up. We can work on expanding our consciousness, also in stressful times. Because that’s what it’s about, keeping our consciousness from being narrowed down, by old patterns, conditioning and reactions to triggers that don’t serve us (the ego). By the stress that makes us act “robotic”, lose the connection with our body and emotions, our intuition. It is a really interesting field, which I love to explore, for myself and my clients. Last week I enjoyed another great online seminar of the heart and mind institute, about expanded states of consciousness. This theme is quite popular, a lot of people are now talking about “rewiring your brain” or stimulating and using more of the “good brainwaves”. Plant medicine, breathwork and new brainwave machines are popping up everywhere.
If you are not yet adept in this field of study😊: rewiring your brain is the field of neuroplasticity. The ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning or experience or following injury. The brain is able to make new connections, reorganizing itself both physically and functionally, all throughout your life (not just during childhood like we used to believe). Your brain is constantly being molded by your environment, your behaviors, thinking and emotions.
That’s good news. There is always room for development up there. You have to do the work though, practice, especially when you get older. You have to use it, if you don’t want to lose it. And, If you don’t pay enough attention (are not aware), the brain will be happy to make new pathways or connections that don’t serve you at all.
The brainwaves also play a big role in expending our consciousness. And they too are really popular right now. We have five brainwave frequencies. It is good to learn more about them so you can work with and stimulate them. Take the gamma brainwave that is connected to the state of flow (see this ted talk about flow) Or the alpha and beta brainwaves: beta is our typical waking and working state, (high) beta is the state of stress, whereas alpha, with longer wavelength, is the frequency of creativity and intuition. We have it when we first wake up or after running. If we can move to low-beta / alpha brainwave frequency, we are able to become more available to our inner resources. New information arises and, if we’re aware and present, we can take in this information and intentionally choose to do something else and not repeat those conditioned behaviors that don’t serve us anymore.
That’s the nice “right after holiday- vibe”. Where you become a better leader or professional (or family member), because you simply see, hear, feel better and have more room for flexibility in this often disruptive world. The book “Steeling fire, how Silicon Valley, the Navy Seals and maverick scientists are revolutionizing the way we live and work, is a great read about this topic.
If you are aware and present. That’s key. The Buddha would not have been surprised if he had heard about this futuristic science of us. He already knew and taught this ages ago. When we become present and tune into ourselves, our emotions and bodily states, the quality of our awareness improves. Our perception widens, we become more creative and in touch with our intuition. We can stop the suffering of constantly being triggered by and reacting to old programming and patterns. We have more focus, can keep our calm in the chaos, and people will say that what we do looks so easy and natural.
Nice, but how do I incorporate this in my busy life? For every person it is different, but here are some things science says you can do to create more states of expanded consciousness, more awareness: the basics (eat and sleep well, move enough), meditate (big one), be in nature a lot, keep on learning new things, be playful, work with your hands, music, dance, do breathwork, yoga, qigong, tai chi and of course: plant medicine or new brainwave machines have great potential for a lot of us (with the right guidance, it is not for everyone, and not a quick fix).
My current practice: meditate every evening, do my little qigong routine every morning, try to be in nature more often, live healthy and take on new sports (padel tennis and mountainbiking).I will let you know how this develops and I wish you the best brainwaves and rewiring possible. And a lot of curiosity and practice.
Guido Deuzeman is a holistic coach for leaders and professionals. He is a former advisor to political leaders and CEO’s. Want to connect or give feedback? Interested in coaching @ Development is Qi? DM or send an email to info@developmentisqi.com. Website: www.developmentisqi.com.